My Travels

It’s been awhile since I last visited Phoenix. Went out on United Airlines for a quick weekend trip with friends. I was reminded on how small planes can be when I boarded my flight out to Phoenix. Luckily, I had decided to check luggage and bring a small messenger bag onboard. The plane could only accommodate that size of carryon. Landed into Phoenix Sky Harbor and went to meet with the first group at the car rental facility. Checked into the Hilton Scottsdale Resort & Villas on this trip. The villas inside this Hilton are very spacious which worked well for our group of 13. It is in a separate area on the property from the main hotel. I had booked two villas, one end unit (2700) and one next door (2706). In the past, I’ve only stayed in the end unit and it was the group meeting spot which worked well on this trip. The living room and kitchen layout allowed everyone to comfortably sit around and still feel cozy. The end unit also meant that the room can be as loud as they...

Headed out on United Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines to Maui and Oahu. The trip was originally only Oahu but some friends were in Maui for a wedding. Overlapping the end of their trip with the beginning of mine meant an overnight stay in Maui. Since the flight from the mainland to Hawaii was after work, there are not many options for a direct flight into Maui. I opted to book two separate itineraries, one to Oahu and one interisland. Due to the late arrival into Honolulu, I stayed at the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani hotel. With the late arrival, I was able to grab a quick bite at the Splash Bar before retiring for the night. The hotel has always been a bit dated in my mind but I haven't been to this Sheraton in a long time. I did find the room slightly upgraded from my previous experience. The bathrooms could stand for a full refurbishment but the room was serviceable. I was also given a pretty good view of the ocean on this trip. The next morning, ate some breakfast at the Pike T...

A local trip for a wedding event in Long Beach. The venue was at the Hotel Maya . A hidden part of Los Angeles, the hotel is on the port side of Long Beach. There is also a Marriott Residence Inn next door. I would not have guessed that one hotel let alone two would be in this part of Long Beach. I'm much more used to downtown Long Beach or Belmont Shores area. Luckily, this is a Doubletree branded hotel and I decided to use the block rate to stay for the wedding and avoid having to leave the wedding early and/or drag tired people home. The hotel was pleasant and recently renovated according to its website. The rooms were nice and it did seem new. Being an outdoor layout, the rains can make a number on this location as evidenced by the slight warping of the wood in the public areas as well as the entryway to the room. Hotel Maya The hotel restaurant, Fuego, is hit and miss. The first time I ate was dinner and the food was fantastic. The restaurant is an outdoors restau...

Flew up for an afternoon to San Mateo on United Airlines. On this trip, I had a couple of firsts. I was upgraded on both segments pretty early on. At the gate, I wasn't able to capitalize on a voucher for $300  and a first class seat for a later flight because I had to be in San Mateo at a certain time. Was sad about that one. I rented a Zipcar for the afternoon. I had landed around 1:30 and stayed in the United Club for a bathroom and drink break. Had I known what I was going to do with the Zipcar, I would not have stopped. At SFO, the Zipcar is located adjacent to the Avis area in the rental car center. Since they are near the return entrance, it is a walk to get to from the airport. Apparently the rental car center was swamped when I went through and I had to fight my way through the crowds to get out to the cars. I've had the membership for over a year but have not needed to get a Zipcar. When I looked at regular rental and Uber it actually made more sense to get a Zipcar....

Headed out on a mix of Star Alliance carriers to Vietnam. I'm out for a short trip on personal business and was able to buy a last minute fare to Hanoi on United and Vietnam Airlines . Interestingly, I did not realize that United would sell non-partner flights on their website. I guess Vietnam Airlines (like Hawaiian Airlines) is some kind of secondary code share partner and so will pop up on the United site. My layover in Haneda Interational Aiport was a few hours. Unfortunately, ANA Lounge did not accept my ticket on Vietnam Airlines despite being a codeshare flight and I wondered around the terminal. I was disappointed to be denied of karaage and curry. Yet again, I am unable to get ANA karaage! On the bright side, I was able to upgrade on the United segments to business so I can't complain too much. Despite the fanfare of Polaris in United literature, I did not get the "full" Polaris experience. The seats were not yet installed but the bedding and amenity k...

