2B Traveling

Cathay Pacific Lounge Review: The Cabin at HKG

Posted on April 11, 2018 by 2btravel

Exploring Asia Overview
Cathay Pacific B777-300ER Business Class San Francisco to Hong Kong
Cathay Pacific Lounge Review: The Cabin at HKG
Cathay Dragon A330-300 Business Class Hong Kong to Beijing
Lodging Review: Regent Beijing Hotel
Beijing: Dongcheng District
Beijing: The Great Wall
Beijing: Run-ze Jade Garden
Beijing: The Sacred Way of the Ming Tombs
Beijing: The Legend of Kung Fu
Beijing: Tiananmen Square
Beijing: The Forbidden City
Beijing: Hutong Tour via Rickshaw, Tea Tasting, Flying to Xi’an
Lodging Review: Hotel Shangri-La Xi’an
Xi’an: Qing Dynasty Terra Cotta Warriors
Xi’an: Tang Dynasty Dinner and Show
Xi’an Wrap-Up, Flying to Lhasa, Lhasa Home Visit
Lodging Review: Shangri-La Hotel Lhasa
Lhasa: Jokhang Temple and Barkhor Market
Lhasa: Canggu Nunnery and Sera Monastery
Lhasa: Potala Palace
Leaving Lhasa and Flying to Chongqing
Viking Emerald
Shibaozhai Temple
Cruising the Three Gorges
Three Gorges Dam
Jingzhou City Walls Tour
Wuhan: Hubei Bells Performance and Provincial Museum
Shanghai: Shanghai Museum
Lodging Review: Fairmont Peace Hotel, Shanghai
Shanghai: Old Shanghai and Yuyan Gardens
Lodging Review: The New Otani Tokyo Hotel
Tokyo: City Tour
Mt. Fuji and Hakone Tour Returning by Shinkansen
ANA Suites Lounge Review, Tokyo Narita
All Nippon Airways B777-300ER First Class Tokyo Narita to Houston

Our flight to Hong Kong landed a few minutes early and the three of us followed the signs to the gate for our next flight. The closest lounge was The Cabin. We saw the little “cabin” on the main concourse and found that it was basically just a signpost for the elevator or stairs that would take us down to the actual lounge.

My first impression was that it was a bit dark inside but part of that was due to the overcast day. Once we got past the main entrance there were massive windows all along one wall, overlooking the tarmac. In some ways it was a great view for avgeeks but it appeared all the planes were for shorthaul flights and they were all Cathay or Cathay Dragon branded so there wasn’t a whole lot of variety. Still, if the operations side of an airport is of interest to you, this could be a fun place to wait for your next flight.

Tarmac View from The Cabin HKG

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Categories: Airline Clubs, Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong | Tags: Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong, Lounge Review | Leave a comment

Cathay Pacific B777-300ER Business Class San Francisco to Hong Kong

Posted on April 9, 2018 by 2btravel

Three of us were flying to Beijing on Cathay Pacific from San Francisco via Hong Kong. Two of us bought positioning flights and arrived a day or two early while our third companion was able to get economy award seats all the way from Nashville. By early afternoon our luggage was in storage at our airport hotel and we spent the afternoon enjoying a late lunch and just killing time at the mall until we could go to the airport.

Our flight was due to depart at 12:50 AM and the Cathay counter doesn’t open until 8:30 PM. We’d arrived at the airport a bit before that so had to hang out and wait for the counter to open. After seeing the chaos that was the Economy check-in line, we were so glad to be in premium cabins – one of us in first, the other two in business.

As there are only six first class seats, our companion seated there was through the check-in process quite quickly. It obviously took a bit longer for the two of us in business class but the line still moved quite efficiently. We all received our invitations to the Cathay lounge and were directed to the A gates security line.

While there was a priority line for premium cabin passengers, it didn’t move all that quickly as there were flights by several airlines leaving at the same time and there were language barriers as well, with many non-English speakers moving through. They were having everyone move through the nude-o-scope machines until the line got so backed up that they allowed ten or so of us to go through the regular metal detector. I was thrilled to be in the right place at the right time for that.

