Guys Who Travel

The andaz Singapore

Fri, 09 Mar 2018 13:00:00 -0500

I was excited to stay at the Andaz this trip to Singapore, we had stayed at the Andaz in Tokyo and had a splendid stay (despite the location not be the best). My expectations were set high with this hotel and to be honest, we were a little let down by a few things.

Visiting the Star Alliance Lounge at LAX... From Terminal 7

Sun, 04 Mar 2018 01:00:00 -0500

Experiencing new lounges is always the fun part of traveling. So when we had a three hour layover at LAX, we wanted to take advantage of the new Star Alliance lounge. Brad had already done the research and figured out that we can get there without leaving security, and it would take us about 20 minutes each way. So after disembarking our United plane in Terminal 7, we started the hike. The lounge is located in the Tom Bradley International Terminal which is 4 terminals away from were we normally land with United.

We had to snake our way out of terminal 7, and find ourselves in a tunnel that started at terminal six, right near the entrance to the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge. The tunnel is long. Between 6 and 5 we walked it and there are no move-aters, just a very long blue painted tunnel. When we got to the junction for terminal five and four, there was a man with a motorized cart that had eight seats on it. We weren’t sure if we had to be seniors or physically not able to walk the distance in order to ride the cart, but he asked us if we wanted a ride. Of course we said yes. On the ride he explained that he did accept tips, so the fact that we were three healthy men taking the lazy route made the guilt fade away because we tipped him. The cart ride cut off quite a few minutes taking us to terminal 4. It was fun honking as he drove up behind walkers as we passed.

Our Japan Travel Tips and Suggestions

Sun, 26 Mar 2017 23:00:00 -0400

Japan is one of our favourite places on earth. From all the places we have visited we find Japan has the most wonderful, if not quirky, culture. The people will bend over backwards to help you, the cities are clean, everyone is polite and NO TIPPING. Zak visited Japan for the first time in August 2015. Brad and I (Steven) have been numerous times.

I’m going to cover some random thoughts about travel in Japan. There will be more city based tips coming in future blog posts but this will be a variety of thoughts we share about Japan when people ask us about going there.

The Olympic Park Observation Tower in Beijing

Fri, 10 Mar 2017 16:00:00 -0500

We are fans of observation decks in any city and we always make a point of making a trip to whatever deck we can. The Olympic Tower was not even on our radar and to our surprise was one of the best, maybe the best observation deck that we have been to.

First off, we didn't think it was open. No one was going in and there was very little movement around the tower. Lots of people around the park but no one entering. Being a very clear day, especially for Beijing, we took the opportunity to make our way up.

The tower was completed 2014 so it is pretty new. From the outside it is quite striking, it is a very narrow cluster of five grass like stems and there is nothing else around it which really makes it stand out. We saw the tower from our hotel but Beijing is so sprawling we didn't think it was anything worth visiting or anything with any great height.

The ticket per person is ~ $35 CAD so not cheap by local standards and that made it perfectly empty.

The Great Wall

Wed, 08 Mar 2017 18:00:00 -0500

Today is our first day in Beijing. The visibility and air quality seems to be great so we are tackling the Great Wall today. We are heading to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall, it is the less direct route than the other section of the wall but we were told this was the place to visit. So we begin our journey this morning after chowing down a very early breakfast at 6:30am at the hotel.

We found this great site that goes into great detail about the best way to get to the wall. Plus some tips on how not to get scammed. For greater detail, visit here.

Celine: We are still coming. Don't worry.

Fri, 20 Jan 2017 23:00:00 -0500

First of all, for our worried mothers, we are fine, we are safe and sound in a Hilton where the Foursquare tip states: Great hotel, sketchy neighbourhood, beds are super comfy and people are nice. I'm glad the beds are comfy, the people have been nice and the door is locked, don't worry.

We were flying from Toronto to Las Vegas via Houston. The flight went well and we thought it was going to be another uneventful flight and we would be gambling by midnight. As it turns out we received notice of a gate change and we thought nothing of it, it was actually going to bring us closer to our departing gate.

Well it turns out that the gate we came into was actually an international gate. The airport staff came on the intercom and said we had to go through customs and pick up our bags. What? That didn't make sense. We have already cleared customs in Canada of course. Had Trump made an executive order to block Canadian's from contributing to the Vegas economy?

We were channeled through the empty airport, through customs where they simply glanced at our passports and to a secure baggage carousel. We collected our bag and by this time we had definitely missed our flight and being the keeners we are, we had already noticed that Brad was removed from his upgraded business class seat... GASP. I wasn't upgraded so I didn't lose out on anything.

After talking briefly to a supervisor we learned that the flight at some point turned into a security risk. So what we could piece together was that they were looking for someone or something. So all our bags had to be scanned on the way out.

So now that I type this, the story isn't that interesting. But it definitely added some spice to the trip. And we want to let Celine know that we will still be there tomorrow night for her. After two prior attempts and two cancellations, third time is a charm.

via GIPHY

One Day in Singapore

Sun, 20 Nov 2016 21:00:00 -0500

I just checked in for my trip to Singapore. Yep. I'm going back to Asia. This trip is required (I say that in a first world problem sort of way) to get me over my 100,000 mile mark for this calendar year with United.

So tomorrow (Monday November 20) I'm flying from Toronto -> Washington DC -> San Francisco -> Singapore. It is going to take me 27 hours and 45 minutes to get to Singapore. The longest leg is San Francisco to Singapore at 17 hours and 15 minutes, one of the longest flights in the world.

I arrive at 7:45am on Wednesday. I'm going to get my butt to the St Regis (I got a night on points) where I can get cleaned up and figure out what I want to do for the day. Their pool looks nice and will be extremely welcoming after our first cold day and snow flurry today in Toronto.

After 24 hours I'll be heading back to the airport Thursday morning where I'm flying home Singapore -> San Francisco -> Chicago -> Toronto. The trip home is going to take a measly 25 hours.

So a quick 1 day in Singapore. Some may call me crazy.

One point I should make is that thanks to our efforts in 2015 to make 1K status I was able to redeem upgrades and I'm flying Business First. I was willing to do the trip in Economy but I'm glad that the upgrades went through and I'll be able to arrive somewhat rested for my day in Singapore.

And thanks to onboard wifi I'll be getting work done also.

I'll be updating this blog as I make my way over to Asia. So stay tuned.

The Andaz Tokyo

Fri, 07 Oct 2016 10:00:00 -0400

We are spending Canadian Thanksgiving weekend in Tokyo this year. Brad found a seat sale that couldn't keep us away. Our hotel this trip is the Andaz, a beautiful, new, modern hotel near the Shinbashi station.

Our room is a good size twin room which seems to be quite regular in Japan (the twin beds, not the large size). We are on the 50th floor with a great view of the city, not as great as the other side of the tower which faces the Imperial Palace, but we aren't ones to complain.

The elevator up to the sky lobby is the smoothest elevator I have ever been on, it barely felt like it was moving up to the 52st floor. Upon arrival we were asked to sit at a beautiful massive wood table while our reservation was processed. We were offered drinks and explained about all the amenities of the hotel. They have evening sake and wine with various snacks for free. Another perk is that they have free self serve beverages in the lobby... and this extends to your mini bar. Everything that is non alcoholic is free, well included.

Our room is a fair size and I love the design. Rich wood and a modern yet traditional feel. The panels on the walls make you feel like you are in a tatami room. The bathroom is beautiful and my favourite part of the room so far.

It is night now and we are going to bed. We are going to wake up early and visit the spa... how can I not be excited fora. carbonated pool?

Travelling Home in Etihad Apartments

Sun, 04 Sep 2016 16:00:00 -0400

Our route home from Japan included a leg from Abu Dhabi to New York (JFK) on the Etihad A380 in the Apartments. The leg is the reason why we planned this trip to Japan in the first place, we managed to get a points ticket in order to enjoy a one-of-a-kind travel experience.

The apartment is amazing, it is luxury and uber swanky. It consists of a bench seat that converts into a bed and an ultra wide seat. We planned it so our Apartments are next to each other which allowed us to retract the wall so we could communicate easy and half sleep side by side. The apartments give a pretty private space but unlike the Emirates First suite, the doors have a lattice design that allows the flight attendants and other passengers the ability to peak in while walking by.

The amenities in the apartment are steller. Power plugs, 2 x USB, an HDMI port (which is an amazing feature), an oversize tray table for dining alone or together, and a door that shuts out everything else. The space is awesome and pretty cool considering we are in the air and downstairs in economy there are 8 people in the space one apartment takes.

There are lots of little nooks and crannies where you can store your junk but the space for your carry on is actually pretty tight. It almost didn't close, and our carry-ons are definitely standard size. There is also a vanity that has an amenity kit and various mirrors and lighting. I guess when you want to freshen up your makeup after a long 14 hour flight. The airplane has reliable wifi which was great, the plane has it's own cellular network too if you want to use your international roaming.

The service has been amazing. They have an on board chef, ours was James, that prepares food when you want it. The flight attendants are really friendly and nice and are at your service. Of course we are always polite and friendly but some people can be simply assholes, especially in first class.

The menu is extensive and has a tonne of variety. Of course I ate too much. But I tried to spread it out. Nothing wrong with snack, 3 course dinner, second dinner, dessert, and breakfast over a 14 hour time span is there? I didn't go too fancy like Brad who had foie gras, I stuck to some basics like Steak Sandwich, carrot cake and the sliders which were amazing. I'm not a fan of sliders but these were pulled beef.

Of course we had to shower. We planned to shower at the end of the flight since we had cleaned up at the lounge before we got on the flight. You get 5 minutes of water which is more then enough I find, but of course I am a short haired male. The time allotted for your shower is 30 minutes and you are able to stop and go the shower to spread out that five minutes a little longer. The amenities provided aren't as luxurious as Emirates first, you get the basics and whatever amenities are included in your vanity: toothbrush, razor, etc.

The entertainment system is awesome. The usual movies and TV but it has some awesome features. You can call another seat. You can message another seat. If you are watching something you can share it with another seat too. You can sync it so you are both watching the same media. Awesome. And being able to plug in your iDevice to the HDMI port was amazing and we definitely used it since we never travel without an HDMI connector and cable.

Overall the flight was amazing. I wasn't a huge fan of the Abu Dhabi airport but I think they are building a new terminal, so twist my arm, I would definitely not say no to this flight again. Everything about the flight was awesome and definitely a memory for life.

The Journey Home - Japan August 2016 Trip

Thu, 01 Sep 2016 09:00:00 -0400

Today we started our journey home to Toronto. We started from Sapporo and flew to Haneda (Tokyo) tonight. We are staying the night at Haneda and the really journey starts tomorrow. We are taking JAL Business class to Singapore, Etihad Business to Abu Dhabi, and then Etihad Apartments (First) to New York where we transfer to American airlines for our final leg. It will be an exciting adventure, and a long one. Catch up on the main trip here.

Japan - August Trip

Thu, 25 Aug 2016 08:00:00 -0400

Today we embark on a 10 day trip to Japan. What prompted this trip was an opportunity to fly home using points in the fabulous Etihad Apartments. More about that later. So building around this flight we decided to travel to parts of Japan we have yet to explore: Sapporo and Nagoya.

Choose-Your-Own-Adventure: California Accommodations

Sat, 16 Jul 2016 16:00:00 -0400

Normally I am a hotel traveler when I go on holiday; it’s the fastest simplest way to make a plan of where to stay. From individual hotel sites to aggregate sites like Expedia, Kayak or Hotels.com, I’ve always done quick and easy online bookings to secure my travel plans. Last fall when I decided to do a little California roadtripping I figured it was the perfect opportunity to try out some new accommodations experiences and compare options along the PCH from LA to San Francisco.

Fallingwater by Frank Lloyd Wright

Thu, 14 Jul 2016 11:00:00 -0400

Fallingwater is a house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright nestled in the woods in Pennsylvania. I have wanted to visit this house for a while to check out this amazing piece of history and architecture. My curiosity was piqued when I started collecting Lego Architecture sets and Falling Water was one of the sets you could purchase. Finally, this past birthday, Brad special ordered the Lego set (it has been discontinued) so we booked a trip down to PA. My rule is that I won't build the set until I see the real thing, so I was excited to finally make it down.

After hearing for years about the house, I was worried that I was going to be let down by all the hype. But I was wrong. The house, now a museum, is stunning in real life. Sure, it has weathered some storms but the bloody thing was built in 1935, give it a break.

We did the Sunset tour which was about 2 hours long and allowed us full access to the main house, all levels and the guest house. It even included some snacks at the end which were quite delicious, a selection of hummus, cheeses, baked brie. Very good. The full tour also lets you take photos. So I snapped away, I still don't think the photos do it justice.

I have visited two other FLW properties, the Imperial Hotel in Japan (which now resides in an outdoor museum) and Taliesin West in Phoenix. This house by far is the most stunning in my mind. The house is built hovering over a stream and then a waterfall.

Many things have been written about this house, so I'll just give some of my highlights:

The fact that there are stairs that you can enter the stream from the living room is just dreamy. I thought that was just the coolest thing.
The grand room is so much bigger than I expected, actually the entire house is so much bigger on the inside than I thought it would be.
Stone and wood. Love love love. It is so cool how FLW brought the outside in. All the furniture was also designed by FLW. I dig it.
It is amazing how some of the house looks so modern, then you realize it is the 1930's. I'm talking mainly about the bathroom mirrors. They are something you would buy now.
The many terrace spaces are just so awesome. Especially when you are surrounded by the forest and the bubbling waterfall.
It is a house for exploring.
The kitchen is so small, I'm not sure how the had huge parties with such a small kitchen. Maybe no one ate and they just drank.
From the guest house the overhang was cantilevered out, so amazing. Unobstructed view from inside.

As a sidenote, we had Roxanne as our tour guide and she was fabulous. It is great when you have someone who has a passion for what they are talking about guiding you around.

Check out Fallingwater on Wikipedia. Visit the Fallingwater official site at fallingwater.org.

Aloha Honolulu!

Tue, 12 Jul 2016 20:00:00 -0400

Some of you may have read Steven’s recent post where he explains why he booked a one-day trip to Singapore just for the status miles. Many would call him crazy - but I’m just envious! I would definitely have joined him if had enough vacation days left this year! (Just to note - I have lots of vacation days “left” in 2016 - but they are already allocated for other trips!)

Like Steven I’m aiming to retain my 1K status on United. I keep a spreadsheet of all of the status miles earned year-to-date and expected-to-earn for planned future flights. Including the remaining trips planned for 2016 (Vegas, Japan, Nashville, Japan (again), Vegas (again), Chicago, Fort Lauderdale, and Vancouver) I’ll be at 84,310 PQMs (Premier Qualifying Miles in United-talk). That’s over the 75K threshold needed for United Platinum status, but short of the 100K needed for 1K. < I should note that because we live outside the US we are not subject to the minimum spend amount to reach these status levels. If we were subject to that, we wouldn’t come close to getting this status - so fingers crossed that United doesn’t change the rules one day! >

On the hierarchy of needs, 1K status on United ranks pretty low. But both Steven and I have the similar mentality that part of our joy of travel is the gaming aspect of it. Sure, we love actually BEING on planes, and exploring different cities/countries, but collecting points and attaining/maintaining travel program status is also part of the hobby. Plus, by being 1K it makes upgrades easier to come by for all of our travels next year! (Unfortunately, we still aren’t top of the upgrade heap unless we become Global Services - but with the cheap seat-sale tickets we buy we will never get there. We are eternally jealous of you Mr. S! (you know who you are :-) )

So that said, I went online to try to figure out how to get the remaining 15,690 PQMs without needing to take any more vacation days. We are in Vegas over the August long weekend (it’s a Canadian thing), get back from the first Japan trip just before Labour Day, and get back from the second Japan trip on Canadian Thanksgiving, so booking something over a holiday won’t work. I needed to find a way to get those PQMs with a relatively inexpensive fare that I could do in a weekend.

Actually flying 15,690 miles would be pretty difficult under the Saturday to Sunday parameters. But I need 15,690 QUALIFYING miles, not actual butt-in-seat miles. United gives 2 times qualifying miles per mile booked and flown in business class. So my objective then became to find a far destination where United files reasonable business class fares from Toronto.

And that place exists: Honolulu!

So on a Saturday morning in September, I will be flying from YYZ-IAD-SFO-HNL (that’s Toronto to Washington DC to San Francisco to Honolulu for those of you who don’t speak Airport). I leave at 6am and land at 3:33pm HNL time (9:33pm Toronto time). This leg I purchased in business class (United actually calls it First, but who are they kidding!). United flies pretty junky planes to Honolulu so it’s certainly not flying there in luxury, but it’s flying there with double PQMs!!!

I stay in Honolulu for a total of 4 hours! I doubt I will leave the airport. I then get on a plane and fly from HNL to IAH (Houston), and then IAH to YYZ - arriving back home Sunday at 1:10pm. This leg I booked in economy, but I used an upgrade certificate (from being 1K *this* year) to waitlist for an upgrade to business, so fingers crossed on that.

All in all, booking the flight to Honolulu in business and back in economy will net me 15,831 PQMs. So I expect to *just* squeak by, ending the year at 100,141 PQMs. (I won’t tell you how long I spent with different permutations of flights to get here).

The cost of the ticket was $1023 Canadian (about $780 US at today’s rates).

I had some United credits to apply against that so my out of pocket was a little less, but I’m sure many might think I’m crazy to spend a grand to go ensure I keep my 1K status on United. If so, go read paragraph 3 again. I realize I am fortunate to have the discretionary income to spend on this. Some might use it to buy expensive watches (I’m talking to you, Mr. R!), while some might use it to buy blow. Me, I use it to spend a day and a half on a plane!

When I told one friend this plan (we’ll call him Mr. M) he asked me why I didn’t place more value on my time and was willing to spend a weekend on a plane. Again, back to paragraph 3. I actually *enjoy* that time on the plane! Even if I’m stuck in economy, so long as I have an exit row or a bulkhead (which I’m almost already guaranteed due to having the United status) I can enjoy the flying experience. Of course, being in front of the curtain is always better!!! And by doing this trip, it will increase the chances of being in front of the curtain in 2017!

Meet me for a Singapore Sling, in Singapore?

Fri, 08 Jul 2016 08:00:00 -0400

Around this time of year, Brad and I start counting and predicting our year end miles. As of today, July 8, I have 43,608 PQM's. These are status miles, miles I have accrued this calendar year, they are miles that count towards next year's status. I'm United 1K this year which means I earned over 100K miles last year and next year I'm aiming for the same level of status.

With many of our trips already planned for the rest of the calendar year, my calculations estimated I was going to make 77,000 miles. That means I'm short of my 100k goal. Along comes Singapore.

I have $700 USD in United credit from a volunteer bump situation that I thought I would use. I have been eyeing Singapore for a while, hoping I could get a good price for a very long flight. Today I found flights in November averaged about $700 USD. So now the booking fun begins.

With 1K status, you get certificates called GPU's, Global Premier Upgrades. They can be used to upgrade to Business First, but only with certain fare classes, not the cheapest fare class. I began looking for flights that would allow me to use these certificates for the upgrades with minimal fare increase. And I was in luck. The flight to Singapore, via Washington DC, via San Francisco, had instant upgrade availability. Score.

Now for the return home it got interesting. There were no flights with instant upgrade availability but I could get wait listed. And for some reason the flights home were cheap. I could have gotten the return flight for $36. Yes. $36 from Singapore to Toronto. That cheap fare wouldn't get me the chance to upgrade so I had to opt for the next fare class that would qualify me which was about $300. I would rather pay a bit more with hopes that I would get upgraded... it is a very long flight. Confused yet?

One thing that was very strange is that the extremely cheap return flight was only available if I searched with the GPU option turned on. I tried without logging in and the cheap fares were nowhere to be found. Peculiar. An error? I wouldn't rule it out.

So at the end of it all I'm leaving for Singapore on a Monday, arriving Wednesday morning and leaving Thursday morning. I'll be racking up a whopping 22,872 PQMs. This will allow my to reach my goal of just over 100,000 PQMs and my 1K status for 2017.

The flight cost me $930USD less the $700 credit. I'm guaranteed Business First for my flights to Singapore, including UA 1 on the 787-9 Dreamliner, currently the longest flight in the world at 17 hours and 15 minutes. On my way home I'm waitlisted but I'm hoping I'll get upgraded to Toronto, via San Francisco, via Newark, with an AC flight in Economy at the end between Newark and Toronto.

Now I have to figure out where I'm going to stay that one night in Singapore. Should I splurge on the Marina Bay Sands (picture above) so that I can spend the day relaxing at the pool? Or one of the pod hotels which actually look quite intriguing.

Weekend in Costa Rica

Tue, 17 May 2016 12:31:20 -0400

Last night we returned from a very short trip to Costa Rica. We left on Saturday and got back into Toronto on Monday night. So two full nights in Costa Rica, it was a seat sale on Copa Airlines that paid us in United status miles and for $270 CAD return, who couldn't say no?

At first we had planned to stay in San Jose for the two nights but then Brad found the Marriott Los Suenos and after seeing the pool we couldn't refuse. We weren't there to explore and do day trips, we just needed somewhere to stay where we could enjoy the sun.

The Marriott was a good 1.5 hour drive from the airport near a beach town called Jaco. We were pre warned that even though the car seemed cheap online they require local insurance in Costa Rica. We were quoted about $60 for the two days but ended up actually paying $220USD for the car. We did opt for the full insurance on top of the required additional insurance, we wanted the luxury to return it with no questions asked. I guess most people are taking these little 4x4's into the bowels of the jungle.

We awoke on Sunday to take in the paradise around is. We ran down to our "included in package" breakfast buffet which was great. Caramel sauce is fantastic on French Toast BTW. We ate up and made it to the pool while the sun was out, it was about 27 degrees but felt warmer. Most likely the reason for the seat sale in the first place was that it is low and rainy season so we were lucky to have sun until about 2pm. The pool was amazing, the water was warm and they had a swim up bar. Who can complain?

We did explore around the beach but the resort isn't known for the beach so we stuck to the pool. The beach was black sand and seemed a little rocky. I did hear people comment that the water was very warm also.

We headed to Jaco for lunch at a well reviewed sandwich place. It was delicious and it was good to see the town and get out of our "resort bubble".

Monday morning our trip was already coming to an end. After our second free breakfast we hit the road back to San Jose. The drive was easy between the resort and the city, nicely paved roads, lots of passing lanes and in the daylight a great view. We made sure we had time to stop at one of the five Starbucks in Costa Rica to get a collector mug of course.

After dropping off the rental car we headed to the airport. Good thing we went early! The airport wasn't busy to check-in but security was literally out the door. We went through the line to get to passport check and the agent said we actually had fast track and could have skipped the line! We didn't realize we didn't have to wait and he walked is over to the quick security line. It would have been nice if the agent at Copa told us that but I guess we could have seen on our boarding pass ourselves. Plus there was no one directing people or signage so we didn't know. At least we got to skip the 30+ minute security line.

The flight home was uneventful, which is always good. If you do fly Copa, get the bulk head seats (we were on a Embraer and a 737). Lots of leg room and your bag can still slip under the seat in front, plus there is no additional charge to pick up those seats!

We'll definitely return to Costa Rica to explore some more. There is lots to see and I definitely want to see what the country has to offer especially if we can get a cheap flight and status miles.

A few more notes on the trip:

- Copa actually serves a snack on the 1 hour flight between Panama City and San Jose, CR. They barely had time to serve them all + drinks before it was time to land.

- Be warned that if you choose the exit row seating on Copa, they *may* move you if you don't speak Spanish. Chances are you will be okay when leaving from the Canada or US, but it may be an issue if flying between two Spanish speaking countries.

- San Jose airport just started screening for liquids, and they are super vigilant. Not only do they enforce the 100ml rule (which is common), but the plastic bag cannot be larger than 1 liter (even if the liquids in the bag don't come close to totaling that amount). I've never seen a North American airport enforce the size of the plastic bag.

Driving 101: Roadtripping in California

Sun, 03 Jan 2016 18:06:45 -0500

As a freelancer in the TV industry, I enjoy the benefits of contract work, like taking breaks between jobs if I can manage it. My main gig involves a LOT of air travel across Canada and around the world, so when it came to planning for a September hiatus, I had a simple goal: less airport, more open road.

My summer involved working full-time through most of Toronto’s sunny days in a fairly dark office, so I decided to chase the last bit of summertime with a solo two-week roadtrip up California’s iconic Pacific Coast Highway! It’s the classic Americana coastal roadtrip that’s kind of hard to replicate in Canada.

I did some quick research online and polled friends who know the coast and didn’t come up with a common tried-and-true route. What I did find is that everyone says Big Sur is incredible for it’s nature-surrounded resort experiences, but that reservations are needed months in advance. I am far too last-minute for that kind of planning, so it was going to be more on-the-fly for this one.

I flew Toronto to LA and picked up my priceline.com rental car, at a winning yet thrifty bid of $18/day. From there, I headed to Santa Monica pier to start my roadtrip where Highway 1 starts north to Malibu. I divided the drive into 3 segments:

Santa Monica – Carpinteria
Carpinteria – Monterey
Monterey – San Francisco

Part One: Santa Monica to Carpinteria

I’d been to Carpinteria (“Carp” to locals) once before to visit friends who were filming a show in Santa Barbara but their production company rented the crew some cheap cottages in the nearby town. Carp is a totally charming surf town about 10 miles from Santa Barbara and not even a 2-hour from Santa Monica. This section of highway was populated by dozens of California state beaches, full of locals enjoying the warm early September weather. It was a good starter leg for the roadtrip because it transitioned out of the busyness of the city and offered immediate scenic views to remind me how good of an idea this was.

I recommend packing a beach cooler for the drive, in case you feel the urge to pull over and spend an hour or two on one of the beaches or floating in the huge pacific waves.

Part Two: Carp to Monterey

This is a big chunk of California to cover! Continuing up the 101, the drive takes an inland turn for a few hours until you reach San Luis Obispo, the town where the 101 meets the 1 and the adventure heads back out to the coastline. I stopped for a stretch at San Simeon State Park and walked in the surf for a bit to wake up and cool off. I opted out of Hearst Castle despite all of the signs urging me to check it out, mainly because I knew the best part of this day would be the coastline drive at Big Sur.

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As I drove closer to Big Sur the entire experience changed – this is where Highway 1 hugs the cliffs over the ocean and turns into a winding series of switchbacks as the road climbs up then down the mountains. With construction in some places and simply too much traffic in others, there were several single-lane passes where things came to a standstill as all the cars navigated the narrow sections of road one direction at a time. It’s a stunning drive; I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. The narrow gravel shoulder of the road is literally the only thing between the road and the ever-increasing drop down to the Pacific ocean. Every view was a stunning portrait but the important thing for me to remember was to keep my eyes focused on the drive. No pictures from this section, just a ton of unforgettable memories. And if I REALLY need a photo of the views, I know I can find excellent photography for sale online.

I wouldn’t recommend this drive at night or in bad weather. The clear sunny day was perfect and the driving time was around 6 hours that day just from Carp into Monterey.

I luckily stopped for gas in Santa Maria, which is the final opportunity before the 1 turns into a purely scenic drive with no rest stops, gas stations or any sign of commercial life. Pro tip: don’t run out of gas on that winding section of highway. Walking that would be terrifying.

