Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Delta Points - TUMI $50 Neiman Marcus Digital travel scale winner is…

Congratulations, Richard! I will e-mail you soon! Wow was it hard to get readers to both comment AND to tweet as well. If you are not using @DeltaAssist yet, you are missing out and need to get on Twitter if ONLY for that. Please! – RenĂ©

More Info: Your best holidays in Roquetas de Mar

One Mile at the same time - A Royal (dis)HHonor: Noble Jordanian Business Class Bangkok to Hong Kong.

IntroductionAloft S . fransisco AirportCathay Pacific Lounge San FranciscoCathay Pacific Excellent San Francisco to Hong KongCathay Pacific 1st class Hong Kong to SingaporeSt. Regis SingaporeSingapore Airlines Gold Kris Lounge SingaporeSilkAir Internet business Class Singapore to Koh SamuiConrad Koh SamuiBangkok Air passages Economy Class Koh Samui so that you can BangkokLe Meridien BangkokThai Airways Royal Silk Business Class Lounge BangkokRoyal Jordanian Online business Class Bangkok to Hong KongCathay Pacific "The Wing" Excellent Lounge Hong KongCathay Pacific Top notch Hong Kong to Bay area

As I sit here and make an effort to write this installment, I recently can't get any words and phrases out. It's not which don't know what to mention, it's that I have a great deal to say and I don't know how to begin. Truthfully this has been quite possibly the most difficult trip report I've ever written, simply because with every last installment I've had flashbacks about this flight in my brain, and I feel being a total idiot about it. So let me give it an effort, at least…

Royal Jordanian 182Bangkok (BKK) – Hong Kong (HKG) Weekend, March 30 Depart: 3: 25PM Get there: 7: 00PM Duration: 2hr35min Airplane: Airbus A330 Seat: 3H (Business Class)

I was type of excited to try Royal Jordanian about this route. Bangkok to Hong Kong is some unique routes that's operated by a bunch of carriers on a "fifth freedom" basis. Heck, Emirates, Ethiopian, Kenya Air tract, and Royal Jordanian all of operate this flight as a "tag. " So instead of flying Cathay Pacific on the route in their local business class we decided to fly Royal Jordanian. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to help sample them without going them longhaul. It's my goal to examine as many airlines as possible, so I couldn't not apply it. Besides, I'd flown your three Middle Eastern the big boys — Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar — and was curious to work out how Royal Jordanian when compared to.

Upon boarding through entry 1L we were identified by three flight attendants. They were all Jordanian adult males and wearing pinstriped key downs, which actually seemed pretty sharp.

We rapidly found our seats with row three. Royal Jordanian has angled flat seats in business class on their A330s so each pair of they're probably not the most comfortable globally for longhaul flights, for any flight between Bangkok and Hong Kong they're tricky to beat. The design and colors with the seats were sufficiently neutral to make sure that I neither loved neither hated them. The cabin was comprised of 24 seats across some rows, each of which has been in a 2-2-2 arrangement.

The flight wasn't very comprehensive, and from the looks than it we were actually the sole business class passengers while it began with Bangkok. The six some other business class passengers were connecting from Amman, so hadn't even deplaned within Bangkok.

There have also been a grand total of five flight attendants doing work business class — three Jordanian men in the galley, one Jordanian women working the aisle together with galley, and one Thai female working the aisle. More accurately there appeared to be one and a about half flight attendants working company class, as the some male flight attendants didn't at one time leave the galley. Even I never actually saw them in the galley, but rather only chatting on their jumpseats the whole period.

The Thai flight worker offered us some pre-departure refreshments. She was friendly though seemed a tad intimidated and/or reserved. My partner and i a glass of the apple company juice, while my good friend had water. If nothing else people deserve bonus points with regard to glassware.

The feminine Jordanian flight attendant made her first exposure to us by asking for our boarding passes, which I'd already placed in my passport holder inside the overhead bin. We presented them to her, at which point she walked away. She returned several minutes later with an Aigner amenity kit per each of us.

As far as business class kits go it was well stocked, with cream, socks, eye shades, some comb, toothpaste, and a toothbrush.

There was never an announcement with the cockpit, though the flight clerk made an announcement informing us of our flight time of 2hr15min. Even as pushed back the safety video began to play. It was entertainingly animated, and while I can't realize it's online, here's the corresponding A340 safety video:

We taxied out to runway 19R for the departure and passed a lot of pretty cool traffic, like Orient Thai and Transaero 747s.

Once for the runway we were straight away cleared for takeoff in addition to had a smooth climb using Bangkok. It was a transparent day, which made for quite a few nice views.

Once we climbed through maybe 10, 000 feet the seatbelt sign was put off and I started playing around with the entertainment strategy. I asked for some headphones, which I has been promptly given. They were the cheap kind, which hurt your ears for those who have them on for greater than 30 minutes or which means that.

As we leveled off at some of our cruising altitude the professional and polite Thai flight attendant provided us hot towels.

And the drinks list read the following (interestingly they're not a dry airline outside of the Middle East as much as I know, though they will don't publish a your wine list):

Service on this flight was efficient, and within around 30 minutes of takeoff my family table was set and I actually was served the salad and appetizer. The appetizer contains beef, salmon, and asparagus, in addition to was quite good. Whilst the salad was small, I was happy it consisted of greater than just lettuce. We were also offered wheat rolls within the bread basket.

For the principal course I ordered your rigatoni, which was okay. My friend ordered a roasted duck, which this individual enjoyed.

At that issue the flight attendant brightened my tray. I suspected dessert was still getting, though after not getting served any for 10 minutes I made a decision to follow up, and she said "oh, you didn't say you wanted it. " Figured that it was something they'd proactively give, but…

After the meal we had under an hour to go to Hong Kong, so I figured I'd work with writing my trip file on my laptop. I was actually writing about how disgusting I found the full service experience on Royal Jordanian. The poor Thai flight attendant was working your ex rear off, while the three men's flight attendants sat with the galley laughing and talking the complete time. It really made me sick to enjoy. And it also type explained why she did actually lack confidence — As i can't even imagine what this lady has to deal with on a daily basis.

Up until this issue the most puzzling perhaps the flight had to be that your call button went off literally every 10 seconds for the entire flight. I don't fully understand if someone's was stuck and kept ringing and also what, but it went off a couple of hundred times during the flight, and was without layovers.

About 30 minutes before our scheduled arrival time among the list of flight attendants came to the PA to inform us nonchalantly that individuals would be delayed around 30 minutes and circling due to be able to heavy traffic in Hong Kong. That caught me off guard rather. I hadn't checked the weather forecast for Hong Kong, and stupidly assumed it becomes nice. The weather outside in every direction looked beautiful to boot. So I figured there was just some congestion with the airport, which isn't too unusual inside afternoons.

It seemed to catch the lady on the other side of the aircraft even more off guard, because she started screaming "why around 30 minutes, that's too much? Abdominal muscles five minutes instead? "

I figured I could truthfully keep working on my laptop since we were still at 30, 000 feet, though the crew created an announcement saying to show off all electronic appliances, so I powered lower my laptop.

As we began our descent we hit some pretty serious chop. If you're not really scared of flying, you know how sometimes when you hit some serious process you weren't expecting you chuckle a tad? Well yeah, it was that type of chop. Or maybe it's merely me…

Well the chop gained progressively worse and changed into turbulence, and we quickly found ourselves in the thing that was no doubt examples of the worst weather I've possibly experienced. It wasn't daunting in and of again, though it was the species of turbulence that causes you to tighten your seatbelt a lttle bit and make sure all of belongings are secure to make sure they don't fly around a cabin. We were in some thick clouds, to the point that we couldn't even start to see the wing.

The weird thing is that it didn't seem like people were circling, but quite we were descending immediately. We proceeded to descend through examples of the worst turbulence I've ever experienced relating to 15 minutes. And it wasn't just turbulence, nonetheless lightning too. It was clear we were right during the storm based how frequently we heard this lightning and how loud it was subsequently.

Then we leveled out of, which was kind in the turning point of the flight in my situation. Up until this level I wasn't scared, despite the fact that that quickly changed. The pilot side of my brain started up. Hmmm, we had steeply descended around 15 minutes, so should have descended at least 20, 000 feet possibly even. At this point My partner and i figured we were from around 10, 000 ft ., maybe a bit excessive, though more than likely a lttle bit lower.

The next a quarter-hour were probably the worst type of of my adult life. The turbulence and turbo got progressively worse, together with we were struck by lightning. Not the first time it's happened in my own 2. 5 million distance of flying, so My partner and i wasn't too worried. What worried me was that the pilots were flying the plane, or at least generate profits perceived it. We have leveled off though experienced an abnormally high pitch attitude (meaning our nose was up). The weather was a worst I've ever experience to the plane. But the baffling part was that this pilots were flying this plane. The engines would idle right and you could honestly hear a pin drop on the plane. Actually all we're able to hear was the water with bursts of hail hitting the side of the fuselage and also the lightning getting progressively even louder. In the cabin was simply silence mixed with moping and crying. Then we got struck by lightning… again. There seemed to be a loud thump.

And then as the nose throw got higher and higher the engines would spool as many as close to 100% all over again, only to be cut back to idle. For everything of me I couldn't discover what was going on or why we were looking at doing that. What was undergoing my head? For one, the possibility of your stall. We were at your sufficiently low altitude that him and i probably wouldn't have been able to get rid of it if one occured. But more than anything more I was wondering the way in which distracted the pilots ended up being.

