Fly in business class comfort for free

(And Other Perks of Mega Miles in Your Frequent Flyer Account)

My freebie travel guru, Frugal Travel Guy, gives me the ammo I need to rack up the miles for free trips, almost always business class. Those that amass a zillion miles on business flights and attain some kind of elite status are doing it the easy way and I have miles envy. Finding other methods to get my miles is like looking for the yellow brick road with no Google mapping. Scrounging for miles is a part time job. My friends think I am crazy. I think they are lazy. Miles in the bank for me are the same as a Ferrari in the garage to some. It is my ticket to my free business class travel habit. Who wants to fly for 8-15 hours in the back of the bus? I prefer a flat bed with a comforter to a 19” wide seat and 18 degree recline with a two year old kicking my back.

Here is what I have accomplished in the last 5 months:

• 25,000 Continental miles – Chase Bank checking account with debit card
• 25,000 Continental miles – Chase Bank business checking account with debit card
• 6,239 Continental miles – Chase Bank checking from spending and bonuses
• 100,000 British Airways miles – British Airways Chase Visa sign up and $2K spending
• 30,000 miles – United Business Visa sign up
• 14,479 United miles – United Business Visa spending and bonuses
• 17,000 American miles – Citibank Savings account
• 30,000 American miles – American Airlines Citibank card sign up
• 11,323 American miles – American Airlines Citibank spending and bonuses
• 15,000 Delta miles – SunTrust checking and debit card
• 15,000 Delta miles – SunTrust business checking and debit card
• TOTAL 289,041 miles

There are tricks to accomplishing all this. First and foremost you need to know how to find these mile accumulating opportunities. I highly suggest that you follow the Frugal Travel Guy. He is the guru and a terrifically nice guy to boot. He will lead you to all the deals. Take his word for it. He really knows his stuff and lives what he preaches.

Have a comfy trip in your flat bed, eat a meal with something other than plastic and choose a nice glass of (free) wine to go with your dinner. Don’t pay for checked bags, go through a short, fast check-in line, and get higher baggage weight allowances. And one of my favorite perks of flying international business class is the admission to the business class airport lounges. Telling you about the Frugal Travel Guy will be perhaps the best advice I ever give you.

Oops - not what you want to see on the carousel. My bag wasn't quite this bad!

Lost or Damaged Luggage – Who Pays?

It was such a great purchase, an absolutely beautiful retro-designed suitcase covered in tweed fabric with a leather belt around it. There were 9 flights ahead of me and a lot of checking in and out over a month long trip. I was confident that this was the ultimate spinner. Four wheels meant no sore back or dragging that case behind me. It packed so well, or maybe I am the whiz packer, that I had almost ½ of it empty. I loved that suitcase. Note the past tense.

When it circled around on the baggage carousel after the first two flights, it was clear that my wonderful new suitcase had been abused. Badly. Not only was the fabric marred with black grease on all sides, the zipper was split in one place (thank goodness for that belt), and the fabric was torn on the edges. It turned out to be a complete waste of time to file a report. The second airline blamed the first airline and nothing was going anywhere. Luckily nothing inside the case was missing or damaged so the claim was limited to the brand new case itself.

Luggage damage, loss or theft of items within is not a slam dunk claim. Upon my return to the US, I debated how to claim the loss. I had several options. I could forge forth trying to claim it with the first airline since it was documented by its partner overseas. My travel insurance company would no doubt handle it.

Here is what you need to know. When traveling within the US, federal law sets the limit of recovery at $3300. Not bad but depending on your clothes spending habits that could be the cost of one outfit and that doesn’t include the Manolos. Here is the bad news: the Warsaw Convention limits, which most international airlines use as a guide, sets recovery at about $9.07 per pound. If you are allowed only 44 pounds per bag, as is typical, that comes in at about $400. That wouldn’t have even covered the cost of my new spinner. That is to say that the US airlines have a much higher limit for reimbursement than international airlines.

Here is the answer to protecting your investment in your suitcase and its contents. Excess baggage coverage is available for a relatively minimal cost at check-in, particularly inexpensive from foreign airlines. Who would have known? Has anyone at check in ever offered the coverage to you?

Another option is travel insurance. However, you will never receive enough from a regular policy without additional coverage. The norm seems to be $1000 – $2000 per policy. Your credit card may provide some coverage also. Possibly among all potential insurers – airline, travel insurance, credit card – you may eke out enough to cover a loss. However, and here is the kicker, you need all the receipts (yah, right) for your clothing, suitcase and Manolos and then they will all be depreciated by the airline.

Be wise and get the excess baggage coverage from the airline if it is an international airline (cheap coverage). If it is a domestic airline and your bag and its contents are worth more than $3300 then spring for airline excess coverage. It would be a sad ending to a memorable trip not to have a means to recover your loss.

My spinner was the only issue for me, not the contents. The suitcase manufacturer, in a great public relations move, replaced my suitcase with a new one. Thanks, Samsonite! Because great customer service deserves my loyalty, I now am a lifelong fan. How have you dealt with baggage damages or losses? Let us know!

The Nook is only 12 ounces and 1/2 inch thick - perfect for travel.

Being able to consolidate some of my packing into smaller devices is incredibly helpful in dealing with weight limits and sheer bulk when traveling. It was one of the reasons that I was excited about my new Nook. It turns out there are many more reasons that the Nook is a great travel device.

While planning a trip, I establish many files including one for each hotel/car/air/cruise reservation. I also have a file for each destination that gives information on walking tours, restaurants, sights and anything else of interest. Now I can load all these documents on my Nook and carry it with me as my one source for everything. I foresee it being useful in cities as we take a walking tour or scope the territory for a restaurant. The Nook will easily fit in my backpack, my Scottevest or in a handbag. I will be able to leave my travel guides at home.