Part Three: Monterey to San Francisco

Monterey kind of became a destination just because of the advance planning needed for a stay in Big Sur’s amazing resorts. I am really glad I ended up there though because it meant I completed the entire winding section of highway in one drive instead of having to contend with it over two days. Monterey to San Francisco was a short drive, maybe two hours, mostly on major freeway roads.

On the advice of a new friend in Monterey, I stopped at Bean Hollow State Beach for a midpoint break and a (VERY) brisk dip in the ocean. This is where I realized that the change in climate between southern and northern California is most acutely felt when you dive into the water. It was a BRIEF swim.

Part Four: Back to LA

A good friend of mine from Toronto lived in LA for a couple of years and she inspired the idea of driving up the coast from LA to San Francisco from her vivid descriptions of the scenery. Her best advice though, was to enjoy the drive…once. “Trust me, do not take the PCH back; do the 5 and the 101,” just like a true Californian, route suggestions all the way. Who am I to argue with that, especially when it cut the time down to 6 hours for the entire drive.

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Still to come, blogs about the best eats along the trip and various accommodations from AirBNB to Hotels to stays at the roadside classic, Motel 6 (definitely a Guys Who Travel first).

What is waiting for me in Hong Kong? United 1K.

Wed, 04 Nov 2015 14:23:58 -0500

No it isn't déjà vu. I'm on my way to Hong Kong again only two weeks after the last trip to the same city. Am I crazy? Maybe. But the deal was about $600 per return ticket and the trip to Hong Kong has a great reward at the end: United 1K.

As I write this on my way to EWR to catch a 777 to Hong Kong, I'm sitting at 95,504 status miles. When I land in Hong Kong only 16 short hours later I will reach over 100,000 status miles or PQM miles with United Mileage Plus. What does that mean? I'm going to be the highest tier that I can get on United (without being invited).

Why do I need this status? I don't really, I can live without it, but it sure is nice. With the amount that we fly we definitely take advantage of all the perks. Plus it saves us money on Economy Plus seat which can run pretty high (~ $250) on long haul flights. I like a good challenge and it gives me something to work for annually.

Every year I start a new spreadsheet. I enter all my flights I may have booked and record the miles. We strategically make sure that every flight we take maximizes our miles and we don't shy away from some crazy routing. I once flew to Toronto - Boston - Washington DC - Denver - Vegas. Even if early in the year I don't think I'll reach my goal, I have learned that every mile counts and you may just never know. Before it was to simply get Platinum 75K but now I'm aiming higher. Why not go for 100K.

I like flying. Flying doesn't stress me out. If there is a delay, It doesn't bother me. If it is mechanical, I would much rather a delay and make sure the plane is running perfectly. I think I get this lackadaisical attitude because I never really have to be anywhere. I work for myself, I can work on a plane or a lounge and I'm flexible. If I was flying charters where there was only one flight a day then it may be another story.

Part of the trip for me is the flight. I actually like the disconnection. Having my own business there is always something I could be doing. Air travel gives me a break. Sure I can work but when you are flying over China and you have no internet I would rather get caught up on Project Runway.

So this trip is a full three days in Hong Kong. Zak is my travel partner on this trip. We are taking one full day to visit Macau to check out the new Studio City resort. I'm excited. There is enough I didn't cover last trips to Hong Kong and I don't mind repeating things like Victoria Peak for Zak's virgin eyes.

Your next thought is probably: That is a long way to go for three days. It is but not when you enjoy every aspect from door to door. We actually find that 3 or 4 days is enough in many cities, partly because we know we need stuff to see if we return one day!

So what am I more excited about? Visiting Hong Kong or making 1K? It is a very tight race and the excitement of 1K may win.

Steven

You can follow my travel twitter account: @guystravel

SIM Cards in Japan

Sun, 23 Aug 2015 19:19:09 -0400

One word of advice if you are planning to buy a SIM card for use in Japan -- buy it at the airport when you land!! It was surprisingly difficult to find a tourist-friendly SIM card to buy elsewhere in the country (but we finally found a place - see below).

We knew before we arrived that Japan wasn't the easiest place for tourists to buy SIM cards. The laws here only allow residents of Japan to buy SIM cards including voice and SMS, so tourists can only buy SIMs with data use only (which was fine for our needs).

We researched a number of companies that sold prepaid tourist SIMs at the airport, including at least one through a vending machine. But since our flight landed a few hours late, we were in a race to catch the last JR train for the night headed for Shin-Osaka (where we had a hotel booked). And we had two higher priorities than the buying our SIM cards: arranging for our luggage to be shipped to our hotel (only a fool in Japan brings big luggage on the train - much easier to courier it overnight from the airport!) and converting our JR Rail Pass vouchers into actual train passes. We got these things done with mere minutes to spare to catch that last train for Osaka. (Just to note, there WERE a few later trains, but our rail passes couldn't be used on them).

We figured that we would be able to find SIMs in town in Hiroshima (where we went after our quick hotel stop near Shin-Osaka), but none of the phone company stores carried them. While many of the companies did offer them, they ONLY sold them at their Airport kiosks.

Thankfully we did discover that Bic Camera sold a SIM that we could use, and there are BIC stores all over Japan. Their SIM offers 2GB of data to use over 3 months and costs 3780 Yen (just over $40 Canadian).

I would have preferred the plans that some of the other companies were offering - unlimited data for a 14 day period for about the same price (with the caveat that if you use more than 200Mb per day the speed slows down until midnight). I'm a data whore so even with using wifi where possible, I will probably burn through my 2GB before we leave and have to pick up another card.

One tricky thing about the card from BIC is that it does not automatically change your APN settings. On an Android device this is apparently easy to change, but iPhones don't make it easy (as most people know I'm an Apple fanboy, but this is one time where I wish Apple would open things up a bit -- some of the early versions of iOS allowed one to manually change the APN settings, but they locked it down a few years ago).

There are a few websites that allow you to create a configuration profile to change the APN, but we couldn't seem to create a profile that worked. Thankfully with a bit of Googling I found this link to a profile that did the trick (warning that if you are on an iOS device clicking this link will attempt to create a configuration profile for you - but no harm done if you just hit cancel)

http://techlog.iij.ad.jp/sp/miolte/iijmio-cellular2.mobileconfig

And yes, I realize we should be enjoying the sites and sounds of Japan rather than having our faces staring at our iPhones half the time. But this is just how we roll.

Brad

Japan, here we come!

Mon, 17 Aug 2015 21:37:30 -0400

August 18th we embark on a two week long trip to Japan.

How this trip came to fruition is a little more interesting than normal. I got a panicked text from Brad on October 31 from the subway (at an above ground station) letting me know there is a glitch in the Aeroplan system. He needed me to find out from Zak and Alen (who we had already been in talks with about a Japan trip) if they wanted to go... Alen received YELLING texts from me. PICK UP. PICK UP. I NEED TO KNOW IF YOU WANT TO GO TO JAPAN.

After confirmation we were all prepared to go, Brad was able to book 4 Aeroplan tickets in Business Class on United (our carrier of choice) for the price of one short haul flight to Chicago. The drawback, if you can call it one, is that we need to layover in Chicago. What did this cost us? 50K Aeroplan miles and $136 each. Usually this flight would cost 150K miles! This glitch was active for about 2 hours until Aeroplan at first hid the book button and later got it fixed. We were worried at first they may not honour it, but alas, we are leaving tomorrow.

Tuesday night we are heading to Chicago. We are at the Aloft Hotel at the airport for the night and the following day heading into the city to explore. Alen has never been before so we are of course going to visit Millennium park, the Bean, the Architecture boat cruise, and maybe search for Alicia Florrick.

We return to the hotel that night and we then leave the next morning for Asia. Our travels take us through Washington DC and then on a United 777 for 13.5 hours to Narita - Tokyo, Japan. We will be hopping into a train to a station near Osaka where we will get some sleep. The next morning we are heading to Hiroshima for our first full day of touristy stuff.

We have one night in Hiroshima at the Sheraton Hiroshima and then we will be taking the train to Osaka. Osaka is our base for the next four nights. Finding a room for four isn't an easy feat in Japan. Most rooms are two and if lucky maybe a third. But guess what.. we found a room that could sleep all of us. And it happened to be a 1,100 sq ft. Japanese style suite at the Ritz Carlton that was relatively affordable.

From Osaka we will be taking trips to Kyoto and Nara.

After Osaka we will be heading to Tokyo to stay three nights at the Hyatt Regency. After those three nights we will be moving to the famous (Lost In Translation) hotel, Park Hyatt. We scored two rooms by signing up for the Hyatt credit card which entitled us to two nights at any Hyatt.

In Tokyo we will be doing touristy things including the Robot Cafe.

On September 1 we will be heading home to Toronto via San Francisco and back to reality.

I will be posting the bulk of my pictures on Flickr not to clutter up peoples Facebook feeds. You can also follow along on Twitter.

Steven

My Maui Hawaii Tips

Mon, 10 Aug 2015 00:51:28 -0400

Out of the three Hawaiian islands I have visited, Maui is my favourite. I do like to think that I know the island quite well having stayed in Lahaina, Kihei, Hana, and Wailea. I love to snorkel and Maui may not be the best in the world for snorkelling, but it serves me well.

Maui is a quiet island. I'm sure if you are looking for some rocking beach parties, you will find, but from my experience once the sun goes down, you have a nice dinner and you head to bed. We aren't huge drinkers but there are lots of pubs and places were you can spend your evenings.

Kihei

I have stayed in Kihei a few times in condos. These are perfect for families who need the space and is much more affordable than the resorts. Kihei has a bunch of great restaurants include Sansei (Japanese), some great BBQ places and small local restaurants. I do find that in the condo complexes the pools are pretty basic. You do have a beach across or down the street, but sometimes you just want a nice pool where you aren't going to get all salty. Plus I have been spoiled at the resorts a little further down the island in Wailea.

Even if you stay in Wailea, you will probably find yourself heading to Kihei to do shopping and dining. It isn't far.

Wailea

Personally, Wailea is my preference when I'm in Maui. There are huge resorts, golf courses and some amazing beaches. Just past Wailea is Big Beach in Makena and of course Little Beach which is the nude beach. Big beach is beautiful. I do have memories when we were younger fighting the big waves and not having the greatest experience. But now that I'm grown, Big Beach is one of my favourite beaches on Maui. I think you can snorkel there I think, but there is a better place down the road.

If you drive past Wailea to Makena there is an awesome little spot where the road curves around an inlet that is perfect for snorkelling. It isn't sandy, it is all coral and lava rock but you go a few metres out and the fish are plentiful. I have even seen a few sea turtles there. Drive the road slowly, lots of blind spots, but a very easy drive.

Fairmont Kea Lani

We stayed at this hotel back in 2010. We had a partial ocean view suite with 1 bedroom. The hotel is really beautiful and has some beautiful grounds. They have multiple pools, but when we were they they were renovating one of them. We did find the food options were a little limited. So we did end up venturing off the resort to get dinner most of the time. The Four Seasons is in walking distance and so is the Grand Wailea by Waldorf Astoria.

Grand Wailea by Waldorf Astoria

We walked around this resort years ago when I was younger and I dreamed of returning. In 2012 I was able to return and fully experience this hotel. The pool area is amazing. Multi level pools connected by waterslides, some rapids, lazy rivers and tunnels. The pool is so much fun to explore and play around in. There is also a water elevator that was built by the original owner who had a child that was in a wheelchair. The water elevator raises you up to the top pool where you can begin your adventure.

This resort also has a training pool for scuba diving so I took advantage and went out with a guide. I had scuba dived with a guide before in Australia so I knew I would love it. There isn't a bunch of coral at this beach but we still a very fun experience.

Lahaina

Lahaina feels more of a touristy town. Lot's of touristy stores and restaurants and a lot of the boat tours leave from Lahaina. I like a quick visit to Lahaina, but I don't really need to hang out there for more than a couple of hours. Ka'anapali is right next to Lahaina and most of the resorts on this side of the island are there.

Westin Ka'anapali

After we did a trip to Hana we stayed a few nights at the Westin Ka'anapali. We had decided to stay out at the Westin after an overnight trip to Hana right before going home.

The Westin is a nice hotel, like most Westin's are. The pool area is great with various pools to play in. The beach on this side of the island isn't to great though. It isn't a sandy beach and it isn't the type of beach that you would lay on, the water comes up pretty close to the shore. I much prefer the beaches on the Kihei / Wailea / Makena side of the island.

I also visited the spa, it wasn't too memorable... from what I can remember. The hotel is conveniently located next to the Whaler's Village where you can shop.

Lahaina does have the Old Lahaina Luau which I have done multiple times. If you haven't been it is always fun, not to mention the food is delicious and the drinks are included!

Hana

The road to Hana deserves it's own post. Something that people say you only need to do once, but I can't wait to go back again. Stay tuned.

You need a car when you go to Maui, there is no questioning that.

We took advantage of jet lag one trip and headed up to the top of the volcano. We packed into the car at 4am for the drive up to the top to see the sunrise. Or so we thought. As it turns out the weather is unpredictable and like us, you could be surrounded by clouds and rain. It even snows up at the peak. So as it turns out, after all that effort, we didn't get to see the sunrise, and it was freezing.

We normally rent snorkelling gear for the week, but many resorts will provide it to you, at least the big resorts in Wailea.

There is a Costco right near the airport. You can pick up some big bottle of booze!

Oahu Hawaii

Sun, 09 Aug 2015 22:32:19 -0400

If you want to shop and eat just like you never left the mainland this is the island to go. Waikiki has everything you would find in a mainland America mall... but just a lot closer to the beach.

I enjoy Oahu and I normally end up visiting at least for a few days during a Hawaiian trip. Mainly because it is a little more happening than the other islands and there is lots of shopping and restaurants and as a bonus you don't need to rent a car if you plan to stay in Waikiki.

View our Oahu photos in Flickr.

Hotels

Embassy Suites
This hotel is great for a few reasons. The rooms are all suites so if you are sharing a room with family it works out well. It is located in a great location that is close to the beach (beach adjacent). Breakfast. I love a good breakfast and including in your rate is a full buffet breakfast including an omelette station. The pool is quite nice and we have spent days at the pool not evening having to leave the property.
The Royal Hawaiian
We stayed at this location May 2015. It is an SPG property so you can use your very valuable SPG points on it. The hotel itself is very pretty and pink. It is situated close to shopping which was very convenient. At first we were really disappointed that their pool was simply a boring round pool, but we figured out that guests can walk across the way and use the Sheraton Waikiki pool. A pool that has waterslides and waterfalls. Staying at this hotel also made me realize how great the beach is in this area. You can go out 200 metres and still be waist deep with a sandy bottom.
Ohana East
Don't expect a great pool. I actually don't even think I went to the pool at this hotel. If you are budget conscious this hotel will do. It is clean, roomy and I think all the suites have balconies.

Restaurants

Waikiki has a lot of the usual American chain restaurants including Cheesecake Factory. There are a few unique restaurants that stand out.

Duke's
I haven't been for dinner, but I found this restaurant in May 2015 in Foursquare. They have a great breakfast buffet that is very affordable with a great view.
Shore Bird
You have to cook your meat yourself which is alright, but kind of annoying. The food isn't bad. Aside from the meat, it is a standard buffet.

Hikes

Koko Crater

A few years ago I was in an athletic mode and I went on the hunt for a hike. I spoke to passenger next to me on the plane over and she recommended Koko Crater hike. This hike is not for the faint of heart... It is straight up a mountain and you are literally climbing up an old railroad track. The view from the top is stunning. Going down wasn't any easier!

Diamond Head

During this same athletic trip, I took advantage of my jet lag and also climbed Diamond Head. Lot's of stairs. Lot's of tourists. I'm amazed when people drag their grandma's up to see the view. It was nice, but couldn't beat Koko Crater. It is a lot easier of course and definitely something I can check off my bucket list.

One thing I like about Oahu is that you don't need a car. You can be perfectly fine walking and staying in Waikiki. If you want to venture to the other side of the island you can always rent a car for a day or two. We did the drive once over to the north side and it was pretty fun. (Also to note, this is the same day that Whitney Houston died). We went to Turtle Bay resort and there are some pretty cool lookouts on the way.

I haven't ever done Pearl Harbour. One day I'll make the trek, but I have heard that it is touristy and always pretty busy. I have never wanted to take the effort to be stuck in a tour bus to go tour. Maybe next time... October 2015.

I have been to the aquarium. It is fun, but I was with kids.

At first I was not enjoying the beaches in Waikiki. I found them to be so busy with surfers and tourists. But this past trip in May 2015 changed that. The beach by the Royal Hawaiian was so beautiful, I'm now a fan.

If you stay at an SPG property, they have a shuttle that will take you from the airport to the SPG hotels. Much cheaper than taking a taxi. There is a lot of traffic in Honolulu and taxis can run you a bit of coin.

Take advantage of jet lag. Our May 2015 trip, we were up very early every morning since it was a short trip. Walking at sunrise is so calming and beautiful. Most restaurants open at 7AM.

The Sheraton Waikiki has an amazing Koi pond with rocking chairs. Perfect for relaxing in the morning.

My Hawaii Tips

Sun, 09 Aug 2015 22:11:34 -0400

Having being to Hawaii more than a handful of times, I have some tips for visiting the islands. As I continue to visit the islands, I'll continue to build on this entry.

I have visited three of the islands, Oahu, Maui, and Hawaii Island (the Big Island) so far. Of the three I enjoy each of them for different reasons. I really enjoyed my time on Hawaii Island but I don't think it will be an island that I need to return to anytime soon so Maui and Oahu are my regular haunts. Hopefully Kauai will be in my future plans.

Hawaii Island

Brad and I were on this island in 2010. We stayed for two nights at The Fairmont Orchid. We only stayed for two nights but we felt that sated our appetite for this island. The hotel was stunning with beautiful properties. We even managed to fit in a massage at the spa, him at the beach and myself in a bed that was over a koi pond with a glass floor. We rented a convertible a drove the island up through the mountains and over to Hilo. In Hilo we took a dusk boat tour to see the lava from Mauna Loa bubble and steam into the ocean. Seeing the lava was very surreal. We were in a big metal boat and when we were close enough, we simply sat in the waves taking in the beauty of the lava. If you get sea sick easily, the gentle sway may cause some sickness. We thoroughly enjoyed the lava tour and the short time we had on the island.

Oahu

Oahu is where Honolulu is. Honolulu is where Waikiki is. It is the shopping destination of the islands. The last time we were there was May 2015 and we found that tourism dollar from Asia are really driving the development in Waikiki. Old staples like the International Market are now being replaced by big American stores like Sak's Fifth Avenue. If you want to feel like you are in an American city, this is where you go. Macy's, Cheesecake Factory, Nobu, are among many other familiar mainland stores and restaurants.

For more information including hotels, restaurants, and more, click here.

Maui

I find Maui to be a sleepy island. Once the sun sets, the best thing to do is have a nice dinner and curl up in bed. We have stayed at some of the bigger resorts on the island including the Fairmont Kea Lani and the Waldorf Astoria. I always say that Maui is a paradise with just enough of the mainland familiarities... you land, go to Costco, pick up your liquor and then head out to paradise.

There a lots of nature activities to do in Maui too. To read about Maui, click here.

Kelly Clarkson singing Blank Space by Taylor Swift in Toronto

Thu, 30 Jul 2015 09:49:56 -0400

Saturday night, August 27, 2015, I went viral. Not in a health way, but in a social media way. I attended Kelly Clarkson in Toronto at the Molson Canadian Amphitheatre, took a video of her singing Blank Space by Taylor Swift and posted it to YouTube.

At her shows, she takes a fan request and will do a cover. Normally the cover is pretty awesome. Saturday, she definitely delivered by singing Taylor Swift's Blank Space.

Having seen Kelly before, I am always excited to see what song she will perform and I wasn't disappointed this show. I recorded it and promptly posted to YouTube.

Things took off. Fans of both artists began tweeting up the event and suddenly I was climbing up in views. Then it happened. Taylor Swift tweeted to her 61M followers:

Kelly Clarkson covered Blank Space and YES. http://t.co/qwhXSxPOEx
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) July 26, 2015

Then it really took off. Justjared.com, EW.com, US Weekly, People.com, ETOnline, Perezhilton.com, and so on. Things got crazy.

By the end of Sunday night I was at 800k views. I could taste the 1 million hits. There is something surreal about it, people were watching my video. People were hearing my voice sing "Look at that Face", Taylor Swift had heard me sing it.

So now it is Thursday, the buzz has died down and the video is now slow and steadily getting about 2000 hits an hour. Still not bad.

Last night I was thrown a curve ball. I had simply checked the Monetize button on the video so ads were showing. I wasn't doing this for the money, I love Kelly Clarkson and I think she did a bang up job. I wanted people to see that. Plus there is some ego stroking when you managed to get something that ends up in Buzzfeed Trending or peaks at #9 on the YouTube popular list.

But 9 entities made claim that they wanted a cut of my success and the revenue dollars that I could potentially make from monetizing the video. I have put in a dispute because I'm not trying to make money off of this video, I'm simply a fan that wanted to share this awesome cover. I'll keep you posted.

Anyway, here is the video below, hope you enjoy as much as I did.

A Day at Milano Expo 2015

Mon, 11 May 2015 22:08:47 -0400

Brad and I (Steven) visited the Milan Expo 2015 this past week. The park is still "new" as it just opened last week. Although we didn't get to experience all the pavilions we did cover a lot of countries within the 10 hours that we were there.

We didn't know what to expect, but we really enjoyed ourselves. The Expo is huge and one day definitely wasn't enough if you wanted to take it all in. By the end of the day we were sore everywhere after arriving at 10AM and leaving at 8PM. As it got busier and we got more tired during the day our patience got short for long lineups. Sadly, the line up for the main Italy pavilion was way too long for our liking so we can't include it in our list.

Here are our top pics...

South Korea at Milano Expo 2015

Sun, 10 May 2015 23:18:03 -0400

South Korea's pavilion, blew us away. We thought it was a little strange at first that we had to watch an introduction presentation before heading in. What they were doing was throttling the people going through the pavilion so everyone could experience everything. We weren't disappointed.

Go to Japan

Japan at Milano Expo 2015

Sun, 10 May 2015 23:17:45 -0400

How can I not expect lots from Japan? We love the country and Tokyo is one of our favourite cities. So expectations were high when we went into the Japan pavilion. We weren't disappointed.

The first thing I took note of was the uniforms the Japan attendants were wearing. The girls were in cream and salmon coloured outfits. The salmon shirt matched perfectly with the salmon bags they carried. The boys were had perfectly matching carrier bags and they all had watches that matched the salmon colour perfectly. Just like in Japan all the attendants looked very happy to be doing their jobs. So far perfection.

We had to wait about 40 minutes to enter the pavilion, unfortunately they added some atmosphere: hanging wood planks. As people walked by people would drag their hands along the planks and they would make noise. Lot's of noise. But don't worry, it didn't look like the Japanese attendants were bothered by the racket.

No more UberX Taxi for me

Sun, 18 Jan 2015 09:28:05 -0500

Last night in Ottawa, I took my second and probably my last ride in an UberX "taxi".

I have always been weirded out by getting into some random persons car who isn't a taxi. Taxis aren't perfect, normally my complaint relates to smell, the driver or an overpowering air freshener that without a doubt gives me a headache. That aside I always feel safe because I assume that the driver is well seasoned and has lots of experience.

Last night we wanted to go to a theatre that was about 20 minutes away in Gloucester. The fact that there is no big theatre in downtown Ottawa is another issue in itself. I ordered my UberX (they only have UberX and UberXL in the city), and soon we were on our way.

Shortly after we got into he car, things got interesting. The driver made small chat and we were talking about how in London the drivers need to learn the city. Our driver, exclaimed: why do you need to know where you are going when you can get anywhere using GPS? This is true, but the professional driver we got from the airport two days prior knew how to avoid Ottawa rush hour traffic without a GPS and he even alerted his dispatcher so other drivers could avoid the area.

Shortly into the ride, we were travelling down Montreal Rd at a good pace. I felt he was driving a little too aggressive for this road, sometimes hitting 80km an hour. This made me uneasy. We approached a police car from the rear and worried that we were doomed for a ticket I said to the driver: "that police car has no lights on". My reasoning for this was twofold: 1. I was hoping he would take the hint and slow the F down. 2. I didn't want to get a speeding ticket. I think at this point he actually disagreed with me that it was even a police car.

Well, he overtook the police car instead of heeding my warning and in doing so he went through an amber light. This didn't sit well with me and I turned back to see if our impending doom was in to be pulled over. No lights. Yet.

About a block down after the police had obeyed his red light we get flashed to pull over. The driver apologized and said he didn't know why, he wasn't speeding. Myself and my friend may have disagreed with him.

The officer came to the window and let the driver know that he had ran a stale yellow light. I let the officer know that we were UberX passengers but not because I wanted the officer to go light on him, but just so he knew we weren't two weirdos sitting in the back seat for no reason. After the officer went back to his car the driver stated that he didn't think he did run the yellow, but yet again, we disagreed with him. His aggressive driving was careless and if he couldn't identify that he was speeding or running yellow lights, maybe he shouldn't be driving people around.

The officer returned with a warning. He let the driver know that he could have been fined ~$180 for a yellow light and ~$300 for a red and lots of demerit points. The driver was pleasant and we were off. The driver did instruct us to contact Uber so we can get our ride for free, we'll see what happens with that.

When I have taken taxis in Montreal and we are barreling down the bumpy streets I felt safe. Is it because my car is orange or yellow and I know the driver has been around the block? Probably. But the UberX experience leaves me feeling uneasy and anxious. Getting into a strangers car isn't something that I'll probably do again. This ride was very uncomfortable not only for me but my friend also. Is it worth saving a couple of bucks? Nope. No more UberX for me.

Hanging at the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas Bamboo Pool Cabana

Sun, 10 Aug 2014 15:37:57 -0400

Even though Celine was supposed to be the highlight of the weekend (my dreams were crushed by her sore throat), the highlight turned out to be the cabana at The Cosmopolitan Bamboo Pool. After years and years of trips to Vegas, we finally took the plunge and got a cabana. We have always toyed with the idea, but with 7 of us on this trip, the time seemed right and we were all looking forward to a day at the pool.

Cabanas aren't cheap. We have been quoted $500 to $1750 at various hotels and we could never justify the cost. We would much rather be gambling. Cabana fees vary depending on the time of year, what hotel you are at, and of course how trendy the pool is. Bamboo Pool at The Cosmopolitan is the more "quiet" pool. The Boulevard Pool is mainly people standing in the pool staring at each other and getting drunk. Nothing wrong with that, but I'm not 25 anymore. We were looking to relax, play some cards, drink and eat.

Normally the fee is just for the cabana and your food and drinks are billed on top of this fee as an extra charge. The Cosmopolitan plays a little different than other hotels. Whatever fee you get the cabana for turns into credit that you use for food and drink. This definitely sweetened the pot and made this cabana a little more reasonable. I [Steven] like a good challenge and spending $750 over 8 hours on food and drink was definitely a challenge I was ready to take on. The $750 that we got the cabana for was not the original price we were quoted, that price was $1,250. But we went down in the morning and showed our concern that the weather forecast was calling for thundershowers and we weren't ready to pay for something we weren't going to use.

