3100 Kulmhotel Gornergrat and Zermatt, Switzerland (Review)

View of 3100 Kulmhotel Gornergrat from the Matterhorn Viewing Deck I recently traveled to Switzerland and had an incredible trip!  I will separately write about each segment of my trip: American Airlines 767-300 Review – Business Class American Airlines JFK Flagship Lounge Switzerland Overview – A Beautiful Country 3100 Kulmhotel Gornergrat (review) and Zermatt, Switzerland Driving the Furkapass, Switzerland Book a room at the Kulmhotel:  Orbitz.com Once I landed in Zurich, I picked up my rental car and drove to Zermatt, a small town in the Swiss Alps.  The views along the way were amazing but were nothing compared to…


Switzerland–A Beautiful Country!

Coffee in Gornergrat, Zermatt, Switzerland.  Mount Matterhorn is pictured in the background. I recently traveled to Switzerland and had an incredible trip!  I will separately write about each segment of my trip: American Airlines 767-300 Review – Business Class American Airlines JFK Flagship Lounge Switzerland Overview – A Beautiful Country 3100 Kulmhotel Gornergrat and Zermatt, Switzerland (Review) Driving the Furkapass, Switzerland Once I landed in Zurich, I picked up my rental car and drove to Zermatt, a small town in the Swiss Alps.  The views along the way were amazing!  I booked a “Whatever car is leftover” category from Dollar…


American Airlines 767-300 Review – Business Class

American Airlines 767-300 at its gate at JFK. I recently traveled to Switzerland and had an incredible trip!  I will separately post about each segment of my trip: American Airlines 767-300 Review – Business Class American Airlines JFK Flagship Lounge Switzerland Overview – A Beautiful Country 3100 Kulmhotel Gornergrat and Zermatt, Switzerland (Review) Driving the Furkapass, Switzerland To start, you may wonder how I flew business class to and from Europe.  Surprisingly, I did not pay one cent for the ticket! Booking – Miles and Points Last year, American Airlines offered excellent economy fares to Zurich, Switzerland on multiple dates,…


Etihad A380 Review (First Class) — A Plane With a Shower

Etihad’s first class ‘apartment’ was HUGE. I recently traveled to Abu Dhabi, UAE after redeeming miles (90,000 miles and $46) for first class on Etihad’s A380 (the plane with the shower and onboard bar!).  If I had purchased the one-way ticket with actual money, it would have cost over $8,000.  I separately review each segment of my trip: American Airlines CRJ-200 Review (Economy):  ‘Twas the Worst of Times American Airlines 757-200 Review (Economy):  ‘Twas Still the Worst of Times How to Layover in Amsterdam:  4 Hours Etihad A330-300 Review (Economy) Hilton Abu Dhabi Review (Executive Floor) Abu Dhabi:  A Relaxing…


Etihad First Class Lounge – Abu Dhabi (Review)

I recently traveled to Abu Dhabi after redeeming miles (90,000 miles and $46) for first class on Etihad’s A380 (the plane with the shower and onboard bar!).  I’ll review each segment of my trip: American Airlines CRJ-200 Review (Economy):  ‘Twas the Worst of Times American Airlines 757-200 Review (Economy):  ‘Twas Still the Worst of Times How to Layover in Amsterdam:  4 Hours Etihad A330-300 Review (Economy) Hilton Abu Dhabi Review (Executive Floor) Abu Dhabi:  A Relaxing Destination (Review) Etihad First Class Lounge (Abu Dhabi) Review Etihad A380 Review (First Class) — A Plane with a Shower I spent four days in Abu…


Abu Dhabi: A Relaxing Destination (Review)

Me visiting the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque I recently traveled to Abu Dhabi after redeeming miles (90,000 miles and $46) for first class on Etihad’s A380 (the plane with the shower and onboard bar!).  I’ll review each segment of my trip: American Airlines CRJ-200 Review (Economy):  ‘Twas the Worst of Times American Airlines 757-200 Review (Economy):  ‘Twas Still the Worst of Times How to Layover in Amsterdam:  4 Hours Etihad A330-300 Review (Economy) Hilton Abu Dhabi Review (Executive Floor) Abu Dhabi:  A Relaxing Destination (Review) Etihad First Class Lounge (Abu Dhabi) Review Etihad A380 Review (First Class) — A Plane with…


Hilton Abu Dhabi (Executive Floor – King) Review

Hilton Abu Dhabi I recently traveled to Abu Dhabi after redeeming miles (90,000 miles and $46) for first class on Etihad’s A380 (the plane with the shower and onboard bar!).  I’ll review each segment of my trip: American Airlines CRJ-200 Review (Economy):  ‘Twas the Worst of Times American Airlines 757-200 Review (Economy):  ‘Twas Still the Worst of Times How to Layover in Amsterdam:  4 Hours Etihad A330-300 Review (Economy) Hilton Abu Dhabi Review (Executive Floor) Abu Dhabi Review Etihad First Class Lounge (Abu Dhabi) Review Etihad A380 Review (First Class) — A Plane with a Shower While in Abu Dhabi, I…


Booking Around-the-World Tickets With Miles: Step 1, Plan

Sunset at the UAE Presidential Palace, Abu Dhabi We’ve all dreamed about flying around the world, although few have actually achieved it.  I met a guy who, along with his friend, quit their jobs and bought a $5,000 per-person around-the-world Delta ticket (economy) through Groupon.  Amazing, right?   Ten stopovers is great compared to what you can get today on an around-the-world award ticket (up to 7).  I created a sample Singapore Airlines around-the-world itinerary to illustrate how the process works and to calculate fuel surcharges.  It is worth noting that Korea Air also offers an around-the-world award ticket that I will write…


SingaporeAir Changes Award Fees: The Forgotten Winner

Palace of Westminster, London Recently, Singapore Airlines announced it will increase its award fees for flights on Singapore Airlines, eliminate the 15% online booking discount, and eliminate fuel surcharges on Singapore Airlines award flights.  This news is either good or bad depending on how you redeem your miles.  For some of us, the news is almost exclusively good: Singapore Airlines’s around-the-world ticket is now approximately $400 cheaper (reduced fuel surcharges) and the mile redemption amounts remain unchanged! Recent Singapore Airlines Award Changes KrisFlyer members received the following email: Thank you for your support as a KrisFlyer member. We conduct regular reviews…


2017: Winning the National Park Lotteries

Half Dome Cables, Yosemite With 2017 upon us, you may have started making a list of the national parks that you want to visit in this upcoming year.  You may not know this yet, but the coolest trails and cabins need to be reserved months in advance.  In addition, you have to win a lottery to visit our nations most prized treasures.  Hopefully I can shed some light on this process. The most useful information about each individual permit—such as lottery win % by date—are located on the National Park Service website.  Links to those pages are included below.  While there…