a Geographer's Place

As you may know from my previous blog posts , I’m usually Oneworld-loyal. In fact, I’d guess 98% of my flights since the year 2000 have been on Oneworld airlines (OW). So, I’ve always striven for elite status, mainly because the higher statuses confer international lounge access regardless of service class (e.g., “economy” or “business”). And I just like airline lounges. Holding Oneworld Sapphire status grants you access to all OW Business Lounges. The top-tier Emerald status allows you access to all OW Business and First Class Lounges. As an American Airlines frequent flyer, “Platinum” status is equivalent to OW Sapphire, and “Platinum Pro” and “Executive Platinum” are equivalent to OW Emerald. In short, if you have OW Sapphire or Emerald (irrespective of Oneworld airline), you have access to the lounges.  One caveat: if you are an American Airlines elite member traveling domestically in North America (AA sees the US, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean as "North America"...

Recently I came across a post on one of the travel Facebook groups I follow. The person was frustrated because the card they selected and had been earning points on for five years did not have airfare transfer partners that flew from her home/preferred airport. While I could write a post about how researching beforehand could have helped, I also know the frustration of trying to book things through a travel portal/third party vendor (like non-co-branded cards  make you do). What I've noticed over the years is there's a big difference between co-branded and non-co-branded cards in terms of ease of redemption. And for the occasional traveler, the person who makes a couple trips a year for, say, maybe visiting family who live across the country, redeeming through a portal can be super frustrating. In fact, I know people who prefer to be brand loyal simply for ease of redemption. Side note: I play the points game well, and use only co-branded cards. Yes, both my wife and I have non...

You'd think that, especially with a near-perfect credit score, a co-branded card from a lesser-known bank might be easy to get. But that's not always the case, I suppose. I've written about which cards we personally use . And my belief is still that a person does not need more than a few well-selected cards to wring maximum benefits from the points & game. So why did I apply for this (problematic?) card? Well, I had grand plans for a trip to Europe this winter. And when I saw a nice sign-up bonus for the Best Western Mastercard ($89 annual fee), I started scheming. I've been a loyalty member with Best Western since 2008, so I am familiar with their offerings, and used to stay with them a few times/year when I did fieldtrips in the US. And I also know Best Western hotels in Europe can be very different than their US counterparts, especially in the countryside. I've stayed in Best Westerns that were manor houses, Victorian mansions, previously-esteemed estates, a...

Although I certainly knew this earlier, it occurred to me the other day that US folks have waaaaaay more credit card options than other countries. And can receive waaaaaay more benefits for having/using them. Granted, some non-US banks have "rewards" credit cards, but they pale in comparison to US bank credit card rewards. Especially over the last couple decades or so. As you can find throughout my blogs (and on a plethora of other sites as well as YouTube videos), credit card rewards options abound in the US. Particularly when it comes to rewards/benefits focused on travel and lifestyle. The main US credit card issuing banks (e.g., American Express, CapitalOne, Chase, Citibank, etc.) offer multiple co-branded and non-co-branded rewards cards with some truly outstanding benefits. Really. Often, for a few hundred dollars, you can get elite status, lounge access, and a host of other travel/lifestyle credits. Not so in most other countries around the world. You might get one po...

When engaging in international travel, most folks use the large airports like LAX, JFK, ORD, MIA DFW, SEA, ATL (and others). These airports are important since most all incoming and outgoing international travel routes through them. The terminals at the larger airports are roomy, have an abundance of amenities like restaurants and shopping, and generally host at least a couple lounges. And that's all fine and dandy. As I've noted elsewhere , I don't like to give away my travel secrets very often. But since my blog posts aren't that popular anyhow, I guess it's not a big deal. My secret for this post? Using regional airports. Especially if you live more than a couple/few hours away from an international airport. Why? I can offer a number of reasons, but a main one is they're not very crowded, meaning check-in and security lines are usually non-existent. Which means workers are generally less stressed, and that positive energy rubs off on you, making for a more pl...

Almost everyday I see people complaining on social media about the woes of airline (and hotel) elite status being downgraded or devalued. Like, just because they're the highest frequent flyer tier on an airline, they never get an upgrade. Or the points aren't as "valuable" as they were previously. I get it  –  those people likely spent thousands of dollars on a product and want to be rewarded for it. But that kind of entitled and whiny attitude bothers me. A lot. So much so that I'm writing a blog post about it. First off, I believe travel is a privilege , not a right. Until the turn of the twenty-first-century or so, flying was classy. You dressed up and the on-board service often reflected the classiness. Even in coach/economy you had space and a decent meal, even when flying a shorter hop. Nowadays economy-class meals aren't served unless it's a long/international flight, leg-room is tight, and people wander on an airplane in their pajamas and make life...