Some thoughts on miles as the year comes to an end

The last couple of days made me think about my travel pattern. Nothing really big or bad happened, just small changes that I can see becoming a trend of the future. My beloved bmi was sold to IAG. I say beloved even though I never step on one of their planes. It was the easiest program to accumulate miles through hotel staying (1000 miles per night in Hilton, up to 3000 miles, plus many multiplier promos). It is also the easiest and most flexible program to redeem miles on (India call center or not). However, now my almost 80K miles sitting there have not so clear future. I would like to use them for Australia and New Zeeland trip planned for 2013 (enough for one way in business class), but by the time I’ll need to book it, who know what would happen to those miles. Most likely, they will become Avios which will be useless for long range travel, but could be useful for a short range hopes to Canada, as the pricing of those in real money is too high for my liking.

I am glad I’ve changed my strategy to obtain *G with A3 instead of bmi. I should be *G by March, as suddenly  January and February became heavy travel months after a very slow year.

Then, Delta seemed to change their rules so that no stopovers are allowed on an award ticket. Following some MR Amex points transfer and my merged NWA and Delta account, I have some 140K miles sitting there. I was hoping to use it for a trip back home to Israel and with a stopover in Paris or Amsterdam. Now it seems to be impossible. Delta's miles are pretty much useless to begin with and with this devaluation they have become even more so.

I still have around 380K miles in UA/CO which I have found to be the best value for redemption for me. With 120K with Lufthansa and around 50K with US Airways I have plenty of miles on Star Alliance – which suits my travel patterns pretty well. In American about 75K miles are sitting as well. Another 80K of UR points could be converted if needed.

But all of that got me thinking. Things are going to get worse, not better. UA/CO will probably become less of a value post-merger. The utilization of miles for award travel will become much more difficult. In addition, in my personal life, I am in a different place then was I was when I’ve started the miles games just a few years ago.

So, my strategy for the future will include:

 

1.      Get my *G with A3 and maintain it. It is the best deal around, and as I am not flying enough otherwise in any given year to even obtain the low status in any US based airline, it is the best option for me, even if it means that some flights on UA/CO will only occur 50% of the miles (blasphemy, I know).

2.      Use my miles smart – on long range business or first class flights that otherwise will be out of reach.

3.      Pay my way for domestic flights and suck it up in economy. Exception might be to use Avious (if bmi will go there) for short hopes to Canada.

4.      Pay my way for business class travel to Europe and/or Israel, if the flight is too long. It is double the cost, but it is not as expensive as going to Australia or Asia. I wish I had the time to utilize RTW tickets – but that just not going to happen.

5.      Burn my miles as soon as possible as their value only diminishes in time.

As for hotels, I really do like Hilton. However, I am tracking the premium reward problem. If it will prevent me from using the points where I want to, than another chain will get my business. I am waiting for Hyatt promo that would allow me to match easily before I’ll make any move.

While miles were great in my last phase in life, I think I am beginning to be in phase I will pay for premium travel if I need to go.

A short weekend in Philadelphia

The week had gone by amazingly fast. Stepping out from a boat on Monday, only to be leaving again on Friday was pushing it a little at work, but thanks to the early start of the holiday season I managed to catch up on all what I needed to do in time for our noon departure to Philadelphia. Well, noon departure was the plan – it said so on my nice outlook invitation that my partner sent me. But of course, we did not leave the house before 2:30. Someone was late – again.

Traffic on the beltway and I-95 was not bad at all. We only had some traffic slow down toward the entrance to Philadelphia. For some reason, the GPS decided to take us through the “scenic route” of south Philadelphia before hitting our hotel for the night: the Doubletree Philadelphia Center. I have stayed in the hotel before on a business trip to Philadelphia, and I was not impressed with the service that time. However, because of the Hilton Q4 Promo, we will switch hotels and get one free night certificate which I am planning to use for the W-A in New York later this year for my birthday trip. So I figured how bad one night could be, considering the price was right (even with the $25 parking fee).  

