Also see:
Brrr
As I sit here on a cold, windy winter evening, a thought occurred to me that I should get some long johns AKA thermal underwear. I had some Yes2You Rewards that gave me $30 in free Kohl’s Cash to use by the end of January.
So, I headed over to kohls.com, added two pairs of long johns to the cart, and pressed the buy button. Total cost? $3, inclusive of tax and shipping.
I’ve got a thing for camo
Kohl’s Cash
$3 for two pairs of long johns! Thanks, Kohl’s!
Thought this was cute.
We know that US Airways isn’t the best when it comes to geography when booking award flights.
When I fly, I like to flip through and look at the maps in the in-flight magazines, just to see all the routes and codeshares – I find that interesting.
Yellowknife and Whitehorse, Canada are on my list of places I’d like to visit, so I always pinpoint it on the map and imagine getting up there one day. This particular map, published in the US Airways in-flight magazine, made me do a double take:
US Airways Magazine map of Canada
They managed to squeeze Whitehorse into British Columbia and Yellowknife into Alberta instead of Yukon Territory and Northwest Territories, respectively.
Here are their correct geographical locations:
Whitehorse is in Yukon Territory
Yellow Knife is in Northwest Territories
The provinces where the two cities are supposed to be are completely empty. Good to know US Airways threw out the map and made up one of their own!
At least they didn’t try to squeeze Iqaluit above Winnipeg…
Joining the fam
I am very excited to announce that Out and Out is set to join the network of bloggers at BoardingArea and Prior2Boarding!
This is an awesome way to start off 2015, as the blog continues to find its focus.
Not a lot will change as far as content on the blog, not any time soon any way. It’s always evolving, and I want to make sure I give it the space it needs to let that happen. This transition won’t interrupt the direction the blog is going in, and if anything, I expect a new network to help it along even more.
I’ve really enjoyed getting to know some of the readers and interacting via email and social media and hope that will happen even more this year.
The look and feel of Out and Out won’t change much besides a banner at the top and maybe a few BoardingArea-related tweaks. I’ve always enjoyed a good thought experiment, so maybe we will throw up some things to see what works and what doesn’t.
All of this has been a few months in the making and the transition is finally about to happen – so be on the lookout for the new site in the coming weeks!
Many, many thanks to my readers, to Randy Petersen, and to the entire crew at BoardingArea. Thank you thank you thank you.
The Delta attack on United hubs elicited my first post written in utter excitement with little no editing.
After I booked the Dublin trip, I realized there were more pieces that had to fall into place, and thought it would be a good opportunity to document my trip-planning process.
The trip is IAD-ATL-DUB, and back the same way. I’m in New York, so I am anticipating:
Per the Flight Deal, fares to Dublin (and several other destinations), Delta is aggressively attacking fares to United hubs.
How aggressive?
Base fares are pricing at $1 OR LESS. You are only paying the taxes and fuel surcharges!
IAD-ATL-DUB is pricing out at $323 for several days in early May and it’s still available. I got in on this and can’t wait to go (although not thrilled that it’s on Delta – I credited to Alaska for the first time).
$1 base fare!
I will earn ~4,500 Alaska miles by crediting to Mileage Plan even with the V fare bucket. You’d earn just 1,105 with SkyMiles
In addition to all of this, I had a $100 egift certificate I bought with my American Express Platinum back in the day and never used, which brought my total down to $223 round-trip and all-in. I’ve always wanted to go to Ireland, and at just over $200, I couldn’t say no!
If you want to get in on this, I’d recommend booking ASAP. I’m usually not one for breaking news, but I’m super excited about going to Ireland and wanted to share in case anyone else would like to go. Lots of other cities/countries/continents/airlines are included in this sale so play around get yourself a great deal – especially to a place you’ve always wanted to go!
Be sure to look at the Flight Deal links above and play with dates into and out of the hubs. A list of airline hubs is here and the best place to check out flights is the ITA Matrix.
Good luck and godspeed!
As I begin to figure out my points and miles strategy for 2015, I thought it would be helpful assess what I currently have in my wallet.
Pre-warning: this is a very text heavy post. No pretty pictures to look at, just a whole lotta straight talk (1,200 words worth).
By bank:
I just got a new Platinum Card in hopes that I’ll actually get a bonus for opening it – but I’m not holding my breath. In any regard, I already cashed in the $200 in airline incidentals on AA gift cards in 2014 and will do so again this year, so I will make back most of the annual fee right away.
I occasionally use Priority Pass Select on lounge visits that would otherwise be $50 a pop, and love dipping into the Centurion Lounges where I easily drink over $50 in cocktails alone (not to mention the spa treatments).
I also have utilized the Fine Hotels & Resorts program a time or two, and really love the near-constant Amex sync offers. So, I’m keeping it.
As for the EveryDay Preferred… it really has become by “EveryDay” card – I use it constantly and get 1.5-4.5x Membership Rewards points on everything I buy, which is pretty sweet. The earning is decent for non-bonus spend and is great for groceries, gas, and even more sync offers. (Email me if you’d like a referral to this card!)
If only Amex would up the points-earning power of the Platinum Card, I might actually put a buck or two of spend on it.
Also see:
Goosenecks in Utah
The first of the year is always a good time to reassess everything in the FF universe. All the clocks have just been reset to zero and we hang onto our statuses until the end of February. I’m going to lose Platinum with American. It’s my first time in a few years not having status with any airline.
I also have to decide whether or not I want that British Airways Travel Together certificate. I’ve been weighing the pros and cons – and as of right now, it’s not looking so appealing just due to the dang fuel surcharges. I’m also not sure if I want this year to be as Europe-centric as last year. My travel goals are pulling me to Asia and back to South America, although there are still many European countries I’d love to visit.
With all this in mind, I’ve begun the process of writing down my goals for the year.
I have four categories that I set up for goals:
I set up a file in Evernote and type everything out, stream-of-consciousness style, in no order at all.
Then I go through and polish it up a little, connect the dots, expand, and refine.
I also did something this year that I’ve never done before: I wrote a letter to my future self, with a reminder set for one year from now. This is my way of holding myself accountable for the goals I set, and it gives my subconscious something to strive toward. It was also surprisingly cathartic.
I find that writing/typing out a goal is much better than keeping it in “the back of my mind.” If you don’t have Evernote, it’s a great thing to have even if you just use it for this one purpose.
From the way overdue files…
This time last year, I celebrated the start of 2014 in Sydney at the InterContinental.
I got in on the annual Daily Getaways promo to buy 150,000 IHG points – and promptly redeemed them for three nights in a “King Standard City Side Room.”
Now, I expected the area downtown to be crazy for New Years Eve. The location was amazing.
Location of the InterContinental Sydney
I don’t remember how, but I was somehow Gold with IHG at the time. This was with zero stays – maybe I status matched? Whatever the case, I am still Gold with them today despite not having any paid stays in 2013 or 2014. Mysteries of the universe.
I thought maybe, just maybe, I’d get some sort of upgrade for being Gold during a time where there would be a lot of tourists with no status. I didn’t expect it, but thought I had a ghost of a chance.
The new Tumi
I got a Tumi T-Tech Continental Carry-on as a Christmas present this year. It was a sweet and thoughtful gift, and broke it in on my recent trip to Memphis.
After I opened the box and set up the TSA security lock, I read some comparative reviews, and man, people are really into carry-on bags! Before this, I was using a Herschel duffel bag (this one, actually), which was fine for a while. To carry it to the airport, I put the strap over my head and carried it on one shoulder or the other. The downside to that was obvious – my shoulder would start to ache before I got to the airport. But everything else was great: the size and durability, mostly. I also liked out it was made of nylon – I could always squeeze in one more item.
So now I have a hard-sided rolling carry-on, which is already a world of difference.
Here we are: 2015. Another year of life and travel.
2014 was a big year for this little blog. I experimented a lot, and threw a lot up on the wall just to see what would stick. The readership from 2013 to 2014 quadrupled (!) and more readers started interacting via email and social media – which was awesome.
The posts that made the Top 10 were the ones that mined some little data point, were compilations of research, or simply anecdotes about an experience. A couple of them were written in 2013, but widely read in 2014. I find the data fascinating. The more I learn about what sticks with readers, the more I realize I can’t calculate what will be a “good post” – a fact which drives me to keep evolving.
With that spirit, cheers to a new year of life and travel. I hope to keep growing the blog and writing more. Thank you for reading!
On Monday, I flew MEM-CLT-LGA on US Airways. I’m Platinum with American for a couple more months unless I can boost my paid flying really quickly (prolly not gonna happen). As an aside before I begin, I think American is the only airline/status worth mileage running with/for at this point.
I got a regular ol’ economy fare to fly home after Christmas (don’t remember what fare bucket). MEM-CLT is an hour and twenty minutes, while CLT-LGA is a tad over an hour. Suffice it to say I knew I’d survive.
When I went to check in on the US Airways mobile site, I saw something very curious as I verified my seat selection: First Class seats available for an extra $0. Of course I excitedly clicked it before I could get a screen shot. Then I saw this: Read More
First of all, Happy New Year’s Eve! And now…
I just got back from REDbird Land (AKA the Memphis metro area). I was there visiting family for the holiday and made a point to stop in to a Target to pick up a REDbird card (AKA Target American Express Prepaid REDcard) and load it up with $500 – the max load for a temporary card.
Hello and welcome to Out and Out! My name is Harlan – I’m a points and miles enthusiast who loves to travel. I am interested in personal finance, the power of positive thinking, and the extraordinary journeys that make life worth living.