We ended up with cabana #5. After we heading over to the Boulevard Pool the next day we think we got the nicest cabana out there and we definitely had the most useable space.

The cabana was awesome. It had an enclosed room with a ceiling fan, couch, TV and mini fridge. On top of the fridge was an ice bucket that was continually being refilled by our attendant and in the fridge it was stocked with three each of diet coke, coke, and sprite. All of which were included to start.

Outside of the cabana we had four lounge chairs, two seating areas, one which was table and chair and another that was a couch and table. Perfect for playing cards and lounging around while eating.

We started to chip into our $750 by ordering pitcher after pitcher of margarita or daiquiri. Some of us switched to cocktails, others to beer. One of us moved onto diet coke which after the first three were finished from the fridge was billable. Midway through the day we all ordered food and occasionally our attendant would update us on how we were doing. Take note that even though you get $750 in food and drink you are still required to pay for the taxes and tip which is included at the end for you on the bill. As we neared the end of our day and we were about to settle up our attendant let us know that we had some money left so we got some coconut water, red bull and diet cokes for the road.

The staff was awesome. We had Kristin and she was extremely attentive and nice. She was always there to take our order or pour us another margarita. We could definitely get used to this.

Our only gripe the entire day was the water misters. They turned on at noon for about 20 minutes and then they never turned on again. Sadly as the day got hotter we asked the manager to turn them on but it seems if the temperature doesn't get high enough or it is too humid they won't (or can't) turn them back on. Lucky for us the weather was simply perfect but it would have been nice to have some mist at times during the day. First world problems.

The Cosmopolitan is definitely becoming our hotel and casino of choice and this experience has definitely made us look forward to our next summer trip to Vegas.

Brad Gets Rouged And Lives To Tell

Wed, 06 Aug 2014 23:13:03 -0400

The Guys Who Travel went to Vegas last weekend, and on my flight down, I got Rouged! For those unfamiliar with the term, Rouge is Air Canada’s new “low cost” airline. In order to cut costs, Air Canada has created a new discount airline to fly on what they deem to be mainly “leisure travel” routes. The term “to get Rouged” refers to when someone books a ticket on a mainline Air Canada flight, but unexpectedly ends up flying Rouge. The term seemed to gain popularity after Air Canada switched all of their Vancouver - Los Angeles routes to Rouge, and then went through the roof after Rob Lowe tweeted his experience flying the airline. In my case, technically I wasn’t “Rouged” since I knew what I was getting into (and as you will read, I was happy/lucky to be on any plane at all to Vegas). But here’s my story of last Friday, and my thoughts on Rouge.

Friday night was not a good night to be leaving Toronto Pearson. Scattered thunderstorms through the area were causing numerous delays. I of course had booked a complicated itinerary down to Las Vegas in order to try to maximize my status miles (to make sure I hit Premier Platinum on United this year). I was scheduled to fly Toronto -> Chicago -> Los Angeles -> Las Vegas, all on United metal, leaving at 5pm and arriving around 11pm Vegas time. My connections were tight, but so long as there were no delays, it was doable.

Alas, with the weather delays I wasn’t going to make it. My Toronto -> Chicago flight was showing a 45 minute delay, and I probably wasn’t going to make the connection. (As it turned out, the delay ended up being 3 hours on that flight!). Knowing that any delays would cause me to misconnect, I had already researched all of the other ways of getting to Las Vegas that night on Star Alliance metal. It was too late in the day for any other purely United options, but I knew that Air Canada could get me there. The direct Air Canada flight from Toronto to Las Vegas was on Rouge, so I was trying to avoid that, since I had heard terrible things about Rouge. And equally importantly, flying direct earns fewer status miles!

There was a direct mainline Air Canada to Los Angeles flight that would give me time to connect to my United segment from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. It would mean transferring from terminal 2 to terminal 7 at LAX, which involves either a slow shuttle bus or a jog through the parking lot at the top of “the horseshoe”, but it could be done. I called UA and they were more than happy to switch my ticket to the Air Canada flight. When I have done this in the past, usually they need to call Air Canada to confirm the space — which is sometime impossible to do since the United agents need to call the normal Air Canada number and can be stuck on hold for eternity — but that’s a story for another blog entry. They didn’t call AC this time, which is probably good since if they had they probably wouldn’t have been been given “permission” to do it. When I went to the Air Canada customer service desk the agent threw a fit: “UNITED SHOULD NOT HAVE BOOKED YOU ON THIS FLIGHT. It is oversold!!”. I played dumb and just said - well this is what United did and they told me it was confirmed (and indeed it was a confirmed reservation and not standby — while i didn’t have a seat assignment, had AC not got me on the plane they would have had to pay me compensation for being bumped).

I went to the gate for the LAX flight and the agent there was able to give me a seat assignment. But then another round of storms came through. And I realized there was no way I was going to make the connection in LAX. While AC hadn’t officially posted a delay of the flight yet, it was a few minutes before scheduled take-off time and the aircraft hadn’t even arrived yet.

So back on the phone with United. Next plan was to fly Toronto to San Francisco on Air Canada, and then onward to LAS on United. But the agent wasn’t able to re-ticket me on the new itinerary. Since I was already checked into the Air Canada flight to LAX, they couldn’t make any changes to the e-ticket. The United agent stayed on the line with me as I asked the AC LAX-flight gate agent to “uncheck me in”. She did, but the United agent still was not able to change the ticket. I played middleman between the AC agent in front of me and the UA agent on the phone trying to get it resolved. The AC agent claimed I was offloaded from the LAX flight so it should be fine. The UA agent said that she needs AC to “push the coupon” back to UA! This went on for a while, with both agents calling their help desks trying to figure out how to resolve the issue (and with the UA agent periodically telling me that the AC agent must not know what she is doing LOL). This is one time where I wished paper tickets still existed. Then I would have a flight coupon in my hands instead of something theoretical bouncing between computers! UA came up with a solution first — they just issued me a new e-ticket with a new ticket number for the YYZ-SFO-LAS flights and attached it to my PNR. (And I want to note here that every time I have called United for an issue like this, the agents have been AMAZING. In this case she was on the phone with me for probably half an hour, and seemed to honestly care about getting me to my destination, even if the long call was screwing up her call centre stats)

So in theory all would be good. I would have an hour to connect in SFO, and would get to Vegas around 12:30am. And the weather was clearing so hopefully no more weather delays.

Alas, while waiting at the gate to SFO, they announced that there was a mechanical issue with the plane, and there would be a two hour delay. I don’t really get upset when there are mechanical delays — I’m happier that they find the issue while we are in the ground rather than in the sky! But it meant getting pro-active again. I already new that the direct Rouge flight to Las Vegas was overbooked, but I pushed the AC agent to put me on the standby list. I would rather fly Rouge than not make it to Vegas at all that night (insert “First World Problems” comment here).

Since same-day rebookings from United onto Air Canada get booked into a really high fare class (full Y in this case), in addition to having Star Alliance Gold status, I knew I would be near or at the top of the standby list. And with the weather issues that night there was a good chance that passengers flying in and connecting in Toronto wouldn’t make it and seats would open up. And I was right. As boarding for the flight started, I was summoned to the gate and was given my boarding pass. I was about to experience Rouge!

FLYING ROUGE

As soon as I walked on the flight, I heard people complaining. People in “Premium Rouge” were essentially going WTF to each other. “Premium Rouge” is the same seat and seat pitch as regular Rouge, with the middle seat blocked off. If you have ever flown “business class” on Lufthansa on a short-haul intra-Europe flight, it’s similar, only with even less leg room! Obviously THESE people had not done research to see what flying Rouge was all about. I heard someone say to another “I hope you used points and didn’t pay money for this”. (Personally, I would have been upset to “waste” points on that!)

As I made my way back into economy, I was dreading the flight ahead. Yes, although I was happy to be making it to Vegas at all, I feared I would be crammed into a window seat with almost zero leg room for the next 4.5 hours. And then, as I got to my row, I realized I had won the Rouge lottery:

(The colour of my shoes is purely a coincidence!)

I almost cried. Hopefully this would be a sign of the luck-to-come for my Vegas weekend (for the record, it wasn’t). There are only two seats like this on the plane. They are available to pre-book (for a fee), but thankfully no one had, which is why it went to me as a standby. I got a LOT of evil-eye looks from other passengers boarding as they saw my amazing seat and then realized the contortions they would have to twist into for the duration of their flight. (And to make things even sweeter for me, the middle seat beside me remained open!)

Since there are no video screens on the plane (more on that in a bit), the flight attendants had to do the safety demonstration the old-fashioned way - LIVE! They unfortunately only wear their world famous Justin Timberlake hats as your board -- the safety demonstration would have been even snazzier with them on. (Although since my flight attendant looked like European Bradley Cooper he had my undivided attention :-) )

Soon enough we were in the air. The food and beverage service was very much like mainline Air Canada within North America. The “buy-on-board” menu seemed exactly the same. Since as mentioned United booked me into “full fare economy” (Latitude in Air Canada speak) when I got moved to AC metal, I was entitled to one free “snack” and “meal” item. (The flight attendants are supposed to have a list of who is entitled to this, but it also shows on the boarding pass as a cutlery icon in case they don’t). So I got my sodium fill for the week with a cup-o-soup and beef sandwich (which actually wasn’t half bad).

So there are no TV’s on Rouge planes. That part is actually fine with me, since I hate watching movies on the crappy seat-back TV screens on a plane. But I think it surprised a lot of people around me, since I heard grumbling on that too. What Rouge does have though is a WiFi network on the plane allowing you to watch movies and tv shows on your own tablet. (I believe that United is also using a similar system on some of their 747s that are close to their end of service and not worth retrofitting with tv’s).

In theory, this is a fantastic idea. Most people own some sort of device these days, and Rouge will rent you one for $10 if you don’t. I tested out the streaming and it worked really really well. Certainly not a high-definition stream, but definitely watchable on my iPad. The only problem is that there are no power ports on the plane!!! So make sure that your device is fully charged before boarding!

They advertise that you need to download the Air Canada app prior to boarding in order to watch movies, but I found that the streaming worked equally well going through Safari. And it worked on my iPhone as well as my iPad. I didn’t have an Android device to test it on, or a computer for that matter, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work well on those either.

As these screenshots show, there is a fair amount of selection to choose from. And the interface is pretty snappy — certainly better than the seat-back screens on Air Canada that were state of the art when they were installed decades ago, but now crash if you look at them the wrong way.

(Note how the streaming stops when there is a flight attendant announcement. Very smart!)

The WiFi network on the plane is just used for streaming media. There is no connection to the ground, so no Internet connection. And no live flight map, which is the only thing that I DO use the seat-back tv’s for.

So at the end of the day, I must say that I didn’t mind my Rouge experience. But I definitely do not plan to every fly them again if I’m not able to prebook that particular seat. The legroom really seems unbearable in any other row — and note that I’m only 5’8”!

Of course I should be happy that I even got to Vegas that night at all! Zak was scheduled to fly on US Airways via Charlotte on a points ticket. When the Toronto to Charlotte flight got delayed, he was on the phone trying to get US Airways to rebook him on the direct Westjet flight to Las Vegas, since that is codeshared with American Airlines (who is merging with US Airways). But no luck, they either wouldn’t or couldn’t do it (I’m not sure which — for sure they could have had it been actual AA metal, but since it was Westjet it’s possible that they actually couldn’t). He made it to Charlotte but indeed missed his connection. They were going to put him on a flight the next day that got him to Vegas around 1pm, but he was smart enough to be proactive and got on a flight to Phoenix that night. He had to pay for a hotel in Phoenix himself since the delay was due to weather, but at least he was able to get a PHX-LAS early Saturday morning to salvage most of his weekend!

My flight home was much less eventful. United metal Vegas -> Houston -> Toronto. And my free upgrades cleared to business class on both legs (surprisingly - since I’m only United Gold this year and most flights have enough United 1K and Platinum passengers to fill business before they start giving the seats to Gold members). So while Rouge was fine, I’ll take the front of the United bus anyday!

Time Lapse Travel - Las Vegas to Salt Lake City

Tue, 05 Aug 2014 01:48:05 -0400

Had to make a quick flight to Salt Lake City today so I thought I would give the time-lapse another go. Yes, I'm addicted.

I fit the phone against the window and held it there with the shade. Sure, I couldn't look out the window as I flew into Salt Lake City but I could see it on my iPhone screen.

I was on flight Delta DL670.

TSA Pre Check Expands to Air Canada

Tue, 20 May 2014 00:00:00 -0400

Good news Canadians! (or Americans Travelling on Air Canada).

TSA Pre Check has been expanded to Air Canada making it the first International Carrier to be a part of the program. That means if you are leaving the US on an Air Canada flight, you can take advantage of the TSA Pre Check line (granted you fulfil all the requirements).

For more information read further: TSA Website

This could be big for all of those Canadians who take travel via Air Canada back to the Great North.

So far, that we know of, you have to enter your Known Traveller Number every time you make a booking, or edit an existing booking (up to 72 hours before to be eligible).

Here is a screenshot of an already booked flight asking for the Known Traveller Number:

Hopefully they incorporate a way to have it saved to your profile for future bookings!

Flying Executive First in a Studio Pod on Air Canada

Wed, 16 Apr 2014 00:00:00 -0400

This week I was able to fly for the first time in a Studio Pod on Air Canada from Vancouver to Toronto. I have flown numerous times in a standard pod and this is a huge step up from the claustrophobic old pods, in my opinion.

The studio pod is still a lie flat pod but I think it is much more comfortable. My biggest complaint of the old pod is that

even when sitting upright for takeoff and landing the seat was uncomfortable and hard. The new pod has a softness feature where you can adjust the amount of air in the cushion seat. These new pods also face forward so you aren't taking off at a 45 degree angle and you have access to the window without having to stretch your neck out of whack.

The seats on the sides alternate between 2 and 1 seat per row. The middle seats are 2 per row. The seats are like a jigsaw puzzle. Your feet when lying flat are under the huge table arm rests of the seat in front of you. If you are lucky like I was to get a row that has only one seat, you get a huge arm rest on both the left and right. Under the arm rests are the feet of people behind you. Of course, this layout also causes problems. If you are in a side row that has two seats, if the aisle seat traveller is asleep, good luck trying to climb over them to get your bladder to the bathroom. Of course, I would plan accordingly and make sure I'm not in one of those seats. The old Pods didn't have this issue but I think I would rather sit next to my travel companion and be able to talk with them in this new configuration.

The seat also has massage feature which I actually had a problem turning off. I don't think the touch pad is as responsive as it could be. There is also a button that turns off the accent lighting in the cubby where your feet go and also the cubby where you can store your iPhone while plugged in.

To the left is the power and audio jacks. These pods have one regular power plug and two USB power ports which is a nice addition. I could use my laptop and charge my phone and iPad all at the same time!

The arm rest flips open to reveal a control for the entertainment, lights and service call button. Most people don't even probably figure out it is there. The screen is a really nice size, it has an updated but still unpleasant to use, touch control. I think we are spoiled from the great touch screen on our personal mobile devices.

I always carry my own headphones but if you forgot yours, they do provide you with an awful pair of economy ear buds that give awful crackly sound. The old pods had some good quality over ear headphones that provided much better listening experience. So make sure you bring your own.

There is adequate storage for your junk, the little cubby below the power I mentioned before and there is a slim cut out near the floor where you can store stuff. Not bad, but remember you can't store your bags where your feet go. They will get on you pretty quick if you try! One of the benefits of being in the row with only one seat, you get two cubbies, and two cup holders, which are located next to the TV. They may be meant for your iPhone more than a cup holder.

The last feature I'll talk about is the tray. There is a small button that when pushed ejects the tray out from the wide table like arm rest. I heard the customer say to another customer that she thinks they are actually pretty dangerous how they shoot out. And she was right, push the button and the table rotates out pretty damn quickly. It unfolds and pops up into place with some fiddling. Getting it back in is another ordeal. You need to line up 3 arrows and then lift and slide in. I'm sure the flight attendants get asked all the time how to open and close the trays.

Overall the seats are a huge improvement. And now when you are traveling with a companion you can now talk to them without awkwardly trying to tilt up your head. Let's see how well I sleep after this beer that was just brought to me… I'm being a good boy and skipping dinner.

Update:

I made it through the night with no problem although sleeping was a little more uncomfortable then I had hoped. Your feet slide into the enclosed space and if you are like me and like to shift around, this makes it very hard to stay comfortable. I'm 5' 9" and I was just short of extending the entire length of the bed. I think the comfort of the seat and the open space still makes this better the old pods.

What's In Brad's Wallet

Tue, 25 Mar 2014 00:00:00 -0400

Points, points, points. We live for points. An important strategy to collect as many points as possible is to have the right credit cards, and use the right ones for the right purpose.

So here's what's in MY wallet. Note that some of these cards are only going to be available to Canadians. But Zak has already posted about his recommended card for Americans.

The favourite card in my wallet, and the one that I use for most places that take American Express, is the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express. Why is it my favourite? Because Starwood (SPG) points are the most versatile points out there. You earn 1 SPG point for every dollar that you spend on the card. SPG points can be used at for rooms at Starwood Hotels (e.g. Westins, Sheratons, W’s), or can be transferred to a whole slew of different airline programs, including Aeroplan, American and British Airways (but there are many more). And as a bonus, for every 20,000 points you transfer you get an extra 5,000 miles (i.e. 20,000 SPG points transfer to 25,000 Aeroplan). So that’s like earning 1.25 miles for every dollar spent if you plan to convert them over to airline points. The card is $120 a year, but I find it worth it for the SPG points that I’m able to rack up. If you are interested in getting the card, if you use the following link you will get an offer that is usually more than signing up without the referral — depending on the month’s offer it’s either a bunch of points for signing up (right now it’s 21,000!), or the first year free. Disclaimer, I also get bonus points if you sign up using this link: http://amex.co/1h3VHNi

I also carry the American Express Gold Card. I wrote about this last year. With this card you earn American Express Membership Rewards points. These points aren’t nearly as “valuable” on a point-per-point basis as an SPG point, but they are still pretty valuable since they can be transferred on a 1 to 1 basis to Aeroplan and British Airways Avios, and on a 1 to .75 ratio to Alitalia, Cathay Pacific, Delta and Etihad. You can even transfer to SPG points, but since it’s at a 1 to 0.5 basis it’s not the best. However, where this card excels is that you get 2 Membership Reward points for each dollar spent in certain categories: almost everything travel related, plus gas stations, groceries stores, and drug stores. So I use this card when making any Canadian dollar purchases in these categories. I of course have a referral link to this card too, and if they are still having their “first year free” promotion when you click through, it’s almost a no brainer to apply just for the free miles you get for getting the card and making a minimal spend (as I write this the offer is 25,000 miles). If you don’t want to pay the renewal fee after the first year ($150), you can transfer the Membership Rewards points to another program like Aeroplan and then cancel the card. If you want to apply, here is my referral link: http://amex.co/1dJ6Pe5

I actually currently have a THIRD American Express in my wallet - the Platinum Card. With it’s current $699 fee it’s a hard card to recommend unless you travel a LOT and will make use of the lounge and concierge benefits. It does come with a $200 travel credit per year which makes the fee a little more palatable, but for most people (myself included) it’s hard to defend keeping it at that price without any sort of bonus. (I got it a few years ago when it was a few hundred dollars cheaper. With the $200 credit and the signup bonus at the time, the lower price made some sense. When it comes up for renewal in a few months at the higher price I will not be renewing). That said, if you ARE interested, the current signup offer (through my referral link of course) is 60,000 Membership Rewards points. Given that the $200 travel credit is per CALENDAR year, and the $699 fee is per membership year, if you use the credit both this year and next and only hold the card for one year, your net cost is $299 for 60,000 points. That’s not a bad deal (plus you get the other benefits of the card, including 1.25 points for every dollar spent). If I’ve managed to convince you to go for it, my referral link is: http://amex.co/1ivQnlH

Alas, the world is not perfect, and not every place accepts American Express. So it’s important to also have a Visa and Mastercard in your wallet as well. There are of course a lot more options out there for Visas and Mastercards, but here’s what I’m currently holding.

Most of my non-American Express Canadian spending is going on the new TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite card. I’ve already blogged a lot about my hatred for Aeroplan, so it may come as a surprise that I’m still collecting Aeroplan miles. Well, they still do have SOME value (especially while the ability to move them over to US Air Miles through points.com is still an option). Plus my TD advisor offered it to me for free for the first year with 15,000 sign up miles, so I’m not going to say no to free miles!

You probably noticed that above I made clear that I was only using the previously mentioned cards for Canadian dollar spending. All of the cards mentioned are terrible for non-Canadian denomination spending because of the 2.5% to 3% surcharge that they tack onto the exchange rate. Losing that extra percentage does not make up for the points earned by charging. So what to do? Do I pay cash when I shop out of the country? Don’t be silly! For that I carry the Chase Canada Marriott Rewards Card. Chase does NOT charge the extra foreign transaction fee, so purchases end up converting to 2.5% to 3% cheaper than using the other cards. Plus I earn Marriott points in the process. Since you only earn 1 Marriott point per dollar spent, and one Marriott point doesn’t have nearly the value of an SPG point (or even an Aeroplan mile!) I don’t use the card for Canadian spending. There is an annual fee for the card ($120), but it is waived for the first year, and you get a certificate for a free stay every year, so that almost pays for the card if you use it. While I don’t have it, Chase Canada also has an amazon.ca card which also has no foreign transaction fees. It’s a free card and earns 1% back in Amazon credit — again it’s a good card to use for non-Canadian spending.

I also have the Alaska Airlines MasterCard from MBNA Canada (which is actually owned by TD now). This seems like an odd card to hold for someone in Toronto, where Alaska doesn’t fly, but Alaska miles are actually pretty good since they can be redeemed on a number of different airlines across different alliances. I’m not using the card much now and I probably won’t renew it when it comes up for renewal (it’s $75 a year), but for a while it was my main non-American Express card that I used, and I’ve racked up over 200,000 Alaska Miles. I’m hoping to use those points to fly me and Steven one way to Asia, through Dubai, First Class on the Emirates A380. Gosh darn it we want to have a shower in the sky before we die!!! Alas I don’t have enough points for a return flight in First for both of us, and Steven would kill me if I went without him, so we’ll have to find other points to redeem to make our way home.

A card that I DON’T hold, but which Steven does, and that I think is a pretty good card for many people, is the Capital One Aspire Travel World Mastercard. Personally I don’t use this card because I want to collect points to be able to travel places in business and first class (experiences that I would never pay for out of pocket). But if you are looking for the best return in terms of reimbursement of normal travel expenses you would make, then this is a great card. If you redeem your points wisely, each dollar you spend on the card gives you 2 cents back toward travel purchases. The card is $120 per year, but you get $100 worth of travel credit as a renewal bonus each year, so really the net cost is $20 (plus in the first year you get $350 worth of travel credit!). Steven really likes the card because when unlike when you redeem Aeroplan points, with these points you purchase a regular plane ticket and then get reimbursed. So not only do you not have to worry about limited points ticket availability, you GET the miles (and more importantly for Steven, you get the STATUS miles) for the flights taken (he’s gotta keep up his United Platinum status somehow!). So while it’s not the card for ME, I recommend it as a good everyday card for most people.

So that’s it. That’s all the cards I hold - 3 Amex’s, 2 Visas and 1 Mastercard. But I’m always on the lookout for the next best card! Let me know in the comments what’s in YOUR wallet (and why!)

Las Vegas - Best Hotels

Wed, 19 Mar 2014 00:00:00 -0400

When you tell someone you are going or have just visited Las Vegas, the first question almost everyone asks is where did you stay? There are good hotels and bad hotels, lucky for us, most of the time we are at the good hotels.

Aria

We have stayed at this hotel numerous times and every time we do we are never disappointed. The rooms are beautiful especially if you can get into a corner suite that has the bath looking out the window and of course the Japanese toilet. The rooms are fully automated, new and a fair size. Aria is part of the MGM Group so we try to gamble at the MGM hotels to earn precious comps.

Encore

We have stayed at both but of the two we prefer the room at the Encore. The room and light oak and reminds me of a Chanel store, black accents with light wood. The room we stayed in had a great living room area and we love how the casino is decorated. We have also stayed at Wynn, but we definitely prefer Encore over the Wynn.

Cosmopolitan

We had the pleasure of staying here a few years ago and have a stay coming up. The room was a little odd with a kitchenette but it was nicely appointed. What makes this room the number 3 on our list is the strip view and one of the few hotel rooms that have balconies. Unfortunately this casino has their own loyalty program so you have to stay in the casino if you want to earn any comp.

Las Vegas - Best Pools

Wed, 19 Mar 2014 00:00:00 -0400

What makes a good pool? We like character. Waterfalls and palm trees go a long way.

Mandalay Bay

Not only a pool Mandalay Bay can boast sand, a wave pool and a lazy river. The lazy river is normally pretty busy, but if you can actually allow yourself to move at a slow pace it is quite relaxing. The wave pool is a nice size and provides hours of fun. But watch out, the sand gets very hot and so have fun trying to find your flip flops at the edge of the water.

Mirage

Steven is a sucker for waterfalls and Mirage has a one. The pool is a fun shape and we have never had any problem trying to find a seat. You can spend ours paddling around the different areas of the pool people watching. The pool is nice and open so you can always find sun to work on your tan.

Wynn

This pool is pretty beautiful and when we stayed there we had some great music to relax too. Sometimes music can be incredibly obnoxious at the pool but when you have a good DJ, it adds to the atmosphere. It also helps when you can sit and watch all the flirty people working the scene.

We do have to make give some mention to some old favourites. Flamingo has a great pool, mature trees and misters that come on at around 102 degress. Too bad the hotel hallways smell like buffet ribs most of the time. The Cosmopolitan also has an amazing pool, more of a pool to be seen. The view is pretty awesome because it is a few storeys above the strip.

Of the hotels we have stayed, the pools we would avoid would be New York, New York, Harrah's, Bally's and Planet Hollywood.

Best Spa

Wed, 19 Mar 2014 00:00:00 -0400

Spas in Las Vegas are legendary. Huge facilities where you can get lost in your relaxation for days at a time. Most spas allow for you to buy a day pass. Highly recommended if you need a break from gambling or if you have a red eye flight out of the city. Stay at the spa until it shuts down around 8pm (normally), grab a bite, then head to the airport fully refreshed.

All the spas are segregated by sex, but some of them have common areas where you can meet up with your opposite sex friend or partner.

Caesar's Spa

The pool and hot tub area is amazing. Four varied temperature pools, a steam room, a hotter steam room, dry sauna, and cold room that snows. The only strange thing about this spa is that the pools are separate from the other steam and saunas so you find yourself walking to get from one side to the other.

Aria Spa

The Aria Spa has all the facilities that Caesar's have but they have the added bonus of a shared sex outdoor warm pool where you can meet your friends to relax. You can gaze out at the view of the Aria pool and grounds. They also have two shared relaxation rooms, one is a salt room where you rest on vibrating chairs and the other is a very dark room with warm tile beds where you can find yourself falling asleep.

Bellagio

This spa is pretty nice also but pretty run of the mill. The one thing that stands out is the ability to go outside to a balcony that overlooks the pool. I think that Bellagio is consistently nice. Nothing mind blowing, but always a pleasure.