I was surprised to see that the service was improved tremendously. Following a little mix-up at check-in with our breakfast coupons (which was not really the hotel fault – they only prepared voucher for one person, as I always book for one person even when my partner joins me as part of the Hilton “spouse stay free”), we were upgraded to the full breakfast menu (as Hilton Gold only continental should be given). The room we had was furthest away from the elevator, according to my profile, but had a very strange layout. It was on the small side, but totally adequate for one-night  stay.

Standard DoubleTree room

We met a friend for dinner at the White Dog Café. While the food was not cheap (nor terribly expensive) it was excellent. Clearly, one of the best meals I had ever had. It was so good we came back the following night for late night snacks as well. If you ever in Philadelphia it surely deserves a try. Service though was a little confused and unfocused (such as brining food items at the wrong time), but the food quality surely made up for that.

The reason we went to Philadelphia was that my partner’s son dance troupe was performing, and it was a good chance to see the show close to home. We’ve met with son that evening and hit the local bar scene for a while before calling it a night.

The next morning, after our full breakfast (don’t get excited, a typical hotel fare and nothing to write home about – I would not pay for it), we drove the leisurely 5 minutes drive to our next hotel – the Hampton Inn Convention Center. Parking at the hotel is on a close by lot (at the end of the street). Check in was fast and courteous. It seems that they were really happy to have us in the hotel, and it was not a fake enthusiasm – something one rarely see these days in a five-star hotel, not to mention the Hampton Inn. Warm cider and Philly’s Pretzel were offered as well as a welcome package, including water and some snacks. The room was a standard Hampton Inn room – nothing more but nothing less than expected.

We took a leisurely stroll to the Independence Park and even got tickets to the Independence Hall tour in two hours time. We took the time to see liberty bell and walk around. The tour was interesting and informative, though the building itself is nothing to talk about, as many of the buildings of the time are. We rested in the afternoon and then met our friends that were also coming from DC and went to see son’s performance. I am not a big fan of modern dance, and the last time I’ve seen a show, I was bored to my teeth, but this performance was extremely good, and I have enjoyed it very much.

The next morning we all met at Hawthornes for brunch. It was a very popular place, and he waited about 45 minutes for a table. Brunch was good, but nothing spectacular. I would come back here, but not sure if I’ll wait next time. A quick tour of the Italian Market followed (skip it, nothing wroth while), before we took the 2:15 hours drive back home.

In short, it was a really nice weekend in Philadelphia. I would consider doing it again.

Enchantment of the Seas - Cruise Report

 It was a hectic morning, even though, or probably because the port is only 45 minutes drive away from the house, my partner decided that important remodeling decisions need to happen this morning. Once that crisis was over, Richard, our neighbor and his daughter who are also going to be on the cruise drove to the port. For Saturday after Thanksgiving, the drive was uneventful – no traffic problem in sight. 45 easy minutes later we were at the port, parking the car. We did have luggage tags, but once we figured that out (courtesy of a nice parking attended who went to bring them to us) we started the check-in process. Being an elite on Celebrity cruises has its perks, and I am a Platinum of Royal Caribbean because of that. That means I had priority check-in and fast boarding. The waiting area in the terminal is nothing to write home about, and they very very sensitive about the use of cell-phones, for some reason. Be it as it may by 11:45 I was on board. By 12:15 all of our party was on board, and we went to have a lunch at the Lido. Enchantment of the Seas was lengthen some years ago (yes, they cut it in half and stuck a whole new middle section in). But as the number of cabins increased, there was no increase in the number of seats in the restaurants or the theater. On embarking day it showed as the Lido was packed to the gills. By 1:30 everyone was allowed to their rooms. Unfortunately, my luggage had not arrived yet. We went to the sail away; we went to the gym ruffle; we walked around a little – and my luggage is nowhere to be found. Going down to the confiscated luggage area did not discover the luggage (as expected). It was 6:00 already, and no one could tell me where the luggage is. The front desk was useless, so I resorted to the time-proven  tactic of making a pest of oneself. I just plumped my ass on the stairs on floor one where the luggage is brought in and looked everyone in the eyes. It was very uncomfortable 45 minutes for me, but much more for senior staff that was around that started to make phone calls to discover where my luggage is. It has arrived around 7:00 in the evening. Now that is what I call totally unacceptable. My neighbor’s luggage had arrived before 3:00 and it was on the same cart. I completely do not understand how the system works. In order to save money I guess there is no bar-code system so no one actually knows where one luggage is.

