Roundtrip Flights to Australia: ~$550

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You’ll want to act fast on this one – United has launched a sale on flights to Australia for under $550 roundtrip!  This appears to be an attack on Delta, as most of the lowest fares are departing from Delta hubs (Atlanta, Minneapolis, Salt Lake City, and Detroit), and flights are available to Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane. Here’s an example of fares between Atlanta and Melbourne for July: You can search flexible dates on ITA Matrix, and book directly with United.  If you book with United, you have 24 hours to cancel completely free of charge, so if you’re at Continue reading Roundtrip Flights to Australia: ~$550→

10 Days Only: 50% off Uber Rides in Chicago

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Through April 15, Uber has launched a promotion for 50% off weekday rides in Chicago.  It looks like this promotion is valid for UberX, but not other levels of vehicles (UberXL, Uber Black, or Uber SUV), but this is still a great offer.  You won’t be able to use it over the weekends, but you can take up to 8 rides during the week and automatically save half off.  You don’t need to enter any special codes, just start riding! I’ve used Uber dozens of times in Chicago, and prices are already very affordable, so 50% off makes it even Continue reading 10 Days Only: 50% off Uber Rides in Chicago→

Cathay Pacific “The Wing” Lounge and HK Express Hong Kong to Chiang Mai

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Introduction American Airlines First Class Greensboro to Charlotte to New York and a Day in NYC Cathay Pacific Business Class New York (JFK) to Hong Kong Cathay Pacific Arrivals Lounge and 12 Hours in Hong Kong Cathay Pacific “The Wing” Lounge and HK Express Hong Kong to Chiang Mai Le Meridien Chiang Mai and Exploring Chiang Mai (Part 1) Exploring Chiang Mai (Part 2) and Dusit Princess Chiang Mai Hotel Thai Airways Bangkok to Delhi and Radisson Blu Connaught Place New Delhi Exploring Delhi (Part 1) India Rail Delhi to Agra Exploring Agra and the Taj Mahal and Radisson Blu Continue reading Cathay Pacific “The Wing” Lounge and HK Express Hong Kong to Chiang Mai→

Cathay Pacific Arrivals Lounge and 12 Hours in Hong Kong

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Our 8072 mile, 15 hour flight from New York to Hong Kong landed at about 4:35 am, which sounds insanely early, but we had already been up for about 4-5 hours for breakfast (and given that the flight left around midnight, after 10 hours, we couldn’t really sleep anymore!) so it felt like mid-morning at that point. We made our way through Customs and Immigration, which was a breeze since we were one of the first flights to arrive that morning, and soon found ourselves in baggage claim. It took us a few minutes to find the aptly-named “The Arrival” lounge, but we were there by about 4:55. Continue reading Cathay Pacific Arrivals Lounge and 12 Hours in Hong Kong→

Roundtrip Flights to Asia Under $500!

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One of the best sites for up-to-the-minute travel deals is The Flight Deal, and they recently posted details about a huge sale on flights to Asia, including Bali, Seoul, Jakarta, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, and Kuala Lumpur for anywhere between $350-$600 roundtrip! These fares are available from a wide variety of cities in the US, so there’s a good chance that you’ll find a deal from a city near you.  Most of the best prices I’m seeing are in March-April, and September-December.  For example, here are the fares between Charlotte and Seoul: As The Flight Deal recommends, using Google Flights Continue reading Roundtrip Flights to Asia Under $500!→

Quick Tip: Save on In Flight Wifi Prices

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Wifi connectivity on flights is increasingly prevalent these days, but in-flight wifi prices can be rather steep, especially on longer cross-country flights, which can cost $30 or more! If you plan ahead and, you have a couple options for snagging a better deal on in-flight wifi prices – sometimes saving over 50%. Continue reading Quick Tip: Save on In Flight Wifi Prices→

British Airways Avios Awards Increasing in Price Soon!

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I’ve posted a number of times about what I have found to be one of the best deals available today: British Airways Avios Awards for short, nonstop flights within the US.  As of now, nonstop American Airlines flights that are less than 650 miles in distance are only 4,500 British Airways points (called Avios) each way.  This is their first tier of award prices, which you can see in the full chart below: This is particularly useful because short, nonstop flights are often disproportionately expensive: Unfortunately, as of February 2, 2016, that first tier will be eliminated.  When signing into my British Continue reading British Airways Avios Awards Increasing in Price Soon!→

Cathay Pacific Business Class New York (JFK) to Hong Kong

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Introduction American Airlines First Class Greensboro to Charlotte to New York and a Day in NYC Cathay Pacific Business Class New York (JFK) to Hong Kong Cathay Pacific Arrivals Lounge and 12 Hours in Hong Kong Cathay Pacific “The Wing” Lounge and HK Express Hong Kong to Chiang Mai Le Meridien Chiang Mai and Exploring Chiang Mai (Part 1) Exploring Chiang Mai (Part 2) and Dusit Princess Chiang Mai Hotel Thai Airways Bangkok to Delhi and Radisson Blu Connaught Place New Delhi Exploring Delhi (Part 1) India Rail Delhi to Agra Exploring Agra and the Taj Mahal and Radisson Blu Continue reading Cathay Pacific Business Class New York (JFK) to Hong Kong→

Don’t Miss Out: Etihad A380 First Class Apartment Available with Miles

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The Mrs. Guru and I recently got back from a trip to Hong Kong, India, and Thailand and on the way home, we were able to fly on the Etihad A380 First Class Apartment, which no other airline can compete with today: Currently, Etihad only flies the A380 from their hub in Abu Dhabi to Sydney, London, and New York.  They do make a decent number of seats available to Sydney and London, but recently it’s been almost next to impossible to book the Abu Dhabi to New York flight using miles.  When they first announced that they would be Continue reading Don’t Miss Out: Etihad A380 First Class Apartment Available with Miles→

American Airlines First Class Greensboro to Charlotte to New York and a Day in NYC

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I always question myself when I book these painfully early flights, but in this case, we were starting our trip, flying from Greensboro to New York on Saturday, November 21, which was the Saturday before Thanksgiving. As a result, finding award availability was a bit tricky, so our only real option was to leave super early in the morning. The good news was, we would be in NYC by about 9:30 am, so we would have the full day in the city.

We were mostly packed the night before, and soon headed out the door in the dark.

We pulled into the Greensboro airport around 4:40 am, and had already checked in online. The American check in counter was actually bit busy, since American has several departures before 6:00 am (yes, this is busy for Greensboro).

We headed straight to security, where we were the only passengers in the Pre-Check line. I’m thrilled everytime I fly out of Greensboro, since I haven’t found a time yet that they don’t offer full Pre-Check, unlike many major airports (I’m looking at you Philadelphia and Newark, among others) where they only offer Pre-Check screening at certain hours. In any event, we were through security and at Gate 44 in no time, with about 10 minutes before boarding started. Continue reading American Airlines First Class Greensboro to Charlotte to New York and a Day in NYC→