We have also been to the spa at Encore, Mandalay Bay, and Mirage. All are perfectly acceptable depending on what end of the strip you are staying on. Sometimes, it is just about convenience.

Las Vegas - Best Restaurants

Wed, 19 Mar 2014 00:00:00 -0400

There is definitely no shortage of places to eat. "Where should I eat?" is probably one of the second most frequent questions we are asked. We'll separate it out into three categories.

Fine Dining

Craftsteak at MGM Grand

It has been years since we have eaten here, but still is engrained in our mind as one of our most memorable meals. We got the Kobe Tasting menu along with the wine flight. Every dish we received was amazing and the service was impeccable. I still remember having probably the best mashed potatoes that I have ever had. We actually had a memorable customer experience here too. A family brought their 4 year old daughter and was sitting next to us. The little girl bit too hard on the water glass and the glass broke off into her mouth. You have never seen so much staff helping with this issue including casino security. They were probably very worried about a lawsuit. The little girl was fine thankfully.

Bouchon at Ventian

Even though Steven was sick as a dog during this dinner, it was still memorable. Probably his most favourite dessert anywhere was the lemon tart with a pine nut crust.

La Cirque at Bellagio

This dinner was amazing. We had the tasting menu. The restaurant is beautiful and the service was spectacular.

Buffets

This list changes frequently but over the last year these top two have been consistently on top.

Bacchanal at Caesar's Palace

There may be a line up but if you have $10 extra bucks you can skip the line and get in a lot quicker. We have been here for breakfast, lunch and dinner and we have yet to be disappointed. If you time it right you can ride the end of breakfast and stretch it out to make it to the lunch food. Be warned though, the chocolate covered strawberries are only for dinner but if you ask nicely they may throw some your way.

The Wicket Spoon at Cosmopolitan

This was one of the first buffets of its kind. Instead of slopping your mac and cheese from a big chafing dish, they have individual ramekins for your truffle macaroni and cheese or a little deep fryer basket for your fried chicken. The best thing about these buffets is are the meats and gourmet eats. We do have a trick for bypassing the line at Cosmopolitan… if you want it, tweet us.

Really these are the only two buffets we recommend. There are other good buffets but these two are the standouts. Bellagio never disappoints and our old favourite was Paris for breakfast, but we don't know if that has stood the test of time.

Casual Eats

Noodles at Bellagio

When we arrive late at night we are normally hungry. One of the few places that is open late for decent food is Noodles. Dim Sum, Asian dishes, always nice to eat late at night before some late night gambling.

Society Café at Wynn/Encore

Always a tasty meal. From the lollipop chicken wings to the mac 'n' cheese bites, we have yet to be disappointed.

Aria Café

Open 24 hours, this place has reliable meals. If you can get past the thumping of the night club below it always delivers at 2AM.

Burgr at Planet Hollywood

I can't say no to a delicious dog. We were tired, it was the end of the trip, and we were checking out of our room at Planet Hollywood. We headed to Gordon Ramsey's BURGR. My dog was amazing. Yes. I got a dog and not a Burger.

Have had tried many other restaurants all up and down the strip, so if you have a particular question, let us know!

Las Vegas - Best Shows

Wed, 19 Mar 2014 00:00:00 -0400

With so many trips to Vegas we have seen a lot of shows. We do have our favourites, I don't think we have seen very many duds, but we just do go to ANY show.

1. Absinthe at Caesar's Palace

Probably the most interactive show, it may have helped that we were completely drunk on the green drink also. It is fun, it is funny, it is dirty. Don't go with anyone who may be a prude.

2. La Reve at Wynn

We have seen this show a few times. The tickets are affordable and don't be scared to sit in the wet zone. You barely get wet AND you get to be up close with all the sexy divers.

3. Celine Dion at Caesar's Palace

No matter how corny you think this chick is, she can put on a show. Steven and Brad have seen it twice, the original version and the newer version. Her voice is flawless, she will make you cry and she will make you laugh every time she pumps her chest. She makes you feel like she is performing for you and only you. As much as people diss Celine, he show is something to see and no matter what music you listen to, I guarantee you will know almost every one of her songs.

4. Carrot Top at Luxor

What? That funny looking ginger? Yes, he is funny looking and he is funny. He is current with pop culture (insert Rob Ford joke here in November) and also has his classics. Don't be scared of him, I think you will enjoy! It is a cheap ticket too, if you can get them at 1/2 Price Tickets.

5. Love at Mirage

Our most favourite Cirque Show. And it made Steven actually enjoy the Beattles. We have been a few times and both times were wonderful.

6. KA at MGM Grand

This show is a beautiful piece of art. I think they may have removed the last scene due to a fatal accident, but from what I can remember the show was beautiful. Be warned though, we have had friends go after a big carby dinner and it is slow enough to make you fall asleep.

7. O at Bellagio

This is a beautiful show, but man it is slow. By the end of it you will want to shoot a clown.

So Long Aeroplan AND Air Canada, Hello United Mileage Plus

Mon, 03 Feb 2014 00:00:00 -0500

A year ago around this time I posted a blog entry about while I was fed up with Aeroplan, I was going to continue crediting miles to that program to ensure that I would get Elite Status on Air Canada. My reasoning back then was that since Steven was going to get his status on United, we would “diversify” our benefits between the two airlines (e.g. I would still earn Air Canada e-Upgrade credits to upgrade us when we flew on Air Canada metal).

Well it’s now a year later, and I’ve made a total 180-turn on this decision. I did fly over 50,000 miles last year on Star Alliance carriers so I am Air Canada “Altitude” Elite 50K for 2014, but I expect that this will be the last year that I have Altitude status. From now on, all Star Alliance flights that I fly will be credited to United Airlines Mileage Plan.

There are many reasons why I came to this decision, but it comes down to Air Canada / Aeroplan getting worse, and United’s Mileage Plus looking better and better:

Air Canada / Aeroplan Getting Worse

What do you mean I'm not getting full points for this flight? Recent decisions by Aeroplan will make it much harder/more expensive to get full status miles for my flights. More and more Air Canada fare buckets have been moved from Flex fares (which earn 100% status miles) to Tango fares (which earn 25%-50% status miles). That generally means that it will end up costing more to get 100% status miles on a flight. Fewer status miles per flight = more flights needed to achieve status! But an even more draconian move by Aeroplan is that the cheaper fare buckets when flying on United metal will now only earn 50% status miles. Previously these always earned 100%. What this means is that if I were to book a “cheap” United flight from Toronto to Denver, which is about 1300 miles, I would only earn 650 status miles on Aeroplan. No thanks! I would rather get the full 1300 miles by crediting to United!

Downgrades on e-Upgrades. I’m finding Air Canada’s e-Upgrades less and less useful. With Air Canada elite status you get a certain number of ‘e-Upgrade” credits which you can use to upgrade flights from economy to business class. Of course, there are only so many seats in business, so the upgrade is far from guaranteed. I’ve found for most of my flights (the odd time I do fly on Air Canada metal) I get “trumped” by Air Canada elites with “higher” status, so by the end of the year some e-Upgrade credits end up going to waste. And now to add insult to injury, Air Canada is now charging a cash “add-on” fee of $500 to $750 for using e-Upgrades outside of North America, unless you are on a very expensive fare or have the highest 100K Super-Elite status. That makes the e-upgrade credits even less valuable!

United / Mileage Plus Looking Better

Economy Plus baby! United has a section at the front of Economy on most of their planes that provides a few extra inches of legroom. It’s certainly not business class (or even “Premium Economy”), but it’s definitely more comfortable, especially on long-haul flights in a bulk-head or exit row! United only allows their 50K or higher elites to book these seats for free in advance. (25K members can have free access to these seats when they check in). As a Star Alliance Gold member through Aeroplan (or Aegean for that matter), you cannot book these seats for free. Depending on the distance and seat, the extra charge can be from $30 to $200. If I’m flying with Steven (who is 75K United Platinum) I get access to the seats for free, but if I’m flying alone I’m SOL. (For example - we have a trip planned to Bangkok in April which is on United metal from Toronto to Chicago and onward to Tokyo (and then on ANA to Bangkok). To purchase the bulkhead Economy Plus seats (with lots of legroom) for the trip would have been an extra $400, but we got them for free).

Business class baby! Unlike Air Canada’s frustrating e-Upgrade process, United automatically provides upgrades to Business Class for their North American flights. Of course, again since there are a limited number of seats in the cabin there is a “pecking order” for getting these upgrades, and lower elites have a harder time of getting them. But at least it’s done automatically — and Steven has found that he gets upgraded on over half of his flights (it helps that we fly out from Toronto and not a major United hub!). When I fly with Steven on the same PNR I do get put on the upgrade list as well, but generally much lower on the list. Having United status (even if it 50K to Steven’s 75K) will bump me up a bit higher when I fly with him (and will put me on the list in the first place when I fly alone).

I want my status NOW!!! It’s a bit frustrating/confusing when I check in for flights with my United number on my reservation, since I currently have no status with them. Even though I have Star Alliance Gold through both Air Canada and Aegean, not having Star Alliance Gold on my reservation can cause problems when trying to check in my bag for free or when entering the lounge. (Some agents seem ok with giving me the Star Alliance Gold benefits while crediting to another program, while others claim it’s a problem). Thankfully I will be getting United 50K Gold status soon through their challenge program. Steven explains his experience with it in this post. I will use my status on either Cathay Pacific (which I got through my Platinum Amex) or my status on Alaska Airlines (which I got through a status match request to my Air Canada status) to register for the United Challenge. I need to credit 12,500 miles to United (and FLOWN on United) within a 90-day period from the start of the challenge to get to keep United Gold status for the rest of the year. Since Steven and I are flying to Bangkok on United in March, this won’t be a problem! (Toronto-Chicago-Tokyo are on United metal while Tokyo-Bangkok is on ANA, but even the routing to Tokyo will give me enough miles to pass the challenge)

All that said, there are lots of knocks against United Mileage Plus as well. They recently revamped their rewards chart, and now business and first class rewards on their partner airlines cost substantially more miles to redeem. Do doubt this does suck, but on the positive side United does not charge any Fuel Surcharges when redeeming rewards. So while some reward itineraries might take fewer Aeroplan miles than United miles to book, the Aeroplan booking would require a payment of hundreds of dollars for the Fuel Surcharges, so in the end it may even out.

Thoughts? Am I doing the right thing ditching Air Canada and Aeroplan for good?

Weekend in the Florida Keys

Mon, 09 Dec 2013 00:00:00 -0500

Brad had a conference in Key Largo this weekend, and of course I jumped at the chance to escape Toronto December weather and head down to the tropics. The conference was at the Marriott Key Largo Friday and Saturday. Sunday morning we left for a night in Key West. I was really looking forward to this drive, and I wasn't disappointed.

Bacchanal - Now better than the Wicked Spoon in Las Vegas

Wed, 20 Nov 2013 00:00:00 -0500

We just wrapped up a great weekend in Las Vegas after participating in the Rock'n'Roll 1/2 Marathon, chilling at the Aria Spa and filling our mouths with some delicious buffet food.

The city seemed slow, even though there were 35,000 people in town to run the marathon and a UFC flight. This trip we stayed at Aria, I love this hotel and we took full advantage - rarely leaving. Because this was a marathon weekend we wanted lots of relaxation so we spent lot's of time at the Aria Spa. The great thing about this Spa is that they have a great co-ed space so we could hang with our friend Dana who was with us also. They have the usual same-sex amenities, steam, sauna and hot tubs but they have a co-ed outdoor infinity pool that overlooks the regular pool. The weather was amazing, so just relaxing outside was heavenly. If you are going for three days there is a pass for $80. A day pass is $30 but if you get a treatment you get free all day access. When we have a late flight, the spa is the perfect place to hang out before heading to the airport, especially if your flight is a red eye back to the east coast.

Even though this trip had a little more purpose than our normal trips of gambling, eating and drinking, we still managed to fill our bellies at two of, in my opinion, best buffets in the city: Bacchanal at Caesar's Palace and Wicket Spoon at Cosmopolitan.

Normally we try to max out our visits to buffets to two per trip. Our reining favourite has always been the Wicked Spoon at Cosmopolitan but after this trip it may have changed. We have always enjoyed it but this time we may have hit the limit where the food is a novelty. The food is good but we weren't wow'd by anything in particular. We left feeling like we are over the hype. I found the selection was lacking. And come on, all I ask for is a cold plate for my salad... Such a simple request.

Our buffet of choice is now Bucchanal at Ceasars Palace. Usually plagued by long line ups, this buffet is the shit on the strip. If you plan wisely go while they are still serving breakfast but will be switching over to lunch, you will get the best of both worlds. If you have won a little extra at the tables you can skip the line by paying extra, but that will put you up into the $50 range for entrance. This trip, we went on Monday and we were able to get in pretty quick, only after about 15 minutes. The chef who is at the carving station (sausage, ribs, bacon, primerib, etc) is a delight and always friendly and the meat is crazy good. The Asian food is great and the highlight of this visit was the KFC style fried chicken and macaroni and cheese. I guess I was in the home cooking mood. A couple notes: the steamed crab legs don't make an appearance during a weekday lunch and neither do the chocolate strawberries. But if you ask nicely, if they have them ready they may slip you a few strawberries. My one gripe is that there is no vanilla sauce for the bread pudding. I had to suffer with hot caramel sauce. Life is rough.

Overall a very low key weekend that was simply perfect. Not to mention I left with more money than I arrived with. Thank you craps table and a couple box cars!

And now, let's talk marathon.

Running the 1/2 Marathon in Las Vegas

Wed, 20 Nov 2013 00:00:00 -0500

About four months ago our friend Dana asked us if we wanted to join her in Vegas to cheer her on at the Rock'n'Roll marathon. We were planning our flights about 12 weeks prior to the race and I wondered if I should maybe join her for the 1/2. Could I do it? Could I find the time and energy to train? Could I skip the drinking and heavy eating this trip to Vegas? It turns out I could.

Deciding 10 weeks before the race to run turned out to be perfect timing. I contacted one of my clients who I knew ran races and she provided me with a 10 week plan which I managed to follow pretty consistently. Even through my trip to Berlin I was able to keep it up making sure that I could make the big runs so I would be ready for the big day.

Las Vegas was the perfect place for my first half marathon and being a lover of the city, the route was perfect. We ran down Las Vegas Boulevard from Mandalay south towards the airport runway, circling around and going back all the way down the strip. We edged onto old downtown carving a path through some residential streets and back onto Las Vegas Boulevard. The finish line was right out front of Mirage, a whopping 21km or 13 miles from where we started. It sounds way more impressive to say 21km.

While everyone prepared to run, the energy was high. People were dressed up with wigs, and plastic guitars, and countless Elvis's (no, I don't know the plural of Elvis). People who wanted to get married on the run all got married at the start line about 15 minutes before we took off. It was so interesting to see the couples on the way to wedded bliss (hopefully) only to run 21km. I'm pretty sure anyone who was waiting to have sex on their wedding night would not choose this venue. Let me take this moment to give a shout out to Glide. A deodorant type stick that stops you from chafing in inconvenient places.

The race start was probably the most nerve racking, only because I kept questioning myself if I had to pee or not. I had drank a whole tropical island worth of coconut water in preparation for the big day, that is all I could think about. But it was too late. We were off.

I started with Dana and some of her running buddies but I slowly fell into a solo trot that I managed to keep steady for the entire race. When I trained I wouldn't stop, even if I was running through the city when I came to a stop light I would simply turn. I continued this trend during the race, I stopped for nothing. I steadily chugged along dodging the occasional group of runners but I knew that my legs just had to keep moving.

This approach did have one downfall, trying to grab water from the volunteers wasn't easy as I ran by, and at one point I even went to grab a Gatorade and it ended up my arm and most likely all over the volunteer.

Probably the last 5k was the hardest, everything looked so far away. I managed to get into the zone and before I knew it I would be passing the landmark that was oh so far away... Stratosphere, Circus Circus, and then finally Encore. Although to be honest I probably ran a little faster just after Circus Circus just to simply get away from that mess of a hotel.

The home stretch was amazing but yet a little annoying. People were tired and slowing down which made people bunch up. I wanted to juice it up and sprint over the finish line but no luck. So I kept my pace and slowly approached the finish. I actually welled up a bit, I felt excited, I felt satisfied, I felt proud of myself that I achieved this. It was an interesting feeling, one that I didn't expect. I made it. And I was singing along with Miley's Wrecking Ball that was blaring over the speakers as I crossed the line. "I came in like a wrecking ball..."

Dana as it turns out was just behind me so as I finished I turned around to her beautiful smiling face. And no, she wasn't singing Miley, she was probably cringing a bit. We took our finish line pictures, grabbed some chocolate milk, and proudly congratulated each other.

The race was amazingly organized but not surprising considering all the races they do. While you are running they take pictures all along the route. They also snap shots at the beginning before the race and of course after you cross the finish line. You can see my pics below... Please excuse my hair, I started with a hat but it was just too warm to wear it the full run.

I want to send a special thank you to a very special lady: Dana. When I told her I was interested in joining her she didn't doubt for one second that I couldn't do it. She was encouragement from day one and full of excitement that I was going to experience this with her. Sure, I have some crazy ideas and goals but this wonderful woman never made me think this chubby guy who loves to eat couldn't do it. Yep. I have now ran a 1/2 Marathon.

Final time: 2:17:51

Overall: 7,420 out of 20,566 runners

Men runners: 3954 out of 7,901

SPA DAY GETAWAY: Voda Spa, West Hollywood

Fri, 01 Nov 2013 00:00:00 -0400

While some of the GWT are on a near-constant travelogue around the world for pleasure, I am the guy most frequently traveling for work, usually for a few months at a time. My latest stint was a contract in Los Angeles that gave me a chance to live the Southern California life for a while, living in fab WeHo during the sunny months of summer.

Now this gig didn't end up keeping me in LA for the entire four months, so I did a bit of flying home to Toronto and back, with a nice furnished apartment rental in California at my disposal for the duration. This week, I flew down to LA for the last time to close up that place and decided to make a quick 3-day holiday out of it, including a relaxing spa day as a reward for a couple of months' hard work. A quick search online revealed that within walking distance (but really, who walks in LA; self parking lot and valet parking are available in the rear) was Voda Spa, right on Santa Monica Boulevard between Fairfax and La Brea. Perfect.

A Yelp review likened this spot to the (criminally ignored) Joss Whedon TV series Dollhouse, with a nondescript exterior and a hidden gem of a lush spa within. I love a good duplicitous façade and a Joss Whedon reference, so this spot had me from the get go. I booked two treatments, a 30-min salt scrub and a 50-min Voda glow facial. With no daytime crowds and plenty of staff and treatment rooms, they accommodated me on 2 hours notice which I enjoyed. As I got my tour of the spa, through pools and saunas of varying temperatures, I was impressed at the vibe of this co-ed spa. Men and women lounged in the pools and on deck chairs, sipping juice concoctions and relaxing in this hidden oasis that looked like any other building on an otherwise unremarkable strip of SMB. On the advice of the front desk clerk, I arrived 30 mins before my first treatment so I could unwind in the pools and saunas and ease into my spa experience.

The salt scrub treatment was great; started in a very hot dry sauna room and finished in a much cooler treatment room after the heat became too much. My attendant was quick and thorough and really got my skin feeling new. It wasn't until the facial appointment, though, that this day went from spa visit to blissful healing experience.

Led up to one of the half dozen large treatment rooms on the second floor by Mirta, a facialist with 46 years experience performing facial services, I embarked on a relaxing hour that erased all the stress from the last four months. At 63 years old, this Argentine beauty pointed to her own lineless face as a testament to the positive effects of regular facial treatments. Immediately I was a convert, but when she told me I could maintain my current appearance until I'm 50 years old, I was sold completely. The hour was soothing, painful, thorough and peppered with insight from a woman who knows skin and faces very well. She read me like a book; from intake of caffeine, spices, alcohol, to exercise habits, skin ailments, and more. If I could take her home to Toronto with me I would - she's the best thing to happen to my face since travel-size moisturizer.

For someone with a complicated relationship with their skin who also enjoys any excuse to take a spa day, the trip to V?da was an ideal day. Between the salty scrubdown and the focused facial work designed to keep my 36 yr old face looking its best for years to come, this little visit to the spa helped me unwind and relax as I said goodbye to another traveling gig.

The appeal of Voda isn't just in my specific experience but rather its focus on European style spa atmosphere and aestheticians with credible experience that make this a destination day spa. The front desk staff chatted at length while I was checking out and it is apparent that V?da prides itself on qualified service providers as it's main selling feature. My Buenos Aires beauty Mirta may be one of a kind, but apparently there are more people just like her waiting to pamper you here. It's not every day in LA that one gets to bliss out and relax, which is all the more reason to look up the spa next time you're in town to experience a little zen.

Madonna at Hard Candy Opening in Berlin

Thu, 17 Oct 2013 00:00:00 -0400

Who knew this trip to Berlin would be so full of celebrity. I went from D-List to A-List in exactly one week. It started on my flight to Berlin on United from Newark. I was making my way to my seat, yes in Economy (I need the miles for United Platinum next year), and who was making sure their family was nicely tucked away in the back? Geraldo Rivera. At first I thought he would be sitting a few seats ahead, but nope, he ditched sleeping upright for the first row in BusinessFirst. His wife and child nicely in the back.

So with that celebrity (if you can award him that title) just a speck in my memory to one of the greatest superstars in the world, Madonna. No. I didn't plan this trip to go visit her at her gym opening, even though it would have been a great story for the guy in the crowd who actually asked us how far we traveled to see Her Madgesty. It just happened the opening was this week, it seemed so easy to go to the gym, stand for an hour or two and see Madonna in the flesh.

Not so easy. Four hours later she showed up, of course there was never an arrival time that we knew about, we just assumed she would show up around 6 or so. Sure, we had opera tickets that we were hopeful that we would make at 7:30, but that never happened. By 7 we had passed the point of no return. We had already missed the window to make it to the Opera and we had survived a rain shower that passed over the crowd. This was Madonna, she was worth it.

And so this was the outcome, 2 minutes of the Material girl about 5 feet away from me... no regrets.

When in Berlin, don't miss the Reichstag

Mon, 14 Oct 2013 00:00:00 -0400

If you are coming to Berlin, plan ahead and book a tour at the Reichstag. Being a government building you can't just walk up, as appealing as it may be, and expect to be ushered in. We booked a few weeks in advance and had no problem getting a booking. Alen, who I went with did the booking, and got us on an English tour which was well worth it I thought. The other option is to just get a booking to go to the observation floor and the dome. We actually got to see most of the building and also the assembly hall while learning some interesting facts.

Airport People

Thu, 10 Oct 2013 00:00:00 -0400

So far this trip to Berlin has been entertaining, I don't mean the TV shows I downloaded to my iPad, but watching the other passengers.

When there is a delay, people get worried, angry and downright annoying. Of course, there is good reason when you may miss your flight due to a delay. But the airline normally does what it can to help you out. And I truly believe that airlines don't want to be late.

A Beijing bound couple approached the gate worried of the late departure. Well, they had booked their two legs separately, so instead of one PNR/Itinerary they had two. This sucks for them because if they get delayed the airline won't automatically shift their flights around to get them to their final destination. Why did they book separately? Who knows, but proof you should book all legs on one PNR. The couple spent an hour with a very patient gate agent and from what I could eavesdrop, they couldn't help them. At least this couple wasn't mad or belligerent.

While the couple was sucking up the agents time others were waiting patiently. One guy waited for about 15 minutes to ask if he needed his passport out when boarding. I'm really not sure why it mattered to him. He annoyed me. He was in a Tommy Bahamas shirt.

Over and over people would approach the desk and they would ask the same question and the United staff was friendly and patient even though the gate monitor clearly showed the departure time. But it can't hurt to ask again right?

So remember that Beijing bound couple? As they were boarding a few people ahead of me, the flight attendant let them know their bag may be too large for the overhead and they will need to gate check. We are on a tiny Embraer so almost every bag gets gate checked. Well, they pushed it up into the overhead and the next thing they were calling the flight attendant because now the door was stuck. Was the flight attendant furious. Good luck making a good escape to catch your Beijing flight!

P.S. The passport guy in his Tommy Bahamas shirt just walked down the aisle and of course he picked a time when the flight attendant is at the last row with her cart in front of the bathroom door. Loser.

P.P.S end of the flight and the guy still couldn't get the hatch open. I didn't stick around to see what happens.

The Shard - Tallest Building in London

Sat, 07 Sep 2013 00:00:00 -0400

I was excited to find out last night that The Shard, the tallest building in the European Union, had an observation deck. I love a good observation deck so I can check out the city sites and really absorb how big a city is.

The observation deck is located between the 68th and 72nd floors of the huge glass structure. To get to the The View from the Shard (quite an original name) you have to first get tickets. Last night we went online and purchased from www.theviewfromtheshard.com tickets using their online reservation system. It is nicely set up and there are limited tickets per half hour increment, so it is good to make sure you plan ahead. You can also plan to buy tickets at the door but if they are sold out, you may be out of luck. Tickets are £29.95 (or about $46.80 USD). As long as it is a clear day, I always find it worth it.

A little tip, we showed up a few minutes before our appointed entry time of 2:30 and they let us go up early. We didn't have to wait in any line for anything and were up to the 68th floor in minutes.

To get up to the View from the Shard, you need to take two elevators. I'm assuming because of the narrowing of the building.

At the top the first observation deck is inside. The 360 degree view of the city is breathtaking. So many awesome sites to see and picture opportunities. Three flights of stairs up (or an elevator if you are lazy or unable to walk up the stairs) there is an outdoor observation deck that is just below the pinnacle of the building. Again, the views are amazing, pretty much the same as below, but you have the open sky above you. For pictures, I did find downstairs inside a little better, there was less reflection if you are lucky enough to be in London when it isn't covered in clouds.

Dining in the kitchen at Monk Kitchen

Sun, 01 Sep 2013 00:00:00 -0400

Saturday night we ventured to a great dinner locally in Toronto at Monk Kitchen. The restaurant is hidden in the basement of the also hidden Templar Hotel on Adelaide St. I had never even heard of the hotel or the restaurant, but some friends we were dining with set it up and did the research.

Upon arrival we were casually guided through restaurant to a table in the kitchen that was at the end of the prep counter. A very fun and casual experience. We were able to watch and interact with cooks to see our food being prepared and between each of the courses the chef would come over and let us know what we were eating. Apparently if you are in the dining room you get the same experience, but of course, you aren't having the views in the kitchen.

There is no menu at Monk Kitchen. You simply show up and the get what the chef wants to serve you every night and every meal is a multi course experience. Because the kitchen also services the hotel above, they will also take special requests for the hotel patrons. Basically the restaurant acts as a personal chef to the hotel also.

The adventure of not knowing what you will be eating is great fun. He did ask us what we didn't like or wouldn't eat. Normally I mention octopus and eel, but I just went with the flow tonight... I'm so adventurous.

We ordered the wine flight to go with each course and that was probably the only disappointment of the evening. Although the wine was good (most of the pairings are lost on me, I just drink to drink) we felt the staff wasn't informative enough. We wanted to know why the wine was paired with the course and some reasoning behind it. At times the staff wouldn't even tell us what we were drinking and just pour and go. We did let the chef know on the way out, so hopefully that improves. One thing that was great was that they let us split a wine flight. So Brad and I got half glasses each which worked out perfectly.