We ate dinner every day at 8:00 as part of my-time-dining option. We had probably one of the best waiters on board Ehran from Turkey. The man is a ball of energy and fun. Unfortunately, the my-time-dining for two is very limited in its sitting area which are not that desirable at all. Very close and confined by the service station that leaves the whole section feeling crumped and uninviting. Food in general was good. Major disappointment were the desert. On the 11-day  cruise, there was only one day that the deserts were extremely good. Other days they were barely passable or worse.

Now having getting back from all-gay cruise couple of weeks before, it was a strange cruise indeed. All my previous none charted cruises were on celebrity, which has quite different demographics. Maybe it was the port of call, maybe it was the ship, maybe it was the cruise line – but this cruise was not even comparable to celebrity cruises. In addition, the two days sail from Baltimore, and the two days sail back to Baltimore were too much. This is strange, because on the charted cruises they are my favorite days. Maybe it was the weather; maybe it was the rough seas, maybe because they were just boring.

One thing that did surprise me for the better was the quality of the singers and dancers on the ship. Usually, the level is just barely adequate – but this time most of the singers could really sing quite well; most of the dancer could really dance (and you could see the classical training they had). The troop put on two shows, which are the standard Royal Caribbean shows, but they were quite good and entertaining. The other acts on the boat were not technically good, but they know how to grab the attention of the crowd which made the show as a whole entertaining.

The ports of calls were the usual Caribbean variety – San Juan, St. Thomas, Samana and Labadee. The only problem with San Juan was that we arrived only in the afternoon. The ship was cleared around 4:00-4:30 which left a very short daylight time to enjoy the city. In St. Thomas we took an excursion directly to St. John and spend a couple of hours on the beach which was just what I needed. A perfect day and a nice beach to boot.

In Samana, we took a private excursion through Tour Samana with Terry. Despite being suspicious that this port is probably the worst one ever, it turned out to be one of the best excursions days ever. Terry was a pleasure to deal with through e-mails and the guys were waiting exactly where they said they will be. Terry was in the port as well greeting the guest on the different excursions. We chose to take the horse ride trip which was a blast. After about 45 minutes on the horse we stopped at a local hut/shop, where local food was presented for tasting plus information given on it as well as local merchandise. It was very low-key and no pressure to buy anything. Following the stop we continued for about another 60 minutes on the horse, alongside the river, crossing the river multiple times and even a short while in the river. The ride ended with galloping on the beach with the sea in front of us – perfect. Following the included lunch, we went to the waterfall for a quick swim. On the way back to the ship money was collected – up to this point no money exchanged hand and no deposit was required. All in all, a perfect day.

Labadee is just one big beach, after a couple of hours on the beach I opted just to get back to the ship. I could skip Labadee altogether.

There was a big mix-up with the gratuities. As my time dining it was supposed to be paid. Every time I checked with guest services they said it was not, and every time I’ve submitted the form they said it was. What they did in the end is to charge it to the credit card with which I originally paid for the cruise, and not the one that was given at check in (it never showed up on the bill). Which is not the way I wanted it to happen. No one there could seem to give me a straight answer of what is going on and what had happened.

All in all, it was OK, but just OK vacation. Will I do it again? Probably only on Celebrity.

