2011 Q3 Travel Update

Quarter 3 of Two Thousand Eleven has ended and I have hit some big travel milestones for me. Since I started traveling for work February 6, 2007, I have had 1 goal: to reach 1,000,000 miles on American Airlines. Well, I have surpassed that number. As of today, I sit at 1,026,068 lifetime American miles. 2011 Q3 I also reached Executive Platinum on American (100,000 miles flown in a year). Here's the Q3 wrap up:

2011 Q3 Summary

Total Miles Flown: 38,726

American Miles Flown: 32,320

American Redeemable Miles Earned: 104,234

American Miles Earned through Avis Promo (YTD): 81,132

American Miles Earned through Dining Rewards Network (YTD): 9,792

Continental/United Miles Flown: 4,892. 18,488 YTD.

Delta Miles Flown: 2,054

Spirit Miles Flown: 1,514

July Miles Flown (all airlines): 14,349

August Miles Flown (all airlines): 16,652

September Miles Flown (all airlines): 7,725

Total Miles in American Account: 837,068 (no, you cannot have any!)

Total Lifetime American Miles: 1,026,068

Total Hotel Nights: 39 (this number is not close to being correct but it's all I could calculate)

Starwood Nights Stayed: 28

Hilton Nights Stayed: 5

Hyatt Nights Stayed: 6

Marriott Nights Stayed: 0

Weekends Spent in: Oklahoma City; Las Vegas; NJ; Geneva, Switzerland; Madrid, Barcelona, Mallorga, Ibiza, Spain; Los Angeles, CA; Denver, CO; 

Quarter 4 preview: Houston, TX; Las Vegas; NJ; San Diego/Anaheim, CA; San Francisco/San Jose, CA; 

2011 Q2 Travel Update

Well, Q2 has officially ended. It was a good travel quarter for me. Made some progress towards my American Airlines Million Miler status as well as 2012 Executive Platinum status. Round up as follows:

2011 Q2 Summary

Total Miles Flown: 39,640
American Miles Flown: 36,401
American Redeemable Miles Earned: 72,802
American Elite Status Qualifying Miles Earned: 36,401
American Miles Earned through Avis Promo (YTD): 44,108

American Miles Earned through Dining Rewards Network (YTD): 5,756

Continental/United Miles Flown: 1,185. 13,842 YTD.
Delta Miles Flown: 2,054


April Miles Flown (all airlines): 14,290

May Miles Flown (all airlines): 13,301

June Miles Flown (all airlines): 12,049

Total Miles in American Account: 732,834 (no, you cannot have any!)
Total Lifetime American Miles: 921,834

Total Hotel Nights: 70
Starwood Nights Stayed: 51 (miraculously the same amount of nights as I spent at SPG in Q1)

Starwood Free Nights Earned: 7! (2 will be used in Mallorga and the rest need to be used by Dec 2011)

Hilton Nights Stayed: 3

Hyatt Nights Stayed: 13

Marriott Nights Stayed: 3

Weekends Spent in: Cancun, MX; NJ; Toronto; Miami; Chicago; Indianapolis; Dallas; Oklahoma City; Pittsburgh; Las Vegas.

Quarter 3 preview:  Oklahoma City; Las Vegas; NJ; Geneva, Switzerland; Madrid, Barcelona, Mallorga, Ibiza, Spain;

Estimating ~90,000 butt in seat miles by the end of August. If I can pull off another 10,000 mile month in September, that will give me EXP status from October 2011 - March 2013. Free upgrades here I come!

No Means Try Harder

Haven’t blogged in a while and figured it was time to put my thoughts from the weekend online. I went to Indianapolis for the weekend to hang out with Monte and take in one of the greatest racing events in the world, the Indianapolis 500.

I booked the flight only about 2 weeks ago and American’s flights cost way too much, so I flew Delta.  Delta’s hub is Atlanta, so I had to route MIA-ATL-IND. Thursday evening, pretty much the entire southeast US was experiencing rain and thunderstorms and Atlanta was no different. Couple that Atlanta International Airport being the busiest airport in the country and I knew I was bound to have some delays, but what I experienced I have never expected. I got to the airport at 5:00pm for my 6:45pm flight hoping to go stand by on the 4:15pm. Went to the Delta Sky Club, courtesy of my AmEx Platinum card, and was able to get on the 4:15pm….which was delayed til 5:40pm. Got on the plane, sat for a little while, then the captain told us that we were delayed, but couldn’t tell us until when, so I got off the plane and headed back to the Delta Sky Club. Flight was delayed til 8:45pm. Finally made it to ATL and my flight was delayed til 10pm. Got on my flight to Indy, taxied out to take off……taxied back to the gate. Mechanical issues, flight cancelled. Went to the Delta Sky Club to see what they could do for me and they put me on the 10pm flight to Indy that was delayed until 12:00am…then 12:40am…then 1:00am… (I think you see where this is going)….CANCELLED! Back to the Sky Club. After about 10-15 minutes of seeing what my other options are, fly to Cincy then drive, fly to Chicago then drive, fly to Indy Saturday 3:35pm (yes, this was the next available flight to Indy with seats on it)…. Magically, the agent has an epiphany when she sees that my ORIGINAL flight to Indy got a new plane and was actually flying tonight! 5 Terminals away, the flight had just started boarding. I make it to the gate with about 5 minutes to spare before they close the door. The only silver lining of the flight was when the gate agent came to my seat and gave me an upgrade to first class. Thank you Platinum Medallion status match.