As a passenger with a bit of pilot experience and much passenger experience, this is the point at which you start to proceed crazy. We're at the lowest altitude, we're in a worst weather I've possibly experienced, we've gotten struck by lightning twice, you'll find a ridiculous high face up pitch attitude, and using the engine throttle isn't just adjusting for wind gusts (as is the norm), but is literally going from near idle to near full potential, and back, every couple of minutes. Beyond that, the captain hadn't made an announcement the complete flight. Sure he could get anticipated the weather was going to get bad and may have made an announcement before we experienced the storm, but he or she hadn't.

The amount of thing running through my head at this point in the flight was just ridiculous. At this point I had more or less written off my lifestyle. I put my passport around my pocket (for obvious reasons), and tried to show on my phone to help text my mom. What I felt worst about was that your parents didn't know I was on this subject flight, as we weren't originally booked about this itinerary. For that matter my oldest brother passed away 20 years ago, and I wondered why the hell I even got using a plane, and that We couldn't let my parents lose another son. At this stage I literally figured My partner and i was done, and at a minimum hoped it would most end easy.

I also briefly chuckled (oddly) at the fact that before the flight We tweeted "About to take flight Royal Jordanian… wish myself luck! " I figured at a minimum that earned me my place in the "Air Crash Investigation" episode about the flight.

The other side associated with my brain (I'm undecided if that's the lucid or irrational side) had some other plan. I was at the stage where I wanted to diamond ring my call button and now have the crew call that cockpit to climb right out of the bad weather and fly us the gym. I'm sorry, but being a commercial pilot you don't hold inside of a "red cell" for 30+ min's. You just don't. I decided against it in the long run and of course the blueprint was ridiculous, but I was so close to devising some plan to find the plane to divert elsewhere or just get out of the general mess, even if it meant I'd result in jail somewhere.

Anyway, we continued our descent with the horrible weather, and after nearly thirty minutes of not even having the capacity to see the wing tip we finally broke out of your, well, I don't even know how to describe what it is, and saw land along with lights. I didn't figure out what land it was and additionally figured we were directing somewhere. About a minute in the future we saw some runway lights off inside the distance. It didn't resemble Hong Kong Airport for me, but again, I didn't maintenance where we were you, I just knew I was going to get off the plane, kiss the ground, and please take a boat back to north america ..

At that point the landing gear ended up. I don't remember one more time I cried ahead of this, but I literally previously had tears running down my face as being the landing gear came out there. I wasn't totally calm yet since there was always the prospect of a go all over and I began to wonder the quantity of a fuel reserve there was left.

But sure enough we touched down using what felt like the special landing ever, and I quickly realized it's Hong Kong Airport. The sensation I experienced when we touched the bottom really can't be stuffed into words. I was so weak that you could've probably cut through me using a spoon. I felt extremely grateful and content to be alive. I also felt angry for the whole situation. And bewildered.

We taxied to the gate as well as the male Jordanian flight worker made an announcement that nothing had happened in addition to welcomed us to Hong Kong.

As we got to the gate and seatbelt sign turned off I tried to get up, but initially couldn't. I was so drenched in sweat and weak that i could hardly move.

Once we walked up to the entranceway by door 1L, the three macho men flight attendants that showed no emotion the whole flight admitted that had been the worst flight on the list of ever had. And they didn't have even to say it, considering that sweat on their button downs around their armpits is revealing enough.

The Thai airline flight attendant had tears jogging down her face. As well as the female Jordanian flight attendant emerged through the cockpit with her make up all messed up, undoubtedly from crying. She explained that the "pilots needed [her] help in the descent, " so she is at the cockpit. She said "they both said they're retiring so next flight. " Doubt this girl was actually being major, though I think the sentiment about is.

Anyway, y'all are certainly unengaged to take what I say with a grain of salt and additionally think I'm crazy. I'm also not about to beat a dead horse any more. I'm incredibly grateful to get alive, though also have quite a few questions, which I shared on this page.

I wish the flight didn't have this impact on me, simply because flying is my love. It's what I've loved since an exceedingly young age, and my enthusiasm for it hasn't worn off with the 15+ years I've already been obsessed. Sadly I'm even now extremely uncomfortable when going, even a few excursions later. I'm hoping it's your "phase. "

To come to be clear, it's not that I'm literally scared of flying — I am aware of how it works and how safe it truly is. It's that I'm scared of being in this particular hopeless situation again, one I can't get free from, and the flash backs I've got. I've even seen some doctors since the flight due to problems I've developed (and I'm not what kind to usually go to doctors, I don't think I've ever seen a health care professional outside of getting a come by prior to this).

Nevertheless, this will be my last post over the flight. Thanks for if you let me express myself, and hopefully some closure comes equipped with it…

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Ghetto IFE -- The trek home begins… as well as a new boarding pass….

DIA itself while using the stunning architecture of your Jeppsen terminal is brilliant… your shame the TSA are close to their usual games.

Via: What to see in Edinburgh -? Dean Village

Rapid Travel Chai - Chai Digest: Phallic People’s Daily Building and Eva’s Hello Kitty Plane

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Via: Route by the museums of the football club in Buenos Aires

Monday, June 3, 2013

View From the Wing - What Are you willing to Have Advised This Site reader?

For monday trip San Francisco – Delhi, May possibly 2 choices using U . s . miles, both require ninety, 000 miles, but only one segment is in Top notch, other segment is running a business class.

Which one what is take, paying miles for To begin with cabin but getting a particular segment [that's just] in company?

1. San Francisco Tokyo in ANA's Top B777-300ERTokyo – Delhi with ANA business class (no Earliest cabin in flight) B767-300

2. San Francisco – Frankfurt with Lufthansa Business (First not really available) A380-800 angle flat seatsFrankfurt – Delhi within Lufthansa First B747-8 plane

There is also the alternative to take Lufthansa Company class on both sections for 60, 000 kilometer after kilometer. Should I save 20, 000 kilometer after kilometer? I have over 1 k [Chase Ultimate Rewards] points.

.. This is 1st amount of time in premium cabin because normally traveling with category of 4 and have to be in for Economy cabin funds.

ANA's top notch is excellent. What I want about that itinerary is of the fact that longer flight is in excellent, whereas the Lufthansa itinerary maintain a pool of longer flight segment (San Francisco – Frankfurt) in company.

What it comes as small as for me is a lengthier flight in first class versus a shorter one weighing exclusively use ANA, compared to the opportunity to access the First Elegance Terminal in Frankfurt. (He'd have to stop the terminal in Frankfurt (proceeding as a result of immigrations) and walk to the site the first class terminal to achieve this. )

So if he wants that ground experience while using car ride to the plane being rare treat for someone that usually flies economy, my advice was going with Lufthansa. But if he values the greater length of time in the air with comfort, ANA would as the choice.

If it ended up being me I'd do ANA, but I've visited the Lufthansa First Class terminal many times. If I hadn't at any time done it, I'd probably pick Lufthansa. I'd definitely pay any additional 20, 000 miles with the one-time experience plus better flight from Frankfurt to help Delhi, although others might disagree bring back valuation. I think for someone with on the million Chase Ultimate Incentives points that's easy.

In that case, having made that choice, I'd keep my eye out in a first class award seat in the San Francisco – Frankfurt flight which might be rebooked into to get no additional miles. A day before the flight it might well open if this cabin isn't mostly sold-out.

Via: Utila in Honduras: one of the best places in the world to dive

Usually Flying - Update to TSA PreCheck ID Being on Boarding Passes.

I posted previously regarding the TSA PreCheck identifier start to appear on boarding passes if you happen to qualify for the application. And having just checked set for my United flights, I am able to report a slight alter from what the TSA publicised.

Eligible passengers will discover a TSA Pre? ™ warning on all boarding goes over, even when flying because of an airport where TSA Pre? ™ is not really available.

But on Usa, at least, the PreCheck indicator sole appears on my boarding goes over (both mobile and paper) because of departure airports where PreCheck is obtainable.

This isn't anything earth-shattering for any of us in a know, but it should help eliminate confusion for any infrequent, yet PreCheck-approved fliers.

One Mile at a Time - their Air France award redemption rates are raised by Alaska beginning June 11, 2013, and no one should care

About fourteen days ago Air France introduced an important devaluation of these Flying Blue program, at the very least for non-coach redemptions. The redemption prices for premium cottage prizes went way up, while the gasoline taxes on instructor redemptions went down. An increase that was announced by alaska partners with Air France ( and for matter just about any airline with the word aaira in their name ), and interestingly within their redemption rates for travel on Air France starting June 11, 2013. Essentially redemption rates to Europe are going up by 25,000 miles running a business school, the same amount Air France is increasing redemption rates through their program: And the cost of redemptions to Africa, the Middle East, and India, may also be increasing by 20,000 miles running a business class: As the most readily useful use of Alaska miles has never been for vacation on Air France, first of all, I donat really worry about this decline. And really Air France is kind of a pointless partner anyhow, since last year they began issuing only a sub group of their award supply to partner airlines, and that means award place is nearly impossible to find in these days for some of the year if not reserving directly through Flying Blue. But more than other things Iam kind of fascinated with the decision to alter these particular redemptions. Companion airlines have different payoff costs than the anativea airlines all the time, so why did this decline occur? Did Air France choose they donat want their partners aunder pricinga them? In that case, is a Delta devaluation next? And if this is just a random decline, of all the prices they can devalue, why this one? Oddly they leave their Cathay Pacific payoff rates to South Africa, India, and the Middle East intact (at 140,000 miles for roundtrip first class), their American rates to Japan intact (at 100,000 miles for roundtrip business class), their Korean Air rates to a lot of Asia intact (at 105,000 miles for roundtrip business class), and their Qantas rates to Australia intact (at 110,000 miles for roundtrip business class). Therefore I do you know what Iam wanting to say in a very backwards way isa thanks Alaska! (Tip of the hat to Gary)

More Info: Hainan, the Hawaii of China

Saturday, May 25, 2013

#throwbackthursday: 8 Involving My Most Memorable Flights/Trips.