The Nook isn’t compatible with Word docs so I convert them to PDF files easily and then load them on my Nook. Go to Microsoft.com and download “Microsoft Office Add-in: Microsoft Save as PDF.” After you download the add-in, open your file, click Save As and then click PDF. Follow the instructions on the Nook website for side loading the PDF file to your Nook and you will be ready to travel.

With the Nook’s capability to increase storage with a microSD card, I can use my Nook’s as my travel MP3 player. The Nook is a multi-tasker: you can read your books or use your files while listening to your music.

I am amazed at how little battery drain there is with the Nook. A very long flight – no problem. Often my Nook only needs recharging every couple of weeks. If you are traveling with a laptop, you can charge your Nook via the USB cable. If you want to plug it in, attach the wall plug to the USB cable and plug it in. Don’t forget if you are traveling internationally to take a converter and transformer.

Load your ebooks before you go, download your music on your microSD card and install it in your Nook and side load your documents on your Nook. Now you have a great travel device!

Do all the usual things: stock up on Bonine, try Seabands, buy some ginger tea, take along some candied ginger, stay in the middle of the ship at all times if you feel queasy and head for the onboard clinic for a shot as a last resort. He was lucky that they had an inside cabin meaning there would be a little less rolling motion to feel. I also advised him to have room service deliver food first thing in the morning and constantly keep some food in his stomach, which always helps me.

This is an issue that is old and never resolved for some travelers. Just remember to book your cabin on a middle deck in the middle of the ship forward to aft. It does help.

Our web designer came back with a great report of calm seas and no seasickness. Jeremy had a great time as a result!

Upon boarding the Celebrity Summit this week in Barcelona, I approached one of the assistant maitre‘ds and asked about the lunch buffet. He offered to walk the buffet line with me to assure that I would know what was dairy and gluten free. It was my first inkling that Celebrity understands the nature of special diets and isn’t intimidated by them. At dinner our waiter made certain that everything that I ordered would be prepared according to my needs.

Here is the essence of the level of care and service that Celebrity provides: the dining room maitre’d brought me the menu for the next evening, told me to choose whatever I wanted and assured me my choices would be made to order – gluten and dairy free. Indeed they were and I have been accommodated in a royal fashion every evening. I am impressed.

The not-very-pleasant easyJet personnel in the waiting room at Charles de Gaulle in Paris pushed the baggage measuring rack around the room and made passengers with suspect pieces place them in the device. Mind you we had all checked in at the easyJet desk, where their personnel had already scoped our carry-ons. The couple next to us had a small suitcase with wheels extending past the allowed dimensions. They had paid for priority boarding but were sent out of security, back to check-in, had to pay 22 euros and go through security again only to join the general boarding process.

Don’t think you will escape scrutiny or be able to sneak an extra centimeter past easyJet personnel. They are obviously trained to cut no slack for anyone.

What is it about Black Friday that causes us to spend, spend, spend? The bargains, of course. The online deals abound and in some cases are more readily available than in the brick and mortar stores. Furthermore there are a lot of free shipping deals. Who wants to get up at 3 a.m. to wait in line? Not me.

The avid traveler on your shopping list will love you if you buy them a holiday gift that makes their travel easier and more comfortable. How about a netbook? We are leaving today for Europe. I bought my husband a netbook as an early Christmas gift so that he can take it along. He is thrilled with the convenience and size.

There isn’t an avid traveler around that doesn’t love to read about their destinations. Part of the fun of any trip is the planning for most of us. Who doesn’t like to know about the airport bus in Barcelona that takes you within a block of your hotel and saves you 25 Euros? Lonely Planet books tend to have a lot of that type of useful information.

One of my discoveries last year was the spinner type suitcase. I sing its praises to anyone that will listen. It saves my bad back on a trip because it reduces the strain. Furthermore my carry on spinner rolls down the aisles of planes so easily that you wonder why anyone with carry ons would use any other type of suitcase. Treat your avid traveler with one. They will love you for it.

Shop early, shop online, save money and aggravation!

Always trying to maximize my credits and discounts in travel, the purchase of about 100 shares of cruise line stock to receive online credit is a win-win situation. Because of our upcoming transatlantic cruise on the Celebrity Summit (watch here for blog reports on the cruise – great itinerary and great ship) we purchased 100 shares of parent company Royal Caribbean’s stock. It was trading for a little over $19 that day. We purchased it online from Scottrade and only paid $7 for the trade. Notification to Celebrity required a fax and a phone call – easy. Because our cruise is 14 days, we have received an onboard credit of $250. Here’s the real kicker: we made $110 on the stock!

This is also available from Carnival Corporation and applies to their family of ships, including Carnival, Holland America, Seabourn, Princess, P & O, Costa and Cunard. A couple of years ago we made a purchase of their stock and received a $250 onboard credit from them.

The onboard credit amount is determined by the length of your cruise. Go to the corporate site of the parent company and look for investor relations/shareholder benefit. Don’t miss this easy opportunity for a freebie. Maybe you will make money on the stock trade like us as well!

Still available from Marriott until December 13, is a deal almost too good to be true. Stay at over 300 Marriott properties either a Friday or Saturday night and receive a $100 Marriott Bonus Bucks coupon good for a two night weekend stay between 1/1/10 and 3/31/10 plus a $50 coupon good for $10 off each day on up to a 5 day rental from Hertz good now until 3/31/10.

We just booked a stay at the Chicago Marriott Suites Deerfield for $89 and will receive both coupons. Better yet, we have a $50 Marriott Bonus Bucks coupon that we can deduct from our two night stay with the net result of $149 after taxes. Why stay home?

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