We made our way to the Cathay lounge and were granted access. After walking around all day, a couple of us wanted to take showers and that was so refreshing. The shower rooms were clean and plenty big enough that your clothes didn’t get splashed while you were showering. It really made a difference for the long flight ahead.

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Categories: Award Travel, Cathay Pacific, OneWorld | Tags: Award Travel, Cathay Pacific, OneWorld | Leave a comment

Trip Report: Exploring Asia

Posted on April 7, 2018 by 2btravel

For the last several years a small group of us have taken trips together, mostly to Europe, like our cruise down the Danube last year or our Rhine cruise in 2014. This year we decided to look to the other side of the world and visit Asia. In Europe, even if I don’t speak the native language, I usually feel like I can muddle my way around because there are typically English-speakers, I have retained a little of my high school French and often I can figure out foreign words based on their spelling. But exploring Asia without a guide was not something I was comfortable doing. Although I know lots of people have disdain for guided tours, I’ve come to appreciate them and enjoy the extras that can come with traveling as a group.

As we’ve done in the past, we booked with Viking River Cruises and signed up for their Roof of the World tour that includes stops in Beijing, Xi’an (home of the terra cotta warriors) and Lhasa in the mountains of Tibet. From there we flew to Chongqing where we boarded the Viking Emerald – a much larger ship than we sail in Europe – and floated down the Yangtze River to Wuhan and from there flew to Shanghai to end our tour. Three of us decided that since we were flying to the other side of the world anyway, we might as well take the extension to Tokyo for an extra four nights.

Roof of the World tour itinerary
(image courtesy Viking River Cruises)

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Categories: Asia, Award Travel, China, Japan, River Cruise, Viking | Tags: Award Travel, China, Japan, River Cruise, Viking | Leave a comment

IHG Devalues their Card, Pick Up the Old Card Today

Posted on April 5, 2018 by 2btravel

We knew it would happen sooner or later. One of the best card benefits on the market is being reduced. IHG is the Intercontinental Hotel Group, the power behind Intercontinental, Holiday Inn, Kimpton, Crowne Plaza and others. Their credit card, issued by Chase, had one of the best benefits out there: a free night at any of their properties worldwide. Even better was that the card only cost $49 annually so even if you never spent a dime on it (after meeting minimum spend and getting your sign-up bonus) it was still a great deal.

This week I received a letter from Chase stating that the free night benefit was changing:

Currently, we award this Anniversary Free Night each year after your anniversary date, and it is redeemable at any IHG property. Going forward, Anniversary Free Nights issued after May 1, 2018 will be redeemable at eligible IHG hotels with a redemption value up to and including 40,000 points.

So even though all other benefits remain the same, this is still a huge loss. I’ve got an upcoming trip in October where we’ve already used last year’s certificate for one night, we’re using points for the second night and had planned to use this year’s certificate for the third night. But I won’t get this year’s certificate until July and the hotel costs 50,000 points so I won’t be able to use it there. So we changed our plans and will stay at a different hotel the third night.

Notice the highlighted bit in the quote about eligible IHG hotels? There is a list of excluded properties and some of those go for 40,000 points or less. Summer at Mommy Points has more details in her post though she’s since had an update saying that all 40,000 point (or less) hotels will be available for the certificate. But we’ll have to see. I’m a little skeptical.

If you sign up for the old IHG card by today you can still get the certificate good for any IHG hotel in the world on your anniversary date but only for the first year. Certificates issued after that will have the 40,000 point limit.

Part of the reason for this cut back is that IHG is issuing two new cards, IHG Premier and IHG Traveler. The Traveler is the base card with an annual fee of only $29 and the sign-up bonus is 60K points after spending $2000 in the first 3 months after approval. The Premier card has an $89 annual fee and earns you 80K points after spending $2000 in the first three months. Both cards earn bonus points at IHG hotels (10x for the Premier, 5x for the Traveler), 2x at gas stations, grocery stores and restaurants and 1x everywhere else. There are other benefits regarding hotel status, savings on points purchases and bonus points based on spending thresholds. Nick at Frequent Miler has a terrific post today laying out each card’s benefits. But neither of these cards is as good as the current (old) card with it’s $49 annual fee and free night – even capped at 40K points.

