Many of the essential travel reward perks can be had using credit cards that cost $100 per year, or less. So when does it make sense to graduate to a card that might cost $400, $500 or more? For those who travel often, or who spend large amounts on airfare and dining out, those high fee…
Nothing ruins a great points and miles vacation like having to pay for a trip you thought was going to be a reward. Unfortunately, airlines have gotten away with charging fares on their purported “award” flights now for over a decade, disguised from consumers under the confusing moniker “fuel surcharge.” While regulators have finally stopped…
We all Wanna Get Away! That is, after all, the reason we love to travel. And Southwest Airlines understood this when they cleverly named one of their fare classes Wanna Get Away fares. But a clever name is one thing, and understanding how to differentiate Wanna Get Away fares from the other fares Southwest Airlines…
Delta Air Lines appears intent on adapting Pavlovian tools of psychology and deploying them against me. Push the lever and wait for some undefined reward to pop out. On most days, Delta SkyMiles redemptions are the worst. On flash sale days, they can be the best. Good things come to those who wait (and in the…
It may be called a Mystery Bonus Offer, but to me it’s not much of a mystery because when Hyatt has a sale on their hotel points, I don’t have to scratch my head and wonder how to put those points to good use. I can always find ways to use more World of Hyatt…
Pastries were everywhere in Lisbon. I’ve never seen so many pastry shops, pastelarias, and so many different kinds of pastries. King of all: Pastel de Nata, a Portuguese egg tart pastry originally from Portugal but also found in countries with significant Portuguese immigrant populations. The question became how to narrow it down to which ones…
As an expat based in India for the most part of last decade, I have narrowed down on ways to effectively use miles to enjoy luxury vacations from the subcontinent without breaking the bank. Despite the fact that there is no Oneworld partner airline based in India, I am still loyal to American Airlines frequent…
Two days, two news releases. United MileagePlus is the worst frequent flyer program, United MileagePlus is the best frequent flyer program. Why do we even read anymore. We learned Tuesday that about half of frequent flyers surveyed by J.D. Power and Associates don’t know how to redeem rewards for free flights. The most difficult and…
Portugal is rising in popularity as a “must see” European destination. The country has been overshadowed by its Iberian Peninsula counterpart, Spain, for quite some time, but as visitors continue to discover Portugal’s allure, its “little brother” perception is fading fast. As you may have noticed, Point Me To The Plane has been on a bit of…
Buenos Aires is a fascinating city and according to many lists, the most visited city in South America. On a recent trip to Argentina, I decided to explore four sites that don’t appear on many “must do” lists or are at the bottom of lists, but I think they deserve a higher ranking. El Zanjón de Granados El…