Overall, the food was delicious. It was a great experience sitting in the kitchen. The staff was all very friendly and it was fun talking with the chef. Our one criticism that Brad and I both shared was that it could have used one more course. Not because we left hungry, but we felt the meal would have felt more complete if there was maybe a beef course after the duck course. Is that too much to ask? Sometimes 7 courses is just not enough.

Luggage tracking is here! With our new Trakdot.

Fri, 16 Aug 2013 00:00:00 -0400

After the Great Luggage Loss of Janurary 2013, we were very quick to order the Trakdot luggage tracking devices when it was announced in the winter. After placing our order on March 3, five and a half months later, we have the devices in hand.

Upon opening the box the device is a lot smaller than I expected. Definitely a good thing. In every picture it looks large the box felt heavy but it is light and small.

First Step: The Batteries

There is a quick start guide that walks you through the installation of the batteries. When I opened the device to install them, I noticed the sticker that says "Warranty Void if Damaged" was already ripped. I'm assuming that is because they had to install the SIM card. I sent them an email to make sure, I checked one of the other new ones I received (we ordered three) and it was ripped too, so I'm hoping that my warranty isn't actually voided.

Second Step: Online Registration

Setting up the devices requires you to either download the App or visiting their web site to register. There is a ID number on the box and on the inside that you register with. You have to step through a checkout process, but because we prepaid the activation fee ($8.99) and the annual fee ($12.99), I checked out with a $0 balance. Once the device is connected to your account you can add mobile numbers to receive text messages and also emails to receive email notifications.

Third Step: Registering the Device

Walking through the instructions seemed simple but the lights didn't flash as they said it should for setup. My suspicion is that the device is already activated so a couple of the steps could be skipped. Press the button and it flashes green to turn on and red to turn off. At any time you press it and it flashes green, then you know it is on and ready to track. They advise you to turn it off as to not waste battery power when you aren't using it. Also, it will send you a text message when the battery level gets low and it will flash red if you are running out of juice. And then you get a text message...

Fourth Step: Install the App

After installing the app on my iPhone and turning on Bluetooth, the app asked if I wanted to pair my Trackdot to my phone. Of course I did! It took two seconds and the Far / Near screen pops up. When your device is on, it will alert you when it is getting close. Perfect, now I can push all the weary travellers out of the way so I can time my bag drop onto the carousel perfectly.

The second step in the app allows you to log into your account that you just created and track your device in what looks like an in-app browser that essentially takes you to the Trakdot site for tracking. I'm a little disappointed the app isn't fully iOS native, but maybe future versions?

Fifth Step: Get My Ass on a Plane

With London coming up in about 3 weeks I'm excited to use this new device. I have a layover at IAD so I'll definitely be having some fun tracking my bag as it moves from my plane that will haul me to London.

How does it work?

Each device has it's own SIM card that is registered with a worldwide GSM network, hence the $12.99 annual fee. Sadly, it won't work in Japan or South Korea… but I'll survive. I have high expectations that Japan is so perfect it would never lose my bag anyway.

I think the neatest feature is that it has an accelerometer built in that detects the sustained acceleration of the plane as it takes off. So when it started moving, the cellular system turns off to complain with the "No electronics during takeoff and landing" rule!

When landing the thing turns back on and it sends a text message or email to your registered devices letting you know your bag has landed. Hopefully you are on that plane too!

While you are at the baggage carousel you can turn on the bluetooth function, which is handy if you don't have data in the country you landed in, and the indicator lets you know if the bag is far, or near… and your phone will start vibrating when the bag gets close.

So with London around the corner, I'll be putting this nifty device to the test. Zak, Brad and myself are all traveling to the UK so we'll all be testing it out for accuracy and just for plain old WOW factor as we watch our bag travel through the bowels of whatever airport we are in.

For more information you can check out www.trakdot.com.

From The Mailbag - Earning Aeroplan Points From The US

Sat, 10 Aug 2013 00:00:00 -0400

This is our first "Guys Who Travel - From The Mailbag" entry.

We recently got an e-mail from a reader Zenon P:

---

As a US resident (Canadian citizen) I have had the opposite problem and it has been driving me crazy for over a year. I live in the US and travel frequently to Canada. Up until last year I had a B of A card that gave me Aeroplan miles, but they cancelled that. This year they even cancelled miles transfers. I can't get any card with Aeroplan miles as a US resident so I can't accumulate AC miles. Aeroplan told me to get an Amex Gold that accumulates Aeroplan miles, not realising that you have to be a Canadian resident for that. I could get a US Amex gold card -- with no signing bonus and poor transfer rates. So I am stuck -- I can't even prevent my Aeroplan miles from expiring (except by donating them) since I don't have an Aeroplan credit card to charge.

Is there no way for a US resident / Canadian citizen to get a Canadian CIBC or Amex card with Aeroplan miles?

Thanks Brad for any help.

Zenon P

---

Hi Plylshyn

Thanks for writing. I assume from your e-mail that you are a permanent US resident, and thus are eligible to apply for US based credit cards.

As far as I know, you really only have two options, one of which you have already mentioned. The US-based Gold American Express card is actually a lot better than you think. The current public offer gives you 25,000 Membership Rewards points after $2,000 in purchases, and you get the first year’s annual fee waived. (And you might be able to find better referral offers by Googling). You earn 1 Membership Rewards point for each dollar charged, with bonus miles at airlines, gas stations and supermarkets. And best of all for your purposes, you can transfer the Membership Rewards points on a 1-for-1 basis, and the transfers happen instantly.

Another option is to get the Starwood (SPG) American Express. You can get 30,000 SPG points assuming you charge $5,000 in the first 6 months, and the annual fee is waived for the first year. SPG points are actually my favourite “award point currency”, since they are so versatile. They of course can be used for Starwood hotel stays, but they can also be transferred into many different airline programs, including Aeroplan. And while they transfer at a 1-for-1 ratio, for every 20,000 points you transfer you get a bonus 5,000! So that’s a better transfer ratio than the Gold card. The main drawback is that the transfer from SPG points to Aeroplan points can take a week or two -- it’s not immediate like the Membership Rewards transfer.

So my suggestion is to get BOTH cards. Can’t beat getting all those points for free for the first year so long as you make the initial spend. Then use the Gold card for your airline, gas station and supermarket purchases, and the SPG card for all other purchases.

Of course, since both cards are American Expresses, you probably want to have a Visa or Mastercard for the places that don’t take AmEx. For that, I concur with Zak and recommend the Chase Sapphire Preferred card.

Brad.

Local Secrets: Nights Out In NYC

Tue, 09 Jul 2013 00:00:00 -0400

I recently took a week-long holiday to New York City for a brief getaway, visits with friends and a great night of entertainment at the annual Broadway Bares fundraiser. The overall itinerary was a leisurely 7 night stay with very little planned in advance, which is how I like to roll into a relaxed holiday.

When I arrived and connected with my friends living in the city, they made plans for us to eat, drink and hang out at some of their fave local spots. And as anyone who knows NYC knows, locals are passionate about finding great hidden gems and enjoying them until everyone else finds out about them. Here are some of those, revealed exclusively for you on guyswhotravel.com

Where to eat: West Village
Two great meals in the West Village, one at Market Table (54 Carmine) and the other at Perla (24 Minetta Ln), both excellent kitchens with packed houses on a Wednesday and Saturday respectively. Market Table was a recommend from a fundraiser-turned-freelance-chef friend and Perla was the fortunate reservation made by a foodie friend who delights in finding new gastro spots in the city.

Where to drink: Wine Bars & Speakeasy
A great little wine bar, also in the West Village, is Lelabar (422 Hudson) and that's where we stopped in for a quick drink before heading to Market Table for food. The wine list was interesting and for a beer drinker who typically doesn't stray from his Heineken and Stella, there is a fantastic selection of local/craft beers to choose from and a knowledgeable bar staff to help guide you.

The other must-do cocktail spot is undoubtedly Little Branch, a speakeasy at 7th & LeRoy that two different sets of friends took me to as a "we gotta go here" insider secret. Opening at 7pm, Little Branch is an unmarked cinderblock building on an unassuming corner of 7th Ave, where the door opens and you descend a dark staircase into an underground cocktail club. From the hand carved ice block ice cubes to the housemade syrups and garnishes, Little Branch is a true mixology experience. I was there once at opening and once at 1am and the crowd is always fun, although not as charming as the fellas behind the bar. Complete with suspenders and handlebar moustaches, these barmen were exactly what I'd hoped for when I was told about the place.

Where to hang out: DUMBO
The last local discovery isn't a specific restaurant or bar, but rather a cool little neighbourhood I've never heard of let alone been to. Referred to by its very specific acronym, DUMBO is a little neighbourhood in Brooklyn located Directly Under Manhattan & Brooklyn Overpass. A friend who grew up in Manhattan but moved away for a decade because she disliked the city ended up coming back for career reasons and she has found a new love of NYC in this hood. Literally underneath both iconic bridges, DUMBO is a hip area without the Williamsburg hipster feel, and many gorgeous views of Manhattan's skyline to remind you that you're in one of the best cities in the world. Just 1 subway stop off out of Manhattan, DUMBO has bars, restaurants, cafés, parks and markets that make it worth many visits if ever in the city. My personal recommendation is to find a seat at one of the many great Brooklyn pizza joints and dig into a classic NYC delicacy.

Run - do not walk - to Starbucks to Grab Your Free Download

Fri, 05 Jul 2013 00:00:00 -0400

If you at all travel and have an iPhone (and live in North America), RUN to Starbucks to pick up a card for this week's free app download.

It's for FlightTrack Pro, which is a FANTASTIC app for tracking the status of your flights.

As I wrote a few months ago in my blog entry on my favourite travel apps, this app was the only one of the many I use the accurately notify me of a flight delay. I don't know where it's pulling the data from, but it's often more accurate than the airlines themselves!

This app normally sells in the app store for $9.99, but if you get the download card from Starbucks, it's FREE. They normally change the download cards every Tuesday, so be sure to head to Starbucks this weekend to grab yours!

(and thanks to @runmad for the blog entry suggestion!)

A Day in Dubai

Fri, 31 May 2013 00:00:00 -0400

First off, people like to scare you about Dubai, one story makes it around the Internet and puts fear into everyone's minds. I'm sure these thing happen but when there are over 7.6 million visitors a year, being put in jail for having a poppy seed in your tooth isn't all that common. We haven't felt like we were outsiders, probably because we have mostly stayed in the touristy areas, but we haven't been on the receiving end of any dirty looks because of our clothing. Now, being the good seasoned travellers we are, we do respect the general rules set by the countries we visit. We are wearing "longer" shorts below the knee and we aren't slutting it about with our shoulders showing either. So maybe no one has a reason to give us dirty looks, and I'm fine with that.

Later as we walked through the mall, we did see some unruly travellers wearing tank tops and even one girl wearing a shear white top with a bright pink bikini top under it. I'm sure that most men wouldn't complain about a hot girl in Dubai, they just may have a hard time hiding it under their white robes. Maybe that is why they like their women draped in black showing no curves! It is those robes the men wear... you can't hide a thing! Okay, opinion piece over, now onto the day...

So our day started at Tim Horton's. Yes, we are in Dubai, the middle east, blah blah, but we are here to experience the city and there are more North American chains (American Eagle, Tim Horton's, Second Cup) than some small rural towns have in Canada. And who doesn't like a morning coffee with a bagel and cream cheese?

We hopped in a cab, because you need to take cabs in this city everywhere, and headed down The Palm Jumeira to Atlantis, the resort, hotel, waterpark at the end of the archipelago. The strange thing about this development is that is still in development. They ran into money issues and things have slowed. So much so that 2 of the monorail stations don't even function. One of them is over a huge construction hole with no way of even reaching the station that I could tell.

So we headed to Atlantis, this huge monstrosity at the top of the palm tree and first stop was the Lost Chambers Aquarium. I love a good aquarium. Even though the size wasn't as large and it was more for viewing pleasure than educational, I found it quite awesome. They had some great fish, many I haven't seen before and with my new 50mm lens (thanks Nana and mom/dad for the birthday present) I had a fun time snapping some great pictures.

One thing that I thought was pretty cool, the geek that I am, is that the cell phone towers on the Palm Jumeira are disguised as palm trees complete with the trunk bark and some fronds.

It is quite funny how the city has poured money into things like hidden palm towers, but yet they couldn't extend the monorail that we took from Atlantis to the mainland to the main Metro. So we had to hop into another cab in order to get us to the biggest mall in the word (the largest mall in total area), the Dubai Mall. This mall sits at the bottom of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the word. Do you see a trend here?

At first entry we thought, this mall is big, but it doesn't seem big. Then we kept on walking, and walking and taking escalators here and there. The mall is massive with over 1200 stores!

North American malls need to group their stores by category. At Dubai Mall, Baby Gucci was next to Baby Burberry. So convenient!

We ate at Cheesecake Factory (don't judge) and took in the sights and the stores. The mall has the largest acrylic panel aquarium and the largest candy store (Candylicious). So impressive! Inside the mall also has a souk (traditional shopping area but not so traditional as it has a Pandora), a Galleries Lafayette, Bloomingdale's (and a Bloomy's Home) and we noticed two Louis Vuitton's. Maybe one of them was a Baby LV. The picture below is of Fashion Avenue where most of the high end stores are. Although we did wonder why Marc by Marc Jacobs was here but not Marc Jacobs which was down the hallway just off of Fashion Avenue.

And yes, those things hanging in the middle are thousands of paper butterflies!

On the other corner of the mall there is also a great waterfall called creatively "The Waterfall". I like a good water feature and I wasn't disappointed. And this isn't even the big one!

The big one is the Dubai Fountain which is a Bellagio style fountain at the base of the Burj Khalifa. It "performs" from 6pm to 10pm every night, every 20 minutes. Definitely fun to see, but if you have seen the Bellagio Fountains, you probably won't be as wow'd as some fountain virgins may be.

That isn't Burj Khalifa behind the fountain, just some other piddly building, 12th highest in the city with 63 storeys, called The Address.

Now this is the Burj Khalifa. More on this Sunday when we go to the observation deck.

One last thing that we did today that is notable but definitely not the highlight of the day, was the quick trip to Old Dubai. We took the metro to Old Dubai and walked through the hot streets to find the Gold Souk. Not worth it. Stay where the Cheesecake Factory and Pull&Bear store is at Dubai Mall. Much more exciting.

What was fun was the metro. The metro is new new new. One line was finished in 2010 and one in 2011. The stations are all very consistent and nicely appointed. The metro is built above ground for the most part but underground through Old Dubai. The trains have very few seats but they do have a Gold Car where you get more comfortable seats for double the price. Worth it I suppose if you are travelling the entire line which would take you 69 minutes total on the red line. We opted for the regular tickets so at times we were packed like sardines in a stuffy train. Good for the experience, but we'll stick to taxis.

The trains have barely any handles! Quite lame especially when there weren't many seats. I'm not sure why train builders neglect to include enough places to hang onto.

So overall a great day. We saw lots of mall, lots of fish, and ate lots of North American food which included a trip to McDonald's for a completely awful Chicken Big Mac which had fishy mayonnaise (I couldn't even finish it).

Tomorrow we are heading back to Atlantis to spend the day frolicking in the water park Aquadventure and hopefully avoiding a sunburn. I'm looking forward to relaxing on a fake island shaped like a palm tree that is apparently sinking at 5mm at year although the government denies it while pondering the thought of purchasing gold in the Gold ATM.

Dubai. 4 flights and 22 Hours of flying.

Thu, 30 May 2013 00:00:00 -0400

We have arrived in the Middle East: Dubai. After flying Toronto - Washington DC - Houston - Washington DC - Dubai we are ready to explore. It is 6:30 pm and we are forcing ourselves not to rest but to head out so we can hopefully get a good night's sleep.

We are staying at the beautiful SPG Property - Grosvenor House on the 35th floor. Our suite is sweet. Two baths, living area and dining / kitchenette. The service so far has been outstanding. Instead of checking in we sat while they brought us ginger ale with fresh ginger sugar melting at the bottom and a cool cloth. After they did all the processing we signed and they walked us up to the room for a little tour. View some pictures here.

All of the toiletries at the hotel are Bvlgari. And the biggest hotel bar of soap I have seen!

So far, from what I have seen on the taxi ride here (30 minutes ~ $30), looking at all the buildings will keep me busy. Mainly new, the buildings are definitely creative with their architecture. My favourite so far I have yet to snap a picture of, but it isn't the Burj Khalifa. Don't get me wrong, the Burj is stunning with its glistening spire, I look forward to visiting the observation deck on Sunday.

The heat is hot, about 33 degrees at 6:30. But that makes it so much more fun to take a ride down a tube at Ski Dubai. Next stop, Mall of the Emirates.

Next Stop - Dubai

Sun, 26 May 2013 00:00:00 -0400

Yes, it’s only been a few weeks since we got back from Istanbul, but it’s time for another GuysWhoTravel crazy weekend adventure!

This time...

Dubai!

It all started a few months ago when a friend of ours mentioned to Steven that there was a great seat sale to Dubai - $700 all in on United. The only catch was that the fare left from Houston. But we never let small details like that get in the way of a good deal and a new place to see!

Alas, Mike can’t join us, but the other 3 GuysWhoTravel are going, as well as a special guest - Stephen from Detroit.

So here’s the itinerary. On Tuesday, Steven, Zak and I are driving from Toronto to Buffalo. We then fly from Buffalo to Washington Dulles, and then onward to Houston. Stephen will be flying from Detroit to Houston to meet up with us there. After one night at the Sheraton near the airport (4000 SPG points for the night), we fly BACK to Washington Dulles, and then connect to the flight to Dubai.

We get to Dubai Thursday afternoon, staying at the Grosvenor House, an SPG “Luxury Collection” hotel (a steal at the pre-points inflation “cash-and-points” cost of 4800 SPG points + $90USD per night).

When then fly back Monday morning at 1am, flying Dubai->Washington->Houston->Chicago->Buffalo. Yes, we expect to be zombies after that!

It’s definitely a quick trip for such a long distance, but as you’ve probably figured out by now we like to jam in as many locales per year as we can, and I only have so much vacation time! The “cost per status mile” we are paying (when you include the $300 to get us from Buffalo to Houston) prices it slightly above what would be worth it purely as a mileage run, but the 19,000 status miles on top of the opportunity to see Dubai makes it worth it (at least when using GuysWhoTravel algebra).

Of course, when booking this we didn’t factor in the $165 that Steven and I each had to pay in order to get visas for the UAE. (Americans don’t need visas so Zak and Stephen didn’t have that cost). The UAE has announced that they will be removing the visa restriction for Canadians, but alas the rules haven’t actually changed yet.

So far we only have two things planned. We have tea booked at the Burj Al Arab, and we are tickets for the observation deck at the Burj Khalifa just prior to sunset.

Anyone have any suggestions of what not to miss while we are there?

A GuysWhoTravel Contest!

Sun, 12 May 2013 00:00:00 -0400

GuysWhoTravel are having a contest!

We are giving away two free day passes for the American Airlines Admirals Club Lounge. You do not need to be flying on American Airlines to use these passes, but of course you need to be leaving from an airport and terminal where a lounge is located (A full list of locations is available here)

These passes are valid until July 31, 2013, and will be e-mailed to the winner (they are in pdf format).

To enter our random draw, all you need to do is retweet the following tweet from your Twitter account:

The contest closes at 11pm EDT on Friday May 24th. At that time one winner will be randomly chosen. The winner will be contacted, and will have 48 hours to provide us with a valid e-mail address to which to send the passes. If we have not received a valid e-mail address after 48 hours, a new winner will be chosen.

Good luck!

Disclaimer:

Note that the passes are from American Airlines' recent promotion with Klout.com. The terms and conditions state that the passes may not be sold or bartered, but there are no stated restrictions about giving them away through a random draw. There are no names on the passes, just a bar code. However, GuysWhoTravel cannot give a 100% warrantee that the passes will be accepted when used by a different name than they were issued to (although online discussions from others suggest that this will not be a problem).

Four Days in Istanbul Turkey

Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00:00 -0400

This trip to Istanbul Turkey was thanks to our friend Cam, he posted there was a seat sale and after about 10 minutes of deliberation, Brad and I decided to snatch up the deal (Air Canada ~ $750 return). We had heard great things from Turkish friends and others who have visited Istanbul and after visiting the city, I have to agree with them. This is how Brad and I left Istanbul after four days feeling like we hit the major hot spots and saw a great deal of the city.

Arrival Day

We arrived around 2pm local time and promptly picked up a SIM card from Vodafone. We hopped in a cab we were quick to learn why Istanbul is listed as the second worst city for traffic (Moscow is #1). We were told that the taxi ride should take about 30 minutes to get to our hotel, but it took 2.5 hours instead. One portion was almost standstill traffic for about an hour and a half with cars merging and honking everywhere.

The Park Hyatt was where we stayed the first two nights. A luxurious hotel with an amazing room: steam shower, beautiful bath (which I definitely took advantage of), all contained in a beautiful corner suite. No complaints here. The area where the hotel is situated is coined the "Rodeo Drive" of Istanbul. Definitely a high end shopping area.

Of course I took advantage of the tub and watched Veronica Mars... Two nights in a row.

The first night we went close to the hotel for a quick dinner at a place called Kirinti for some average food. Something quick and dirty after a very long day.

Day 1

Today was the day that we managed to see almost everything that was touristy. We aren't ones for taking things slow. We get in, we get out, and this trip wasn't any different.

We headed up to Kariye Museum, an old church that was recommended by @pointsandtravel. The church was located just outside of the main tourist area so a tram and taxi ride away, but it was worth it. It was very pretty and allowed us to walk back along the Golden Horn, an inlet that divides the city, and see all the dirty water and jelly fish. Apparently jellyfish like the dirty water... Despite the floating bread and junk, the inlet is quite beautiful especially with the backdrop of the city.

Next stop was the spice market. We made our way through the throngs of people and tourists and we were happy to see that the market still served spices, treats and not ripped DVDs and fake purses. We picked up some dried fruit and nut treats for later.

Of course outside of the church I had to do a quick jumping shot. I was really happy that we decided to explore the streets down to the water. So neat to be walking through the neighbourhoods, seeing kids playing and people attending mosque.

We made a quick walk over the Galate bridge. A mixed use tram, car and pedestrian bridge we had come over when we first arrived. When I say mixed use, I really mean mixed use. Not only is the drawbridge for traffic, no matter what time of day the sidewalks are lined with fisherman. There is a lower level on each side of the bridge where the famous fish restaurants give you perfect water view dining.

The Grand Bazaar was the next stop which was conveniently close to the Spice Market. Small pedestrian streets lined with different goods, colourful lamps, scarves and here we found some fake luxury items. We were happy to see the bazaar wasn't seedy and was quite fun to explore. I'm not sure how some of these stores stay in business, for example there is street that is just store after store filled to the brim with scarves. Sure... Turkish women wear scarves, but how do they make money? I wonder if they actually live in the space above the store or maybe rent is just dirt cheap.

Coming up on 5pm we now had to head to Hammam for an amazing hour long scrub down, more on this in an upcoming post. After leaving the Hammam, we were right between the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofia at sunset. We quickly visited the Blue Mosque before closing. It was very grand inside but the hanging lights made it less breathtaking then it could have been if it were an open space.

I appreciate that shoes must be removed to enter the mosque, but in doing so, the smell of tourists' feet from walking around the city was hanging heavy in the air.

Even at 7 at night the rush hour traffic hadn't subsided. We took the crowded tram down the same corridor that we were stuck in a tax on, luckily the tram has it's own right of way. To get up to Taksim where we were going to eat dinner, we need to transfer from the tram to a funicular. Again, we were jam packed into the train and then had to wait 5 minutes for the train to even start moving. Seems the traffic and transit can be both cumbersome. Dinner was at a recommended restaurant called 5.Kat (5th floor) in Taksim near our hotel.

I love a good funicular. Really, it isn't a good city to visit if they don't have a funicular... right? Well this one sucked. Underground, no view, packed with people. I was disappointed.

Day 2

Saturday started slow. We enjoyed the freezing cold pool at the Park Hyatt (which had just opened for the season the day before) and a lunch at the terrace restaurant. Our Amex reservation gave us $100 food and beverage credit we needed to use up, so we were more then happy to have a two course lunch.

We had to downgrade hotels this day to be more centrally located so we moved to the Marmara hotel right in Taksim Square. We met our friend Susan who just moved to Istanbul 3 months ago for some more city exploring.

We start by walking down a very long packed pedestrian street, Istiklal St, lined with local and global stores. Vendors of roasted chestnuts and sticky ice cream also peddled their wares. I tried roasted chestnuts later in the trip and I was sadly disappointed. Brad also tried the sticky ice cream, creatively served by a costumed man.

We headed to Galate tower but the line up didn't seem worth the wait. So we moved on to the tünel. The second oldest subway in the world. This 500m funicular was less busy than the day before thankfully and conveniently took us to the Galate bridge, the bridge with all the fisherman and restaurants.

We decided to walk to the Topkapi Palace where we were told there was to be a line. Everything we read told us to expect long lines and to go early in the morning. To our luck at 5pm there was no line up at all. And I'm glad that we didn't have to wait or come at 9am, it was underwhelming. It was pretty and quaint but the artifacts weren't something I was really interested in. We explored a bit but the rooms with the artifacts were crowded. It was fun to hear the guards yelling at people because they used their flash on their camera though.

I actually didn't take any pictures worth showing at the Palace. One thing that was nice is that it is on the banks of the Bosphorus and in the distance even though we were standing in Europe you can see Asia.

After the Palace, we continued to Hagia Sofia which was originally a huge church that was converted to a mosque. Now it is just simply a museum that used to be a mosque. It is quite pretty and grand from the inside and thankfully we got to keep our shoes on which contained the smell of tourist feet. Half of the inside was under construction but it was still fun to walk around and again, we lucked out with no line up!

With having done so much walking we were now ready to relax. We found a hookah bar just off a busy restaurant street. Brad and I had never done hookah so this was fun to try, especially in Istanbul. Hookah comes in different flavours, cappuccino, rose, mint, watermelon to name a few. We opted for strawberry and it was delicious. The flavour tobacco sits under some burning embers. The smoke is funnelled down into water that is contained in a glass vestibule at the bottom. The smoke is turned sweet and smooth and tastes delicious. You pass around the pipe and enjoy. The Turkish beer Efes also helped with the unwinding, followed by a BBQ dinner around the corner.

Day 3

With all the big tourists sites out of the way we decided to visit Asia. Yes, Istanbul is the only city to straddle two continents. We went to Bakirköy where Susan showed us around where she lives, still in Istanbul but about a 20 minute Dolmus ride. A Dolmus is a van that acts like a bus but isn't a city run bus. They seem to be a lot quicker and more convenient to get to parts of the city that regular transit doesn't reach.

Normally Brad and I don't eat any complex carbs, bread, or wheats. But that is almost impossible to avoid in Istanbul. Especially since most of the meals include countless rolls and toasts. The Mediterranean breakfast this morning was no exception. Many little dishes: olives, a fried egg, honey with butter, tomatoes, cheeses, beef bacon and fried cheese, jam with clotted cream all to be scooped up by warm rolls. Delicious but definitely a carb overload.