Both Frequent Miler and Mommy Points include screen shots of Twitter conversations where the Chase reps say that cards approved today will get the uncapped anniversary night so bookmark those pages and sign up for the new card today. Frequent Miler has a card sign-up link in the post and on the Best Offers page.

Categories: Chase, Credit Cards, IHG Rewards Card | Tags: Chase, Credit Cards, IHG Rewards Club | Leave a comment

It’s a new quarter, activate bonus categories now!

Posted on April 1, 2018 by 2btravel

Today is the start of the second quarter of 2018 so time to activate your bonus categories if you haven’t already done so. The Chase Freedom, Discover and US Bank Cash Plus cards all offer 5% bonus categories good for up to $1500 in spend. Both Discover and Chase Freedom have grocery stores as their category though with the Freedom card you can also use Chase Pay or Paypal to earn bonuses. The US Bank Cash Plus card allows you to pick your 5% category and new this quarter is home utilities. That’s a great category and I’m not aware of any other card offering that category so I hope it sticks around. I don’t know if it includes telephone and television services or not but if you don’t have a Chase Ink card to earn 5% on those categories it’s certainly worth testing out.

More information on the categories and how to register can be found in this post. Don’t forget that to receive the Discover 5% cash back you must register before using your card.

Categories: Cash Plus, Chase, Credit Card Promos, Credit Cards, Discover, Freedom, US Bank | Tags: Chase Freedom, Credit Card Promos, Discover, US Bank Cash Plus | Leave a comment

Some Hyatt Places/Houses Testing the Elimination of Free Breakfast

Posted on March 18, 2018 by 2btravel

On Friday Gary of View From The Wing had a blog post stating that at a few select locations Hyatt is eliminating the free breakfast at some Hyatt Place/Hyatt House properties.

If you made your reservation for one of these locations before February 1st you’ll still get the breakfast regardless of your Hyatt status but if not, only those with Globalist status (Hyatt’s top tier) will get free breakfast. The rest of us will be charged $10 if we want to partake.

When I’m using points to stay at a Hyatt property I’m usually at a full-service hotel. But when I’m paying cash – or using the free night voucher I get with my Chase Hyatt credit card – I’m often at a Hyatt Place or Hyatt House and one of the reasons is that these hotels have pretty good breakfast spreads. It’s not just cereal and pastries but there are several kinds of hot entrees and sometimes you can even have omlettes cooked to order.

I’ve not yet seen a full list of properties where the breakfast is not included but I really hope the feedback on this change is overwhelmingly negative. I love the larger rooms in Hyatt Places/Houses and how there’s a separate area with a sofa for lounging. I actively look for these properties when traveling but if this change becomes permanent I will question whether I need to stay at Hyatts in the future or not.

Categories: Hotel, Hyatt | Tags: Hotel, Hyatt, Hyatt Place | Leave a comment

Register Now for Q2 Category Bonuses

Posted on March 16, 2018 by 2btravel

Registration is now open for quarterly bonus categories for the Chase Freedom, Discover and US Bank Cash+ cards.

Chase Freedom

Starting today you can register your Chase Freedom card and in April you’ll receive 5x Ultimate Rewards points on purchases made at grocery stores, Paypal and on purchases made through the Chase Pay mobile payment system. You must activate by June 14, 2018 to earn 5x during this quarter but you don’t have to activate before you make your purchases. You can earn the 5x points for up to $1500 in purchases. After that you’ll earn the usual 1x points per dollar. Note that you won’t earn points at Wal-Mart or Target grocery stores unless you pay via Chase Pay or Paypal.

Discover Card

Discover has chosen to reveal their entire 2018 calendar and for the second quarter their 5% cash back category is Grocery Stores. To register, just log into your Discover account online or visit this link to log in. Note that to receive the 5% cash back you must register first before making your purchase. You can earn 5% back on up to $1500 in purchases.

