Palo Will Travel Blog

Etihad 787-900 2

Etihad Economy Coral Class: IAD-AUH B787-900

I needed a positioning flight for my AUH-SYD flight in which I used American miles to book Etihad’s new Apartment Class. Getting to Abu Dhabi from LAX can be easy by flying their nonstop flight but it’s on their older 777. Flying to IAD allowed me to try their new plane,...

Cathay Pacific The Pier 2

Cathay Pacific Lounges @ HKG (The Pier, The Cabin & The Wing)

During my recent trip on Cathay Pacific First Class, I was able to enjoy my layover in Hong Kong by utilizing their lounges. After deplaning from CGK I went for the trifecta of lounges. I started at The Pier then to The Cabin and finally to The Wing. My gate...

Cathay Pacific First Class 5

Cathay Pacific First Class: CGK-HKG-SFO

Travel interruptions are very unpredictable and I was faced with canceling a Singapore Airlines First Class award ticket on my recent trip. I was very lucky the redeposit fees to cancel the ticket are only $30 which is the lowest I’ve heard of unless you have elite status with an airline. With...

Sunrise from ANA 777 2

Credit Card Application Batch – January 2016

Last month I decided to apply for 3 more credit cards as I continue to buildup and diversify my point/mile balances. I applied and was approved for the following cards: Hawaiian Airlines World Elite MasterCard ($89/yr, not waived 1st year): -50,000 Hawaiian Airlines miles after spending $1,000 in 90 days (this offer is...

Sydney 1

Sprint Global Roaming in Australia, Hong Kong & Indonesia

I’ve put Sprint’s Global Roaming plan to use over the past year. The most shocking result is that all data services have operated at 3G speeds rather than the advertised 2G speeds which is a huge advantage over T-Mobile. At this point in time, Sprint is the only carrier in...

Jakarta 0

Indonesian Airlines Reviewed: Citilink & Garuda Indonesia

Citilink DPS-SUB A320 Economy Class: Checking in for my Citilink flight from Bali to Surabaya was very easy and I was able to check one bag up to 20kg for free. After clearing security I was at my boarding gate. The gate lead to a bus to take us out...

EVA Air Lounge BKK 1

THAI Air Business Class: NRT-BKK-DPS

After a short layover in NRT (Tokyo) from my ANA flight, I was ready to board Thai Air’s A380 to Bangkok. I finally got to try it out after Thai Air did an equipment swap on me 2 years ago. For my seat, I selected a window seat (15A) which had the...

Japan! 1

ANA Business Class: SJC-NRT NH171

I was lucky to finally have my 2nd international flight out of SJC (San Jose International) which meant for a much more relaxed environment and smaller airport. My first international flight from SJC was to Paris (CDG) on AA back in 2001. They no longer offer that route. ANA started serving...

N281VA Pineapple Express 0

Virgin America Silver Status Recap for 2015

Virgin America is still my preferred US domestic airline. During 2015, I was upgraded from Main Cabin to Main Cabin Select on 8 out of 19 of my flights which translates to a 42% upgrade rate. This seems very high for a mid-tier status whereas other airlines would most likely...