The following ferry ride to the Asian side of Istanbul was the perfect time for a 30 minute nap to recover from breakfast. We walked around what is supposed to be like Chicago's Miracle mile but we must have walked the wrong direction as we couldn't find the popular shopping area. We opted to stop for ice cream and head back to the European side.

At this point I'm realizing just how damn big Istanbul is. The city has about 13 million people and is the second largest city in the world... Yes, there is a trend. Always second, never first.

Next stop after an express bus over one of their two large suspension bridges we were on our way to a mall called Sisli. Part of the transit adventure was that on the European side we had to get off the double long express bus and transfer to another. The number of people was madness as everyone stood curb side as more buses pulled up. We jammed onto a bus almost as packed as we were on the funicular. But two stops later we were off the bus and into the mall. The second largest in Europe. Yes, second, not first.

With the busy day coming to an end, we headed back to Taksim via subway to find some dinner. We went to a Turkish restaurant along Istiklal Road.

Day 4

On our own for the last day in Istanbul, we wanted to explore more of the shopping centres. We headed to the first centre called Kanyon. A really cool partially outside mall with all the usual stores including Habitat and Harvey Nichol's. The highlight of the mall was actually the Wagamama restaurant that we have enjoyed in various countries except Canada.

The final mall we visited was actually probably the nicest mall. A new mall called Istinye Park. It was a massive new mall with all the local and global stores including an Audi dealership right in the mall (above the Starbucks). What made this mall unique was that the mall had all the usual luxury stores but there was a little village upstairs and second and third floors and entrances to those luxury stores. God forbid someone visiting a Louis Vuitton would want to walk through the mall to get to it when your Range Rover could be valeted right out front.

Now it was time for more relaxation, this time on the Bosphorus river. A taxi ride through Babek (an adorable little brunch area on the water) and we were at Ciragan Palace. A 5 star hotel where we sat next to the pool and had a lemon tart and apple tea.

To wrap up the trip I opted to have my second Hammam experience at the Four Seasons on the Bosphorus. We walked over from the Palace and I was yet again swept away by bubbles and scrubbing. Brad headed back to the hotel where I later met him for our last dinner in Istanbul.

Istanbul is a vibrant city and we never felt unsafe where we were. We feel that our whirlwind tour hit everything we wanted to see and that 4 days was enough to get a good mix of touristy sites and shopping time, plus at the price we got our airline tickets for, a good chance to up our airline miles. A big thanks to Susan for spending the two days tramping around the city in the beautiful spring sun.

View Our Pictures on Flickr.

A Tale Of Two Lounges - Istanbul and Munich

Wed, 08 May 2013 00:00:00 -0400

Steven and I are back home after a fun 5 nights in Istanbul. Steven will be posting entries in the next few days about the time we actually spent there -- but for now I'm posting about our trip back. As previously mentioned, we were routed on Lufthansa from Istanbul to Munich, and then on Air Canada from Munich to Toronto.

We were excited because departing from Istanbul on a Star Alliance airline meant that we could experience what some have called the best business class airline lounge in the world, which is operated by Turkish Airlines. I've read lots of blog posts about this lounge, so it had a lot of hype to live up to.

I'm happy to report that it does indeed live up to the hype. I think the pictures below will pretty much speak for themselves. The place really is stunning, and looks unlike any other lounge we have experienced. Since we got there so early in the morning (soon after its 5am opening), we didn't get to experience the lunch and dinner food offerings that come later in the day (apparently the meatballs are to die for). But there was a full omelette station, as well as a section preparing breakfast paninis. There were also various buffet stations with cheeses, yogurts, olives, nuts, breads and other snacky things.

If I must find criticism, it's that I was unable to get an espresso. While there were espresso machines, they were the "manual" ones used by real baristas, and not the automatic "push a button" machine like you would find in most lounges. But there was no attendant to actually work the espresso machine, at least at that early hour. (Perhaps everyone in Turkey knows how to use a manual espresso machine???) They did have a brewed pot of "American coffee", so I had to make do with that for my wake-me-up.

So obviously I can't comment on if this is the BEST lounge in the world, since I haven't been to all of them. Certainly we have been to some better first class lounges, in particular the British Airways lounge in Heathrow. But since this Turkish lounge is a business class lounge that's not a fair comparison. And since we didn't get a chance to sample the lunch or dinner food selection it's hard to say if it can live up to the noodle bar at Cathay's Wing in Hong Kong. But best or not, it's definitely a FANTASTIC lounge, and may be worth flying Turkish Airlines some day just for the layover lounge time.

Speaking of layovers, our second lounge on the way home was the Lufthansa Senator Lounge in the non-Schengen departures area of Munich Airport. Definitely a different feel from the Turkish lounge, but that's most probably due to the different esthetic between the Turks and the Germans. While the Turkish lounge had lots of curves, the Lufthansa lounge had lots of straight lines.

We ended up spending a bit longer in this lounge than we expected because the flight back to Toronto was delayed by a few hours. But that was fine, since there was enough to do to fill our time - mainly showering, sleeping and eating! Now mind you, we did them in the wrong order. First thing we did was shower -- since we didn't shower when we left the hotel in Istanbul because of our early departure (don't worry - we showered the night before - we didn't stink up the flight).

(Click below to see my Vine of the lounge showers)

After the shower, we hit the nap room in the lounge. We were expecting private rooms, but instead there were 4 beds with dividers between them. While it was secluded from the rest of the lounge, it was still pretty noisy. Thankfully my trusty Bose noise canceling headphones saved the day, and I was able to nap for a little over an hour. (As a disclaimer, this shot was staged. After it was taken, I put on my headphones and actually DID fall asleep)

After the nap. it was time for lunch. The Munich-style meat loaf looked pretty scary, but the pasta and meat sauce hit the spot! So did the German-style pretzel! (We are back on our Paleo light-carb diet tomorrow!!). I had a bit too many handfuls of gummy bears and licorice all-sorts, which made me craving a toothbrush for the rest of the trip.

So while the ambiance of the Munich lounge can't live up to Istanbul's, it was extremely functional and totally served its purpose. And for the record, I probably could have eaten that entire bowl of gummies if Steven hadn't pulled me away!

Frustrations with Air Canada

Thu, 02 May 2013 00:00:00 -0400

This is probably one of the best examples of a first world problem. Yes, there are far bigger problems in the world, but at this moment I'm not worried about them. I am worried that I won't be getting United status miles on this flight between Toronto and Munich.

This flight was booked with my Aeroplan number on Air Canada. Great, fine, but the issue is that I'm trying to make United Premier Gold next year so I want to gobble up all the miles I can on United. What makes this a complicated issue is that we planned on submitting for a Business class upgrade so I couldn't just simply switch my PNR to my United number. Yes, I'm also currently Air Canada Altitude 50K with a whack of upgrade credits that I wanted to use to upgrade Brad and me on this trip.

So we arrive at the gate and we were indeed upgraded. New tickets in hand we didn't want to bother the gate agent, they have enough to deal with, so we went up to the Maple Leaf lounge where five non busy agents were waiting to help me. We spoke to an agent and he wasn't very helpful, he took a quick look and said: "Nope, we can't do it, the system won't allow us if you are upgraded". See ya later.

So we returned down to the gate where they had started boarding. Two agents were available and I asked them politely if I could change my FF Number on my newly upgraded ticket. She said sure... Let me try.

She started the process and I even took my United number. Yes! I thought. Success!

Then the phone rang. I heard the other agent answer: "Yes, we are helping him right now."

Then he got off the phone and said to the agent that was helping me: "We can't do it, you have already upgraded."

That douche from the lounge called and wiener blocked me! I couldn't believe it. I wasn't going to argue, but it was pretty douchey that he didn't have anything better to do than follow up with them and stop the process.

So alas, I'm flying to Munich in an Air Canada Business Class pod and making no United miles, I will survive but the situation is still annoying.

My point to Air Canada is this, I got the upgrade that I earned fair and square with the status I made in 2012. I flew a lot with Air Canada to earn this privilege. Why should Air Canada care if I'm crediting my miles to a partner airline? I don't think it should be an issue. But really, don't worry about me... I will survive.

P.S. the nuts were warm on this flight. The annoyance of this situation is fading... and here is the rest of the food.

Next Stop - Istanbul

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0400

It’s been 3 weeks since we got back from Vegas, so it’s definitely time for another GuysWhoTravel trip!

On Wednesday night, Steven and I are off to Istanbul. We are pretty excited, since neither of us have been to Turkey before. And we’ve had these tickets booked for a CRAZY long time. Last June we saw a tweet from a friend alerting us to a pretty good seat sale from Toronto to Istanbul. The only catch was that the sale ended at midnight, and we saw the tweet around 9pm. After about 5 minutes of discussion, Steven and I decided “what the hell” and bought the tickets. And now 10 months later, the time has come to actually go!

The itinerary is from Toronto to Munich on Air Canada, and then from Munich to Istanbul on Lufthansa, with the same in reverse. Alas, we are booked in economy, but for the transatlantic leg we are in bulkhead seats which give more room. And (fingers crossed) we hope to be able to use Steven’s e-credits from his Air Canada 50K Elite status to get a free upgrade to business class, but as of now the upgrade hasn’t come through. Hopefully it will come through at the gate.

One problem with the fare is the Lufthansa flight credits 0 miles, which definitely sucks. But at least we will get 8200 miles return from Toronto to Munich.

But back to the trip itself...

I must admit that even though we’ve had over 10 months to think about it, we actually haven’t done too much planning. We are only there for 5 nights, so I don’t expect we will explore much beyond Istanbul proper. The hotels are booked (First 2 nights at the Park Hyatt, and then 3 nights at The Marmara Taksim in Taksim Square.). But other than where we are staying, absolutely nothing else is planned.

So I’ll throw it out there to whoever is reading this who has been to Istanbul before...

What are the must sees? And restaurants we can’t miss? Is there anything you didn’t get to do when you were there that you now wish you had done? Please let us know in the comment section below!

Tesekkür ederim!

Vegas Trip Wrap-Up

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0400

The GuysWhoTravel are back from Vegas, and I am happy to report that a fantastic time was had by all.

Mike’s Vegas cherry was finally taken, and he really enjoyed himself and expects to come on our next Vegas excursion in August. Hopefully by then the sunburn he got on Saturday at the Aria pool will have gone away.

As mentioned in our introductory Vegas post, we ended up staying at three different hotels this weekend. We had a room at Aria from Thursday to Sunday, a room at Cosmopolitan from Friday to Sunday, and a room at Planet Hollywood for all the nights we were there. All of the rooms were comped, and came with offers of free food and/or gambling credits, which is why we got multiple rooms. But not to worry MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment and Deutsche Bank, we gambled enough at all three properties to make the room comp worth your while!

Of the three hotels, it’s hard to pick a favourite, but it’s easy to pick the worst. Perhaps we set our standards too high, but Planet Hollywood really is a dump. The casino is fine (albeit I always get totally lost and disoriented in there), but the rooms have really gone downhill. The hallways were rundown, there was black mold in the shower, and the phone (at least in our room) was broken. If I had actually been paying for the room (or for that matter actually been sleeping there!) I would not have been happy.

Of course, to be fair, it’s hard for Planet Hollywood to come close to living up to the other hotels we were at. We have stayed at Aria numerous times before, and it is probably our favourite place to stay on the Strip. The rooms are modern, nicely appointed, and fully automated, and even their standard rooms are a good size.

And we love the casino at Aria too. Steven and I tend to keep our gambling (or using the politically correct term, “gaming”) to MGM properties, of which Aria is one. We have Platinum status in MLife until September of this year, so that gets us a bunch of perks at the casino and hotel. (For the record, we aren’t quite sure how we got Platinum status - we gamble a fair bit, but nowhere near the level that they say you need to in order to get that status. We think it was a bit of a fluke as they converted over to the new program. We expect to drop down a level or two once this program year is up).

And I realize that it sounds strange to say that a casino smells fantastic, but this one really does! They even sell the scent if you want your home to smell like the casino!

As much as we love Aria, since we had the offer to stay free at Cosmopolitan, we had to give that a try as well. And it did not disappoint. We were given a “Terrace Studio” room, with a balcony that overlooked the strip. (It claimed to be on the 51st floor, but since hotels in Vegas do not have any floors starting with or ending with the unlucky number 4, it wasn’t REALLY the 51st floor!).

I would describe the decor of the room as “hip”, in comparison to Aria’s “clean”, but it was still pretty impressive. Steven said he liked the decor of the Aria room better, but for me it was tough to choose between the two (notwithstanding the fact that the Cosmopolitan room was much bigger than the standard size room we got this time at Aria -- although we have stayed in the one-bedroom corner suites at Aria in the past and those win hands down).

Here's a slideshow of pics from our Cosmopolitan room:

Highlights of the trip:

The pillows at Aria!!!! OMFG - I love those pillows!!! It was like sleeping on clouds. In fact, I loved them so much that I bought 6 at the gift shop and brought them home with me (thankfully, Zak purchased new luggage that fit 4 of the pillows, and I brought the other two back carryon).
Bally!!! No, not Bally’s - that place is a dump. I’m talking about Bally. No trip to Vegas would be complete without a visit to the Bally store at Crystals. I’m not sure why I love Bally so much - it must be their cool neutral Swiss aesthetic. We don’t get there very often, but the salewoman always seems to remember us, which probably speaks to either the professionalism of their staff, or the memorability of me and Steven (or perhaps both). Steven and I have each bought cross-body messenger bags in previous trips, and this time I bought some shoes. I was drooling over the cross-body bag that they just came out with in light-blue, but since I already have the same bag in dark-blue I couldn’t quite justify the purchase.

Pool day hanging with the GuysWhoTravel. We spent most of Saturday lounging by the pool at Aria. It was a perfect day. We are used to being in Vegas in August, when it is so hot that unless you are in the water or the shade, you will sizzle like bacon in a matter of minutes. But Saturday was the perfect temperature for the 4 of us to lay by the pool and have a great relaxing day.

Front row tickets for Le Reve. This was the third time Steven and I have seen the show, and the first for Zak and Mike (obviously, because as mentioned he was the Vegas Virgin). We love, love, love this show. And I don't know why the "splash zone" tickets in the first two rows are the cheapest, since we think they are the best in the house!
Super Monopoly Money! Damn you WMS Gaming, why do you always come out with such fun games to play!!! We loved playing their new Super Monopoly Money slot. In one spin I earned $100 in “Super Monopoly Money” and then spun the wheel for 7x to end up winning $700. (See the video below for me doing a little happy dance as I win). Of course, not to worry, I managed to give that back over the weekend, nonetheless, that win certainly kept me from being too much in the hole for the trip!

Wicked Spoon at the Cosmopolitan. We’ve eaten at this buffet many times, but it never fails to impress. Best buffet on the strip. (Although we haven’t tried the new one at Caesar’s yet -- we hear that’s tough competition).

Lowlights of the trip:

The aforementioned icky room at Planet Hollywood
Redeyes. I’m getting too old for redeyes. Mike and I flew the red-eye back on Air Canada from Las Vegas to Montreal Sunday night, and then an early Monday morning flight from Montreal to Toronto Island (YTZ). As I mentioned in a previous post, I was hoping that the extra hour’s sleep to Montreal over Toronto would make more more rested, but alas it wasn’t to be. Even though I slept pretty much through both flights, I was a total wreck on Monday and even on Tuesday. I don’t bounce back quite the same as when I was younger. So someone please remind me next time I suggest doing this: NO MORE REDEYES FROM THE WEST COAST BACK TO TORONTO!!! Redeyes to Europe are fine because of the extra time involved (and because the majority of those flights ARE redeyes). But even if it means taking an extra vacation day off of work, my body just can’t take the shorter redeyes anymore!

But all in all, another great Vegas vacation. Looking forward to our next planned trip there in August!

Lounge Hopping in Montreal

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0400

As mentioned in my previous blog post, my routing to Vegas is taking me through YUL. I have a few hours to kill, and I'm certainly not going to pass up some free food and drink in a lounge, so I decided to check out a couple while I'm here.

I flew in from YTZ, so we landed (obviously) in the domestic gates at YUL. Like at most other major Canadian airports, the gates to the US are on their own, and you need to clear through US Immigration to reach them.

To get to the US Immigration pre-clearance from the domestic gates, you need to walk through the "international" gates (i.e. to anywhere other than Canada and the US). Without an international boarding pass, or with a US bound boarding pass after landing at a domestic gate, there's no other way to get in there.

So before heading to US preclearance, I decided to check out the lounge situation in the International departure area since I probably wouldn't be back there any time soon.

There are two lounges in the International departure area: an Air Canada lounge, and the "National Bank World Mastercard Lounge". Entrance to the lounge is through (presumably) a National Bank Mastercard, but the Priority Pass that I have through my Platinum Amex got me in for free. I believe it is also used as the lounge for most non-Star Alliance business class passengers flying internationally from Montreal.

The woman at the front desk was a bit confused at how I managed to get there with a boarding pass to a US destination, but she let me in anyway.

I must say that the lounge is nothing special, at least in terms of other lounges I have been in. The look is quite clean and modern - I will give it points for that.

And the alcohol selection was pretty good:

But the food selection was downright scary. Sandwiches that looked like they had been sitting there all day. An almost empty bowl of coleslaw. Some sad looking cheese. Certainly nothing up to par with the great food selection at the Amex Lounges in Toronto.

I decided not to bother with the Air Canada lounge in the International area, since I figured I should go clear US Immigration. I have NEXUS and Global Entry so I didn't expect it to take long, but since I've never cleared in YUL before I decided to give myself some more time. (As it turns out, it DID take a while. The first Global Entry machine malfunctioned and didn't spit out a full receipt. I was sent back and then the second machine wouldn't process me since I had "cleared immigration too recently". I managed to get a NEXUS machine to spit out a proper receipt, although then there were issues making sure that my checked luggage cleared through customs. Hopefully I'm not flagged in a computer as a troublemaker for using both Global Entry AND NEXUS.)

Anyway, I'm now sitting in the Air Canada lounge in the Transborder area. (I got in using my Aegean Air Star Alliance Gold card). Again, the lounge is nothing special, although like the previous lounge, the look is clean and modern. And the fireplace is a nice touch.

Standard Air Canada selection of food and drink (although this is the first time that I've seen a fountain pop machine in an Air Canada lounge rather than canned pop).

I'm trying to each healthy until I actually get to Vegas, so I'm limiting myself to a salad and some carrots. Although the cookies (no pictures of those) look VERY tempting!!!

OK - Time to head to the gate. Next stop, Vegas!!!

Las Vegas or Bust!

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0400

It started as a quick trip to Las Vegas that coincided with a friend who was heading down there for a conference. Now our fourth GWT has booked a flight down as of yesterday to join us. And we couldn't be more excited! All four Guys Who Travel in Vegas? What could be more fun? And what kind of trouble can we get into?

Mike being a Vegas Virgin (VV), we are extremely excited to show him around. Vegas is ridiculous. There is too much food, there is too much waste, and we love it. Maybe not for the waste part, but we embrace Las Vegas for what it is... kind of ridiculous.

Brad and I aren't big gamblers, but we do gamble enough to get some free rooms, some credits and some free food. This trip we managed to score rooms at Aria, Cosmopolitan and Planet Hollywood, so we definitely have enough rooms to go around. Yes, we may be moving around and checking in multiple times during the weekend but that is all part of the fun.

Another part of the fun, at least for Brad and especially me, is getting there. One of my goals this year is to achieve United Premier Gold via the United Challenge. I currently have 7 segments and I need 8 more before I get Premier Gold for the remaining calendar year and in turn I will achieve enough status miles that I will have United Premier Gold next year too. So you may call me crazy but I'm going to have fun doing this itinerary... Tomorrow I'll be visiting 6 airports... wish me luck!

Flight #	Destination	Upgraded?	Miles
UA4267	Toronto (YYZ) to Newark, NJ (EWR)		500
UA1605	Newark, NJ (EWR) to Boston, MA (BOS)	YES	500
UA887	Boston, MA (BOS) to Washington, DC (IAD)		500
UA1288	Washington, DC (IAD) to Denver, CO (DEN)		1,452
UA5623	Denver, CO (DEN) to Las Vegas, NV (LAS)	YES	629
	* I get 500 minimum for being Premier Gold		3,581

Toronto to Newark, NJ (YYZ to EWR)

So far so good, but I haven't left Toronto yet. Taking the TTC at 6:30 was a breeze... 30 minutes to Kipling station, the bus was waiting and I was at YYZ in no time. I made my way to the United Priority counter and my 5 flights, no bags, did cause the system to glitch. But after a manager came along she got it all sorted out.

The line up for non Nexus / Global Entry was massive outside of where they even let you in. Again, I can't stress the importance of getting Global Entry. They have also increased the number of Global Entry machines and are letting people know that Nexus will be no longer available very soon. Bye bye retina scan, hello finger printing. (I did drop my passport and the machine took my picture at the same time, as a result I had a great picture of the line up behind me. I had to show my Nexus card to show my identity.)

After some rubbery poached eggs at the Plaza Lounge, I'm ready to go... let's get this show on the road!

Off To Vegas

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0400

As Steven posted earlier today, it's time for another trip. A quick weekend jaunt to Vegas. Steven and I have been to Vegas many many MANY times, but I expect this time to be extra fun.

The news yesterday that Mike will be joining us has me super excited. First of all, this will be the first time that all four GuysWhoTravel have travelled together! But more importantly, Mike is a Vegas Virgin!! We other three GuysWhoTravel feel privileged and honored to be able to take his Vegas cherry. It's always fun to introduce Vegas to a newbie!

That said, even though we are on the trip together, we technically aren't TRAVELLING together. All four of us are on totally separate itineraries down. Steven already blogged about his mega-segment all-day run on United. Zak and Mike are on Delta and United respectively, with a more-sane 2 segment itinerary down, leaving from YYZ.

My flight down has a bit of geographical backtracking involved (which will help towards getting my Air Canada Altitude Elite 50K this year). I'm flying YTZ-YUL-LAS on AC. For those not up on airport codes, YTZ is Billy Bishop Airport, more commonly known as Toronto Island Airport, and YUL is Montreal. YTZ is a small commuter airport very close to downtown Toronto. This trip will have a lot of firsts for me (and remember that I love airlines and airports which is why I care so much)

First time on Air Canada Express out of YTZ. I've flown Porter many times out of there, so I'm very curious to compare both the ground and in air experience.
First time flying Transborder out of YUL. So it's a new Air Canada lounge that I get to try.
First time flying into the new Terminal 3 in LAS. I've been to Vegas since the new terminal opened, but was flying carriers still in Terminal 1.

My return is the Sunday red-eye, doing the same itinerary in reverse. Mike is actually with me in those legs. The benefit of flying LAS-YUL over LAS-YYZ is that it's a bit longer. The return to Toronto being an hour less leaves me feeling like a zombie. So hopefully that extra hour of red-eye flight will be enough to feel well rested. And of course ending up at YTZ over YYZ means a $10 cab ride home rather than $50. (That said, I can feed $40 into a slot machine so quickly that I'm not sure why the difference worries me. Although somehow gambling money feels to have different value than spending money -- I'm sure fellow gamblers out there can identify with that.)

Also super excited this trip to be trying out a new hotel. We actually have been comped this weekend at three different hotels -- Aria, Planet Hollywood and the Cosmopolitan. I've never stayed at the Cosmo before, so if the rooms and pool are as out of this world as their buffet, I expect we will be in for a treat. Watch the blog, Facebook, Intstagram, Twitter and Flickr for updates!

Qsine on the Celebrity Millennium

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0400

When cruising, we always like to try out the premium restaurants on board. On the Celebrity Millennium, we headed to Qsine. The restaurant is meant to be fun and modern, you order shared dishes via iPad that are creative and presented with flair. Some hits, some misses… at $45, we expected more.

I wouldn't call Brad and I foodies, but we have definitely eaten our fair share of casual to fancy dining. We have eaten some amazing food in our lives either when traveling, call out to Pizzeria Mozza, or home in Toronto, yes, I'm talking to you Origin. Normally we gauge a great meal if it was memorable. Flavour wise, this meal wasn't as memorable as we would have hoped but I'm thinking maybe we went in with too high of expectations.

Our spectacular service was provided by Thabi, of Zulu descent, from South Africa. She was bubbly, friendly and you could tell that she loves her job. She was probably more excited about the food then we were! The service was definitely the highlight of the meal... aside from the pulled pork spring roll, but I'll get to that shortly.

You can order as much food as you want. Tap tap tap away on your iPad and add things to your order. We went through and picked a bunch of stuff that looked good. As a sidebar, they had cute little movies that tied in with the menu items… for example Disco Shrimp was a… wait for it, dancing shrimp. Well for most of the items we couldn't get rid of the bloody dancing shrimp. The novelty wore off fast especially when I wanted to see the lava crab.

Being the small eaters that we are, we did tell her that we wanted to try lots but not be overly full. Thabi suggested we do half orders and that worked out perfectly. A little taste but not full by the third course? Sign me up.

First off, they brought some bread. I'm not falling for that. It is a nice touch, but there is no way I'm going to fill up on bread when I have meat coming. I tried a little, just so I could be judgy, and my verdict was that it would have been better if it was warm and buttery.

Next up was the disco shrimp. I had high expectations but it wasn't dancing sadly, and there was no mirror ball that magically appeared. I think it did come with a flashing light, but my memory is failing me. It was good, I enjoyed it, but it wasn't mind blowing like the video led me to believe.

Sushi lollipops were next on the list. The half order was 4 rolls instead of 8. You can see a small picture up above. Nothing to report here. Sushi. On a stick. Meh.

Now the spring rolls. This is where I had my favourite taste of the night. How can you not love pulled pork as a spring roll? Brilliant idea. It wasn't Brad's favourite but I was taken by it. The other one was vegetarian, but whatever, it is eclipsed by the pulled pork goodness. This was actually a half order, if we had the full order we would have had four spring rolls... two per person! The BBQ sauce it came with WTF Sauce was to die for. And before you go all What The F on me... WTF = White Truffle. (You don't need to go to Qsine to eat the spring roll. A few nights later the dining room had it on the menu...)

The next course was the Lava Crab but unfortunately they chop it up at the table and obviously they weren't notified by our steward that we request pictures of all our food before we bite in. It was crab wrapped in phyllo pastry and it was delicious. You will just have to draw a mental picture.

Next up was the Persian Kabob. Meat. How could it not be good? Well, I guess it could be raw or tough, but this stuff was delicious. Again, this is a half order so that sword would have been doubled up if we had the full one. The meat was good, but the sauce made it a little too rich in my opinion. Since this is vacation and I was on a cheat day, I did eat the saffron rice and it was delicious.

Ugh. Next up is the meatballs three ways. I love a good meatball. If there is a meatball on the menu that is what I'm going to be ordering. Especially if it is big and meaty and not on pasta. What was intended to be my favourite dish when ordering was definitely a let down. Three huge meatballs: veal meatball with mushrooms, beef with cheese centre and marsala sauce, and turkey with a cranberry centre. I found the meatballs to be too crumbly with breading or whatever they used to form the ball. The flavours were disappointing, actually maybe there was too much flavour which overpowered the meat. The only highlight of this dish was the cranberry filling.

