Hyatt

Hyatt Regency Santa Clara

August 7, 2016 by 0 Comments

lobby 01 r

The family was getting together in Honolulu for spring break this year. Our best deal for flying to and from Honolulu was a round trip from bay area San Jose airport to Honolulu and back. San Jose is around 90 minutes from Sacramento, with no traffic. Had we driven to the airport in the morning it could have taken up to 3 hours for the traverse (in the morning commute) and our flight was scheduled for 8:55AM. In an effort to make the morning less hectic (and pick up a Hyatt stay) we decided to book a room at the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara the night before our flight. We arrived at the hotel late that evening after a day at the office.

Continue reading “Hyatt Regency Santa Clara”

Hawaii

Honolulu for Spring Break

August 6, 2016 by 0 Comments

beach 01 r

I have a daughter that attends college in Honolulu, Hawaii. I know what you’re thinking, must be rough to have to go to school in Hawaii, but honestly it is a great place for her to be studying. She usually flys home to visit the family, but one or two times a year we’ll all go visit her. This year we decided to visit her during spring break. Yes, I’m late on a couple trip reports.

Continue reading “Honolulu for Spring Break”

Airline Industry

Defining the Six Fundamental Types of Airlines

August 3, 2016 by 0 Comments

Periodic Table r

I’m in the process of reviewing different airlines and trying to figure out my future strategy for elite status with a specific carrier next year. In studying the different services and loyalty programs that exist in the aviation industry, the similarities and also variation between the contrasting operations are telling. Warning, this is one of my more abstract posts.

Continue reading “Defining the Six Fundamental Types of Airlines”

Hyatt - Sacramento

Hyatt Regency Sacramento

August 1, 2016 by 0 Comments

view 4

I’m Diamond level with Hyatt Gold Passport. I enjoy the benefits, and Susan really loves the benefits. I mean she loves, loves, loves the benefits. Especially the comped morning breakfast. It’s her favorite meal of the day and as a Diamond it’s on the house. In order to maintain our Diamond elite status with Hyatt’s Gold Passport Program we need to have 25 says during the calendar year. For us, and our travel patterns, 25 Hyatt stays are not a forgone conclusion. We normally would have ~18 stays per year in a standard schedule (including 2 from our Hyatt Visa card for hitting 20K in spending). So that means we need to plan a few additional evenings at a local/nearby Hyatt somewhere. Sometimes we go to San Francisco and stay at a Hyatt in the city, including the Hyatt Fisherman’s Warf which I reviewed earlier in the year.

Continue reading “Hyatt Regency Sacramento”

Delta

Choices – Looking At A New Frequent Flyer Program

July 18, 2016 by 0 Comments

opener r

Usually choice is a good thing, even if decisions are hard to make.

I’ve made a decision to make 2017 my last year of higher end elite status with Delta Airlines. I’m sure there will plenty of instances where I choose to fly with Delta after 2017, but it will be as an annually renewed Silver Medallion with Million Miler status and not as an elite Platinum or Diamond Medallion.

The next phase of course is what to do going forward (once I hit my final Diamond Medallion mark), and since it makes sense to plan these things ahead I’m trying to evaluate what to do about airline elite status in the future. There are 2 parts of this choice.

Continue reading “Choices – Looking At A New Frequent Flyer Program”

Alaska Airlines

Alaska Airlines Visa Signature Card – No-brainer

July 15, 2016 by 0 Comments

 

pic 1 r 500

If you have any inclination to travel to Alaska, Hawaii or Mexico – this is a credit card you really want to consider. This is especially true if you located on the west coast of the United States; although I also have friends on the east coast that also find it very useful. It is one of my very favorite travel credit cards and also one I’ve held the longest.

Continue reading “Alaska Airlines Visa Signature Card – No-brainer”

Surf Air

Surf Who?

July 14, 2016 by 0 Comments

Opener

It’s always been difficult to fly out of San Francisco from Sacramento. SFO is a great airport. Who doesn’t love the Bay Area, and there are so many destinations out of San Francisco.  At the same time, it can be a real bitch driving there from Sacramento. If you drive during rush hour in the commute traffic, “forgetta bout it”.

United Airlines does offer a direct commuter/feeder flight from Sacramento to San Francisco. It’s pricy if you plan out a future flight, and even more expensive as a last minute add on to a non-United itinerary. This got me wondering if there was a charter airline service that operated between Sacramento to SFO.

After doing a quick google search one of the choices that popped up was “Surf Air”. I thought to myself “Surf who?” At this point I started exploring the website and doing a little research.

Continue reading “Surf Who?”

Delta

Delta Million Miler Status

July 13, 2016 by 0 Comments

Delta Million Miler open

The summer has been racing by and my level of travel has been a bit busier than even I care to do. Don’t take me wrong, I love to be going somewhere. But as a full time professional and family man (Susan and have a blended situation) it’s all a matter of balance. Having said that, somewhere over the Atlantic in June I was flying with Virgin Atlantic on a purchased J fare when I hit my Million Miller mark with Delta Airlines.

Continue reading “Delta Million Miler Status”