Onward to Paris!

With some luck, I managed to come across some affordable flights from New York (Kennedy) to Charles de Gaulle (CDG) for next year . Flights from Raleigh to JFK were almost as expensive as those from JFK to CDG, so I opted to use miles for that set of flights. With some nesting, the total price came in under $940. Not bad for two tickets, eh?

The tricky part with nested flights is that any checked bags will have to be collected and re-checked. I tried to give us 5 hours on either side of the international leg to account for this, but with JFK (or any New York airport, for that matter…) anything is possible.

Nested Flights

With some stays last year in San Diego, I was able to rack up enough Hyatt points for a week at Hôtel du Louvre! Located directly across from the Louvre museum and the Tuileries gardens (where the Arc de Triomphe is), it is also a short walk from Notre-Dame de Paris. Hard to beat that location!

Thanks to my status, I was able to select Comfort+ seats at booking even though it was an international flight. My Global Upgrade Certificates are expiring soon, so I won’t be able to use them, yet, but my new ones should be available in February. The Delta One cabin on the A330 is arranged in a reverse-herringbone configuration with the Comfort+ seats behind the middle galley. There seems to be quite a few Delta One seats open, so I’m cautiously optimistic!

From SeatGuru

Sheraton Mission Valley – 14th Floor Suite

A few months ago I was upgraded to one of the Junior King suites at the Sheraton I frequent. More recently, I had the opportunity to experience one of their full-size suites on the 14th floor.

As soon as you leave the elevator, you notice how different this floor is from the other floors. The lighting is newer and the ceilings are raised. There are also a lot fewer doors on this floor, unsurprisingly.

14th Floor

Entering the room, the first thing you’ll notice (well, that I noticed) was that the door didn’t keep closing on me! Not a huge thing, but it helps when taking pictures, hah.

“Kitchen” and Living Area

Beyond the living area is a balcony that connects to the bedroom, so you could leave one room and enter the other from the balcony alone.

The “kitchen”
Entertainment center

The bedroom was arranged in a fairly standard two Queen configuration, so no surprises there.

Beds!

Connecting to the bedroom was the massive bathroom with a separate room for the shower and commode.

Closet and bathroom
Full-sized mirror and twin sinks
Enclosed shower