Went out to Las Vegas on United Airlines for a timeshare promotion. As a HGVC owner, they are fairly consistent with wanting me to come out to Vegas. For this particular trip, I am staying at Trump International . I usually prefer Elara but the Trump location is beginning to win  me over. In booking, the HGVC folks were giving a complimentary upgrade to two bedroom suite if you booked a one bedroom suite. For $99, I was not going to quibble and I was also getting a $100 dining credit at Buca di Beppo. Clearly, the political climate has not made the hotel very popular if these are the things they are throwing out to get people to come. Similar to Park City, the configuration is a two room lock out. The two bedroom configuration is made of one studio and one one bedroom suite that shares the same foyer. In some ways, it is nicer to have this type of configuration but it also is a little dividing if you had a large group that wanted to stay hangout in the living room. One interest...

Off to a work trip to the island of Cyprus. I've never been to the Mediterranean area and looking forward to seeing what the fuss is all about. I'm back on Swiss Airlines  and in business class for most of the way. There was no real easy way to get to Cyprus at a reasonable cost so I booked my Swiss itinerary to Athens and then on to Cyprus on Aegean Airlines . On  the way to Athens, I did a brief layover in Zurich and visited the Swiss Lounge again. This time I tried the Whiskey Lounge and had some hot items such as meatballs and macaroni cheese. I have to say the American versions are better but it was good to have on hand for the time being. Since my layover was long, I was able to get a shower. There are significant differences between the International Terminal location (Terminal D) and the EU (shengen) side (Terminal A). The lounge was mostly empty. Once I was ready to leave, I had to leave the international terminal and go through passport control to get to term...

Flew on United Airlines out to Maui on this trip. I received a promotional timeshare presentation to visit the Westin Ka'anapali Resort . The promotion included a rental from Avis too. The uneventful flight arrived to some rainy weather at Kahului Airport . The airport is not really built for the flow of passengers that arrive. The rental shuttle busses pick up at various locations on the curb and there was an intense wait at the rental agency. Luckily not many are Preferred and I jumped into that line to get out within an hour. The poor souls in the regular line likely took twice as long. On the bright side, United automatically emailed me a voucher for the delayed arrival into Maui! Works out since I'll use it to my Las Vegas trip in a few months!! More details to come on that trip. The resort was about an hour away so a short Costco trip was done. Costco is also located right outside of the airport so it was an easy stopover. After grabbing food, headed over to the reso...

Went to Salt Lake City for a conference on United Airlines . Did layovers at SFO to SLC both ways as the direct options were not ideal. Checked into the Hampton Inn Salt Lake City Downtown . The hotel recently underwent a renovation and I liked it. It is very modern which sometimes conflicts with the locality and/or Hampton Inn theme. Since not all Hamptons are like this particular one (at least in my memory), it is interesting to see them move forward with the scheme. The room was a double bed. I found the inside similar to the Four Points hotel chain and European influenced style. No real drawers but open space and ledges. I thought it was nice and avoided people forgetting stuff in the rooms. No actual closet but a space for you to discreetly hang your clothes. The breakfast was typical with a waffle iron to make fresh waffles. On the first day, I grabbed a late lunch from R&R BBQ . I wasn't sure if I would like the BBQ but it was within walking distance. I order...

The last time I was in the Maldives, social media wasn't as accessible as today. Don't get me wrong, I was able to get internet and what not but these were the early days of blogs and Facebook. Hopped onto Singapore Airlines with stopovers in Seoul and Singapore before landing in Male for the airport taxi to the St. Regis. Booked the premium economy class on Singapore due to the duration. Unfortunately, the flights from Singapore to Male are not able to accommodate premium economy class and it is a four hour flight. It is double the price of economy but it also allowed me to continue to earn points with MileagePlus and give me some extra leg room with the ability to choose/customize my meals. With all the changes in frequent flier programs, it is harder to fly within the Star Alliance network without doing some background checking on what is eligible to earn miles (premier qualifying miles). Overall, I enjoyed my flights despite the time. In Seoul, I had only an hour la...