Throwback Thursday night, also known as #tbt concerning Twitter and Instagram, is when people posting old pictures of themselves with the past. Well, I thought I'd join in a fun walk down memory lane including pictures from a number my memorable past flights/trips. In my situation, some of my best trips may not be the best in-flight products, but in my eyes when a flight can deliver me to an unforgettable experience, then that achieved its goal along with I've achieved mine.

1) While maybe the application isn't throwing back past the boundary, this past week I flew Milan to JFK on Alitalia's A330 using new Magnifica Class lie-flat seats (full review to come). Value: I booked the airfare using SkyMiles and since it can be a partner, it was at the low 50, 000-mile level for the one-way (my outbound was mid-tier so it was 150, 000 mile after mile total roundtrip).

This trip was memorable because I decided on the Beyonce concert with Milan last Saturday and actually got to meet your queen bee herself following on from the show, thanks to some friends who're friends with her most people. She was incredibly welcoming and funny, which was impressive after using an incredible 2-hour show and the need to fly out that event!

2) When My partner and i quit my job at Morgan Stanley in May of 2011, I left my workplace on my last daytime and headed straight for JFK for my first visit to Tokyo. This was three months or more after the terrible earthquake within Japan and tourism generally there had dropped off some cliff. Delta actually comped this flight since flights were empty where they wanted to let people realize their LAX-Haneda 777-LR flight was like (I don't take comps from that travel industry anymore and additionally haven't since this trip). Certainly, this was my to begin with solo trip and first-time to Japan and visiting over the crisis aftermath ended upward being great because I could see so much of the city in a short period. I even got your behind the scenes tour inside the Tsukiji Fish market, which you normally can't do the moment tourism is booming.

3) Flying behind Madonna in British Airways Top in June 2010. Last season, I encouraged my friend for getting in on the first British Airways 100, 000 (now 50, 000) credit-based card offer and he found themselves spending $30, 000, which qualified him with the Travel Together Ticket. We a friend's wedding in London that summer, so he agreed to make use of the companion ticket for me – on condition that I paid the ~$800 within taxes/fees for my priced. $800 for a roundtrip journey in British Airways Excellent to London? Sign me up!

On the outbound leg Madonna appeared boarding as the especially last person and she was seated in front of me. Unluckily for people, I had just taken a sleeping pill making sure that I could sleep immediately upon takeoff on the short hop to London. The flight ended up being delayed for about 90 minutes and Madonna diva'd out several times and I must struggle to stay awake to savor the shenanigans! At one point the pilot released and apologized for the next thunderstorm (the cause of this delay) and Madonna asked he "step on it" when airborne. Lesson learned: do not take sleeping pills until airborne!.

I did speak to her briefly that morning and asked her upto a concert she was designed to perform in Rio for any New Year's – there was many internet speculation, but not confirmation then i decided to ask the cause directly. She confirmed she was required to cancel, but apparently she may just be returning this year or even next. I remember she talked about "Hi Sweetie" when in conversation with me, which was a high light for me…being called Sweetie by way of the Material Girl. Thanks to the British Airways Visa companion pass to make it happen!

4) In November 2012 I got to fly on a United 787 from S . f . to Houston to Chicago in the Star Mega Do #4. I what food was in coach, but in a bulkhead, and I certainly enjoyed the ride, especially since it was grounded a few months later. United just resumed aircraft this week and I hope the 787's troubles usually are behind it, because a a spacious, smooth plane. I look forward to help testing it out around the globe, which is where its jet-lag-reducing benefits are actually supposed come into enjoy.

5) My Nanna, who lives in Asheville, NC currently is 90 years old although she's still sharp for a whip, her body is frail and traveling ingests a toll on her. One of her favorite things to attend to is visit my cousin in Santa Barbara, Ca, but since she experienced a hip replacement, this girl can't do the voyage alone. So for Thanksgiving 2011 I burned some US Air tract miles and redeemed for excellent Charlotte-Los Angeles and made the pilgrimage with your girlfriend. I learned a tremendous amount traveling with someone who had mobility issues, but we'd an amazing trip. Community . wasn't the fanciest entry to miles, it was an individual trip I'll remember for good.

6) In September 2010 I burned 120, 000 Delta SkyMiles and booked vacation to Paris and Seychelles. Air Seychelles was pleasant and intensely unique. I remember getting scented oils inside the amenity kit and the food was definitely…tropical. It was my first time to the Indian Ocean and a very exotic place I had been during the time so the trip had been extra special. Sadly, Air Seychelles don't offers codeshared flights coming from Paris to SEZ, so it's much harder to obtain there using SkyMiles.

7) Last April I spent two to three weeks in Thailand, Cambodia and additionally Hong Kong and As i flew home on Cathay First using British Airways Avios. It was a great experience and one I hope to do again soon. Cathay First is one of several top first class solutions, so if you haven't expert it yet, put it within your to-do list!

8) This January I actually went Capetown, Johannesburg and Kruger together with flew South African Airways trading class roundtrip for 110, 000 US Airways miles. While the seat was a lttle bit short and the product wasn't great, I be required to say my South Africa trip was probably one of the best I've ever taken. South Africa has so much to offer – out of beaches in Cape Town, amazing wine and food in wine country (just a couple of hours outside of Cape Town), historical past and culture in Johannesburg along with life-changing safari experiences.

My own South African Safari ended up being a breathtaking experience especially seeing this rare leopard merely feet away.

Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned from the credit card issuer. Opinions expressed here are author. s alone, not those in the credit card issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or in any manner endorsed by the debit card issuer. This site could possibly be compensated through the credit-based card issuer Affiliate Program.

Link: Millions of Americans will cross "structurally deficient" bridges this weekend

Friday, May 24, 2013

Marshall Fitzgibbons on Travel - A few Free GoGo Passes together with a $50 Dollar Amex Surprise Card.

I'm giving away a pair of free GoGo passes and a $50 dollar American Exhibit Gift Card in event of my 1, 500th article at MJ on Holiday. Surf over to the following post to enter.

Deals We Like - Double AirTran A+ Credit for Flights to/from Atlanta

Last week I posted that when booking through Southwest you will get double points for all travel to/from Atlanta, however, the same double credit promotion holds true for those itineraries booked through AirTran. Although the two airlines are in the middle of a merger and you can fly one airline even when booking through the other, the promotions are only good through the airline booking site you made your reservation with. If you made your reservation through Airtran.com, only promotions offered through the AirTran site will qualify, while if you made your reservation through Southwest.com, only promotions offered through the Southwest site will qualify. However, the itineraries are able to be operated by the other carrier.

For itineraries booked through AirTran Airways for travel between June 16 and July 24, you are able to get double credits per flight if you are flying to/from Atlanta. With this promotion, you'll earn two credits for every one-way Coach flight and three credits with every one-way Business Class fare.

Again, like every other AirTran promotion, you must have booked your ticket during the promotional dates and have registered for the promotion PRIOR to booking. This means that any travel that was booked previously, even if the travel dates fall into the promotional dates will not earn you double credits.

More Info: 5 charming Getaways Beach for relaxation

New york: After 3-Year Delay, Four Seasons New york Downtown Is Back On the.

Three years ago, we told you to mark your calendars for ones 2014 opening of Four Seasons New york Downtown. Well, here i am in 2013 and little progress has been made. In fact, we were juuust getting ready to strike said reminder from our iCal whenever you stumbled across this posting yesterday throwing our hopes back into the air.

The reports says that the project is once all over again moving forward—now that financing is secured—and that the 185-room luxury hotel is right now set for a 2016 beginning. Originally, this hotel has been slated to open with 2011 (ha! ), though now we've come to keep in mind that projected opening dates really mean diddly squat and any sort of hotel that opens in a timely manner is a rare element indeed.

But back in the Four Seasons: the report doesn't give us a lot of new information except that building will be 926 feet tall (one of the tallest hotels in NYC) which the lobby is a three-story atrium with lounges, a ballroom, a restaurant, meeting spaces, and a massages.

The Four Seasons Big apple Downtown will be situated at 99 Church E, in an area containing seen an explosion of trendy hotels in earlier times few years (Smyth Tribeca, W New york Downtown, Conrad New York) and which has been the focus involving multiple tourism campaigns through the city.

More Info: 15 songs to combat the aerofobia

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

New Web-based Game Ideal for Geography and Travel Fans

If you're the kind of person visually stimulated by geography and have a knack for identifying far off locations, GeoGuessr is the game for you.

Using Google Street View and Google Maps to plot location images around the world at random, the player is tasked with "pinning" their guess for the image's location on a map. The closer the guess in mileage, the higher the score.

Heather Bond posts from Chicago, the windiest city in the world. She likes yoga, pub trivia, a hot towel and a fully reclined seat. She hopes her next trip will be to Djibouti, because she loves to say Djibouti so much. Follow Heather on Twitter @metro_naturale

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Bulldozers Destroy Maya Ruin In Belize

The news outlet detailed how construction crews demolished parts of a pyramid in the Nohmul complex, the most important Maya site in northern Belize, near the border with Mexico. There are 81 structures in the complex, but the destroyed pyramid was the ceremonial center, as well as the namesake structure for the complex. Now the once large structure has been whittled down to its core, and the limestone that was extracted will be used for gravel roads in a nearby village.

Although the land the pyramid sits on is privately owned, laws in Belize maintain any pre-Hispanic ruins are under government protection. According to the Associated Press, police said they are conducting an investigation and criminal charges are possible.

Via: Medina Azahara, the Arab city of Cordoba

The Gatekeepers Of Asia: Face To Face With The Border Guards Of The Far East

know that active sadism is supplanted by bureaucracy, vanity and venality. In my opinion these are highly preferable alternatives. Once you know how land borders adopt these principals, they can be easily navigated with a bit of tact, patience and occasionally a small financial stimulus. I find these vagaries far easier to deal with than the gleaming desks and suspicious minds that protect Western countries against threats

To make things easier, I've noticed after a long period of driving my own car around Asia, with all of the bureaucracy that entails, that there are some core motivations that drive Asia's customs officials. These motivations result in eerily similar individuals from border to border. And so it is one of the peculiarities of driving overland for long distances that you can have a near-identical experience crossing the borders of countries so disparate as Iran and Cambodia.

I haven't been to everywhere in Asia, so I can't say these truths are universal. But the following four types of border official have shown up at almost every land crossing I've been to so far so it wouldn't surprise me in the least if these were pan-Asian characters.

Entering Pakistan from Iran was a long process. We signed gigantic registers with entries dating back to '80s and traipsed from building to building over barbed-wire fences. When were finally ready to go, having been in the borderlands for hours already, we had to wait for our security detail. We stood impatiently in the rapidly warming desert waiting to get under way. And waiting. And waiting some more. Where was this guy?

Time has no meaning when you're dealing with authority, so we sat down for chai and were off promptly when we finished. Adam Hodge, GadlingLater, in India..."And so I can go now?" I asked, having laboriously acquired half a dozen stamps and bits of paper with Hindi scrawled all over them.

"Oh, I am sorry sir, but he is unavailable right now. He is having his lunch and should return in a couple hours. Perhaps you would like some tea?"

Even later, in Cambodia..."You cannot go," the customs agent told me. "You need to have your car's documents stamped by the head of customs."

"Two hours ago, maybe. He should return soon." rdockum, FlickrThe Wal-Mart GreeterOblivious to his country's immigration and customs protocols, he welcomes you like an old friend, often to your detriment.

Deep in leafy green forest in northern Malaysia there is a small border post with Thailand. I stopped at the Malaysian checkpoint and they stamped my car's papers and practically pushed me out of the country. I inched my car down the lane into Thailand, expecting someone to stop me and ask for papers, passport, where I was headed... anything. Ah! A Thai guard at the end of the lane was watching me from the security lane and he beckoned me toward him. I drove up and rolled down my window. He smiled broadly at me and indicated I should just keep on driving.

I pulled away from the border and drove slowly down the road. I noted Thai people buying fruit from stalls and walking around with the evening groceries. I was in a bustling Thai market. No passport check, no vehicle registration, no searches. I parked and walked back to the customs building and proceeded to confuse everybody.

Of course, I hadn't been stamped out of Malaysia either. I trotted back across no-man's-land to the Malaysian office where I had more or less the same conversation with the border guard, who couldn't understand why I needed an exit stamp when I was clearly coming from Thailand.

Later, in Laos...A few months after, I entered Laos by way of vehicle barge, sharing the boat with two gigantic cargo trucks for the 4-minute ride across the Mekong. As I drove up the ramp to the main road at Huay Xai, I stopped and asked a uniformed man where to get a visa, showing him my empty passport. He only grinned and nodded. So I drove on, and I was suddenly in a town. I sat down at a riverside bar and drank a Beerlao, enjoying my minor transgression. Eventually I found the immigration checkpoint 3 miles downstream from where the barge had dropped me off. The customs officials seemed slightly perturbed because no passenger boat had come across for an hour, so where had I come from? This required a fairly taxing explanation, which they eventually and begrudgingly accepted.

The Smuggler's DreamHis only job is to check you're not carrying anything illicit, but he's either too trusting, confused, or it's too hot outside today.

Entering notoriously strict Iran from Turkey, I had done the paperwork dance, and it was time for customs to inspect my car. I nervously led a gruff-looking man dressed in fatigues to where I had parked. He barked at me to open the trunk, which I did in haste. He glanced over the heap of gear from afar, his eyes lingering on the possibly suspicious-looking photography and electronic equipment, camping gear, backpacks, and food.

Even later, in ThailandIn Cambodia I had picked up some fellow travelers and the trunk was packed with bags. The Thai customs officer looked through the window when we rolled up.

After my inadvertent entry to Thailand and the subsequent confusion about visas, I still needed to register my vehicle to drive in Thailand. In a fan-cooled room in the Thai customs house I found a fat uniformed man melting into his chair, as if squashed by gravity and the weight of his immense responsibilities. He barked orders at two demure women as he fanned himself with my car's customs documents. He seemed in no hurry to let me go, raising objections to every one of my attempts to move things along. After stonewalling my paperwork for a while, I realized the problem: he actually had no idea what he was doing, as he never did any of the work himself. With this established, it was a simple task to organize things with the two friendly ladies, who filled everything out and then deferred dutifully to the great squinting Hutt for his precious signature.

Later, again in Thailand...When I left Thailand from the north, I realized the ghosts of customs past had followed me up the entire length of the country. The big man in the south had neglected to give me some obscure piece of paper that would allow my car to leave Thailand.

About halfway through my sentence he had turned and slithered back into his freezing lair. I leaned my head into the small window and another official batted me away like a stray dog.

So I did what a dog would do. I stood there staring forlornly into the distance for 10 minutes, whimpering softly, until he came back. He had a document in hand, and he was smiling at me.

He was now my best friend. I was on my way. Jeremiah Roth, FlickrBonus Guard: The SleeperThe sleepers will do whatever it takes to get you gone so they can get back to their dreams.

I still had to get my car's customs documents stamped first before I could leave Thailand. I didn't expect this to go any better. I climbed the steps to the customs office and poked my head through the slightly open door. A young guy in uniform was out cold at his desk, his belly rising and falling in a peaceful rhythm. I cleared my throat and he awoke with a full body spasm. He looked mildly ashamed when he saw me, his wide eyes betraying the guilt of a lurid dream. I whipped out my form.

He shrugged and started stamping, offering me a self-satisfied grin when finished, as if there were no easier task in the world.

Via: The music of Turkey

Friday, May 17, 2013

Frequently Flying - Just Within: Woman Breaks Into Usa Airlines Headquarters in Chicago, il.

CHICAGO – Earlier today, a woman was seen leaving your United Airlines employee parking lot headed West with Algonquin Road in your ex car, making a quick escape through the airline's Executive Offices.

Security cameras later revealed she pulled in the lot undetected and snuck via a door that hadn't recently been securely shut alongside one of several long corridors of a building.

Footage inside also exhibited she entered the employee logo gift shop and about a quarter-hour later, exited with your bag of United Flight companies collectibles and memorabilia.

Megan Smith, the shop clerk working right at that moment, later revealed in interviews that this woman seemed enthusiastic and excited being shopping for items brand with United's logo.

Milliseconds. Smith went on to talk about, "she was beside herself mentioning how much her son would definitely love the things she was essential. "

The mysterious partner paid with cash, so you don't have way to track her identity. If you have any information regarding this particular incident, please contact Darren Booth at Darren@frequentlyflying. com.

Who was the headline and page, or so I'd always think, back in this early- to mid-1980s with suburban Chicago. The story holds true, actually, and I know exactly who did it.

It is my Mom, and I will almost allways be grateful for having this unconditionally loving mother that she'd risk trespass charges for getting her United-loving son a product unique for his birthday.

[And yes, my astute long-time customers, this is a try of my Mother's Day post from two years ago, but hey… it's my own blog and prerogative ]

Link: The best tours in Madrid

New Long distance Hiking Trail To Opened In Africa.

The Sir Samuel and Lady Florence Baker Historical Trail will stretch for 360 miles from Gondokoro – the administrative centre of South Sudan – to help you Baker's View, which is near the shores with Lake Albert in west Uganda. The route follows roughly exactly the same path that Samuel Baker utilized on his expeditions to examine central Africa, which happened throughout the 1860s together with 1870s. Baker's wife supported him on those activities, which is why the trail is named to honor her as well. In 1864, Baker made the greatest discovery of his career when he became the initial European to set eyes relating to the massive body of water which he would name in honor of Prince Albert, the late consort of Britain's Queen Victoria. Baker's View marks the place that the explorer first caught some sort of glimpse of Lake Albert itself but they are still hiking the trail will get to relive that moment a century . 5 later.

The new trail is the pet project of explorer together with anthropologist Julian Monroe Fisher, who recently walked almost all the route as part involving his Great African Dispatch. Fisher is working closely along with the Uganda Ministry of Travel related, Wildlife & Antiquities; your Uganda Wildlife Authority; plus the Ministry of Wildlife, Efficiency & Tourism for South Sudan to earn this project a reality. The trail has full support of the descendants of Samuel Baker as well and Fisher credits each of those RailRiders Adventure Clothing along with Costa Del Mar Sunglasses for helping to push this project along.

While many of the fantastic long-distance hiking trails around the world are designated for walking only, one of the more interesting things about this trail is that it will allow for mixed use. That means mountain motorcyclist can ride the route and in many cases 4x4 vehicles will end up granted access. The choice is reportedly very beautiful, remote and largely untouched by modern conveniences, which will be a major part of its allure.

In addition to to be a great attraction for open-air enthusiasts and adventure travelers, the trail is supposed to be an economic boon for ones communities that surround the idea. South Sudan in particular is experiencing having enough funds to aid its development process being the country emerges from years of conflict as being the newest nation on Our planet. The influx of travellers dollars that could come with the trail will be especially very theraputic for that country.

I'm sure news of this trail will be a lot of welcome amongst trekkers and additionally mountain bikers alike. It sounds like it'll be a beautiful and challenging hike that will prove popular with those people who are truly looking to get away from it all.