US Bank Cash+

US Bank is changing things up just a little by adding Home Utilities and removing Bookstores. Select 1 of the 2% categories and 2 of the 5% categories, based on your needs. For the 5% category you can earn the 5% on up to $2000 in purchases. To select your categories, visit the US Bank Cash+ website.

Categories: Cash Plus, Chase, Credit Card Promos, Credit Cards, Discover, Freedom, US Bank | Tags: Chase Freedom, Credit Card Promos, Discover, US Bank Cash Plus | Leave a comment

Earn United Miles for Gasoline Purchases with BP

Posted on March 10, 2018 by 2btravel

Most of us have or are aware of credit cards that earn bonus miles/points for purchases at gas stations. For example, during this first quarter of 2018, the Chase Freedom card has gas stations as one of its bonus categories and you can earn 5 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent. The IHG card will earn 2 points per dollar. The Hilton card will give you 5 points per dollar. And now you can double up those bonuses when you link your card to your BP Driver Rewards account.

You can sign up at this website or if you’re like me and already have a BP Driver Reward account, just log into your account, click on the BP Driver Rewards tab at the top and scroll down just a little until you see the photo of the United Airlines plane.

When you click on the Learn More button you see that you can earn 1, 2 or 3 miles per gallon:

Even better, you’ll earn 200 bonus miles for your first purchase after linking a debit or credit card to your BP Driver Rewards account and paying with that card.

The downside to this is that you can’t earn both cash back and airline miles for the same purchase. If you already have a BPDR account and you want to earn miles, you’ll need to log into your account to change your rewards type. You can do that on the My Account tab.

NOTE: This promotion is not available to California residents.

If you don’t have other ways of earning United miles, this is a great way to extend the life of the miles you do have, since every addition of miles extends the life of your entire pool of miles for 18 months.

What if BP gas is not the cheapest in your area? United miles are worth approximately 1.4-1.5 cents apiece. So if BP gas is more than about 2 cents per gallon more expensive than your usual gas station it might not be worth more than an occasional visit to help extend your UA miles. I’ve recently stocked up on Kroger fuel points thanks to a 4x fuel points on gift cards promotion this weekend so it may be a month or two before I take advantage of this BP promotion.

But for those of you who spend a lot at the pump, this could be a nice way to bump up your UA stash of points.

HT: Pizza In Motion

Categories: Free Points, United | Tags: Bonus Points, BP, United Airlines | Leave a comment

Lodging Review: The Crestwood, Snowmass Village (and the conclusion of the luggage saga)

Posted on March 9, 2018 by 2btravel

I checked out of the Westin Snowmass mid-morning as the snow continued to fall and drove the few miles over to my home for the next week, The Crestwood. While there are a few more properties higher up the mountain on the same road, this road is not one of the ones in Snowmass Village that is heated so you’ll want to be sure your vehicle is properly equipped if you plan to drive here in the winter.

The Crestwood parking lot is heated, however, and while it was having trouble keeping the parking lot snow-free, it was doing the best it could. The Crestwood has several shuttle vans that will take you wherever you need to go within Snowmass Village. The Village Shuttle, the free bus system for Snowmass, actually has a stop on The Crestwood’s property and there’s even a small indoor waiting area, which is terrific.

The front desk is in a centrally-located building. Walking through the front desk area and out the back door you’ll find the heated pool and two hot tubs. Downstairs is the small gym and a massage room. More about those later.

I had to wait a little to check in. The snow was still coming down and a number of flights out of the Aspen Airport (ASE) had been cancelled, stranding people overnight so there were folks who’d stayed here last night trying to find a place for another night or two. I wasn’t bothered about a slight wait as I knew there was a good chance my condo wouldn’t be ready anyway and that turned out to be the case. Since I still had no luggage I was just able to leave my carry-on behind the desk and catch a ride in the shuttle over to the Mountain Mall (basically right where I’d been at the Westin!).

