An Amazing Asian Adventure: Introduction

I had been eyeing a trip to Asia for a little while, since we had most recently done trips to Europe, South America, and the Caribbean. Both the Mrs. Guru and I had a relatively sizable number of frequent flyer miles with American Airlines, and as of now, American has, by far, the cheapest award prices to Asia. For comparison, a One Way Business Class ticket from North America to anywhere in Asia currently only costs 55,000 miles using American miles, but United and Delta both charge 80,000 miles. I knew that eventually, American would be raising their prices, which they just announced a few weeks ago, so it was the perfect time to book this trip while their prices were still way below the competition.

I also had read a lot about Etihad Airways (based in Abu Dhabi, UAE), since they have a First Class that is head and shoulders above any seat on any other airline today. Their First Class on the Airbus A380 isn’t just a seat; they call it an Apartment – and for good reason! Inside your Apartment, you have a huge seat, along with a separate 80” long sofa that folds down into a bed. Here’s a sneak peak of what the First Apartment looks like: Continue reading An Amazing Asian Adventure: Introduction

An Update on Updates

Happy Holidays to everyone – it’s been a while since I’ve had a chance to post an update, but in the mean time, we’ve taken a number of exciting trips.  You may have seen a few recent posts on Twitter or Facebook about the trip we just took to Hong Kong, Thailand, and India, which was a fantastic time.  We also had a great time down in South America, and I never finished our trip to Greece, so I have plenty to catch up on.  I’m planning to cover our Asia trip first, since that’s the freshest in my mind. Continue reading An Update on Updates

Broadway Sing Off at LaGuardia Airport

We’ve all experienced long flight delays at some point or another, and the ugly weather in the northeast over the past few days has certainly caused a pretty huge mess between Philadelphia, New York, and surrounding areas. Delays like these sometimes bring out the worst in us, but check out this video: during a 6 hour day at New York’s LaGuardia airport, 2 Disney Broadway Casts (The Lion King and Aladdin) had a sing off to pass the time. How cool is this?!

Uber Promotions from Capital One

I’ve written a number of times about Uber, the cashless on-demand car service that is now widely available across the US and in a growing number of international cities as well.  Typically, Uber offers you a sign up bonus for becoming a new member, anywhere from $10-$30 off the first ride you take.  Once you become a member, you can refer others to get the same sign-up bonus, and you also get a referral bonus for yourself. The Sister-In-Law Guru recently forwarded me an email that she received about a new promotion from Uber and Capital One: Huge Uber Sign Continue reading Uber Promotions from Capital One

Delta 20 Minute Baggage Guarantee is Now Permanent

A few weeks ago, I posted about a then-temporary promotion that Delta was offering, where they guaranteed that your checked baggage would arrive within 20 minutes of your arrival, or they would offer you 2,500 miles as compensation if it took longer.  Initially, this promotion was only valid through March 31, but they’ve now made the baggage guarantee a permanent (well, until further notice) offering. Now, anytime you check a bag, you’re guaranteed to have it back in your hands within 20 minutes of your flight arriving at the gate.  If your bag takes longer than 20 minutes to arrive, Continue reading Delta 20 Minute Baggage Guarantee is Now Permanent

Free Hilton Points for Changing Your Password Now Working

A few weeks ago, I posted that Hilton was running a promotion where you could earn 1,000 free Hilton points, just by changing your password to encourage users to maintain a more secure account.  Not long after the promotion was supposed to start, Hilton realized that they had a technical glitch, and that they weren’t actually ready to start the promotion yet.  They reached out to me and explained the situation, promising to provide an update when they had sorted out the technical problems. As promised, they did reach out to me to provide an update – they’ve now fixed Continue reading Free Hilton Points for Changing Your Password Now Working

Free Hilton Points and Delta Miles

UPDATE: I received information from Hilton that the promotion below about receiving bonus points for updating your account password is not active yet. They have run into a technical glitch in implementing this promotion, so hang tight on changing your passwords for now. I will remove this update and publish a new post once they let me know that the issue has been corrected on their end so that your bonus points will be credited to your account correctly.

There are 2 interesting promotions going on right now:

1) 1000 Free Hilton Points for updating your online account password
2) 2500 Free Delta Miles if it takes longer than 20 minutes for your checked bag to arrive

Up until now, Hilton accounts have utilized a PIN for logging in. On March 25, 2015 they’ll be changing over to a password system for logging in, since numeric PINs aren’t nearly as secure as alphanumeric passwords. To encourage members to update their accounts and improve security, if you set or update your account password between now and March 8, 2015, you’ll get a completely free 1000 point bonus. Continue reading Free Hilton Points and Delta Miles

Exploring Santorini (Part 3) and Aegean Airlines Santorini to Athens

Kamari Beach, Santorini

Our final day in Santorini gave us the opportunity to explore a bit more of the island. We had the most delicious dinner of the trip up on the northern tip of the island in Oia, and took a sunset dinner cruise around the southern tip into the central caldera, but there are several other towns worth exploring. On the southeast corner of the island are 2 black sand beach towns, Perissa and Kamari. We decided to spend a day out in Kamari, which involved another challenging bus episode.

We did make it on the Kamari bus, which was about a 25 minute ride from Fira town. The bus pulled in just a block or two from the beach, which is lined with dozens of shops and restaurants. We decided to walk down the main street, running parallel to the beach, which had some shade, but it was a bit off-putting that every 10 steps, as the next set of tables was part of a new restaurant, we were loudly offered to “Come! Have a seat! Delicious food!” Continue reading Exploring Santorini (Part 3) and Aegean Airlines Santorini to Athens

Limited Time $30 Uber Sign Up Bonus is Back

drivers-car-service-pic

If you’ve been following my blog for a while now, you’ve no doubt heard me talk about Uber – the relatively new on-demand car service that has revolutionized the taxi industry.  The Mrs. Guru and I use Uber all the time, both here in North Carolina and in cities around the country.  In most cities, it’s equivalent or cheaper than a taxi, there’s full transparency about the route the driver takes you (you get an email receipt with a map showing the route that the driver took), and it’s completely cashless.  You rate your driver (and your driver rates you), Continue reading Limited Time $30 Uber Sign Up Bonus is Back

Reminder: Last Day for 40% Amex Transfer Bonus to British Airways

A few weeks ago, I posted that American Express was running a 40% bonus for transferring Amex Membership Rewards Points to British Airways.  That deal is set to end today, January 31, so if you haven’t transferred your points over to British Airways, now is the time to do it! As a reminder, British Airways points can be used for flights on American Airlines and US Airways.  The Mrs. Guru and I have redeemed British Airways points to Ireland, New York, Chicago, Washington DC, Jacksonville, and the Bahamas – all for 50-75% fewer points than it would cost when booking Continue reading Reminder: Last Day for 40% Amex Transfer Bonus to British Airways