I finally make it to Indy at 5:05am and take a cab to Monte’s place and sleep on the couch since Aiden was sleeping in my (okay, really his) bed. After about 4 hours of sleep, Monte wakes me up and we head to Carb Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Carb day is the last day that the drivers can get on the track and fine tune everything about the car.

Sunday rolls around and we head down to the IMS for the Indianapolis 500. Now I’m from New Jersey and I’ve never been to a motor sports race. Not NASCAR, not Indy Car, not GP, not F1..nada. Not really a fan of watching people make left turns all day. I’ve watched a little on TV, but never really understood the intricacies of racing. Monte explained the strategy on passing, pitting, peeing yourself in the car, etc. 3 things really stand out to me being at the track and not watching on TV. First, the sound. You can’t possibly imagine how loud it is when just 1 car zooms by let alone all 33 cars on a restart. Secondly, how fast the cars are. 2.5 mile lap. 225ish MPH. About 35 seconds per lap. From where we were sitting on the start/finish line, we really only saw each car about 4-6 seconds. Finally, how much strategy comes in to play with the drivers and their teams and how one tiny mistake, like taking a corner too high, can cost you the race.

Monday, I call Delta to see what they can do about getting me on a flight that night so I don’t have to get up at 4am for a 6am flight. The lady was very polite but told me it would cost me $800+ to change. I told her about all the troubles I encountered on the way here and she said she would have to check with a manager. She spoke to her manager who said she would waive the change fee, but I would still need to pay the fair difference and that was the best she could do and wouldn’t speak to me. Yes, you read that right….the manager REFUSED to speak to me. The agent told me this, I told her that was unacceptable and she should contact another manager. After about 5 minutes, she came back and told me that since the first manager refused to speak to me, the second manager would waive all charged and allow me to travel Monday night.

Rule #1 of professional traveling: No Means Try Harder. If someone gives you an answer you don’t like, ask to speak to someone else or hang up and call back. 

2011 Q2 Starwood Promotion

Got word today from an inside source at a hotel I frequent that the 2011 Q2 Starwood Promotion will be VERY lucrative.  Details as follows:

• Earn 1 Free Award Night for every 3 stays at over 1,000 SPG hotels and resorts worldwide
• Award Nights can be redeemed at over 200 resorts worldwide through December 21, 2011
• Unlimited Award Nights can be earned and there are no blackout dates for Award Night 

This means that for every 3 stays (check-in, check-out = 1 stay), you will earn 1 free night (including resorts). SPG has done this type of promotion in the past, however, the award nights were only usable on weekends (Fri, Sat, Sun).   I think this is a great promotion and is definitely going to cause me to hotel hop. The schedule will probably go something like this:

Fly in Sunday night. Stay at the Sheraton by LAX Airport (1 stay)

Switch to Sheraton Pasadena for Monday night (2 stays)

Check out Tuesday AM and check in to Doubletree Monrovia 

Check out Wednesday AM and check back in to the Sheraton Pasadena (3 stays)

This should earn me 1 free award night per week. I am going to try to negotiate a better rate at the Westin in Pasadena so that I can hop back and forth between the 2 and not have to leave Starwood. This will also give me an additional 1,500 Starpoints per week for the Platinum amenity. 

Will post the link to the promotion here when it's live. 

Free 2,500 HHonors Points

https://www.hiltonhhonors.com/processLanding6.aspx?lp=EHT

2011 Q1 Travel Update

When you travel as much as I do, you learn tips and tricks to maximize your miles, hotel points, car miles, free nights/trips, etc. Here are my detailed (probably more detailed than you care for) 2011 Quarter 1 Travel Update (includes travel from January 1, 2011 - March 31, 2011):

2011 Q1 Summary

Total Miles Flown: 39,367
American Miles Flown: 27,806
American Redeemable Miles Earned: 81,644
American Elite Status Qualifying Miles Earned: 30,276
American Miles Earned through Avis Promo: 16,400

American Miles Earned through Dining Rewards Network: 1,103

Continental/United Miles Flown: 11,561


January Miles Flown (all airlines): 14,546

February Miles Flown (all airlines): 8,362

March Miles Flown (all airlines): 16,459

Total Hotel Nights: 61
Starwood Nights Stayed: 51

Hilton Nights Stayed: 7

Marriott Nights Stayed: 3

Weekends Spent in: Norfolk, VA; NJ; Shereveport, LA; Reno, NV; Las Vegas, NV; San Diego, CA; Los Angeles, CA; Philadelphia, PA, Chicago, IL.