Near the end of the savoury list was the taco with the build-at-your-table guacamole. What an awful idea. I was near full. Who the hell wants to use a mortar and pestle to mush up avocado? Aren't I paying good money to have someone mash it for me? Even in Mexico where I'm paying $6 for guacamole they do it for you! It was frustrating and I think I made a mess. The mortar was smooth marble and it should have been lava rock that would stop the smooth avocado from spilling out as you try to squash it. Do I have to go on? The tacos were good, but this could have been better if I didn't have to construct the deconstructed.

The last course before dessert was the Chi-tini. 5 various Chinese dishes served with rice. It was good, but I can't remember exactly what each flavour was, but think sweet and sour pork, lemon chicken etc. This course could have been skipped, I have had all these before in the buffet on the lido deck. (Yes, Celebrity Millennium doesn't have a Lido deck but it sounded good)

Finally we get to dessert. I didn't need it and nothing called out to me, but I ordered anyway. It is vacation after all and I did make it to the gym once during the 14 day cruise, so I earned it.

I got the bignettes which is just fancy for donuts. I was disappointed the apple fritter was just an apple ring deep fried in batter, but that's fine. I'm used to doughy cinnamony apple fritters from Tim Horton's. What was the highlight of this dish wasn't the caramel sauce which I didn't actually like, the chocolate sauce that was too rich, but it was the lemon curd. I could have drank it from the bottle. I do enjoy good tart lemon as a dessert to freshen me up after a big meal. (My favourite dessert thus far is the lemon tart with pine nut crust at Bouchon in Las Vegas, just in case you were wondering)

Brad's dessert was a little more elegant looking. He said it was good, but he wasn't wowed by it. OMG, I think we are officially hard to please.

Ultimately the meal was good, the service was fantastic because of Thadi, but we aren't sure it is worth the $45 per person. If you want some adventure then definitely give it a try, but foodies may find this meal a bit disappointing when you look past the creative presentation. When it boils down to it, the food is standard cruise fare presented in interesting ways with very few surprises in flavour.

Booking a Cruise Through Pied Piper Travel

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0400

If you haven’t guessed yet, TheGuysWhoTravel are also TheGaysWhoTravel. Steven and I are married, while Zak and Mike are currently free agents (applications currently being accepted). Our sexuality doesn’t define all of who we are, and certainly not all of how we travel, but sometimes we will book a vacation that does have more of a gay slant to it.

Pied Piper Travel is a travel agency based in New York that specializes in gay and lesbian cruise bookings. As apposed to companies such as Atlantis which will lease out an entire ship for a cruise, Pied Piper is much smaller. For example, for the cruise that we just took, there were I believe about 65 people booked through Pied Piper on the ship (out of the over 2,000 passengers total).

This is the first time we have booked through Pied Piper, but we would definitely do it again. The benefits are many:

Booking through Pied Piper was actually cheaper than booking through the cruise-line directly. It's our understanding that Pied Piper has signed a multi-year contract with Celebrity Cruises (and other lines), allowing them to pass on a pretty good discount. (And we were even able to use our own travel agent to book through Pied Piper, so even with the discounted price there was still enough commission to go around! Although most people we met booked through Pied Piper directly)

The Pied Piper group is seated together for dinner, so you have a greater probability to be sitting with people who you have something in common with. In our case, we had a FANTASTIC table, and have made some new friends for life.

Pied Piper will organize special events on the ship for the people booked with them. On our cruise, there were 3 separate parties, where Pied Piper picked up the tab for the drinks (although we had an unlimited package so that part wasn’t as big a deal for us). They also arranged for private tours of different areas of the ship.

There are Pied Piper hosts on board to organize the parties, and assist if there are any issues while you are on the ship. In our case, Ian and Carl were fantastic. Super friendly guys.

The age-group of the Pied Piper travelers skewed a fair bit older than Steven and me, but I sense that had more to do with the nature of this particular cruise (14 nights in Asia) rather than Pied Piper itself.

I think it’s important to note that not a requirement to be LGBT to book through Pied Piper. Certainly it would help to be LGBT-friendly, but everyone is welcome. (And I’m sure there are people who are happy to book just for the discount -- there’s no obligation to sit with the group or attend any of the special events).

We will most definitely book through Pied Piper again for itineraries that interest us. Every fall they have a river cruise in China that looks amazing, so hopefully sometime in the next few years will we be able to fit that into our schedule.

Cathay Business Class Meals on the way home from Hong Kong

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0400

Flying home Business was basically the same as the flight to Hong Kong. The only differences are the movies, the food and the fact I need to be wearing a jacket when I get off the plane. Sadly, Toronto is getting snow tonight even though I was hoping I would be coming home to Spring.

Leaving at 4:45pm Monday afternoon in Hong Kong is crappy when you will be arriving at 7:45pm Monday evening in Toronto. With that being said, I'll just talk about the food on this CX826 flight from HKG to YYZ and not that I'm watching Looper with blurred out boobies in Business Class.

It wouldn't be Business Class if you couldn't down a drink before taking off. My drink of choice was a Cloud Nine. One of Cathay's signature drink: Vodka, Cointreau, sprite and a dash of lemon. Delicious... especially the sugar rim.

Brad and I aren't fans of smoked salmon but I am like a goldfish... I'll pretty much eat whatever is put in front of me. This flight was smoked salmon with créme fraiche, salmon roe and asparagus. I think it is a risky choice for an airline because in my opinion, smoked salmon isn't loved by everyone, salmon roe is liked by even fewer and asparagus makes your pee smell and plane bathrooms aren't the freshest as it stands normally. I have to confess, I haven't stuck to my Paleo lifestyle the past two days, and I continue the trend. So yes, that is garlic bread.

Along with the salmon there was a salad that I enjoyed twice (since Brad wasn't a fan) that had artichoke hearts, roasted peppers and olives.

The main was much more in line with what I should be eating. Against most travellers recommendations I did select the beef and it was quite good. Grilled Australian prime beef tenderloin with veggies and mashed parsnip. Perfect!

I tried some of Brad's chicken makhanwala (fancy word for something Indian) with rice and vegetables and it was quite good. On the spicy side with lots of flavour!

The next course, was of course, the cheese and fruit course. The cheeses offered were Fourme d'Ambert (a blue cheese), cheddar, and reblochon with apple and rosemary paste. The fruit consisted of strawberries, huge seeded grapes, melon and papaya. Not a fan of the papaya... You learn something every day.

The last course was dessert. Brad opted for some Haagen Daas. I opted for the Yuzu and milk chocolate mousse cake with blueberry cake. It was good, light and a good way to end the meal. But the highlight of the dessert was the spork. Who doesn't like a spork?

Breakfast which was really at 6pm Toronto time, started with a smoothie and fruit. I have decided that papaya is actually not bad, but dragon fruit is definitely hit an miss. I opted to deny the bread requests, but I will be having the dim sum breakfast.

Here is my last harrah and the last complex carbs for a while: Pork siu mai with scallop, shrimp dumpling, pork and chive dumpling, and mini glutinous rice wrapped in lotus leaf. I love sticky rice and this was no exception. A good way to arrive home... especially since I'm going to be starting the Master Cleanse tomorrow... (if I can handle it).

Overall, I really enjoyed the food on this flight. As per normal, the service was fantastic too. We have yet to be disappointed. Always an adventure, and always makes the flight that much more enjoyable when the food is good!

Two Weeks Cruising the South China Sea on the Celebrity Millennium

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0400

A sign of good vacation is a sense of sadness as it comes to a close. My mood right now makes it pretty clear that this was a FANTASTIC vacation. We just got off the ship, after being on for 14 nights, and it was a sad event to step off for the last time. I was originally hesitant about doing a 2 week cruise (the longest we have ever done), but I am now jealous of those who we have met who have booked to stay on the cruise even longer.

I totally agree with Brad. If it wasn’t for the bloody internet pricing and speed as you will see below, I could stay longer too! The ship itself wasn't perfect, but the itinerary, the people (some to most of them) made it a great vacation.

This has been the 8th cruise that Steven and I have gone on together. Our first on Celebrity, and our first in Asia. Starting in Singapore, we hit ports that took us to Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Hoi An, Hanoi, and finally Hong Kong. Steven will be writing a post to sum up the ports (although you can read more about our One Night In Bangkok here). Right now I want to talk a bit about the cruise itself.

Before going on any vacation, I try to do lots of research. The best place to read up on cruises and cruise ships is on cruisecritic.com. What I read there scared me quite a bit about this ship. There were so many negative reviews about the Celebrity Millennium, and very few positive. While I certainly found there were a few problems on the ship, in my opinion the positives more that outweigh the negatives.

SHIP CONDITION

We knew the Millennium wasn’t the biggest or newest ship in Celebrity’s fleet, but it had gone through a big renovation a few years ago to update the common areas and amenities. Many of the reviews on cruisecritic.com talked about how run down the ship felt. After having been on this ship for almost 2 weeks, I can report that these people have no idea what they are talking about. Or (more likely) they are the types of people who can only find the negative in anything. I will give them that there are a few tiny areas that could be fixed up (some of the elevator buttons and cabin door numbers are worn out), but other than that we found the ship extremely clean and well maintained.

One thing about the ship that I just loved was the glass elevators. Normally the elevators on cruise ships are slow and never come when you need them. These elevators are smooth, reliable and I think they are programmed well. Yes, is random, but it is the small things that impress me.

MAIN DINING ROOM

We tend to be food snobs, but we have realistic expectations when it comes to cruise ship food. We understand that when you are cooking for 2,000+, you aren’t going to have the same caliber of food as an evening at Per Se. So our rating of the food in the main dining room is a solid B. For the most part, nothing spectacular, but definitely edible and tasty. A few misses (they can’t seem to do a tuna steak rare), but we never left the dining room hungry.

The big problem we had with the dining room was with the service. The wait staff were all friendly and attempted to be as helpful as they could - but I think they were just understaffed, especially when it came to drink service. For the first half of the cruise, we often wouldn’t get asked if we wanted drinks until the main course was being served! And forget about being asked for coffee over dessert! I did feel a bit sorry for the woman doing drink service, since it was obvious that she had too many tables to cover. Things seemed to improve over the second week, so it appears that they recognized the problem (or had enough complaints) and properly staffed our section. But more importantly, we didn’t let the poor service ruin our dinner. We enjoyed the people we were sitting with, so the longer dinner just meant more time to spend with them!

Thankfully, our seat mates were awesome. We actually had the ugly lights come on a few times which was our cue to go. Lucky for us, our table was the best looking of the bunch so we didn’t mind. I’m sure the staff did though, they had to clean around us on quite a few occasions.

SPECIALTY RESTAURANTS

There are two specialty restaurants on board, of which we only tried one: QSine. Steven will be posting a separate review of that. The other restaurant is Olympic. We did not try it, but we spoke to those who did who gave it good reviews.

BUFFET

On the scale of cruise ships, I would rank the buffet on the Celebrity Millennium above what we have experienced on Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas, but below every Carnival ship we have been on. (I know everyone gives Carnival a bad rap, but recent troubles aside, we think they are a great line and we love to cruise with them. We find their food great). For breakfast the buffet on the Millennium had a number of omelet stations set up, so there was rarely any waiting. For lunch and dinner these transformed into stir fry sections -- they big issue there is that stir fries take a while to make, so there was often a bit of a wait. The rest of the food on the buffet was fine - although not as much of a selection as we were used to on Carnival.

I did find the buffet to be reliable, always a salad and some meat dishes that satisfied my meat needs. I have to say that I’m proud to announce that I did not have one buffet dessert or piece of bread from the bread girl. Oh, and for shits and giggles I did take a peanut butter egg, but didn't make it past the nasty peanut butter sauce.

DRINKS

About a week before we left on the cruise, we were surprised and excited to get word that because of a promotion, we had been upgraded to an unlimited drink package. That entitled us to free “non-premium” alcoholic drinks, pop, bottled water, and coffee drinks from the coffee shop. While we aren’t huge alcohol drinkers, this turned out to be a HUGE added value. While having dinner, the sommelier would keep filling up our wine glass, since there was no issue with having to keep track of how many glasses we were having. Almost every day we would relax at the coffee shop area and enjoy a latte. Before getting off the ship for an excursion we could get a big bottle of water for free. I did have to slum it with Stoli vodka rather than my normal (premium) Ketel One, but I managed to survive. (Although for an extra $10 a day we could have upgraded to the premium alcohol package that DID include Ketel One).

Having unlimited drinks was the shit. And the martini bar was always fun. They have a frosted bar top and the bartenders tend to be showmen, pouring up to 12 martinis at a time. Lot's of fun!

However, my BIG BEEF with the drinks on the cruise is something that drives me nuts almost EVERYWHERE when it’s overlooked. I am something of a Diet Coke connoisseur, and am very picky about it. What a lot of people don’t realize is that Diet Coke (and most diet pop) has a best-before date printed on the bottom, because the artificial sweetener looses its sweetness over time. All of the canned Diet Coke on the ship was past this date, and did not taste correct. I mentioned this to the wait staff to pass on to the bar manager, and they were very apologetic about it. I was polite about it -- it’s not the wait staff’s fault -- and they can’t snap their fingers and have fresh cases of Diet Coke airlifted to the ship. But I plan to write a written comment to the bar manager to make sure that this gets reviewed for future cruises, so my fellow Diet Coke addicts don’t have to endure this horror.

CABIN

We were in a category C2 cabin - a standard sized cabin with balcony. The cabin was comparable in size to other cruise ships we have been on, but the shower was much larger, which was nice. The balcony was fairly small with two chairs and a small table, but on this itinerary we didn’t end up using it much anyway.

Our travel agent recommended that we get a cabin in the “Concierge Class”, since it wasn’t much more money, and it comes with additional perks. Since we have never sailed with Celebrity before, we don’t have a basis of comparison, but apparently the Concierge Class gave us fluffier towels, bath robes, better bath products and a nicer shower head. Booking the Concierge Class also gave us priority boarding, champagne in the room on the first day, fresh flowers in the bathroom, and a small plate of hors d’oeuvres delivered to the cabin each afternoon. Overall we were very happy with the cabin.

One other thing about Concierge class is that it gives you an extra point for status on the cruise line. So we get one for cruising, 1 for concierge and 1 for a cruise over 12 days. So we rocked three points... we will soon have some status after our next Celebrity cruise. Oh and no pictures. We are slobs and the only pictures we took were of a messy room. So use your imagination.

CONNECTIVITY

As is pretty well known, Steven and I go into internet withdrawal if we do not have access to the net at almost all times. Being in the middle of the South China Sea is no exception. While it falls under the classification of “first world problems”, it is frustrating that technology still hasn’t reached the point where everyone on a cruise ship can have access to fast and affordable internet while on board. Actually, we would even be willing to forgo some of the “affordable” part in order to make it faster, or at least reliable.

The general rate for the internet is 75 cents per minute, but it becomes cheaper if you buy a package with multiple minutes. We ended up getting the largest package - $400 for 1666 minutes, which brought the net price down to 24 cents per minute. Yes, it seems like a lot of money and a lot of minutes, but Steven has been busy doing work for his clients during sea days, so those minutes were a necessity and got used.

The issue we had was with reliability. We can understand that access is going to be slow at times, with potentially hundreds of passengers and crew attempting to access the same satellite connection. But there were many times during the cruise when the entire system was down, and it was impossible to log-in . Even more frustrating were the times that we had access, but it was impossible to access their system to log OUT, which meant that the minutes kept ticking away. There was one day that I had to run down to the internet lounge where the staff there had to do something to force the log out. (Although to be fair, we know of others who complained and had bonus minutes added to their account, so the ship is taking some responsibility for it).

Ugh. But I survived.

OVERALL

Despite some of the negatives pointed out above, this has been one of the best vacations I have taken. The people we have met, the places we have seen, and the experiences we have had are unforgettable. I don’t recall having 2 weeks straight of so much fun. I really wish were staying on the ship for 2 more weeks and doing the return journey south!

I too immensely enjoyed the cruise. A big part due to the people we were with. We do have one complaint though... people are allowed to smoke way too close to the ping pong tables... it definitely messed up my game.

Pho in Ho Chi Minh City - The best you can get!

Sat, 09 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0500

I'm not a Pho connoisseur. I really don't understand when people say this place or that is the best pho. I guess it depends on the broth and the meat but the subtle differences between locations is lost on me.

Regardless, we did end up at the reportedly "best" pho location in Saigon, Pho Hoa Pasteur. It has been around for years and is very well known in the city. The cruise ship tour guide told us that if we wanted the best pho, go here... Not to Pho 2000, the restaurant that Bill Clinton made famous by visiting by sucking back some noodles.

We didn't have the best timing, apparently some tours visit Pho Hoa also and one was just unloading at the same time. The Vietnamese staff shuffled the white people upstairs and they wanted us to follow. We had to explain we weren't with the tour so we were able to sit with the locals...

We sat down and we had no clue what was going on. All the tables had food: bean sprouts, a plate of fresh herbs, Chinese bread, bananas, pork paste wrapped in leave and a few other goodies. The herbs and bean sprouts were obvious, but we didn't touch the other goodies. I'm sure if we had grabbed some bread or a pork paste thingy we would have had it added to our bill. I wasn't feeling adventurous.

I ordered the raw beef and beef ball. It was delicious, I actually could have eaten another bowl.

Brad had well done beef and crunchy flank. The flank was very fatty and for him not appetizing at all. He did enjoy the noodles and broth.

So I can't claim it is the best, it could be, all I know is I really enjoyed it and the experience. Definitely worth checking out if you are looking for pho in Ho Chi Minh city.

Super Pussy - Our Night At A Ping Pong Ball Show In Bangkok

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0500

On this trip, we quite literally only had one night in Bangkok. And there was one thing that we HAD to do while we were here. We had heard the rumours... We had the teaser from that infamous scene in Pricilla Queen of the Desert... But we had to see it for our own eyes. Yes, we wanted to see a ping-pong ball show.

For those of you reading this from a convent, a ping-pong ball show is where the female "entertainers" on stage project ping-pong balls out of their "lady parts". (And these were real ladies... The "not-so-real" ladies is an entirely different genre of show in Bangkok - but we would have needed two nights in Bangkok to fit that it!)

There are probably dozens and dozens of these "shows" in Bangkok, most of them concentrated in the Patpong region. Before arriving I watched a show on Bangkok scams, and I knew that we had to be on our toes in these places to make sure we didn't end up getting fleeced. Someone had told us about one bar called "Super Pussy". We checked it out on Google Street View, and it had a big neon sign on the outside that said "Super Pussy" - so with nothing else to go on, we figured that having a neon sign at least gave some air of respectability and non-scamminess to the place.

So Steven and myself, along with our new BFF's from the cruise Carrie and Lori, headed out to find Super Pussy.

As soon as we were fairly close, a "local" came up to us and said "looking for Super Pussy? Follow me". We were of course skeptical, but since he we walking in the right direction we followed. He then tried to get us to enter a bar that did NOT have the aforementioned big neon sign. Obviously he would be getting a good commission for bringing tourists to THIS particular bar. We said "no thanks" and walked off, trying to lose him, but it was impossible. Whenever we zigged, he would double zag, and be two steps ahead of us again. This time at least he led us to the REAL Super Pussy (where I'm pretty sure he still got some sort of commission - even though we were going there anyway!)

We stood outside for a while, deciding if we should really go in. The bar itself was up a set of stairs, and one of the things I had read to avoid scams was to stick to the places on street level. But that neon sign kept giving me some level of reassurance!

We started to poll the "patrons" as they exited. "Were you scammed?". We were told that it was the real deal, but to discuss the price of EVERYTHING upfront, since otherwise they will charge you whatever they want. And don't let the women swarm you and try to get you to buy them drinks, since that will probably bankrupt you.

So up the stairs we went. We entered a medium sized room, with a stage in the centre, stools around the bar surrounding the stage, and banquette seating in back and along the sides. There were maybe about 20 other patrons in the place. A woman on stage was blowing a whistle - not from her mouth - while other women danced topless looking quite bored.

We were quickly seated at bar stools near the front and asked "how much???". We were told 500 Baht (about $16) each for 1 drink and to watch the show. We asked "how long? 1 hour?". Her reply wasn't that clear - although she nodded and showed us a printed sheet showing all of the "tricks" we would be able to see. We tried to bargain her down to 300 Baht each (we were told ALWAYS bargain in Bangkok), but she wouldn't budge. So we paid the 2,000 Baht for the 4 of us to the "hostess". But she remained in front of us with her hand out. It took a while, but we then realized that she wanted a tip. Of course, how silly of us. We each forked over an additional 100 Baht, and then she got out of the way so we could "enjoy" the show.

What followed was essentially a vaginal circus act. Of course, there was the ping-pong ball trick. Our friend Carrie even got to hold the paddle to hit back the balls as they were shot towards her (and for the record - she had a pretty good return rate - I think she may have practiced at home before the trip). But there was more. One woman (who may have been old enough to be someone's grandmother) squatted over bottles of spritzer water, popping off the caps and spraying the crowd with the water (at least I hope it was the water). Another woman inserted a straw, and then blew out candles on a birthday cake (I'm not sure if that trick was to fire code). Grandma came back on stage, inserted a black marker, and wrote out "Welcome to Thailand" on a sheet of paper. And although there was no smoking allowed in the club, a performer showed off her cigarette smoking skills (two at once no less!)

In one of the more daredevil parts of the evening, Lori got to hold a ballon while a woman blew out a dart to pop it. (That would be fun in the hospital trying to explain how you got a dart in your eye). I got to participate by pulling a 5 meter string of decorative lights and silk flowers out of... well, by this point I don't have to tell you where I was pulling it out of. (While no photos were allowed in the club, Steven managed to sneak one in - it's not the clearest, but I think you can figure out what is going on).

Between every act, the women would come around with the tip box, asking for a 100 Baht tip. Asking is probably not a strong enough word -- they were DEMANDING a 100 Baht tip. Now remember that 100 Baht is only about $3, so it really wasn't that much money each time, but it started to get annoying. Especially since the feeling was that if you stopped tipping, you would probably get asked to leave. In retrospect, that's understandable - and we should have realized that the 500 Baht we were quoted up front wasn't going to be "all in". And in terms of the actual dollar amount it was trivial. But it still felt like we were being hustled somehow.

After seeing the full range of tricks (they were back to the whistle blowing) we decided it was time to go. We had a fantastic time, and definitely something to tick of the bucket list.

Of course, politically I was a bit torn. Did we participate in the exploitation of these women, or are they taking control and using their skills to make as much money as they can (and thus it's us in the audience being exploited). I don't know the answer, although it's probably somewhere in between, with each performer falling somewhere on the spectrum. But food for thought: the average wage for a worker in Thailand is about $300 per MONTH, while each performer we saw probably takes in that much in tips in one NIGHT. Yes, they probably have to give a percentage of that to the house, and yes, they may have to pay for their own ping-pong balls and KY Jelly, but it's still a pretty lucrative gig.

What I didn't like about Marina Bay Sands

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0500

Just look at it. It is hideous. The towers and the pool and the crazy looking lotus flower out front. Who in their right mind would think this hotel is beautiful?

Well actually, everyone does. I haven't heard a negative thing about the Marina Bay Sands. Everyone uses terms like: spectacular, amazing, stunning. I really don't want the Marina Bay Sands to get a pumped up ego, so I'm going to focus on the negatives after our two night stay. Like a pretty little girl, you just don't want her beauty to all go to her head...

Here are the reasons why I didn't like the Marina Bay Sands

They really shouldn't have put the pool on the roof. It attracts way too many people to take the exact same picture.

Having no edge to the pool may make people who are afraid of heights a little squeamish, after all it is the 57th floor.

The gym is well equipped with an amazing view. When on vacation, no one should be tempted to work out.

The toilet paper was rough.

The location of the towers across from Singapore CBD (Central Business District) just provides too good of a view, if you are trying to work you tend to get sidetracked quite a bit.

The breakfast that came included with the Club Suite was on the 57th floor had way too many carbs.

The 900sq ft room gave us too much space to mess up.

The surprise window behind an automatic shade in the bathroom that faced the Gardens made me want to waste my time having baths.

The amenities included bath accoutrement like a loofa, bath salts, and bubbling bath foam. No one should be forced to have a relaxing bath after a 23 hours of travel time.

The shower door should have opened into the shower and not out. How am I supposed to get my towel if it is hanging on the outside of the door?

The attached Marina Bay shopping centre was just too fancy with all its fancy stores and probably one of the most beautiful Louis Vuitton stores in existence.

It was quite difficult to choose where to eat with all the amazing restaurants like Pizzeria Mozza and db Bistro. For one meal we did settle on some dim sum at Din Tai Fung... some of the best dumplings we have had in a while.

The Marina Bay Art Science Museum in the lotus building was just too cool, forcing us to take so many pictures and reinforcing the fact that I love Lego.

The casino was huge, but the ceiling reminded me too much of female genitalia and I didn't walk out a winner.

The concierge was just to friendly and helpful. She led us in all the right directions and provided us with some great sight seeing tips.

The toilet paper was rough.

So as you can tell, our stay there was just miserable. Hopefully Marina Bay Sands takes note of all these negatives and tries a little harder, maybe they can start with the toilet paper. I look forward to returning to Singapore and maybe if we're lucky, we'll get to stay there again... But don't let Marina Bay know that, her ego is already big enough.

See all of our pictures from Marina Bay Sands!

The Art of the Upgrade

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0500

As I leap from province to province this week I've spent a lot of time thinking about the Air Canada upgrades that either unlock access to the front end of the plane or keep you confined to the "business class adjacent" seats in economy. This week is actually my first week of Altitude Elite status and it's been great to have that extra level of service and perks added to my 6-flights-in-8-days adventure.

An added element is that I am traveling with a colleague who has never really tracked her miles and who, subsequently, hasn't gotten to Prestige status let alone Elite or higher. Such a shame because in our travel-heavy industry, it has become glaringly obvious why it's key to collect points by witnessing someone being shut out of the rewards.

Every check-in this week has presented the option to purchase upgrades, use eUpgrade credits to upgrade or play it plain and hang with the people in the back of the plane. I mean, I'd love to pretend that all of my business travel gets booked business class, but that is just not the case. I am a happy traveler if my tickets are bought at Flex fare so that I can earn the status miles for next year's status. This beggar is no chooser - I just care about logging the right miles.

Using eUpgrade credits is a no-brainer for me; if I can play the lottery and get a no-cost upgrade on a flight, I'll opt for that everytime, so long as the flight is long enough to have a meal and enjoy a movie. Typically, 2 hours minimum is my guideline for using the scant 20 eUpgrades offered with my Altitude status.

Paying for upgrades means a different formula. While I love tossing money at a more comfortable seat and open bar, I do actually have a limit on what I'll spend. Domestic flight upgrades are only worth buying if the cost is in the neighbourhood of 50$ per hour of flying time. International flights are worth about the same but I always play it by ear.

This week I flew economy from Toronto to Vancouver, as well as

Vancouver to Calgary. In both instances the eUpgrades weren't available and although I could have purchased an upgrade from Vancouver, the 800$ price tag was not worth it. Flying from Calgary to Winnipeg both myself and my colleague bought a 100$ business class upgrade for the 1hr 45min flight. Leaving Winnipeg I successfully used my eUpgrade to move up to seat 1A for the 2hr 3min flight. Not bad, but my pouting colleague wouldn't agree, although from all the way back in row 14, I can't quite hear her.

