No, I didn’t mess with gift cards this time. Been there done that. As I’ve mentioned a few times, my parents are coming to visit us in March. Naturally,  I have a ton of stuff planned out, one of them going to Sea World Orlando. First, let me  acknowledge the controversy surrounding this amusement park and […]

Recently I was contacted by several readers who just came across my blog and apparently, enjoy it quite a bit (according to them). But it made me think how so much of what I say probably sounds like total gibberish. Churning, The Hobby, reconsideration process. What the heck does it all mean? This is the […]

First things first. Starting tomorrow you will no longer be able to book short routes within North America  that currently cost 4,500 Avios. If you need to do it and have been procrastinating, leave my blog immediately and get it taken care of. All set? OK, so Avios program will be gutted tomorrow, the sky […]

As you’ve probably heard by now, IHG has introduced two new categories that will cost 55,000 and 60,000 points. This isn’t at all surprising since similar Hilton HHonors hotels can run as much as 95,000 points per night. Many people in the hobby are saying that the program is now totally gutted. I respectfully disagree. […]

I’ve mentioned before that my family loves cruises (see my trip report): The magic of staring at the waves at night, the slow pace that is in contrast to the frenetic rat race of this world. Sure, cruising in many ways has become mass market/cookie cutter, but you can still capture the magic with just a […]