Last weekend, I took a quick trip to Ann Arbor to see some friends and have dinner with the Ann Arbor bloggers. TravelBloggerBuzz showed up. I didn’t follow his blog before, but I like the idea of what he does: He tries to keep bloggers honest by drawing attention to bad blogging practices. One of the…
American Airlines has traditionally offered its elite members a “soft landing”, meaning that American would only drop your frequent flyer status one tier if you didn’t qualify for your current level of status during the year. For example, if you were an Executive Platinum in 2012 and only flew enough in 2012 to earn Gold…
If you’re a business traveler, the availability of direct flights from your home airport largely determines your airline preference. Being based in Minneapolis, I’m a natural Delta flyer. Like many, I’ve been frustrated with the progressive devaluation of the program, the difficulty in booking awards, and (to a lesser extent) the new revenue tiers. I had a…
Recently, a few friends have pointed out Feecation as a way to avoid fees (or even make money) while traveling. At first glance, Feecation promises a “vacation from your fees”. Sounds great, right? But the details are a bit onerous. First, you are only reimbursed $10 for each receipt you submit. Think that you’re going to…
The ITA Software Matrix tool is one of my favorite tools to find great airfares, because it is both more intuitive and more powerful than most airline websites or online travel agency websites. In this video, I show you how to use the tool to search for a simple round trip, a round-trip with flexible…
Last weekend, I had the rare pleasure of seeing many of my old friends in the travel blogging community and hanging out with some of my readers at the Frequent Traveler University in Tyson’s Corner, near Washington D.C. It was a weekend of swapping stories and tips and enjoying the company of my (often eccentric)…
Starwood Hotels has just announced their second quarter promotion: Double Take Double Starpoints on stays: Earn double Starpoints® on all eligible stays from May 1 through July 31, 2013, at more than 1,000 participating Starwood hotels and resorts worldwide. Bonus Starpoints for using the SPG App: Plus, get 500 additional bonus Starpoints for each eligible…
Frequent Traveler University kicks off this weekend! Over the next few days, frequent flyers from all over the country will be dishing their secrets on earning and burning frequent flyer miles, getting the most from loyalty programs and swapping stories from the road. I will be in Washington, D.C. covering the conference this weekend. Blog…
Since Google Reader is shutting down, I spent some time on the plane yesterday reading through many of my “starred” blog posts. Here are a few on travel that I found particularly noteworthy: Looking at getting a new credit card? Check out this post on which credit cards are the best, depending on what you…
Following up on the post about packing techniques, Till also produced a very good video on how to fold a suit jacket: …and while we’re at it, here’s how to fold a t-shirt in two seconds:
The Flying Consultant 