Work hard, play hard. Apparently, that’s not just a saying for many who travel a lot for business. It’s a reality. At least, that’s according to a recent survey done by On Call International, a company that specializes in travel risk management.
Something that backs up the results? An app called MileHi. Some are calling it the Tinder of the skies. And it's performing surprisingly well. It reportedly has been downloaded 3,000 times in only two weeks.
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Gone are the days of dressing up to catch a flight. A suit is probably the least likely thing you’ll see in the airport these days, even with all the business travelers. But how people look is the least of our problems when flying. Flight etiquette, like the clothing choices passengers make, seems to be getting worse and worse.
Passengers aren’t the only ones that are taking notice. You can bet airlines are too. Which is probably why JetBlue recently came out with a series of flight etiquette videos. They uploaded a total of five, all of which are quite comical!
I'm pretty excited for my trip to the Beaver Creek area of Colorado later this year. I’ll be staying at the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek, a resort that is said to be one of the best in the U.S. I’ve never been to the area, but the reviews look promising.
“The Park Hyatt is a sweet splurge indeed — its prime location (smack in the middle of the village and at the foot of the Centennial Express), Allegria spa, and ski valet make it Beaver Creek's most favorable option. You can even roast s'mores at the mountainside fire pit,” says Shermans Travel. The best part?
Yes, times are certainly a changin’. It reminds me of the classic Bob Dylan song of, pretty much, the same name.
Why, you ask? Well, you can now fly the friendly skies with weed. At least, within one state. Surprisingly, it’s not Colorado. The state where you can now do that? Oregon. Yes, you can now, apparently, fly from Portland to another airport within Oregon with ganja.
During my recent trip to Austin, TX, I stayed at the InterContinental Stephen F. Austin. The room was free, thanks to my IHG credit card. Along with my bonus for meeting the minimum spend after getting the card, I earned enough points to stay there for two nights.
Rooms can easily reach $240 a night. As for points, a Traditional King costs 50,000 points a night. Not the best value, but not horrible either. You can also combine cash and points, which will typically give the points a slightly better value. Another perk to my IHG card: complimentary upgrades. I was booked in a Traditional King, but when I checked in, they had a King Deluxe room available. So, Crystal and I stayed in that one.
Texas has mountains, hills, plains, forests, deserts, and beaches. Oh yeah, it also has some of the biggest cities in the United States. Yes, there’s Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio. But the one that may be the most memorable is the state’s capital: Austin. With a population of over 900,000, it’s the second largest capital city in the U.S.
I recently spent a long weekend there and enjoyed every second of it. I stayed at the InterContinental Stephen F. Austin for free, thanks to my IHG Rewards Club MasterCard (I’ll have a review of my stay coming shortly). If you’ve never been to Austin, I highly recommend it. There’s pretty much something for everyone.
Have you ever been on a noisy flight? Whether it was a neighbor that would not stop talking, a baby that didn’t appreciate being forced to fly, or you wanted to get some shut-eye, noise-canceling headphones can be important.
I haven’t had many flights where I’ve been too annoyed by the passengers around me (lucky?), but in general, I like headphones that cover my ears. You see, I’ve been told my ears are small. That may be true. I don’t know. But I wouldn’t be surprised if it is, because not many in-ear headphones are comfortable for me to wear. And I like listening to my favorite podcasts during flights!
Update: I don't know if you noticed, but originally I didn't name the airline we flew. That was on purpose. But the airline, Southwest, finally got back to Crystal and I. And I was very surprised with the response. Yes, it was in the form of a generic email. One that most people would probably get. It basically said they will not assume responsibility for the damaged bag. But it also had something else in it that surprised me. They gave us a $75 voucher to help us restore our confidence in them. It was something they didn't have to do, but did. And that impressed me.
Traveling is fun. But it can also leave you frustrated. And I would guess baggage problems (lost, damaged, delayed, broken items inside, missing items inside) are near the top of that list for many. Problem is, the airlines don’t seem to really care. According to the websites of the top airlines in the country (read: American, United, Delta, and Southwest), their baggage policies are very similar. To sum it up: the policies are heavily written in the airlines’ favor, not yours. I know. Not surprising. I found this out the hard way after one of the bags Crystal and I checked was damaged sometime while it was enroute from Chicago to Dallas. When, exactly, did it happen? We’ll probably never know. Who did it? Was it the TSA, who left a piece of paper in the bag saying they searched it? Or was it the airline? We’ll probably never know the answer to that either. |
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