More Info: Six surreal moments on a cruise ship

This Gatekeepers Of Asia: In person With The Border Guards Of Cina.

know that lively sadism is supplanted just by bureaucracy, vanity and venality. For me these are highly better alternatives. Once you skills land borders adopt a lot of these principals, they can be easily navigated with a lot of tact, patience and occasionally a smaller financial stimulus. I find these vagaries far easier to accommodate than the gleaming glove compartments and suspicious minds that will protect Western countries next to threats

. At least that caprices of Asia's gatekeepers can be motivated by personal incompetence, never institutional torment.

To make things easier, I've noticed from long period of driving mine car around Asia, the crazy things that bureaucracy that entails, that you have some core motivations that drive Asia's customs officers. These motivations result around eerily similar individuals coming from border to border. And so it is one of the peculiarities of driving overland for long distances which you can have a near-identical working experience crossing the borders involving countries so disparate when Iran and Cambodia.

I haven't been to everywhere in Asia, so that i can't say these truths are universal. But the following four different kinds of border official have shown up at just about every land crossing I've visited so far so that wouldn't surprise me at all if these were pan-Asian characters.

Entering Pakistan from Iran was a long process. We signed gigantic registers with entries dating back to '80s and traipsed with building to building above barbed-wire fences. When were finally prepared to go, having been in the borderlands for hours already, we had to have to wait for our security characteristic. We stood impatiently in the rapidly warming desert waiting to get under way. And patiently waiting. And waiting some more. Where was this chap?

Time does not have meaning when you're experiencing authority, so we sat straight down for chai and were off promptly when we finished. Adam Hodge, GadlingLater, with India... "And so I can go now? " We asked, having laboriously acquired some stamps and bits from paper with Hindi scrawled all over them.

"Oh, I here's sorry sir, but they are unavailable right now. One is having his lunch and really should return in a number of hours. Perhaps you would like some tea? "

Quite possibly later, in Cambodia... "You cannot go, " the customs agent informed me. "You need to have your car's documents stamped through the head of customs. inch

"Two hours past, maybe. He should bring back soon. " rdockum, FlickrThe Wal-Mart GreeterOblivious to help his country's immigration and additionally customs protocols, he welcomes you prefer an old friend, often for your detriment.

Deep in leafy natural forest in northern Malaysia there is a small border post along with Thailand. I stopped at the Malaysian checkpoint where they stamped my car's papers and practically pushed me straight from the country. I inched a car down the isle into Thailand, expecting anyone to stop me and ask for papers, passport, where I was headed... anything. Goodness me! A Thai guard at the end of the lane was watching me with the security lane and this individual beckoned me toward her. I drove up in addition to rolled down my windowpane. He smiled broadly with me and indicated I will just keep on generating.

I pulled away through the border and drove slowly later on. I noted Thai families buying fruit from stalls and walking on with the evening food. I was in a bustling Thai market. Certainly no passport check, no auto or truck registration, no searches. I parked and walked oh no- the customs building and additionally proceeded to confuse most people.

Of course, I hadn't been stamped using Malaysia either. I trotted back across no-man's-land with the Malaysian office where I had more or less the same conversation along with the border guard, who couldn't understand why I needed an exit stamp when i was clearly coming with Thailand.

Later, in Laos... A few months after, I entered Laos with vehicle barge, sharing the boat by using two gigantic cargo trucks for ones 4-minute ride across this Mekong. As I drove up the ramp to the significant road at Huay Xai, I stopped and asked a uniformed man where you get a visa, showing your ex my empty passport. He or she only grinned and nodded. So i drove on, and I was suddenly in the town. I sat down with a riverside bar and sipped a Beerlao, enjoying my minor transgression. Eventually I discovered the immigration checkpoint 3 miles downstream from where the barge had dropped people off. The customs officials looked like slightly perturbed because virtually no passenger boat had encounter for an hour, so where had I come coming from? This required a relatively taxing explanation, which these people eventually and begrudgingly accepted.

The Smuggler's DreamHis only job is to check you're not keeping anything illicit, but he's either too trusting, lost, or it's too warm outside today.

Entering notoriously strict Iran coming from Turkey, I had conducted the paperwork dance, plus it was time for methods to inspect my auto. I nervously led a gruff-looking man wearing fatigues to where My partner and i parked. He barked at me to open your trunk, which I managed in haste. He glanced with the heap of gear with afar, his eyes lingering in the possibly suspicious-looking photography in addition to electronic equipment, camping supplies, backpacks, and food.

"Uh, simply no, but... " I launched, because I certainly managed have things from Pakistan. Nonetheless I was interrupted, as with Iran.

Perhaps later, in ThailandIn Cambodia I had produced picked up some fellow travelers and the trunk was packed by using bags. The Thai customs officer looked with the window when we rolled up.

After my inadvertent entry to Thailand and also the subsequent confusion about visas, I still wanted to register my vehicle they are driving in Thailand. In a fan-cooled room within the Thai customs house I came across a fat uniformed male melting into his recliner, as if squashed by gravity as well as the weight of his tremendous responsibilities. He barked requirements at two demure females as he fanned their self with my car's traditions documents. He seemed in no hurry to well then, i'll go, raising objections to most of my attempts to proceed things along. After stonewalling my paperwork for a short time, I realized the problem: he actually had zero idea what he was doing, as he never did any of the work himself. With the following established, it was a hassle-free task to organize things while using the two friendly ladies, who filled everything out and then deferred dutifully to the truly great squinting Hutt for his precious signature.

Later, all over again in Thailand... When I left Thailand in the north, I realized the ghouls of customs past had followed me in the entire length of the country. The big man within the south had neglected to provide me some obscure section of paper that would allow my car to abandon Thailand.

"So wait, delay. You will let me drive oh no- where I came from without any permits, but you won't allow me to leave? "

About halfway through my sentence he turned and slithered into his freezing lair. I leaned my head into the small window and additionally another official batted me away like a stray dog.

So I did thats dog would do. I stood there staring forlornly within the distance for 10 min's, whimpering softly, until he went back. He had a document at hand, and he was grinning at me.

He was now my ally. I was on my own way. Jeremiah Roth, FlickrBonus Defend: The SleeperThe sleepers will do anything to get you gone so they can get back to your dreams.

I still had to get my car's practices documents stamped first before I could truthfully leave Thailand. I didn't expect this going any better. I climbed the steps to the customs office and poked my head on the slightly open door. A new guy in uniform ended up being out cold at his desk, his belly rising and falling in a peaceful rhythm. I cleared my throat and he awoke by having a full body spasm. He or she looked mildly ashamed any time he saw me, his wide eyes betraying the guilt of an lurid dream. I whipped out my form.

He shrugged along with started stamping, offering myself a self-satisfied grin when finished, as if there were no easier task on earth.

Via: The Exploratorium, San Francisco Science Museum reopens

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Live from a Lounge - I got a flat tire on a plane!

On my way back from the Boarding Area Conference (BACon) at Colorado Springs which ended today, I was booked on a very simple route to get to New York via Dallas/Fort Worth in the afternoon. If all would have been well, I'd have been on the East Coast by now, sleeping in a hotel room in Manhattan. However, it was not to be.

Once we were seated on our slightly delayed flight, the captain informed us we had a flat tire on the plane, which could happen on landing at high altitude airports such as COS, and as such, they won't be able to move before the tire was changed. The good news, he said was, they had a tire and a jack at the airport, so all they had to do was fix this thing and it would be 30 minutes to 45 before we'd be on our way, considering paperwork needed to be done. I thought, even a plain and simple car tire takes a while to fix, so this plane isn't going anywhere soon! This is how it looks when there are people trying to replace a plane tire.

We were advised to deplane and wait inside the terminal and things were not looking good now. I was booked on the second-last flight to NYC that evening from DFW, and I called to protect on the last flight out, however I was informed the flight was sold out and I could not go anywhere till the morning. I would be on my way on the first flight out in the morning however.

A short while later, we heard that the brakes had also come off while fixing the tire, so there was no way this plane was going to be fixed anytime soon since they'd need stuff which was only going to be available in Denver. So, the flight take off time, scheduled for 1:35 PM was now looking at 7:15 PM or so. The agent was honest and asked to call AA Reservations to rebook on the 4:55 PM flight, since they were not going to be able to handle all the load themselves.

I managed to get across to the Executive Platinum line, and they rebooked me onto the 4:55 PM flight, that too getting me in First again. However, I was now supposed to be sleeping at DFW and going to New York next morning.

I decided that sleeping was going to be a waste of time so I'd rather keep moving. Hence, once in Dallas, I called again, and tried to get on a more sane routing, which meant flying on the next plane from Dallas to Los Angeles, and then going on the red eye from LAX to New York JFK. That means, a simple thing like going to New York now looks like this routing.

So, I just got off coach in DFW-LAX, where they were asking for volunteers for a bump and offering $500 to stay over the night, and off I go on the 3-class LAX-JFK redeye where business class upgrade has been confirmed. However, I'm right now in the LAX Admirals club, and this beast is teasing me to go to Australia. I think I'll just head out to board for JFK instead.

Link: Hotel restaurants follow the example of restaurants

View From The Wing - How to Keep Your Miles from Expiring

Most airlines have some form of expiring miles. Most programs promote that their miles never expire… but there's a catch. The miles may not expire, but the account itself can become dormant with all miles forfeit if there's no activity for a prolonged period of time.

