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Airline, Review, The Traveling Millenial April 23, 2016

Qatar A350-900 (business class) — A Wonderful Experience

Qatar A350-900 in Philadelphia, PA I recently traveled to the Middle East and I could fly a number of aircraft for an identical price.  I opted for the Qatar A350-900, which Qatar recently started flying to the United States–January 2016.  The A350 is one of the newest commercial aircraft in the sky so I was excited to see what it had to offer.  The seats, service, and food were the best that I’ve had on an airplane to date, hands down!  I flew from Philadelphia to Doha, Qatar, and I was in the air for approximately 12 hours!  Not a terrible way…

Hotels, Review, The Traveling Millenial March 28, 2016

Hyatt Place Baltimore (Inner Harbor/ Fell’s Point)

While in downtown Baltimore, I stayed at the Hyatt Place in the Inner Harbor/ Fell’s Point area.  I knew I wanted to stay either in the Harbor or Fell’s Point areas and basically looked for the best hotel that I could find within my price range.  Hotel pricing in downtown Baltimore is interesting.  The Four Seasons runs $399 per night and the next best hotels are typically under $200 per night.  I quickly ruled out the Four Seasons and considered my other options.   Booking the Hotel I tried to take advantage of Hyatt’s Best Price Guarantee (I previously wrote…

Review, The Traveling Millenial February 8, 2016

Visiting the Statue of Liberty: Part 1

  Statue of Liberty from a starboard seat on the ferry. Now that I’ve celebrated the Fourth of July in Washington DC and New Year’s Eve in New York, I can call myself a true American.  Accordingly, I felt it was time to visit the Statue of Liberty. Booking the tickets I was pleasantly surprised at the price of the ticket: ~$19.  Unlike my ~$30 ticket to tour the Palace of Westminster in London, my Statue of Liberty ticket included a boat ride.  Plus, the boat ride to Ellis Island comes with the ticket. You’ll want to book your tickets…

National Park, Review, The Traveling Millenial February 2, 2016

Redwood National and State Parks — Road Trip!!

My friend and I drove through the redwood forest after forest fires canceled our Yosemite Trip.  We rented this car. This summer, my Yosemite backpacking trip turned into a California road trip after a forest fire ended the backpacking trip before it even started.  Thankfully my good friend and I had a smart phone and a car so we could continue our week-long expedition.  Our first stop after Yosemite National Park was the Redwood National and State Parks. A converted DC-10 drops a red chemical onto the forest fire in Yosemite. This was my first trip to California and also…

American Airlines, Review, The Traveling Millenial January 6, 2016

American Airlines 737-800 in First Class

This plane is new and awesome and is my new favorite domestic aircraft!  I had to use two 500-mile upgrade vouchers ($30 each) to score this upgrade, but my upgrade was confirmed 72 hours prior to check in.  I overheard people talking as they boarded the aircraft and they were also impressed with the interior.  The 737-800 was definitely more impressive than the American Airlines E-170 that I would fly next. Seat The seat was comfortable but it was hard to recline–you had to slide the bottom of the seat toward your feat as opposed to sliding the back of your seat backward….

Amtrak, Review, The Traveling Millenial January 5, 2016

Amtrak Northeast Regional (WAS-NYC) — on New Year’s Eve

Several folks have asked me how I like riding on trains compared to flying on airplanes.  I booked a round-trip ticket on Amtrak from DC to NY over New Year’s weekend so I could offer a comparison.  The train ticket was half the price of an airline ticket and the train station in New York is conveniently located near Madison Square Garden.  I’ll write a comparison later, but here’s my review of the Amtrak ride. Experience: train stations do not have the same lounge options as airports so I had less of an incentive to arrive early.  My Citi Prestige credit…

American Airlines, Review, The Traveling Millenial January 3, 2016

American Airlines E170 – First Class

I booked this flight about two months prior to flying and the first class cabin was completely empty when I booked, so the likelihood of receiving a complimentary upgrade was high as a result of my Platinum elite status.  The E170 has 12 first class seats.  Sure enough, my upgrade cleared 72 hours prior to departure.  If only I knew the fun was just beginning….I previously wrote how I was stuck in ORD until 3 am on Christmas waiting for this flight and that American compensated me with 8,000 redeemable miles as a result.  Needless to say, when it arrived, this was…

Airline, Review, The Traveling Millenial, WOW December 13, 2015

WOW Airlines: What’s it Like to Fly to Europe for $99?

(WOW A321-200 which I flew from BWI to Iceland) I was in the market for a low-cost, round-trip ticket to Europe so I was excited to see WOW Airlines advertise $99* one-way tickets to Europe from select US destinations (Boston and Baltimore).  After verifying that WOW was a legitimate airline, I booked my ticket.  I booked a five-day, $450 round-trip ticket from BWI (Baltimore – Washington DC) to London Gatwick.  My experience on the plane was wonderful given the bargain I received on the plane ticket. WOW Airlines – Ultra-Low Budget Carrier WOW can offer such cheap airfare because it charges…