Europe 2024 Trip Report So Far: Back from 18-day Europe Trip, Review: Iberia Business Class DFW to MAD, Hits and Misses from my First MSC Cruise,  DoubleTree by Hilton Amsterdam Centraal Station Review Our two days in Amsterdam ended up being one of our favorite parts of our recent European trip. The city was much […]

On my recent European vacation, my daughter and I spent two nights at DoubleTree by Hilton Amsterdam Centraal Station.  I booked our room last year for 60,000 Hilton Honors points a night (see this post). I picked this hotel because of its location next door to Amsterdam’s Centraal Station, as we would be arriving to […]

I’ve see the term “phantom award space” mentioned on blogs and message boards over the years, but I’ve never personally encountered it until recently. What is phantom award space? Phantom award space is when award availability shows up on an airline’s website, but it’s a mistake and the award space really isn’t available to book. […]

This week, two airline programs announced higher award prices (i.e. miles devaluations). This news is always unwelcome, but especially so when we have no advance notice. Virgin Guts Delta One Awards to Europe with Huge Fees, Higher Rates A few days ago, Thrifty Traveler discovered a big devaluation with Virgin Atlantic awards on its partner […]

Europe 2024 Trip Report So Far: Back from 18-day Europe Trip, Review: Iberia Business Class DFW to MAD During our recent trip to Europe, my 13-year-old daughter and I sailed on MSC Euribia to the Norwegian fjords. Port stops included Copenhagen, Nordfjordeid, Alesund, Flam and Kiel, Germany. This cruise was quite different than any cruise […]

I’m not going to sugar coat this: Finding award availability to and from Asia in business class for a family is difficult. Frequently, airlines release only 1-2 saver awards per flight, and those are snatched up quickly. And, unfortunately, flying to/from Asia requires long flights. Nonstop flights from Dallas run 13+ hours depending on the […]