Category: Vacations

Personal vacations!

Great @VirginAtlantic Premium Economy Sale!

If you are looking to fly to London, now is the time! While this sale is limited to the NYC and DC area, you can fly Virgin Atlantic’s Premium Economy to London!

Like Domestic First...
Like Domestic First…
...But with real food!
…But with real food!

The icing on the cake is that American Express currently has an offer where if you spend $1,000 or more with Virgin Atlantic, you receive a statement credit of $200! Since the purchase has to be made on the Virgin Atlantic website, and travel must originate in the US, this qualifies if you are buying at least two tickets.

The offer!
The offer!

Like MommyPoints and the FrequentMiler point out, if you are going to do this, jump on it quickly! You can find dates scattered around the calendar through May 2017. Crediting the miles to Delta would allow for extra earnings of both award miles and Medallion Qualifying Miles because of the booked fare, as well.

Check Google Flights and see what works for your calendar! 😀

San Diego Trip Update

Due to a silent flight cancellation, my flight from Salt Lake City to Dallas-Fort Worth would have only a 19 minute connecting time, so I opted to re-route through Detroit instead. The new itinerary takes my girlfriend and I from San Diego to Detroit directly, and then from Detroit to Atlanta, and then on to Raleigh.

From the GreatCircleMapper
From the GreatCircleMapper

The nice thing about having a 3 hour layover in Detroit is my girlfriend can knock out her Global Entry interview! Boston, the other airport we frequent, is apparently backlogged through early 2017, so it’s nice to be able to do this before our trip this Christmas.

Another @SingaporeAir Sale!

A few days ago, I posted about a great deal on Premium Economy seats to Singapore. This morning I received an email about another deal going on! This one is for economy travel from various US-based hubs (SFO, LAX, JFK, and IAH — San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York-Kennedy, and Houston, respectively).

2016-09-17-singaporesale02
A sampling of cities

The other big difference is that this sale isn’t just to Singapore, as you might have noticed from the image above. A full table can be found on the deal site, and below.

Lots of options!
Lots of options!

This is a flash sale, so don’t expect the fares to last for long. If you have any flights planned to these regions, it might be worth jumping on while you can!

@Delta – Hawaii Award Sale

Delta is currently running a promotion where you can save anywhere from 10,000 to 25,000 miles per award ticket to Hawaii. Note that there is a separate booking option for Delta One than First Class, since it is possible to get lie-flat seats on certain routes! Also keep in mind that while you can receive complimentary Medallion upgrades from Economy to Comfort+ or First Class, you can’t to Delta One.

If you have any travel planned within the travel period, give it a gander! You can see the full details on the promotion website.

Promotion details from Delta.com
Promotion details from Delta.com

San Diego Update

A few days ago, I posted about my upcoming vacation plan to San Diego. Since then, I went ahead and booked the flights and hotel.

The Flight

I followed through my plan to maximize my segments by flying through Dallas-Fort Worth, allowing me to snag 8 segments on a single trip. Though it requires some early morning flights, it does allow for visiting the Centurion Lounge at the airport, which will make the whole process a more pleasant experience.

Courtesy of Great Circle Mapper
Courtesy of Great Circle Mapper

The Hotel

For the stay, I made the reservation at the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay Spa and Marina. This allows me to take advantage of the current Hyatt promotion and work on my Hyatt status at the same time.

Current Hyatt Promotion
Current Hyatt Promotion

Because of the hotel’s location, it seemed an excellent choice for a base of operations to explore what San Diego had to offer – SeaWorld, the San Diego Zoo, downtown, and more.

Current Flight Deals

There are quite a few flight deals available right now – both for domestic and international travel. I’ve listed some of the big ones out below – keep in mind that some of these sales expire quickly!

JetBlue is offering many one-way flights starting at $39! The full list of terms and conditions are available at the JetBlue website.

British Airways is offering triple Avios earned on all flights, which can be quite generous when combined with the AARP discount. Keep in mind that earning is based on fare class and distance flown.

Delta, American Airlines, and United Airlines all have excellent deals from various US airports to Europe. If you have any flights coming up on one of these airlines, it would definitely be a good idea to check out if you can get a lower price.

Virgin Atlantic is offering a 30% discount for Economy and Premium Economy tickets! This makes for affordable flights, though be warned that these award tickets do come with some hefty fuel surcharges (in the £200 range for Economy, and £400 for Premium Economy).

Finally, American Express has released some new offers, one of which is a $200 discount on Delta purchases of $1000 or more! Remember that you can open a new tab for each AmEx card you have, allowing you to get the same offer multiple times – one of my favorite tricks.

Vacation Report: Kansas City, Arrival

Kansas City: Arrival

Kansas City: Grünauer

Kansas City: Renaissance Faire & Jack Stack BBQ

KCI Approach with 8 second exposure
KCI Approach with 8 second exposure

Arriving at MCI (or KCI, depending on how you remember the airport – watch out because many signs are KCI, though the IATA recognizes it as MCI), is both like and unlike arriving at other airports. For those that remember flying prior to 9/11, you will recall that your friends and family could escort you all the way to your gate. MCI is designed in a very similar fashion, where security is actually for individual sets of gates for each terminal.

Security at KCI
Security at KCI

This is very different from other airports where the folks seeing you off, or collecting you, won’t be able to see you until you leave the secured area. In fact, there are transparent regions where you can see one another as soon as you get off the plane. Extremely convenient!

Map from FlyKCI.com
Map from FlyKCI.com

Furthermore, the parking is arranged in smaller sections, for each terminal, in addition to longer term parking which can be found in the middle. Each “C” has gates along the outer edge with security for each set of five or so gates. This makes for extremely smooth arrivals and departures. Transfers can be tricky, though, if the gate you are going to is in a different security cluster. The real food options (and gift options) are located outside the secure zone, so this should also be kept in mind depending on what your plans include.