My Travels

On this trip, I flew on Singapore Airlines to Indonesia. Since I had to layover in Singapore for eight hours, I thought it would be a good time to stretch my legs and see the town for a bit. After the long flight from the States, I quickly jumped into the Krisflyer Lounge and took a shower. Luckily, I had split my itinerary. One was the transpacific flight with cash and one with miles on the intra-asia flight. Why that was important was that I had opted to book business class on the award ticket which allows you access to the Krisflyer Lounge instead of the Krisflyer Gold Lounge. As courter intuitive as it sounds, the "gold" lounge is their basic lounge for the Star Alliance folks which means no showers and smaller space. You can only access the Krisflyer Lounge if your continuing flight is in the appropriate class. I've only "heard" of international premium economy but haven't actually flown an airline with the class. Singapore Airlines led the category...

Not too often that I go to Chicago and not be in Chicago. I hopped onto a flight for a quick weekend trip on United and landed into O'Hare International Airport . Spent two nights at the Hilton Chicago O'Hare Airport hotel sandwiching a night at the Hampton Inn McHenry . A "suburbs" trip included a brief first night stay at the Hilton because of the 1 am arrival. It was easier to walk over and fall asleep as quickly as possible. In the morning, I headed up to McHenry and stayed at the Hampton Inn. The drive from the airport to McHenry was about an hour. I forget how big houses can be in the Midwest for very low (in my opinion) prices. Despite the freakish snowstorm in late April dumping four inches in the area, I still was able to get around. Visited the biggest Harley Davidson dealership ever (in my experience) and even watched an arm wrestling match with Jeff Dabe. Only when I mentioned it to someone did I realize that he was a "pro" in arm wrestli...

It’s a travel month for me and I headed to Toronto on United Airlines . I was upgraded on my flights and appreciated the extra space. Ironically, I had paid for an upgrade on the return and had to lose it to catch an earlier flight home. Luckily my refund request was approved. In town for a conference, I opted to stay at the Doubletree Toronto Downtown instead of the conference hotel. I find staying at conference hotel means the hotel is very busy and it takes forever waiting for elevators. There were a number of folks at my hotel too. I wonder if they ran out of the room block. I was able to catch the Toronto Blue Jays one afternoon. It is a basic enclosed stadium. The weather wasn’t warm enough to have the roof open but I thought it was a good day for the roof to be open. Canadians aren’t much baseball fans and the stadium was maybe a third full. Spring training game kind of attendance in my opinion. Meals Given my time was taken by the conference, I can only comment on the...

I had a short overnight layover in Frankfurt coming from Naples. After landing into Frankfurt Airport from Lufthansa , I found the city trains into the city. I didn't board the subway correctly but still ended up close enough to walk to the Hilton Frankfurt City Centre . Hilton Frankfurt City Centre King Room The hotel is interesting in that the executive lounge is the foyer area of the elevators. You literally have to go through the lounge to get to your room. On the bright side, I was able to munch in my room because I was so close to the lounge. The view was actually nicer from my room than the lounge. Overall, it was a good choice to go into the city rather than stay out by the airport as originally planned. When I saw my friends the next day a bit frazzled trying to catch the flight (they had an hour layover from Naples), I was glad my itinerary had me get to Frankfurt the day before. For a first time visit, I found the city charming in its architecture and th...

Travel to Naples My first "exercise" vacation....I was convinced by a friend to take a hiking tour in Italy. Not having spent much time on the coast when I was in Italy last, I didn't mind coming back and checking out the area. Since the coastal towns are out of the way, I was happy to have found decent flights into Naples. My first non-United itinerary for the year, I headed out to Italy with a stopover in Munich on Lufthansa . Lufthansa Economy Row I haven't been on Lufthansa for a few years and my last memory of the service was a super hot journey. On this trip, the temperature was warm but not chocolate melting hot. There is a new class of service "premium economy" now in the plane. So we went back to three class plane without having a true "first" class. Airlines must feel that there is more of a market between economy and business than first class. Although I was able to select my seat for free (by waiting until the day to check i...