Flights How I’m spending only $300 for my midsummer vacation’s flights Upgraded to Economy, June 3, 2024June 4, 2024 This summer, I’m making the same voyage I made last summer, except I’ve added one new stop. My goal with this trip was to be as efficient with money as possible. My focus is to minimize my hotel and airfare expenses while maximizing the amount of time I spend outside… Continue Reading
Flights My first amazing Alaska Airlines redemption Upgraded to Economy, June 2, 2024June 2, 2024 A few days ago, I had over 125,000 Alaska miles. This was a lot of miles that I had essentially no use for. I don’t want to redeem these miles on domestic routes because they almost always are a worse deal than simply paying cash. In addition, I want to… Continue Reading
Driving My crazy idea for how I’m going to Montréal this summer Upgraded to Economy, May 31, 2024July 25, 2024 If you can’t tell, I am absolutely infatuated with Montréal. However, the annoyance of clearing customs and immigration at the airport, combined with Canada’s high aviation taxes, make another alternative idea a lot more enticing. Just like I did in my 2022 trip to Toronto, I can simply fly to… Continue Reading
Some unintuitive items I bring with me on my trips Upgraded to Economy, January 29, 2024July 25, 2024 Traveling frequently has allowed me to develop a routine for packing. For a short trip, I’m now able to carry all of my necessities in just one carry-on bag and one personal item backpack. Here’s a few things I like to carry with me that might not be too intuitive,… Continue Reading
Flights Trip review: Japan Airlines (JAL) Premium Economy seats (Tokyo–Haneda to Shanghai–Pudong) [HND to PVG] Upgraded to Economy, November 13, 2023November 13, 2023 On my recent flight from Tokyo–Haneda to Shanghai–Pudong, I rode on a Japan Airlines (JAL) Boeing 787-9. This is a three-class cabin with business class, premium economy, and economy seats. However, the flight was sold as a two-cabin flight; the premium economy seats were treated as regular economy class, but… Continue Reading
Flights Trip review: Delta A220 domestic first class (Denver to Seattle) [DEN to SEA] Upgraded to Economy, July 5, 2023July 9, 2023 In a previous post, I talked about my redemption deal for only 14,000 miles (roundtrip) on Delta plus a $95 upgrade fee to fly in domestic first class. That post contains my outbound flight from Seattle to Denver. For my return flight, I flew in an Airbus A220 from Denver… Continue Reading
Flights Trip review (Instagram stories): American Airlines domestic first class (Seattle to Dallas) [SEA to DFW] Upgraded to Economy, July 4, 2023July 5, 2023 Here’s a flight review from my Instagram! Continue Reading
Flights Trip review: Flying Delta domestic first class for $95 + 7,000 SkyMiles Upgraded to Economy, July 4, 2023July 6, 2023 In late April 2023, I found cheap award availability between Seattle and Denver on Delta Air Lines. With the end of ski season, I guess the demand for visiting such a beautiful city (and the beautiful state of Colorado) died down, which is a shame for the people missing out… Continue Reading
Flights Trip review: Delta One suites (Seattle to Amsterdam) [SEA to AMS] Upgraded to Economy, July 4, 2023July 13, 2023 In October 2022, I had a business trip to Amsterdam. I booked a direct flight from Seattle to Amsterdam on Delta. For my outbound flight, I had the opportunity to upgrade to Delta One suites for only $699. Considering the upgrade was $4,000 before this massive price drop, I immediately… Continue Reading
Flights My experience with ITA Airways Volare status on other SkyTeam carriers Upgraded to Economy, January 1, 2023July 4, 2023 In the middle of 2022, I got Volare status on ITA Airways through a status match program they were running. Since then, I’ve found very limited use of this status. Through my Volare Club Premium status, I’m supposed to have access to SkyTeam Elite Plus benefits. However, as of December… Continue Reading
Featured The best travel-size toothpaste for carry-ons Upgraded to Economy, November 27, 2022November 28, 2022 We all know that whenever we’re flying, we have to adhere to the annoying 3-1-1 liquids carry-on rules. I used to think that meant I could only bring small, travel-size toothpaste (only carrying about 0.85 oz in the container) like the below: Believe it or not, those little travel size… Continue Reading
Featured How I’m requalifying for AAdvantage Platinum for 2023 Upgraded to Economy, November 27, 2022November 28, 2022 Starting for the 2023 qualification year, AAdvantage qualification is based on how many AAdvantage base miles you earn, which count as what’s called Loyalty Points. It doesn’t matter how many segments or miles you actually fly; it essentially only matters how many miles you earn, which is essentially a function… Continue Reading