The Tylenol, breakfast and cool air had really helped to alleviate my headache and I stopped by one of the ski shops to put a pair of demo skis on hold for the next day as I was anticipating my luggage arriving later that day. By now I was getting hungry so I enjoyed a leisurely lunch. The restaurant I selected was fairly quiet as so many folks were out enjoying what was shaping up to be the largest single snowfall of the season so far.

I eventually got a call from The Crestwood stating my condo was ready so I took the Village Shuttle back to the property where I checked in and got my key. Continue reading →

Categories: Colorado, Condos, Lodging Review, North America, Snowmass, United States | Tags: Aspen, Colorado, Condos, Lodging Review, Ski Condo, Snowmass | Leave a comment

Lodging Review: Westin Snowmass (and part 1 of the luggage saga)

Posted on March 5, 2018 by 2btravel

You know that saying “Man Plans, God Laughs”? Yeah, that kinda described the first couple of days of my recent ski trip, the first night of which was at the Westin Snowmass.

I had a Saturday-Saturday ski trip planned with my ski club at Snowmass, one of the four Aspen-area resorts that can all be skied using a single lift ticket. It was time to replace my skis so I wanted to demo a few different pair while finding the ones that worked best for me. As I planned this trip I decided I didn’t want to miss a day skiing with my friends, so I’d go a day early and demo several pair before they arrived.

So it was on a Friday in February I left Memphis, enjoyed my leisurely 3-hour connection in Houston and landed on-time at the Vail/Eagle County Airport (EGE). [I had decided against flying in to the more convenient Aspen Airport (ASE) based on my experience last year.] And I had no bags. Neither one of them. The helpful baggage agent found that the bags had made it to Houston and were in the process of being rerouted (and I could see the same info on the app). Since mine was the only Houston-Vail flight of the day, we both assumed they were going to Denver, which had a couple more flights into Vail later that day. She said they’d deliver them to me that evening. So I hopped in my rental car and headed to Snowmass.

As a side note, I had planned to use the Colorado Mountain Express shuttle to/from the airport but my flight out of EGE was around 7:30 AM and CME didn’t have a shuttle leaving the Aspen area that early. An Uber or taxi would have been around $200 so when I found a rental car for $280 that price was as cheap or only a little more expensive than the CME shuttle + Uber combined and I’d have the Independence of having a car if I needed it so it seemed the better option.

It was sunny on my drive to Aspen and it was late afternoon by the time I arrived at the Westin Snowmass. The valet greeted me promptly and I decided to just let him handle the car since I’d only be there one night. Of course since I had no luggage, all he had to deal with was the car.

Westin Snowmass Main Entrance (on the day I checked out)

The front desk is just inside the door and to the right. The lobby is fairly large as there’s a lounging area with après-ski hot beverages available to guests and the bar is off to the right beyond the front desk.

Westin Snowmass Front Desk

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The associate who checked me in was efficient and friendly. She recognized my SPG Gold status and asked if I’d prefer 500 points or a coupon for an adult beverage. Naturally, I took the points. I said I only needed one key but she said she’d give me two as the room had a slot where the card needed to be entered for the power to work. I appreciated that since it meant I wouldn’t have to use a card of my own for that purpose. I was given the keys to room 598 and pointed to the elevator which were not far away.

Continue reading →

Categories: Colorado, Hotel, Lodging Review, North America, Starwood, United States | Tags: Aspen, Colorado, Hotel, Lodging Review, Ski Lodging, Snowmass, Starwood | Leave a comment

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Cathay Pacific Lounge Review: The Cabin at HKG

Cathay Pacific B777-300ER Business Class San Francisco to Hong Kong

Trip Report: Exploring Asia

IHG Devalues their Card, Pick Up the Old Card Today

It’s a new quarter, activate bonus categories now!

Some Hyatt Places/Houses Testing the Elimination of Free Breakfast

Register Now for Q2 Category Bonuses

Chase Freedom

Discover Card

US Bank Cash+

Earn United Miles for Gasoline Purchases with BP

Lodging Review: The Crestwood, Snowmass Village (and the conclusion of the luggage saga)

Lodging Review: Westin Snowmass (and part 1 of the luggage saga)

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