Author: Palo

Borobudur 0

Garuda Indonesia Business Class: JOG-CGK B737-800 Upgrade for $1

I was originally booked to visit Borobudur in January 2016, but due to a change in plans it was delayed. I finally made it to Borobudur earlier this year and after an amazing visit I wanted to grab an earlier flight back to Jakarta (CGK) from Yogyakarta (JOG). There isn’t much...

AMEX Platinum 1

Credit Card Review: AMEX Platinum

American Express offers many credit cards but the most elite option available to the general public without an invite is their Platinum card. It is an excellent option for the active traveler as the value of the benefits outweigh the annual fee. The current signup bonus ranges from 60,000 to...

Cathay Pacific A350 @ HKG 1

Cathay Pacific Business Class: BKK-HKG A350-900

I used GrabCar to get to BKK (Bangkok) airport which is similar to Uber. It is a nice option as you can schedule a pickup which was needed for the early morning departure. Uber didn’t offer this option in Bangkok. The Cathay Pacific lounge at BKK is very nice compared...

Torrey Pines 0

June 2017 Updates

USPS Informed Delivery, started on April 14th nationwide You can now receive an email each morning with scans of the envelopes that will be delivered to your address that day. It even works while your mail is on hold so you can check to see if that important piece of mail will...

Bali 0

New Sprint International Data Plans as of April 2017

Sprint’s previous update in November 2016 resulted in very slow 2G speeds in countries which previously offered 3G speeds. It has changed yet again in this evolving land of competition amongst US carriers. Sprint now offers high speed (3G or LTE) data packages on a daily/weekly basis with unlimited data usage...

Keraton at The Plaza, Jakarta 0

Hotels Embracing Apps: WhatsApp & UberCENTRAL

During a recent stay at Keraton at The Plaza in Jakarta, I was presented with a business card at check-in listing the WhatsApp phone # to message for assistance during my stay. Instead of calling the front desk from your room, you can now message them through WhatsApp. WhatsApp is a...

JAL First Class 3

Japan Airlines (JAL) First Class: HND-BKK B777-300

I originally was scheduled to fly nonstop from Tokyo Narita to Jakarta in First Class, but Japan Airlines (JAL) decided to downgrade the plane to a B787-9 for that route which meant I would lose First Class. American Airlines allowed me to reroute my award ticket via Bangkok in order to...

Toki E2 1

Top Hotels in Japan

I was very fortunate to stay in Suites in some of the top hotels in Japan during a recent 10 day trip. Hospitality in Japan is some of the best, if not the best, in the world! Next time you are in Japan try staying at any of these hotels. They won’t disappoint....

North America 1

New Favorite Travel Apps & PBS Series: City in the Sky

Flightradar24 (iOS or Android) If you are a plane spotter or just want to know what plane is flying over you in your current location, just open up Flightradar24 on your phone. You can get all the stats (altitude, location, registration, speed, etc.) of the plane and even filter it to...

Old vs. New Metal AMEX Platinum 0

Credit Card Application Batch – March/April 2017

Over the past few months I decided to apply for 2 more credit cards and also received an offer from AMEX as I continue to diversify my point/mile balances. I applied and was approved for the following cards: Bank of America Alaska Airlines Visa Signature ($75/yr, not waived 1st year): -30,000 Alaska Airlines...