Roundtrip Flights to Asia Under $500!

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!

British Airways Avios Awards Increasing in Price Soon!

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!

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

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

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

An Amazing Asian Adventure: Introduction

I had been eyeing a trip to Asia for a little while, since we had most recently done trips to Europe, South America, and the Caribbean. Both the Mrs. Guru and I had a relatively sizable number of frequent flyer miles with American Airlines, and as of now, American has, by far, the cheapest award prices to Asia. For comparison, a One Way Business Class ticket from North America to anywhere in Asia currently only costs 55,000 miles using American miles, but United and Delta both charge 80,000 miles. I knew that eventually, American would be raising their prices, which they just announced a few weeks ago, so it was the perfect time to book this trip while their prices were still way below the competition.

I also had read a lot about Etihad Airways (based in Abu Dhabi, UAE), since they have a First Class that is head and shoulders above any seat on any other airline today. Their First Class on the Airbus A380 isn’t just a seat; they call it an Apartment – and for good reason! Inside your Apartment, you have a huge seat, along with a separate 80” long sofa that folds down into a bed. Here’s a sneak peak of what the First Apartment looks like: Continue reading An Amazing Asian Adventure: Introduction

An Update on Updates

Happy Holidays to everyone – it’s been a while since I’ve had a chance to post an update, but in the mean time, we’ve taken a number of exciting trips.  You may have seen a few recent posts on Twitter or Facebook about the trip we just took to Hong Kong, Thailand, and India, which was a fantastic time.  We also had a great time down in South America, and I never finished our trip to Greece, so I have plenty to catch up on.  I’m planning to cover our Asia trip first, since that’s the freshest in my mind. Continue reading An Update on Updates

40% Bonus on Amex Transfers to British Airways

American Express just announced a 40% bonus when transferring Amex Membership Rewards Points to British Airways Avios until January 31, 2015.  If you happen to be one of my loyal readers (read: Mrs. Guru), you may already be somewhat familiar with why this is a big deal.  I’ve posted a few times in the past few months about how useful British Airways Avios can be, but here’s the spoiler: for folks in North Carolina, you could fly anywhere within 650 miles of Charlotte (including Freeport, Bahamas) for less than 6,500 points roundtrip!  If this makes no sense to you, I’ve Continue reading 40% Bonus on Amex Transfers to British Airways

Flights to San Jose, CA from Charlotte – $285 roundtrip

American and US Airways have dropped prices on flights to San Jose, CA from Charlotte, NC to $288 roundtrip, and other airlines are matching the prices.  San Jose is just south of San Francisco, and just north of the beautiful area of Monterrey and Carmel. The Mrs. Guru and I spent some time in Monterrey and Carmel in June, and it’s definitely worth the drive (about 2 hours from San Francisco, 1 hour and 15 minutes from San Jose). This sale is only valid for a pretty narrow range of dates in early December, but if you can make it Continue reading Flights to San Jose, CA from Charlotte – $285 roundtrip

Spontaneous Trip to Chicago and a Free Hotel Night in Raleigh

I know it’s been a little while since I posted last, so for all 3 of my readers (Hi Mom!  Hi Dad!  Hi Mrs. Guru!)….I apologize for my absence.  But I’m back with lots to share.  Stay tuned for a full report on our amazing trip to Turkey, Greece and Italy.  I posted some brief updates during the trip (one at the very beginning of the trip, after our first flight up to Chicago, one from Athens, and one from beautiful Santorini). Last week, I was up in New York City for a few days, staying in the New York Continue reading Spontaneous Trip to Chicago and a Free Hotel Night in Raleigh

Booking an Amazing Trip to South America

Not long ago, I finished booking a trip to South America for the Mrs. Guru and I.  Neither of us have been to South America before, so we’re very excited about the trip.  I wanted to share my booking process with you all so that you can see how you might be able to put together a trip like this. Trip Overview We’ll first be spending several days in Buenos Aires, Argentina (with a day trip over to Montevideo, Uruguay), and several days in Lima, Peru, including a visit to Machu Picchu (near the city of Cusco).  The routing for Continue reading Booking an Amazing Trip to South America