I can’t believe it’s been a month since we’ve had a post around here! For my part, I’m gearing up for my crazy opulent, international first class flight on Cathay Pacific that I booked as an American Airlines award prior to the devaluation. Ā For 67,500 miles (less a 10% rebate), I’m going to fly in…let’s just say ‘style.’ Of course, I’ll have trip reports for that and my return flight on Singapore Airlines (sadly, no suites), which I will be sharing with my friend Jacob.
Category: trip reports
Trip Report: Singapore Airport and Lounge Reviews
Singapore Airport is incredible. It’s like the ultimate hangout spot, if it only didn’t require a boarding pass to get in. I could imagine people wanting to get their friends together and hang out for a day here. I was on my way from SIN to TPE via Tigerair Taiwan, and since I had to check luggage and the counters weren’t open more than 2 hours prior, I wish I had more than 2 hours to explore. I will definitely allot more hours next time I’m there. It’s these Asian airports that make me realize how paltry our American lounges are in comparison!
Trip Report: Taipei Lounge Reviews
This will be a photo-heavy post because I assume that in cases of trip reports, people are generally more interested in seeing photos than reading text! The photos should mostly speak for themselves…
Terminal 1:
- Plaza Premium Lounge (Zone D)Ā – Priority Pass
- Transasia Legend VIP LoungeĀ – Priority Pass
Terminal 2:
Trip Suggestions: Singapore
I just got back from a work trip to Singapore, but I had enough time to do some sightseeing, given that the city is small and most of its attractions are all very close to each other. It was my first time in Singapore, but it has been on my travel bucket list for a long time. In my mind, I had Singapore on a pedestal and expected it to be extraordinarily clean, have beautiful architecture, have tons of amazing cheap food, and have strict rules. Well, I found Singapore to be everything I expected, plus more.
Trip Suggestions: Fiji
Happy Memorial Day Weekend! I’m using this time of rest to honor and thank those who serve our country and keep us safe.
Today I’d like to share things to do in Fiji on a budget. You could easily travel to Fiji and have a blast by spending loads of money (those interisland transfers aren’t cheap!), but on our recently DEM Flyers trip to Oceania, we just wanted to chill in Fiji after a whirlwind trip through Sydney and New Zealand.
What happens when the Global Entry machines error out on you?
Well you certainly don’t get to try again, as I found out. I was in Miami on the way back from Panama, chatting with some new travel hacking friends I met on the flight back. We headed over to scan our documents at the Global Entry kiosks. I was going throughĀ the standard answer the questions, take a picture, scan your fingerprints, and got the last screen, where it said “Validating information. Times out in 31 seconds”
Review: Aer Lingus business class SFO-DUB (and getting original mileage credit on AA!)
“I wasn’t even originally supposed to be on this flight!” I exclaimed, as I was getting adjusted in my seat, in Aer Lingus business class going from San Francisco to Dublin.
So what had happened was I was originally booked SFO-JFK-DUB in American Airlines business class, leaving San Francisco Sunday at 8:50am and getting into Dublin at around 7:00am Monday. I got to the airport nice and early for my 8:50am departure, got to the gate… and the 8:50am departure slipped to 9:30am due to some mechanical issues. Nearing departure time again, I got called to the counter by the gate agent.
How I Hacked My Trip to Europe
It occurred to me as I was writing some blog posts that as much as I talk about various individual hacks, Iāve never actually detailed a real set of redemptions I made, how I constructed a trip, and the final costs. I think itās because they arenāt the most fun to write (because usually they’re not all that novel), but they can actually be pretty fun to read because they demonstrate whatās really possible with travel hacking.
AA 767-300 Business Class JFK-MXP
The second leg of my outbound to Europe was in Business class on American Airlinesās newly retrofitted 767-300s. Itās a two-class plane (i.e. no First class), with eight rows of seats in a 1-2-1, staggered configuration. Basically, this results in all the seats being forward-facing, with cut outs for your seat in the ottoman of the seat in front of you. My seat looked something like this:
Well, it looked exactly like that. I was seated in 4A, which is a window seat on the left aisle. This gave a really private feeling, as there was a table between me and the aisle which minimized disruption as the flight attendants walked up and down the aisle.
AA A321T First Class SFO-JFK
Hello from Milan!!! Iām here (well, in Europe) for a week visiting my sister, and for the first time, I booked all of my travel into premium cabins! Iām not usually one for trip reports (here was my first admittedly patheticĀ attempt at one), but I want to say thatās mostly because no one wants to hear me talk about how comfortable my economy class seat was or how the person next to me had bad body odor (hey, I call it as I smell it). Anyway, here goes: