Inspiration and Tips for Traveling the World

Risk of award tickets

The Not-So-Obvious Risk of Award Tickets: Buying Miles, Award Tickets and AA Shutdowns

February 20, 2020

We recently wrote a post on why buying points and miles can make sense.  Our example involved buy Alaska miles for a business class flight on Emirates.  In this post we want to point out a risk when buying miles to book an award ticket. This risk was recently highlighted when American Airlines shut down a number of accounts and cancelled award tickets. But first, a reminder of why buying airline miles can make sense. When Buying Airline Miles Can Make Sense Let’s say you want to fly business class on American Airlines from Los Angeles to London.  The cash price for the ticket is […]

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Sign up frequent flyer account

Sign Up For A Frequent Flyer Account (or other rewards program).

February 19, 2020

Welcome to the world of points and miles!  We’re sharing how ordinary people can travel to extraordinary places with the use of airline miles and hotel points.  In this series we lay out steps to save money and travel more.  These steps include: Getting Started with Points and Miles Look and Learn Before You Leap Decide What Type of Reward Points You Want to Begin Earning Sign-Up For a Frequent Flyer Account Earn Your First Points Earn Points Through Credit Card Sign Ups- Part 1- Count the Cost Earn Points Through Credit Card Sign Ups- Part 2- Ten Steps to […]

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Sunset Arctic Circle

Sunset Over the Arctic Circle from 36,000 Feet

February 17, 2020

Our recent flight from Abu Dhabi to Los Angeles routed us over the Arctic Circle. Here are some pictures of the Sunset over the Arctic Circle from 36,000 feet. 

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Diggers Lab Dubai La Mer

Digger’s Lab – La Mer Beach, Dubai

February 16, 2020

As a child I played with Tonka Trucks.  In Dubai we came across a Tonka-type attraction called Digger’s Lab.  Digger’s Lab touts itself as a “construction theme park” and it’s located on the sand of La Mer beach.   Digger’s Lab has scaled versions of various construction equipment and gives kids (and adults) a chance to play in the sand.  La Mer beach is a fun destination, whether you lay on the beach, or help dig it up.  Digger’s Lab is located at La Mer Beach. Check out our other post to learn more about our visit to La Mer Beach For more information on […]

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booking outbound flight

Booking Our Return Trip from Dubai and The Maldives

January 31, 2020

Points and miles can help ordinary people to explore extraordinary places.  We recently used points and miles to book a trip to Dubai and the Maldives.  We locked in the outbound trip on Emirates, and now we needed a way to get home.   After exploring our options we decided on flying Etihad Business class.  Etihad has a partnership with American Airlines, and so we booked our Etihad flight using AA miles.  The cost per ticket was 70,000 American Airline, and $83.23 for taxes.   Total for the two tickets came to 140,000 miles and $166.46.  This is a great use of AA miles.  The trip home consists of […]

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Outbound Flight Dubai Maldives

Booking Our Outbound Flight to Dubai and The Maldives

January 31, 2020

We’re planning a two-week trip to Dubai and the Maldives.    For the outbound flight we decided to fly Emirate.  Emirate operates a non-stop flight from LAX to Dubai on their A380.  We booked an award ticket that included a one week layover.  We would fly from Los Angeles to Dubai, stay in Dubai for a week, and then continue on from Dubai to the Maldives.  Both of these flights are allowed on a single award booking. When it comes to booking award flights on Emirates, there are several points and miles options.  The most straightforward approach is to use Emirates Skyward miles to book the flight.  This […]

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Ordinary People Traveling to Extraordinary Places

cafes and alleyways about us

Our passion to travel takes us to cafes and alleyways around the world. From neighborhood cafes in Paris to a street market in London, we’ll take the road less traveled to hidden gems, new experiences and mouth watering eateries.

Whether it’s your first time abroad or you’re an accomplished traveler, we’ll share inspiration and tips for traveling the world.  Let’s pack our bags, grab our passports, relax in our seats…we’re now ready for take off!

 Mike and  Mariah