A short trip to California

It was just a short business trip to California. How do I hate those short ones. I don’t even bother to change the time for two days, as it is an exercise in futility.

Unfortunately, the carrier of choice between Washington and the Bay Area was US Airways. Since I have a very bad experience(s) with them several years ago I try to avoid US Scareway like a plague. I hoped that this trip will change my mind. It will at least carry some point toward my *G status on Aegean airlines. I was though quite disappointed that *S status means nothing on US Airways as my boarding zone were 4 and 5 (more of that later).

Security in DCA is always a breeze, this time no exception. As I received the invitation for a trial membership in the American Express SkyGuide Executive Privilege Club which I accepted, I decided to go to the lounge and buy a day pass. The program supposed to re-imbrues you for up to 12 day-passes a year. $50 later I was in the club, enjoying the free wi-fi and the not so appetizing snacks. The pass should have worked at my connection flight in Phoenix as well.

Boarding was orderly and as a zone 4, I’ve missed the “we have to check your carry-on” by an inch. The flight itself was surprisingly uneventful. The room leg is not much, the recline is not much, and in a very long flight (5hours +) you notice it quickly. On the other hand, the flight attendees were friendly, the BOB salad option was quite good. However, Airbus 320 is still Airbus 320 and after five hours all you want to do is to get off the damn plain.

Luckily, the flight was slightly early. My connection was at the adjoin gate – so life was good, or so I thought. I went into the lounge (mainly to use the bathrooms) and my day pass was not recognized by the computer. After 5 minutes of trying, they just let me in despite the fact they could not log my pass. Several snacks and a bathroom break later, I was back at the gate. This time in zone 5. I was not so lucky, by the time I’ve boarded all the overhead space was gone. Well, not exactly, if people do not put their coats and small items up there, there should not be a problem. But, to make a long story short, my carry-on went in the belly of the plain.  

This flight, although much shorter, had a feeling of a typical US Airways flight. Harried, cramped and uninviting. I don’t know what was it about this flight, maybe it was my bag situation, but it was nothing like the flight into Phoenix. Short 2 hours and my bag and I were united at the baggage claim.

On the way back, I’ve learnt my lesson (or so I thought) and when they offered to check baggage at the gate I gladly complied. It turned out that the overhead's space in both flights were ample. I did not need to check my carry-on after all. The most infuriating thing is that the carry-on handle was damaged, and not it is utterly useless (cannot open the handle). US Airways, conveniently enough does not cover damage to handles. I’ll keep you posted about my battle with US Airways about this one.

November Cruise

I’m sure most of you have noticed that the October post was all about getting to the cruise port and coming back from the cruise port, but no description of a cruise. As I alluded, it was a charted cruise – a gay cruise to be precise. Now gay cruises are a lot of fun. So much fun, that one has little time to document what is going on. In reality, until one is on a gay cruise, no matter how much pictures and videos one sees, the experience cannot be comprehended. Therefore, I did not even try.

However, this month I will be going on a straight cruise. As straight cruises go, my favorite cruise line is Celebrity. Simple, elegant, understated upscale cruise line. I just love the design of the ships and the level of service. However, this time I wanted to avoid flying. As my local port is Baltimore, this only gives me the options of either Carnival (never, ever, ever again – a story for another time), or Royal Caribbean. While I have been on Royal before, it was part of a charted cruise. On the whole, they are not the same level as Celebrity, but they would do.  

My partner does not have the same amount of vacation that I have, so on the straight cruises, I tend to go without him. As I am paying double as it is, I tend to invite a friend to come along for the ride. This time I was planning on going with my friend Danny, but he could not go in the last minute, so my friend Joe will join me for this cruise.

The problem of leaving Baltimore in the end of November is that the first two days and the last two days of the cruise are going to be quite cold. Be that as it may, I am insisting on enjoying some time off in the warm weather.

Before the cruise, I am going to California for a short business trip; so the next two weeks, prior to the cruise are going to be very busy.