Only Delta, among major frequent flyer programs, offers no mileage expiration – period. Ironically in the middle of the last decade they were one of the early adopters of shortened expiration times. Most US frequent flyer programs expired miles after three years, and they led the charge to reduce that initially to 24 months and they even limited the types of activity that would extend the life of an account. Once they had expired a bunch of miles off of their balance sheet, they announced their miles would no longer expire. Though they promoted it as 'the right thing to do' they didn't go back and restore miles they had taken away.

Nonetheless, I don't mind expiring miles as long as the policies are clear and the rules aren't draconian like Spirit Air's program which expires miles if you do not earn miles in your account every three months.

You need to keep your account active, be an engaged member at some level, and your miles will be fine. Use a tracking tool that helps you manage your frequent flyer programs and track expirations. I use Award Wallet.

Once you have your balances, and many of your account expiration dates in front of you, it's easy to keep miles alive in most frequent flyer progams.

You'll see that some non-US frequent flyer programs will expire your miles no matter what you do. You have to use miles earned right away, or least within three years, or else you will lose them. Then there are hybrids, like the Air Canada Aeroplan program, where you have to keep your account active with some sort of earning or burning every 12 months or else you'll lose your miles. But all miles earned, regardless activity, will lapse after 7 years.

So what are the simplest ways to keep an account active? The particulars vary by airline, since their specific partners aren't all the same, but in general the tools to keep at your disposal (in addition to flying the airline, or using their co-branded credit card) are:

Tim Winship used to sign off, "May your miles never expire!" Use these Hunger Games tricks and the expiration odds will be forever in your favor!

More Info: Hotel restaurants follow the example of restaurants

Point Me with the Plane - AA 10% Global Destination Coupons are Back… Some to Give Away!

Another big because of reader BigMiker15 who could pick up the last 5 AA 10% coupon codes at his local D'Agostino supermarket with Manhattan. The coupons are good for 10% off any airfare booked through May 15, 2013 to get travel through May nineteen, 2013. The offer is valid to get a destination worldwide and is good for one-way or round-trip vacation. The coupons are given at checkout counters at D'Agostino supermarkets in trade for making a donation to Citymeals.

I'll email the promo codes to your first 5 readers to email me a Say Precisely what? Overheard on the Plane entry. Please also respond inside comments section with "email sent". Requests without an entry is not considered. What is Say What exactly? Overheard on the Airplane? It's a weekly blog entry with ridiculous stuff that Point Me to your Plane readers have overheard on the flights. The weekly feature can be returning in June. Everyone!

Link: Zagreb, the Croatian capital is perfect to visit in spring

Monday, May 13, 2013

Barclay’s Lufthansa Mastercard 50,000 Mile Bonus

The Barclaycard Lufthansa Miles & More Premier World Mastercard usually comes with a bonus of 20,000 miles upon first purchase and up to 15,000 additional award miles when you complete an initial balance transfer.

However, Barclay's just launched a new bonus offer on the card where you can earn a combined total of 50,000 award miles – 20,000 miles with first purchase and an additional 30,000 award miles when you spend $5,000 on a purchase within the first 90 days.

While 50,000 miles isn't earth-shattering, from what I can find, the bonus on this card hasn't been this high since April 2011, so if you've been thinking about getting in on this card, now is the time to do it.

You might be asking yourself why you'd want to get a mileage credit card with a non-US program, but there are a few good reasons you might want to consider it.

First, this card is a Barclay's product, so if you're all applied-out on American Express, Chase and Citi cards for the moment, it might be time to look at another issuer. However, Barclay's has tightened up on accepting new credit applications and has been known to deny applications for people with a lot of recent credit inquiries. No one knows what the threshold number is, but that can make it difficult to get a new line of credit with them.

Second, Miles & More is the award program not only of Lufthansa, but also of SWISS and Austrian airlines. Finding premium award space on these airlines in advance (they tend to open up a lot more just a few days out) can be notoriously difficult, especially on SWISS unless you have a Miles & More account since the airline holds back award space for its own frequent flyers. So if you're thinking about awards to Europe, it could be a good idea to bank some of these miles simply for that award space availability.

According to the Miles & More award chart, 50,000 miles is enough for an economy class roundtrip ticket from the US to Europe on Lufthansa, SWISS or Austrian – other carriers will be 60,000. That's also enough for a one-way business class award on these three carriers – highlighting another positive feature of Miles & More: you can book one-way awards.

Third, Lufthansa (and SWISS and Austrian) is part of Star Alliance, so you can use these miles on any of 27 partner airlines, including United and US Airways. Also according to the award chart, domestic flights are 25,000 in Economy, 35,000 in Business and 50,000 in First roundtrip, so you could potentially score some business class tickets for a real discount at that 35,000-mile level, and if you complete the minimum spending requirement, you will have more than enough miles for 3 one-way business class award tickets domestically.

Fourth, Lufthansa Miles & More is a transfer partner of Starwood Preferred Guest, so you could always use some of these points to top up your account for a specific award, and remember, when you transfer in increments of 20,000 points, you get a 5,000-mile bonus – 25% more miles.

Fifth, this card entitles you to a companion ticket. According to the card terms, "Cardmembers will receive an Economy Class Companion Ticket upon the first use of your new Account for a Purchase or Balance Transfer and on your Account opening anniversary every year you are a Cardmember." This companion ticket is good only for economy travel from the US to Europe/Middle East/Africa and Far East and must be booked in H class (not full-fare economy, but not the most discounted either) or higher on Lufthansa-operated flights only, so you will be paying more for the first ticket, but getting the second one for free.

Like other companion tickets, taxes and fees must be paid for the revenue ticket as well as the companion ticket – the companion portion is only the airfare. While most people buy the cheapest fares, with Lufthansa, you only earn 50% of the mileage on these, so this program isn't for anyone who wants to get full mileage on the cheapest fares. However, if you do pay for refundable or high-fare classes the companion ticket could be a decent value in some cases.

For a quick example, I looked at economy roundtrip tickets from Chicago-Frankfurt in June. A non-refundable economy ticket was going for $2,227 – $1,547 in airfare and $680 in taxes and fees.

While those in B class, which is actually a higher fare class thank H, the ticket was $2,804 – $2,125 in airfare and $680 in taxes and fees.

To pay for two discount economy fares, you'd be paying $4,454. For the companion-eligible fare, you'd pay $2,804 on the first ticket and $680 in taxes and fees on the second for a total of $3,484. Still very steep, but it saves you almost $1,000.

With the higher fare class you earn 150% miles on the paid ticket instead of just 100% for the lowest fare class. That said, this was an extreme example, and with a bit of flexibility, in many cases you'll likely find discount economy fares that will be much cheaper to book two of than using this companion ticket. As with all things miles-related, do the math!

As the above example also pointed out, Miles & More is also notorious for charging high award ticket surcharges, so those award tickets might incur hundreds of dollars extra in fees. According to this FlyerTalk thread on the topic, even roundtrip economy awards from the US to Europe regularly top $500 in fees, while intra-European flights can range between $200-$300 in fees. Something to keep in mind.

Also beware, there is a Platinum version of this card that only offers a bonus of 15,000 miles upon first purchase and up to 10,000 miles with a balance transfer, and which only earns 1 award mile per dollar.

Still, if you're in the market for a new card and are looking to diversify your miles portfolio with some more Star Alliance miles, this could be a card for you to consider. I'll cover specific features of it in future posts, but feel free to comment with your questions below.

This content is not provided or commissioned by the company whose products are featured on this site. Any opinions, analyses, reviews or evaluations provided here are those of the author's alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the Advertiser. This site may be compensated through the Advertiser's affiliate programs.

Link: Aquileia, a not so well known in the North of Italy historic city

Friday, May 10, 2013

Deals We Like - Clarification on American Airline Status Upgrade Promo

Last week I posted about a targeted promotion where American Airline was sending select AAdvantage members the opportunity to upgrade their status. There are four different promotions overall and you MUST actually register for the promotion.

Now, as I mentioned last week, you will only be upgraded IF you in fact received this email. With all American Airline promotions, anyone can register and receive a confirmation page and email. This DOES NOT mean you actually qualify for the promotion. Of course it doesn't hurt to register and see if the promotion applies to you (in case the email went to your spam folder or what not). You will know whether or not you were targeted based on what your current AAdvantage status now states online. If you tried registering last week when I first announced this promotion, your status will already be updated. If your status is NOT updated that means you were not registered and thus not eligible for the promotion.

I know there was a lot of confusion around this, so I just wanted to clarify! Here are the four promotions that people received.

*With this last promotion, you'll have to call American to ensure you qualify as there is no way of telling in your account. This was a promotion where you will not receive status right away (like the other ones), but will only earn it once you hit the various miles/points levels.

For those of you who received this email, enjoy your upgraded status and good luck earning the points to continue the status for almost another 2 years!! Just don't forget to register.

Is it safe to travel in Iran

I just came back from Iran and the short answer is YES. Yes, it safe to travel in Iran. None of my friends who traveled to Iran in the last couple years or other tourists I met in Iran had any troubles there.

Only "problems" are when you are sitting at home and watching news on TV. "Iran is evil" – all you can hear on TV. A long time ago I learned don't trust news as nowadays journalists are looking just for sensations, accidents or conflicts. I spend two perfect weeks in Iran disconnected from mass media. Just I came back, switched on news and it was again the same – Iran did that or that.  Hmm… It seems I visited totally different country.

It was no surprise my family and some friends where asking me: "Iran? Why Iran?" when I told about my plans. I knew people who already have been there, I knew some Iranians and I couldn't find any reason which could prevent me to visit that country.

I was thinking about Iran for long time. Two years ago I won Lonely Planet travel guide giveaway on Fresh Roads blog. I could choose any LP guide available at the time. I picked "Iran".  Two years later I visited it at last.