Quarter 2 preview: No idea where I am going to be staffed yet, but already have trips planned to the following locations: San Diego, CA; Cancun, Mexico; Toronto, Canada; Chicago, IL; Oklahoma City, OK and I'm sure I'll go home once or thrice.

For those of you who really want to see what I'm up to, feel free to follow along on my Mileage Tracking Spreadsheet: https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Ak4ryO6BSJN0dFowdms3MkdQUzBZcDktZ1R5Z0tBV1E&hl=en

Also, feel free to connect with me on TripIt: http://www.tripit.com/people/dannyrube

Danny Does the 49ers: London Edition

Seven hours in to my 10.5 hour flight back from London to LA, I figured I would use this time to write the second entry in my blog.  I am entitling this entry “Danny Does the 49ers: London Edition” in honor of a friend I met off twitter that wasn’t able to accompany me on this trip.  Of all the people I invited to London with me, I think she was the one I wanted to join me most. Now if you know me, you know I can be a little girl crazy, but it wasn’t like that at all..this time. She writes a blog on the 49ers; a very funny, creative and witty blog, and she seems like a cool person to get to know…as a friend (bet you never thought you would hear those words come out of my mouth…). A lot of my friends are afraid to get to know new people, especially meeting them off social networking. Obviously, I don’t have those same reservations being as I was going to spend a weekend (Halloween weekend at that), halfway around the world, with someone I had never met.

Overall, the trip was fun. I arrived in London Saturday AM and by the time I got to the hotel (thank you, Aisha), it was about 1pm. I grabbed a little lunch and started to hit a wall, so I went to the hotel and slept for about 2 hours. I got in touch with a friend of a friend to see what she was doing that night for Halloween, and if she wouldn’t mind if I joined her.  Halloween in London was interesting. I didn’t see many people out on the streets in costumes, but the clubs were filled with scantily clad females and creatively dressed Europeans. Some people had very elaborate costumes, such as a wounded army soldier to a couple who was dressed as though they were from the 1920’s. Other just threw on masks and went out to party. Me, I was a cow. Yes, a moo cow.  Not going to lie, I got a LOT of attention -no less than 6 different girls asked me to take a picture with them. I will undoubtedly be in multiple Facebook photo galleries, without ever being tagged. I chalk it up to my devilishly good looks but others tell me it was the funny costume.

WEMBLEY STADIUM

I finally got home at 2:00am London time and resisted the urge to go to the casino located within the hotel (sorry to disappoint, Monte).  I set my alarm for 11am knowing I had to be out at 2pm. I figured I would get up, shower, pack, grab some lunch and change hotels. Boy was I wrong – I slept until 1pm (can you say Jetlag?). After transferring hotels, I changed and waited for Juliya, the friend of a friend who was going to the game with me.  We jumped on the tube and headed to Wembley Stadium. WEMBLEY STADIUM!  The stadium was pretty cool. I believe it holds about 85,000, but I would say there were only about 75,000 there (I haven’t heard of the official attendance).

One of the most interesting aspects of the game was the fans. You had everything from hard core 49ers fans from the US from Frisco to random Europeans that just wanted to see what American Football was all about. Most everyone who was not there supporting either the Niners or the Broncos had some random NFL team jersey on.  The game was great. Troy Smith showed us why Alex Smith’s duties as starting QB are no longer needed in San Francisco.

Sunday morning in London Heathrow was interesting. Walking to the gate, guess who just happened to be at a gate near me… THE 49ERS (and their cheerleaders)!  Honestly didn’t recognize a lot of the guys, but two people I did recognize were Takeo Spikes and MIKE SINGLETARY! Yes, the head coach of the 49ers. Walked right by him. I was going to say something like “Great Game Coach!” but really, what good would it have done - everyone knows he will not be the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers next year…and that’s too bad because we all had so high hopes for him.

All in all, it was a fun weekend, but I definitely discovered some things that I don’t like.  For starters, traveling alone sucks. Eating meals alone, sightseeing alone, going to bars alone… it all doesn’t compare to traveling with a friend. Secondly, why in the world would Verizon create a network that their phones ONLY work in the US? How short sighted is that? I was able to make “calls” and “text” through my Google Voice account, but it’s a different number that people don’t know and I had to be on WiFi. CDMA is NOT where technology should be going. The entire world is GSM, but businesses in America decide to limit their customers to only being able to use their cell phone in America (iPhone and AT&T – you win there).

Anyway – this past weekend was fun. Went to Chicago, trained a few times at Valko BJJ, partied with friends and enjoyed Chicago.  This weekend I go to SF to train with Phil/Skrap Pack and go to the Niners game with Rachel, Phil, Ryan Loco and @DaisySF.