Cheap Flights from Charlotte to Helsinki, Finland – $666 roundtrip

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

Hot on the heels of a deal I posted this morning for flights from Boston and Baltimore to Copenhagen, London, and Reykjavik for $99 each way, another sale has launched for flights to Helsinki, Finland, from a number of cities, including Charlotte, for as low as $666 roundtrip.  United is attacking American Airlines/US Airways hubs, which include Phoenix, Dallas, Philadelphia, and Miami, and similar prices can be found from all of those cities. The best fares are available in late November, or from late December through late March:

Flights to Copenhagen, London, and Iceland for $99 each way

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

A relatively new budget airline called WOW Air, based in Reykjavik, Iceland just announced that they are starting service to the US in early 2015.  They’ve been around since 2011, calling themselves, “The airline with the biggest smiles and the lowest prices.” Over hte past 3 years, WOW Air has been flying from Iceland to about 20 cities throughout Europe, but they are now launching flights to the US – at this point, just to Boston and Baltimore (BWI). Flights to Boston begin on March 26, 2015 and flights to Baltimore begin on June 3, 2015, and the introductory fares Continue reading Flights to Copenhagen, London, and Iceland for $99 each way→

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

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

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→

Flights to Bali, Indonesia – $537 roundtrip

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

Things have been a bit busy lately, so I haven’t had a chance to post recently, but here’s an awesome deal to get back into the swing!  Flights to Bali from Philadelphia are as low as $537 roundtrip – and that includes all taxes and fees!  Even if you have to factor in an extra flight to get to Philadelphia from your location, you can likely keep your total under $675 or so. Bali is an incredible destination – lots of beautiful beaches, but lots of culture and places to explore as well.  The Mrs. Guru and I spent a Continue reading Flights to Bali, Indonesia – $537 roundtrip→

14 Hours in Istanbul

Posted on by — 1 Comment ↓
DSCN5790

When I was originally planning our trip to Greece, I wanted to schedule our flights to be as comfortable as possible. When flying in Coach, flights over 6 or 7 hours get to be pretty rough, so sometimes it’s nice to pick a shorter overnight flight to break things up a bit. When flying in Business or First Class, however, I take the opposite approach. For flights to Europe, I generally look for the longest overnight flight I possibly can find. Why? When you have a flat bed to sleep on, a 6 or 7 hour flight is really too short to get decent sleep, with meal service on both ends of the flight. About 2 years ago, we flew to Ireland in Aer Lingus Business Class (using only 50,000 British Airways Avios Points roundtrip), which was a fantastic deal, but given that the flight to Ireland is barely 5 and a half hours, factoring in eating dinner and breakfast, you’re lucky to get 3 hours of sleep, which isn’t much different than being in Coach. Continue reading 14 Hours in Istanbul→

Air Canada Executive First Suite Toronto to Istanbul

Posted on by — No Comments ↓
DSCN5684

We relaxed in the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge for about 90 minutes following our tasty Thai lunch in the Toronto suburbs. The only issue we had with the lounge was that the Wifi was very sporadic and unreliable….but at least it was better than in the Ethiopian Airlines Lounge in Addis Ababa (hooray….I guess…eh?)

Anyway, around 3:30 pm, we headed down from the lounge, which was a floor above the main terminal level. It was only a 2-3 minute walk from the lounge to Gate E76, where our flight would be departing from:.

The boarding area was a bit chaotic, as the gate next to ours, E77, was preparing to board a flight at the same time to Frankfurt.

After about 15 minutes, boarding began for our flight. We were among the first to board, and headed to our comfortable Executive First Suites, our home for the next 10 – well, make that 13 – hours: Continue reading Air Canada Executive First Suite Toronto to Istanbul→

Flights to Seattle from Charlotte: $232 roundtrip

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

This fare tends to pop up from time to time, but hasn’t been around for a while.  It usually only lasts for a day or two, so you’ll want to act fast.  Delta has dropped the price of roundtrip flights to Seattle from Charlotte (or vice versa) to $232!  It’s pretty rare these days to find cross-country flights for under $250, so don’t count on this dropping any lower. The fares are available on a pretty widespread set of dates, from now through July, 2015.  The downside to this fare is that it’s only being offered on the least-desirable days Continue reading Flights to Seattle from Charlotte: $232 roundtrip→

Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Toronto and Exploring Toronto

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

Intro and Greensboro to Chicago Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Toronto and Exploring Toronto Air Canada Executive First Suite Toronto to Istanbul 14 Hours in Istanbul Aegean Airlines Business Class Istanbul to Athens Hotel Amalia Athens and Exploring Athens (Part 1) Exploring Athens (Part 2) Athens Airport Lounges and Aegean Airlines Athens to Santorini Anamnesis Luxury Spa Hotel and Exploring Santorini (Part 1) Exploring Santorini (Part 2) Exploring Santorini (Part 3) and Aegean Airlines Santorini to Athens Holiday Inn Athens Airport and Aegean Airlines Athens to Milan UNA Hotel Cusani and Exploring Milan United Business Class Milan to Newark to Continue reading Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Toronto and Exploring Toronto→

Canada, Greece, Turkey, and Italy: Intro and Greensboro to Chicago

Posted on by — No Comments ↓
Santorini, Greece

As you probably have read, a few weeks ago, the Mrs. Guru and I took an incredible trip to Greece, with quick stops in Istanbul (on the outbound) and Milan (on the return). I’ve posted a few times with some details on how this trip came together, so I’ll summarize some of those points here, with links to more detail if you missed any of those discussions or want to refer back to them.

I started planning this trip last December, when United announced that they would be raising the cost of awards starting in February. Any trips booked before February 1, 2014 (even for travel after February) would be bookable at the old/lower prices, but after February 1, the prices would go up – for Business Class to Europe, United raised the price from 100,000 miles roundtrip to 140,000 miles roundtrip, so I definitely wanted to book before the 40% increase! I had only been to Greece once (for just a few days), and the Mrs. Guru had never been to Greece, so we decided that it would be a great destination. Continue reading Canada, Greece, Turkey, and Italy: Intro and Greensboro to Chicago→

Flights to Milan from New York – $499 roundtrip!

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

Emirates Airline has launched a sale for travel between New York and Milan – even though it may seem strange for Emirates to fly between New York and Italy, since they’re based in Dubai, the flight does continue on from Milan to Dubai…but this is a fantastic opportunity to score a great deal just on the flights to Milan.  The Mrs. Guru and I were just in Milan a few weeks ago on our way back from Greece, so stay tuned for more details on that trip. The one catch with this sale is that it is specifically targeted to Continue reading Flights to Milan from New York – $499 roundtrip!→