What can I tell? It was no any issues with safety.  In any hotel or hostel you can find similar advice like this from on hotel in Tehran:

2. Nobody is allowed to search you and inspect your private things. Only the Police (with uniform and the police car) presenting the valid ID can check your ID or ask for it.

3. Leave your passport and valuables in the hotel safe. Do not leave valuables in the room. Do not carry large sums of money; carry only what you need. Check your belongings regularly.

4. for traveling in the city a copy of passport and a hotel card would be enough for presentation to the police or when necessary.

5. Always carry with you card information of your staying hotel. In case of any problems the police can help you to your hotel.

6. Avoid connecting strangers. For visiting places or strolling in the town, ask your hotel desk for help or guidance.

7. Both for inner city and country roads, use authorized transportation. When possible let the hotel desk clerks make these arrangements for you.

But all these are just common sense things you use in any country you travel. It just shows there is nothing special about security in Iran.

Most people I met were very friendly and helpful thought a lot of them don't speak English, but still they will try to help you if you are asking for direction or looking for something. Of course there are taxi drivers who wants to charge you double price comparing to locals, but it is nothing to do with your safety.

I wasn't worry about safety before my trip and I will tell "yes" even with more confidence now if somebody will ask me "Is it safe to travel in Iran?"

More Info: "We all do Peru" invites you to enjoy this country so rich and diverse in culture and natural charm

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Points Miles & Martinis - W New York Times Square Service Comes Through With Whatever Whenever

I was reminded of how customer service should work during a recent stay at the W New York Times Square. At every turn I was met with great customer service and even the whatever whenever came through.

During check in I was offered an upgrade to a cool corner room facing Times Square. But I requested a room on the opposite side of the hotel from Times Square since those are optimal for actual sleeping. No problem. I was upgraded to a corner room facing the Hudson River.

Next, I asked for directions to the nearest CVS and was directed to the Duane Reade. While not the same, it was a nice quick resolution to my request.

Finally, once up in my room, I called down a request to the Whatever Whenever line and within minutes, multiple sets of W Hotel slippers were delivered even though I only requested 1 pair.

I noticed you were checking out tomorrow and I wanted to make sure you have had a wonderful W experience! If you have any feedback, or if there is anything we could have done to make YOUR escape better, please let me know!

View From The Wing - The 5 Best All-Around Rewards Credit Cards

In my post on the 5 credit cards with the very best signup bonuses, I offered that there are three different types of value in frequent flyer cards and each is a distinct reason to sign up.

And so I separately wrote about the five best credit card bonuses, the five cards with the best benefits, and the 5 most rewarding cards for spending.

But several readers have emailed to say that I really haven't put it all together. I carry several very mission-specific credit cards, but most readers want to know what one card is best, which one should they get since they aren't going to sign up for three or five?

So here are my top five all-around credit cards, taking into consideration signup bonus, value for every day spending, and benefits for holding the card.

These are in my opinion the very best current signup bonus offers for any credit card, since the value of the points themselves is really high.

And the earning on the cards is tough to match, as well. Both cards offer double points on gas and hotels (when you book directly with hotels, not when the spend is charged an online agent like Expedia) and quintuple points on telecommunications and office supplies. Between internet, cell phone, XM radio and cable television that's a lot of points each year, and it's amazing what you can buy at office supply stores.

Points transfer to United, British Airways, Korean Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, Hyatt, Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, Priority Club, and Amtrak, in many cases instantly.

Like with the Ink Bold and Ink Plus, points transfer to United, British Airways, Korean Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, Hyatt, Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, Priority Club, and Amtrak.

The value of the points for everyday spending, I especially like the bonuses on all travel and on dining, and it has one of the best signup bonuses to boot.

The annual fee is $0 the first year then $175 thereafter. So you need to spend a lot on the card to make it worth keeping after that first year — but if you do put $30,000 on the card in a year you receive 15000 bonus points, which is worth well more than the annual fee (and is why I continue to carry the card myself even past the first year).

I recently wrote up how to make the most of Membership Rewards points. My personal favorite is transfers to Singapore Airlines to redeem first class awards (since availability is actually really good).

This is the strongest American Express Membership Rewards card for points-earning, and I believe that Membership Rewards are one of the three most valuable currencies (along with Chase Ultimate Rewards and Starwood Starpoints).

The reason this card is great, though, is because Starwood has the most number of airline points transfer partners where transfers are 1:1 into miles (or better). And there's a built-in 25% transfer bonus: for every 20,000 miles you transfer points into Starwood gives you 5000 additional miles. So you effectively earn 1.25 miles per dollar on all of your spend (a built-in 25% bonus), and you get to pick what airline program you want your miles in later.

The card carries a $450 annual fee, but you can designate one airline on which you'll receive a $200 fee credit for the year. The fee credit is based on a calendar year so getting the card now means you can get a $200 credit in 2013 and another $200 credit in early 2014 before the next fee hits.

The Platinum American Express also reimburses the $100 application fee for Global Entry, comes with Gold status in Starwood Preferred Guest, along with other benefits.

There's also a Mercedes-Benz co-branded version of the card that has a $475 annual fee and comes with 50,000 points after $3000 spend within 3 months.

It's interesting to me that I believe the very best cards come from Chase, with the rest of the list filled out by American Express products. There are some nice niche products from Citibank, Barclays, Bank of America, and US Bank for sure. But these are the cream of the crop.

I've been a Starwood Preferred Guest cardholder for better than a decade, and I have all of these cards myself, they're also the ones I recommend as the very best in a fairly crowded and competitive field of rewards cards.

These cards represent what I believe are the very best, though I recognize there's some subjectivity to it (if you value airline lounge at zero, you wouldn't agree with me on the American Express Platinum card). But overall I think this is a pretty fair rendition. Any disagreements or cards you think are better than the ones listed above, appreciate the comments as always!

(Note that cards in this post offer credit to me if you're approved using my links. I try to offer only the best available cards, and most lucrative deals available for those cards. So if you're aware of better deals than I've featured please do let me know! The opinions, analyses, and evaluations here are mine. The content is not provided or commissioned by American Express, by Chase, by Citibank, US Bank, Bank of America, Barclays or any other company. They have not reviewed, approved or endorsed what I have to say.)

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Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Place Me to the Plane - Qatar to Fly Non-Stop to Philadelphia (PHL)!

Qatar Airways made the big announcement on their Twitter site earlier this morning. Theyall be employing a B777 on the approach to Doha and Philadelphia is likely to be Qataras 5th US gateway. With the imminent AA/US merger and Qataras expected October/November entry into oneWorld, the PHL choice appears to seem sensible. Qatar Airways happens to be a oneworld member specify, and thus within the next 6-12 months you need to be in a position to receive American AAdvantage and other oneworld carrier miles with this flight. IfAavailabilityAis as good as it was throughout the Continental( UA )/Qatar relationship, this may be a fairly sweet (andAreasonable) payoff opportunitya Associated a see Qatar to Launch Direct JFK a' Athens Service Placed by adam

