Once upon a time, before the days of revenue-based mileage earning and other lifestyle complications, Ben and I used to fly together a lot. Granted, these were almost always miserable-sounding mileage run itineraries where we'd spend two weeks going…
Well, this doesn't look good. For the past week or so we've been hearing about issues with Marriott Bonvoy points getting "stuck" when members have initiated transfers to Lufthansa Miles&More. This isn't entirely unusual, as post-merger many Marriott…
We get a lot of questions about what blogging is like, and even more questions about writing trip reports. Having just wrapped up an extremely lengthy series on my trip to Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, the process is pretty fresh in my mind, so I thought…
This will be the final segment of my trip report on Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, which feels bittersweet. This has been a very long series (and was a long trip to start with), so it's taken a ridiculous amount of time to put together, but I've so enjoyed…
There are places you travel to with a certain vision of what the experience will be like -- sitting streetside in a Parisian cafe while an accordion plays; inhaling scents of saffron and sumac in a crowded Turkish spice market; being enveloped in the…
There are a surprisingly large number of domestic carriers in Cambodia (though the majority are owned or at least subsidized by Chinese companies), and all have very tiny fleets. Most of these carriers operate a mix of aircraft, including some Airbus…
While you can certainly spend as much time exploring the areas around Siem Reap as you'd like, it's certainly possible to experience at least a taste of the UNESCO site at Angkor on a shorter trip. We planned our itinerary such that we had an evening…
I've actually stayed at the Park Hyatt Siem Reap previously, when my husband and I visited in 2014, and it feels much the same now as it did then. Siem Reap, on the other hand, has since changed to the point of being nearly unrecognizable, as extremely…
While applying for Vietnam e-Visas for our group was fairly annoying (an unclear website, weird payment funnels, and having to do separate applications for each person), and Laos visas are arranged on arrival, getting Cambodia visas in advance was basically…
Let's start this off with an unpopular opinion that I'm probably going to regret sharing: While Satri House felt like the hotel you'd obviously stay at when disembarking from The Jungle Cruise, that paled in comparison to the Adventureland-without-the-Dole-Whip…
Sorry for the delay on this folks -- not to get too much into the sausage-making, but we had planned to pause this particular narrative while Ben finished sharing details on his trip to Sri Lanka, with the idea being that I'd publish the rest of this…
Airports can be confusing, particularly in the case of terminals designed for the jet era that haven't adapted as well to modern aviation. The terminal shift at Los Angeles International Airport earlier a few years ago has inspired improved wayfinding,…
Well this is a bit of a surprise. As of July 1st 2019, El Al passengers will have the option to credit flown miles to Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan, rather than El Al's own Matmid frequent flyer program.
Our boarding gate was close to the lounge, and as we had checked our bags we were in no particular rush. I also suspected we'd be at a remote stand, so we did a bit of shopping on our way in hopes of avoiding lengthy bus queues. We arrived at the gate…
The next stop on our itinerary was to be Luang Prabang, in Laos. Vietnam Airlines operates a direct flight between Hanoi and Luang Prabang, but their mid-day flight only operates 5x per week. Laos Airlines, meanwhile, has a daily flight in the evening…
We only had a quick 30ish hours in Hanoi. That was enough to get a taste of the city, begin to appreciate the culture and mix of architectural styles, and of course enjoy some great local cuisine. We loved strolling in the neighborhoods around Hoàn Kiếm…
After a quick breakfast at our Airbnb in Hoi An we left for the Da Nang airport, arriving about an hour before our 10:30AM flight. The airport was clean and efficient, our flight was on-time, and our pre-arranged driver met us at arrivals when we landed…
Unlike Phu Quoc, Hoi An is a town that has figured out their tourism industry -- to the max. The golden-hued UNESCO city is atmospheric, and charming, and in ways reminded me of Italy; particularly the towns on the Amalfi Coast. There's a tacit understanding…
We decided to stay in Hoi An rather than Da Nang primarily because of weather concerns -- everyone cautioned that Da Nang wouldn't be warm enough to enjoy the beach in February, so we figured if it was going to be too cold to swim we'd prefer being in…
We knew that we wanted to incorporate a few days of beach time into this trip, but had been cautioned that Da Nang and Hoi An would be far too cold to enjoy the beach in February (this ended up being far from the truth, but weather is like that sometimes).…
With only about 40 hours in Saigon, we had to be fairly aggressive about how we spent our time. While we of course wanted to enjoy the city and the local cuisine, visiting some of the sites related to the wars was high on our list. Both Heather's dad…