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

One Distance at a Time - A Noble (dis )HHonor: Cathay Pacific Bar Bay Area

IntroductionAloft San Francisco AirportCathay Pacific Lounge San FranciscoCathay Pacific First School San Francisco to Hong KongCathay Pacific First Type Hong Kong to SingaporeSt. Regis SingaporeSingapore Airlines Silver Kris Bar SingaporeSilkAir Organization Class Singapore to Koh SamuiConrad Koh SamuiBangkok Airways Economy School Koh Samui to BangkokLe Meridien BangkokRoyal Jordanian Company Course Bangkok to Hong KongCathay Pacific aThe Winga First Class Lounge Hong KongCathay Pacific First Type Hong Kong to San Francisco We took a shuttle from the Aloft to the airport at around 10:30PM, and made it there about 10 minutes later. Iave gotta state so far as US airports go, I donat think there are several that are better than San Franciscoas Airport, especially the international terminal. Terminal exterior Airline signage Terminal interior We simply found the Cathay Pacific check-in region, which was fairly clear considering that many people had already checked in. Cathay Pacific check-in There is nobody ahead of us in the first type line, and we were served in a matter of seconds. Cathay Pacific first class check-in Cathay Pacific has one of the smallest first class rooms on their 777s, with only six seats. If the cottage is full Iave discovered itas like musical chairs to make certain every one sits together. You will find two rows of seating with three seats per row. The two middle chairs start towards the best section, meaning if youare traveling together you desire to stay in either 1D & 1K or 2D & 2K (or if you prefer windows you may do 1A & 2A or 1K & 2K). In cases like this we had seats 1A and 2D provided how late we booked, and the cabin was complete. I wasnat actually going for them to replace our seats to ask, though there clearly was a traveling in first class and the check-in agent asked if we'd mind swapping chair 2D for 1D, because the couple in first class had seats 2K and 1D designated. Obviously we didnat head because that would give us seats 1A & 1D, and if it would be possible to ask the individual seated in 1K whether theyad be ready to switch to 1A at that place I asked. If youare traveling alone 1A & 2A are the finest seats since you donat have other people sharing the section with you, therefore like it'd be described as a win-win it seemed. He explained theyad focus on it, and that I should check-in again at the door. We headed towards security, and they only had an individual street open, on top while it wasnat very active. Heading towards safety Below is a image of how my boarding pass looked after the security agent (itas not TSA in San Francisco, but rather aTeam SFOa) checked it. Iam maybe not wanting to be an ass, but could someone please reveal to me how thatas even slightly necessary? Significantly, what is this, kindergarten? And are these testicles? Boarding complete after the always check I find aTeam SFOa to be among the rudest safety ateama in the usa, and currently was no exception. They were only utilising the full body scanners and perhaps not the metal detectors, that I imagine is okay, except the queue for entering the full body scanner was about 20 people deeply. The agent working the line kept screaming adonat enter line until your entire items are within the x-ray.a Thatas good, though thereas a slight problem. Youare not allowed to keep your items untreated, but youare also not allowed to get in the line for the whole body reader until your items come in the x-ray. The line for the full body scanner was about 5 minutes long, and from the full body scanner line you couldnat begin to see the other side of the x-ray strip, where your possessions are. So I asked the representative aexcuse me, how am I supposed to be able to keep an eye on my possessions when I canat see them from here?a He gave me a blank look, mumbled somewhat, and explained, atheyall be wonderful, weall ensure other passengers donat feel them.a I responded with aitas not other passengers Iam involved about,a but that seemed to go over his head. Positive thing I wasnat transiting Heathrow, where the normal protection question is ahave you been in possession of your bags the entire time?a Anyway, once through security we turned left towards the region with the lounges and took the elevator up to the next level, where in actuality the Cathay Pacific bar is located. Lounges 2nd level bar area Cathay Pacific opened their new bar in Bay Area a little over last year, therefore I was curious what it was like. Last time I took this journey they used the British Airways bar, which was quite average. As soon as I discovered the lounge it felt like a universal Cathay Pacific lounge at among their outstations, which they be seemingly pretty in keeping with. Lounge exterior Upon entering the lounge we were welcomed and advised there would have been a boarding call for our trip. Near the entrance was a company center with a small number of Mac computers. Organization center As the lounge is a great size, it was packed. There clearly was hardly a clear seat, and thereas not just a separate first class section, therefore it really doesnat feel like all that premium of a bar. It fundamentally has four partitioned off seating parts, each with maybe a dozen seats, in addition to a bar area. Bar seating Bar seating Lounge sitting The bar area contains a few communal tables. Bar place There was a home assist buffet which was okay. It contained four hot recipes, salad, finger sandwiches, and packaged snacks. Buffet Buffet selection Warm possibilities Cold choices There was also a modest open bar. Bar is served by self Self assist bar As is rather common in Cathay Pacific lounges, there is also a made-to-order noodle station. If youare likely to eat in the lounge, thatas possibly the destination for a achieve this. Noodle station Noodle section menu I'd the wonton crackers, of really good since I hadnat enjoyed all night. Wonton noodles Itas worth noting the wifi in the bar was excruciatingly slow. I know the lounge was full and consumption was probably high, but I still think that is unacceptable in a brand new lounge in the usa. Attempting to check on the status of my chair change, I went to the door about 10 minutes before boarding was called, at around 11:20PM. Walking to gate Our starting entrance was A3, that is located down the escalator from the primary concourse. Escalator to departure door Whilst the flight was completely reserved, the gate area was surprisingly bare. Iam guessing everybody else was in the bar centered on how complete it was. Departure gate I headed up to the podium to see if they were able to change my chair, and before my sentence could be finished by me they handed me a brand new boarding pass for 1K. Great. At around 11:45PM boarding was called, starting with first and business class. 777 taking us to Hong Kong 777 taking us to Hong Kong

Sunday, May 5, 2013

California with kids a' A Great Place for Cheap Holidays!

Bring them to Florida, If you like to see your kids faces light up. Texas is packed full of activities for kids, all that's necessary to learn is which ones are the best. First end, Busch Gardens.A Located in Tampa, Florida it's a 335-acre adventure park. Busch Gardens, Tampa, Florida Here you'll find wild animals and even wilder rides.A From cheetahs and giraffes to tigers, lions and elephants, Busch Gardens has it all. Only your camera is forgotten by donat. If your children love films then Universal Studios in Orlando is a must.A A genuine behind-the-scenes look at the ingredients of films and television production, Universal Studios is a great day trip for the whole family.A Lots of flights, shows and sights make-up this fantastic park. No trip to Florida could be complete without a visit to Disney World.A It truly is a host to pleasure and magic, whether you are a young child or an adult. Disney fort in Florida Why don't you read the old classics like Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyearas Space Ranger Spin? Donat forget to view the march? It's a genuine manifestation of precisely what Disney provides. When the weather is hot and humid in Florida there is only 1 thing for it, Adventure Island.A 30 miles of water-splashing fun. AAdventure Island includes falls, trend pools, slides and water playgrounds to create a good day out for everyone.A The right method to cool down. Along side Disney World, another Florida favourite is SeaWorld a achance for you and your family to get up-close with a number of the most wonderful creatures of the sea.A Located in Orlando, Florida the shows will provide you with thoughts you will always remember. Therefore, if you are looking for the ideal place to take your children this summer, make sure Florida is top of one's record because it is definitely an ideal place for inexpensive all inclusive holidays.A You wonat be trapped for what to keep them entertained, thatas for sure.

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Teremok Maritime Lodge: Store, Must-Visit Accommodations in South Africaas Umhlanga Stones

Itas rare that individuals publish straight-up resort evaluations here on Vagabondish. But itas seldom that we find near-perfect accommodations possibly. And that's why South Africaas Teremok Marine Lodge is worth a note (itas clear that a lot of other travelers recognize). Iave been singing its praises to anybody and everybody else since my stay static in April. Itas maybe not the largest, priciest, most luxurious, or most luxurious. And luckily itas not attempting to be; instead it just gets anything right. aGoldilocksa accommodations, in the event that you can. (Prepare for effusive, elaborate terms of encouragement a) Guest Bar at Teremok Marine Resort, Umhlanga Stones, South Africa Based on a peaceful hillside ignoring Africaas Sugar Coast, its Russian namesake is taken by Teremok (literally meaning alittle hideawaya) very seriously. The owners consider it as a aluxurious five-star shop lodgea and I've to recognize a' itas intimate, yet spacious; magnificent, yet reassuring. Itas as if youare staying in a friendas home, the format allows for plenty of privacy. Whether meaning retiring to one of only seven visitor bedrooms or soothing fireplace with coffee and a book in any of their semi-private common areas. Iave never felt much more comfortable or at home in a hotel than used to do at Teremok. Every guest room is made with an original design, decor, feeling CD, and smell a every last bit carefully decided upon by the owners. (Seriously, what hotel cherry picks another aroma for every room?) If your budget allows, opt for a room on the upper level. The aDurban Viewa room, for instance, is roomy, decked out in a streamlined, modern, African-inspired theme with, among other things, polished concrete floors, leisure system, king-sized mattress with enough pillows to meet a, large, private balcony with beautiful views of the Indian Ocean, massive soak bath, and a stand-up bath nearly large enough to park a Mini Cooper. Teremok Marine Hotel, Umhlanga Rocks, South Africa A Paul Richard Which is fairly expected of a five-star house in these times. However the devil is in the important points a always. A hotel marketed as aupscalea rapidly loses its appeal when visitors find apparently little things a peeling paint in the toilet, overpriced wi-fi costs, foolish small bar charges, guest party calls that go unanswered, and etc. Not with Teremok. The three owners (Debbie Davidson and kids Tracy Gielink and Kim Davidson) proudly report that theyave no background in the hospitality industry, but all are enthusiastic tourists and have used both of these points with their advantage. Betty was quick to generally share that they opened the lodge with one particular problem in mind: aWhat would we wish in a hotel?a And therefore it is that all friends may also be offered: Yes a itas the small items that keep people happy. Enhance the long list of services an onsite massage a' a rather strange offering for this type of little house. But Kim claims that itas turn into a spot for residents in its right. And Iam perhaps not amazed. The spa was recently renovated this season with just two individually-themed treatment areas (Aqua and Orchid) both offering a relaxed, close experience inline with the hotelas ahideawaya namesake. Massage at Teremok Maritime Resort, South Africa The extensive menu supplies a number of massages, facials, natural clay human anatomy wraps, holistic treatments, and spa deals (for bachelorettes, severe makeovers, and all-day acocoona treatments). The resort generously presented me with their Teremok Signature massage a' a fantastic two-hour treatment, including straight back, throat & neck massage, leg and foot stress point massage, classic Dermalogica cosmetic, scalp massage a and a with coffee to sweeten the deal. Thereas also a retail space: a born to provide an outlet for a personal collection of things that arouse and encourage the three Davidson women, which ranges from clothing from manufacturers Leigh Schubert and Michelle Ludek, to LoveWaterLove costumes, Missibaba handbags, Swarvoski-studded crocodile cuff necklaces from Leather Rose, handmade sterling silver jewelry, and bottles of old fashioned desserts. Lighthouse, Umhlanga Rocks, South Africa Teremok can be found merely a short (5-10 minute) walk from just about everything in Umhlanga Rocks, including the Umhlanga Lighthouse, Oyster Box hotel, party, Umhlanga Rocks town and more. Get your camera + get among the hotelas free bikes to explore the town further, if youare feeling much more ambitious. The substantial beach here's stunning! Locations starting around R3,250 (around $350 USD by May, 2013). Check always current prices and plans. Even the pricing falls into the just-right aGoldilocksa range. Considering the long listing of features, excellent awareness of detail, sweeping ocean views, onsite club, excellent food, and extremely polite team, Teremok is one of my top five all-time favorite hotels, not just in Africa, nevertheless the world. Undoubtedly a must-visit. You may be enthusiastic about related articles tagged with: Accommodations, Review, South Africa Disclosure: Vagabondish received two free times at Teremok Marine Lodge before this evaluation. Vagabondish founding publisher, Mike Richard, is a Rhode Island local, professional web designer and journey junkie by having an unhealthy addiction to backpacking, hiking and seeing the planet. He likes small, declarative sentences, knit caps and talking in the third person. His professional loans include "Woman's World magazine contributor" and having once been surveyed by Tyra Banks (really). Name (required) Email (expected) Internet site What d'ya say?

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