I only tease her so much because I've realized how ridiculous it is for her not to be collecting points and status this week while saddled with her non-traveler-ness at all of these airports. Since I booked us together (to maximize points according to Brad's Amex advice) she has gotten the benefit of enjoying my Maple Leaf Lounge access, which has provided us with a great business centre base all week, in addition to the obvious perks of pre-flight cocktails and snacks. As a NEXUS carrier I have been sailing through security lines, while she has had to wait in line at most airports. Though she has benefitted from priority check in and priority boarding on all of our flights. Time and again we've had that moment of "oh...you're so fancy with your travel status" and every time I think - to myself and out loud - we travel a similar amount but you just aren't taking advantage of the free perks that airlines are throwing at you.

I'm a believer. Bring on the travel perks. They've provided all the free gin that's fuelled this entry.

The Art of the Brick - Lego Art by Nathan Sawaya

Sun, 03 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0500

For the two days prior to our cruise, Steven and I stayed at the Marina Bay Sands hotel in Singapore. It's a huge complex, with shops, a casino, and of course the infinity pool on the 57th floor. We'll be writing more about this hotel in a future post, but I wanted to quickly talk about the exhibit we saw today at the ArtScience Museum, which is part of the same complex.

Seeing the ArtScience museum is an attraction in itself. Designed by Moshe Safdie, it is shaped like a big lotus flower. (For those keeping track, this is the second Mose Safdie designed museum we have been at in the last few months -- we were at Yad Vishem in Jerusalem in October).

The museum is currently showing two temporary exhibitions. We just went to one, entitled "The Art of the Brick", which is a collection of works by NYC-based artist Nathan Sawaya, all constructed using Lego bricks. We weren't expecting much from the exhibit, but we ended up being blown away. Some of the pieces were quite complex, and were presented in a very dramatic way with a lot of thought given to the lighting and accompanying music in each gallery.

But I'm anything but an art critic (even a Lego art critic), so I'll get let the photos speak for themselves.

(If you are on an iOS device or otherwise can't see the Flash slideshow embedded below, please click here)

Trip Report - Toronto to Singapore on Cathay Pacific

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0500

Let the trip begin! Steven and I are heading to Singapore to take a 2-week cruise on the Celebrity Millennium. This is a quick report on our journey there.

We got our flights for this trip by redeeming American Airlines miles. For 220,000 miles, we got two business class tickets on Cathay Pacific. Outbound we fly from Toronto to Hong Kong, and then after a brief layover from Hong Kong to Singapore. Since the cruise ends in Hong Kong, for the return we just needed one flight from Hong Kong to Toronto to get home. (In retrospect, I regret not taking my own advice to try to tack on another free leg to this award ticket. See this article I wrote a while back describing how I managed to do that for an award I helped Zak book).

Boarding the plane in Toronto was a total shit-show. A billion people (give or take) crowded around the gate, with no separate line for business class or elite passengers. A guy in front of me was chewing out a gate agent for the fact that he paid a lot for his business class ticket and everywhere else in the world he wouldn't have to queue with the masses. He said "you are obviously contracted out, since Cathay employees would never treat business class passengers like this". I felt sorry for the agent -- she didn't design the gate area -- but she handled it quite calmly and professionally, although she did make clear that she WAS a Cathay employee and was quite proud to work for the company. And I must add that even with the seeming lack of organization, they managed to board the plane FAST, so they obviously knew what they were doing.

The flight from Toronto to Hong Kong was on a 777, configured in Cathay's "new" long-haul business class product. It's not really that new anymore, but is certainly a better product than when we flew them a few years ago. Another nice thing is that Cathay now flies direct from Toronto to Hong Kong. When we flew a few years ago, we had to stop and refuel in Anchorage.

The cabin is configured with 4 seats across. Steven and I chose the two middle seats to make it easier to talk to each other during the flight. The middle seats are set up such that if you are laying back in your chair, you can have relative privacy. But when leaned forward, you could converse with the person beside you. It was actually a bit surprising though that there was no way to raise a divider between the two seats for 100% privacy. (This is in contrast to when we flew on American First Class from NYC to London a couple of years ago with a similar configuration, where there was an optional partition that came up to separate the seats).

Before take-off both a flight attendant and the head purser approached each person in the Business class cabin to introduce themselves, and said to let them know if there was anything they could do to make the flight more enjoyable. I know it's part of the "production", but it is a nice personal touch.

While still on the ground we enjoyed a nice hot towel (airlines love their hot towels), and some pre-takeoff champagne. A toast to start off the trip!

There was a bit of a delay taking off because of the weather in Toronto. It was a snowy slushy night, so we had to go get deiced, and wait for the runway to be cleared. But eventually we were off.

The scheduled departure time for the flight is 1:25am, and it takes almost 16 hours to fly from Toronto to Hong Kong, so scheduling meal service is sort of tricky. Cathay serves a full dinner soon after take-off, and breakfast before landing, with snack service available on request at any time.

For dinner I started off with a cocktail (why not!) - a Cathay "signature drink" called the Pacific Sunrise. As they describe it in the menu "A refreshing combination of champagne and Drambuie with the zest of orange and lemon". It did not disappoint. But I decided to refrain from alcohol after that point since I wanted to stay awake as long as I could in order to try to adjust to the timezone in Singapore (which is 13-hour ahead of Toronto).

The first course consisted of a small salad topped with smoked salmon. I'm not really much of a smoked salmon fan, so I can't say it was really enjoyable. But I'm sure if I didn't have such an aversion to smoked salmon it would have gotten a better grade.

For the main course, there was a choice between beef and chicken. I know that the cardinal rule of airplane food is "do not get the beef", but alas I broke it. And regretted it. As with most beef on an airplane, it was well well well done. As in "not not not rare" vs. "done quite well". Although the mushroom sauce that accompanied it made it edible. Steven had the chicken and said that he enjoyed it. Dessert was a choice between a cheese plate, fresh fruit, and german chocolate cheese cake. I was good and went for the fresh fruit. Service then ended with a selection of pralines, which again I was good and did not have, but Steven enjoyed.

Then it was time to keep myself occupied and awake for at least a few hours. The plane had a very good entertainment system a large selection of movies and TV shows, and a much bigger/crisper screen than I'm used to on Air Canada. I spent the next 2+ hours watching Lincoln. (Probably not the best movie to try to stay awake to, since it is slow. Plus I know how it ends (bang!).) After Lincoln I watched a couple of episodes of Girls on my iPad, then couldn't keep awake any longer, so decided to try to get some sleep.

The seats on this plane recline to a fully-flat position. I found though that when it was totally flat it was a bit uncomfortable, so I kept the top of the seat tilted upwards slightly. Within no time I was out like a light and asleep for probably 4 or 5 hours. I watched a few more episodes of Girls, and then drifted back off to sleep.

When I got up again, it was time for breakfast. I'm relieved to say that I was MUCH happier with my breakfast choices than with that I went with for dinner. Breakfast started with some strawberry yogurt, and a "Strawberry, kiwi and banana energizer" drink. For the main there was a choice of a ham and cheese frittata, dim sum with sticky rice, or seafood congee. Although I have been on the Paleo for the last few months, I knew there would be times this trip when I would break it, and decided that this would be one of them. So dim sum and sticky rice it was! Now presumably this is a dish that is relatively easy to reheat in an airplane environment, since it was really really REALLY good. (Or perhaps I found it so good since it was the first time in over two months that I've eaten rice!). Steven had the frittata, and said that was good too.

Soon after breakfast service, we started to prepare for landing. Even though it was almost a 16 hour flight, it really seemed to fly by. Of course, not being cramped in economy probably helped.

We had a 3+ hour layover in Hong Kong before our next flight to Singapore. Steven is writing an entry about the lounge hopping we did there, which should be posted soon.

The flight from Hong Kong to Singapore was of course a much shorter flight - scheduled as 3 hours and 50 minutes. While also on a 777, it was configured in what Cathay calls their "new regional business class". After just getting off the long-haul configuration, I had pretty low expectations on the comfort of the seat, but I was pleasantly surprised. While the seat doesn't go flat, it does recline a fair bit, and the padding makes it super comfortable. It doesn't provide the same level of privacy as the long-haul configuration (there are 7 seats across, in a 2-3-2 configuration), but for such a relatively short flight that doesn't matter. Steven's favourite part of this plane was the dedicated iPhone holder!

Of course, we were fed again -- another breakfast! I had another yogurt, and an omelette with ricotta cheese. One more episode of Girls and a quick nap later, we were in Singapore!

Overall I enjoy flying on Cathay. While the food was a bit hit and miss (especially at dinner), the hard product (comfort of the seat) makes up for it. Plus the consistent professionalism and friendliness of the crew is hard to find on North American airlines. (I'm not saying that there aren't lots of professional and friendly crew working for North American airlines -- it just doesn't seem to be as consistent!)

Airport Lounging and Showering

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0500

I have a thing about showering in lounges. Even if I don't need a shower it is always fun, just because I can. Why not give the little bathroom lady something to do? If no one used the shower and took a poop in the private bathroom then she would be out of a job. I'm helping unemployment. I'm going to shower for the betterment of others.

After 14 hours on this past flight from Toronto to Hong Kong, you may have thought I needed a shower. Well I didn't. I packed some jogging pants which I changed into as soon as we lifted off and I stripped down to a red tank... So I wasn't ripe upon landing. Plus they have this delicious face spray that refreshes you in Business class on Cathay... So I didn't have that not-so-fresh feeling upon landing. But the shower was there and the little Asian lady almost pushed us down the blue lit hallway to our own individual bathrooms at The Wing lounge.

There is an air of adventure stripping down naked in the middle of an airport in a foreign city. Yes, no one can see you... But it is somewhat liberating.

This shower room today was extraordinarily nice. Good lighting, nice taps and very clean. After a long flight, two 3 course meals and too much coffee, it was nice not to have to maneuver a plane toilet. Although, this toilet had the biggest opening my butt has ever experienced. If I had an eating disorder I would have definitely fallen in. The button to flush was fun... A touch surface.

I pretty much detest any rain shower and although pretty they just aren't practical. I want pressure so I can feel the dirt being beat off of me, not just a little dribble as if I just got hit by a sneeze. Also I don't understand why they put the taps on the other side of the big mother of a rain shower. So no matter how hard you try to reach around where the water will drop, you are going to get hit by that 3 seconds of cold water. But whatever, I'm not one to complain. I was daisy fresh after my lounge shower and ready to explore.

We went to three lounges at HKG. The Wing has to be the nicest and it was also the less busy of the other two. Open ceiling to the airport and cool little pods where you can work. The food, being so early, was breakfast themed. I managed to find some scrambled eggs and ham. If we had being later we could have had custom noodles and a wide variety of dim sum.

These Asian lounges put our North American lounges to shame. Noodle Bars, Health Bars with on demand juices and smoothies, random croissant trays conveniently placed for those looking for carbs. They know how to treat their privileged. Unfortunately when we left Toronto, the lounge we had to use was the KLM lounge... Crusty tuna sandwiches and an overpowering smell of deodorizer coming from the bathroom. But that is long forgotten... Three lounges are better than one, especially when you can shower.

Coast-to-Coast in 8 Short Days

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0500

Reading Brad and Steven's posts about their Asian cruise and its pre- and post-sailing holidays has left me with a healthy dose of Guys Who Travel envy. Although there isn't much time to wallow in this feeling since I'm off on a travel adventure of my own this week; a quick & dirty multi-city business trip taking me from Toronto to the west coast then all the way to Atlantic Canada. It's a non-stop, 5-city, 8-day work trip where I'll touchdown long enough to do some work, book a great dinner, then head back to the airport for another flight.

These flights do not include signature pre-flight champagne cocktails or lay-down pods that are conveniently arranged for socializing. While my row 14 seat is *technically* in economy, I think of it more as "executive class adjacent." After all, if you request a hot meal and eat it near the front of the plane, it's almost like being there. Well...except less drunk.

I'm still a happy GWT, however, because every one of my segments is an Air Canada Flex or Latitude ticket that will earn me the miles we all love and that eventually book those luxe rewards tickets.

Between the flights and work schedule I have a handful of things I'm determined to do, to make the most enjoyable trip out of this week's travels. After all, business is business but what's the fun in traveling if its all work and no play.

My 5 must-do's while crossing Canada this week:

Vancouver: Running the Stanley Park seawall. Anyone who knows me knows I love running and it is my favourite way to explore new cities when I'm traveling. Vancouver's seaside running route is unmatched in Canada for great views plus it's a great 8K loop right on the edge of the downtown core where I'm staying.

Calgary: Dinner at Charcut, run by chef/co-owner Connie DeSousa from Top Chef Canada season 1. I am officially the last member of our crew to make it out to this carnivorous wunderhaus that is one of the countries hottest restaurants. Looking forward to some deliciously meaty treats from my girl the ballerina butcher!

Winnipeg: I'm going to try running here to explore Winnipeg...because I've had no luck liking this city over the years. Like, at all. Suggestions gratefully accepted - help me love Winnipeg!

Montréal: Shopping at Simons on rue St Catherine. A classic department store reminiscent of the greats from the past, Simons is my favourite place to pick up basics that never wear out nor break the bank. Also, my favourite place to buy socks and underwear in Canada. Just saying.

Halifax: Beers at The Lower Deck. There is always a great crowd and hopefully local heroes Signal Hill will be playing a residency nite at the pub while we're there.

And then a much-anticipated return to Toronto and my own bed.

Life is good.

Trip stats:

Flight segments: 6 (all status)

Accumulated qualifying miles: approx 5,700 miles (or 9,200 km)

I May Be Ditching Aeroplan, But I'm Sticking With Air Canada

Sun, 24 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0500

In a post a few days ago, I discussed how discouraged I’ve become with Aeroplan, and how I’m moving my account balance over to US Airways (and hopefully eventually to the American AAdvantage program).

So you may be surprised to hear that I still plan to credit all of my Star Alliance flights this year to Aeroplan. Why? Because I want to make sure to get Elite status with Air Canada in 2014.

Air Canada has recently changed their elite program. Now called “Air Canada Altitude”, there are 5 different status levels, attained by flying 25K, 35K, 50K, 75K, or 100K miles. I expect to fly between 50,000 and 60,000 miles on revenue (non-award) tickets this year. By hitting the 50K level, I’ll earn Star Alliance Gold Status, as well as getting 40 eUpgrade credits that can be used to upgrade economy tickets on Air Canada metal to business class.

I already have Star Alliance Gold Status for the next few years through Aegean Air, so I’m really doing this for the upgrade credits. There’s no guarantee for any given flight that I’ll be able to upgrade using the eUpgrade credits - on the Flyertalk discussion boards the upgrade program is known as AeroLotto since getting an upgrade is a bit of a crapshoot. But when the upgrades do go through, it’s great.

One alternative I was considering was crediting my flights to the United Mileage Plus program instead. 50,000 miles credited to the program gives Premier Gold. The key benefits there are free access to Economy Plus seats while flying on United Metal, as well as complimentary upgrades to business class for most North American flights if there is availability. (Although since those at higher tiers get priority for those upgrades, they are hard to come by).

I decided it made the most sense for me to go with the Air Canada status instead since Steven currently is United Premier Gold, and will remain so through the end of 2014. Since we travel together for many of our trips, and since many of the benefits of a program can extend to your traveling companion, it seemed logical that we get our status on different programs. When we fly together on United metal, his status will get us both Economy Plus seating. When we are flying on Air Canada metal, we can play AeroLotto and hopefully occasionally upgrade to business class. (And I DO like flying on Air Canada metal. While I have issues with them not giving full status miles on their lowest fare tickets, their product in the air is magnitudes better than other North American airlines IMHO).

Unfortunately, there’s no way to credit the miles towards getting status on Air Canada without also crediting the miles towards the Aeroplan program. So my plan is that everytime I hit the 5,000 minimum balance required for a points.com transfer from Aeroplan to US Airways I will initiate a transfer out. Hopefully the transfer ratio won’t be changing any time soon.

And this is total speculation, but I certainly hope that in time Air Canada will distance themselves more and more from Aeroplan. They are totally separate companies, and what is in the best interest of one isn’t always in the best interest of the other. It’s probably a longshot, but it would be great to one day be able to get elite status with Air Canada, but be able to earn redeemable miles with a program other than Aeroplan. I’m sure when Aeroplan was spun off from Air Canada enough reciprocal contracts were signed to keep this from happening for some time to come, but a points-whore like me can still dream.

Why (and How) I Plan To Ditch All Of My Aeroplan Miles

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0500

Like most Canadians I have a love-hate relationship with Aeroplan. Actually, I take that back. Like most Canadians, I used to love Aeroplan, but now I just hate them.

Up until a few years ago, Aeroplan was a pretty good program when compared to other programs around the world. They didn't charge crazy fuel surcharges for redemptions on most airlines (their own metal notwithstanding), and they had some pretty sweet redemption levels to some regions (for example, Steven and I flew YYZ-YVR (stop-over for Christmas) - SYD (open jaw) AKL-SYD-YVR-YYZ all in business class for 100,000 miles per ticket. Under Aeroplan's current award chart, that ticket would cost 135,000 miles. .

What broke the proverbial camel's back was Aeroplan starting to charge fuel surcharges when redeeming on many of their partners. For example, last year when I redeemed Aeroplan miles to fly business class to Tel Aviv on Austrian (outbound) and Lufthansa/Air Canada (return), I paid over $600 in fuel surcharges. Had I booked the exact same flights using United or US Airways points, this wouldn't have been charged. There is some debate on if the charging of these surcharges is Aeroplan's doing or Air Canada's (they are separate companies - and the fuel surcharges end up in Air Canada's pocket as the ticketing carrier, not Aeroplan's nor the company flying the metal). But the end result is the same - redeeming Aeroplan miles for certain awards can be an expensive proposition unless you are very lucky finding availability on the few carriers that they DON'T charge fuel surcharges on.

I plan to ditch my Aeroplan points through points.com. Points.com is a website which allows you to transfer points/miles between different programs. Normally I would NEVER recommend using points.com, since the transfer ratios are generally terrible. For example, if I tried to trade 50,000 Aeroplan miles, I would get 18,669 American AAdvantage miles in return. No thank you. The only time in the past that I have made a transfer on points.com is when I had some Iceland Air points that were about to expire and I couldn't otherwise use, as well as when there was a promotion that ended up earning me 16,500 bonus Aeroplan miles.

However, there is one transfer that I DO recommend. For some reason, the transfer ratio from Aeroplan to US Airways' Dividend Miles is extremely reasonable. For 50,000 Aeroplan miles, you get 42,005 US Airways miles. Still a bit of a loss, but given how there are no fuel surcharges when booking with US Airways miles, and given some bargains on their award chart (90K miles business class to north Asia), it feels like a good trade to me.

But the kicker here is that with the upcoming merger between US Airways and American Airlines, these miles will in all probability be merged into my American Airlines AAdvantage account. No one knows for sure what the merged program will look like, but people seem to be putting their money on it looking much like the existing AA plan. And I love, love, LOVE AA’s AAdvantage program. I’ve found availability to be fantastic on both their metal and on most of their OneWorld partners, and they only charge fuel surcharges when redeeming on British Airways flights. For example, to get to the cruise we are going on next week, Steven and I booked business class tickets on Cathay Pacific using AA miles. For the flight from Toronto to Singapore (changing planes in Hong Kong), and then direct back from Hong Kong, the cost was 110,000 AA miles per ticket plus $70 in taxes. A similar itinerary using Aeroplan miles on Star Alliance partners would have been 125,000 miles plus probably over $600 in taxes).

So in effect I will be converting my Aeroplan miles into (eventual) AA miles with only a 16% loss of miles (but with a huge gain in value, at least in my opinion).

I could have waited until the US Airways / American merger got further along to do the transfer, which would have given me some more assurances as to what their new program would look like. But there’s no guarantee that this transfer ratio will continue to be this amazing on points.com, so I would rather do it now rather than lose out later!

And if for some reason a great Aeroplan deal comes along and I need some miles, I have over 200,000 American Express points that I can transfer in 1 for 1. (See my post here on a great Canadian card for earning American Express points - including 20,000 free on signup).

What are your thoughts on Aeroplan? Are you sticking with it, or abandoning ship? Do you think I'm doing the right thing? Please post your thoughts below.

(Click here to read my follow-up post on why, despite all this, I still plan to credit miles to Aeroplan this year!)

The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, The Holy Grail of Travel Cards

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0500

I’ll be the first to admit that I was late to the credit card points game. I’ve had a couple different over the past 2 years. Some I hated, some were decent. But then one day Brad said I should apply for the Chase Sapphire card and my life changed forever.

I’m literally OBSESSED with it. It has turned into my every day card. I use it for groceries, for dining, and for bills. Anything I can charge to it, I do. I'm a bit of a points whore that way. There is a couple of main reasons I love the card:

It’s metal. Yes metal. It has some heft to it. But I constantly get compliments on it. People are always saying how nice it is and ask me what kind of card it is (basically it makes you a Rockstar). If a credit card could be considered sexy, it would be sexy. You know what? It’s fucking sexy! You also won't be able to cut it or shred it, so have fun trying to destroy your old one.
Someone answers the phone when I call. Let me reiterate...when I call the number on the back of the card...a real live human picks up the phone. I don’t have to go through 24908234 prompts before talking to someone. I love it.
Double points on travel. Yes that is correct. Anytime you use the card to book a flight anywhere, or a hotel, or a cruise, or a rental card, or a taxi, you get 2x the amount of points!
They have been nothing but amazing to me. I had one issue with my card number getting stolen and used at Burberry in Las Vegas (go figure, thieves know where I would actually shop), and they cancelled my card, went over my transactions for the past couple of weeks to see if any were out of the ordinary and overnighted a new card to me. The guy was actually upset that it was a Saturday night and I wouldn’t actually get the card until Monday.
No foreign transaction fees. Considering I’m an American with an American credit card and I live in Canada this is ESSENTIAL. I get the exact conversion rate on all of my purchases that day. No service fees, no nothing.
Double points on dining. I eat out a lot. I’d say more than 75% of my purchases are on food. So getting doubles points just for doing my normal spending and becoming a fatass? Duh.
Chase Ultimate Rewards. The Chase rewards itself isn’t anything to write home about. They tend to raise their point values for award travel purchases, but they also give you a 20% bonus back in points. But they offer 1:1 point transfers to some big guys like United (which I use), British Airways, Southwest and Ritz-Carlton. The point transfers are also instant.
Sign up bonus. There are a couple links out there with different offers. Here is the best one I found. 40K points when you spend $3000 in the first 3 months.
7% point dividend year end payout. That means, they already gave me points for my spending the past year, and they are now going to give me an additional 7% of what I spent as a bonus! Why? They don't have to do that? Oh right, they're amazing.

What it really boils down to, is how well they treat me. Chase has been nothing but amazing and I have not a single bad thing to say about their Sapphire customer service. They've given me free bonus points when a transaction didn't go through. They've handle every single question I could throw at them. There are more benefits to the card, you can check them out here. I even just found out myself that they have a couple different Price Protection, and Return Protection options! (This card keeps getting better and better) I’ve recommended multiple people to the card (they don’t offer a referral bonus so I’m doing this with zero gain for myself). I’ve even called them up, literally just to talk to someone about how much I love the card (actually that has happened more than once. Not joking). I’m more than willing to be a Sapphire Preferred spokesman (Did you hear that Chase?) So if you have any questions, let me know!

UPDATE

Chase now offers a referral bonus of 5,000 for every person that signs up. Here is my referral link: Here

Great Credit Card Deal For Canadians

Sun, 17 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0500

Friends often ask me advice on what credit card to get. There are a few really good cards out there, but one of the best deals right now for Canadians involves the American Express Gold Card.

The deal is this: Sign up for an Amex Gold card using this link. If you use this link and you get accepted, the card is free for the first year. If you spend $500 on the card in the first 3 months, you will get 20,000 Amex Rewards points. These points can be transferred on a 1-to-1 basis to Aeroplan or British Airways, as well as a few other programs. After the first year, you can cancel the card if you don't want to pay the $150 annual fee in the second year. So basically you are getting 20,000 free Aeroplan/BA points for getting the card. Plus, when you use the card for travel, groceries or gas, you get 2 points for every dollar spent. For other purchases you get 1 point per dollar.

DISCLAIMER: I'm not posting this all because of my unbelievable altruism. If you get accepted for the card through this link, I get 10,000 points for the referral in my account. (But it really is a win-win!)

Message me at "brad AT guyswhotravel.com" if you have any questions on the offer.

Why You Should Get a NEXUS Card

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0500

As an American, I’ve never really had to deal with flying through customs for my flights to Vegas, or Miami. Now that I’ve moved to Canada, I had the very unpleasant experience of sitting through customs, just to get on a flight to LA. Steven just breezed through and went to the Maple Leaf Lounge (Jerk). As I stood and waited an hour to get through customs, and another 40 minutes in security I realized how essential a NEXUS Card and Global Entry is.

Rewind to when I first moved to Canada. Multiple people told me that I should invest in NEXUS because I will be flying/driving to the states often. Nexus is basically a card that has special lines at border crossings, and at airports to bypass customs. Saves a LOT of time waiting to talk to a customs agent. So in November I went to to the GOES website and applied. It’s a pretty extensive application, but basically the end result is you are considered a “Trusted Traveler” meaning, that both Canada and the US are trusting you to declare all of your purchases, not smuggle drugs, and not commit crimes in their countries. After you complete the application, you have to wait a couple days before scheduling an interview. There are only a couple places to interview at. I originally scheduled mine at the nearest, which is the Toronto Airport. Closest appointment....April 21st! There are so many interviews they schedule that it is MONTHS AND MONTHS in advance. But alas, that’s how long it takes so I just rolled with it.

Being the antsy person that I am, I continually checked the website to see if there was a closer interview date. I also checked other interview offices to see if they had a closer one as well. No dice for a couple months. A couple days before we left for LA, I happened to check and see that Buffalo had one available on February 5th (which is my birthday, you missed it, I like cake). We rescheduled and decided to do a quick trip.

For the interview you need your passport, proof of residency (lease, mortgage, utility bill), and I needed my work visa. You need to interview with a Canadian and American customs officer (Because both countries are trusting you). The interview was standard, “Do you know customs laws?” “Have you ever done drugs?” “Why are you getting a NEXUS?” Then they scan your retinas and take your finger prints. Oh I forgot to mention, the difference between Global Entry and NEXUS. NEXUS is only between Canada and the US and it uses your retinas to prove your identity, and Global Entry is for entering the US from any other country using your fingerprints. You automatically get Global Entry for free when you get a NEXUS. I had to ask for Global Entry during my US interview, apparently they don’t just GIVE it to you.

My interview went smoothly and only took about 30-40 minutes, including my eye scan and fingerprints. Here’s the kicker, you get it for 5 years after your next birthday. Meaning, if your birthday is in June and you get a NEXUS in January, you get January thru June, then 5 years from your June birthday you have to renew. Because I did my interview ON my birthday, I’ll technically get mine for 6 years. So if you can, plan to have your interview RIGHT after your birthday.

A Boutique West Coast Getaway at The Loden

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0500

In the last two years, I've split my time between Toronto and Vancouver for work; home is in the east while the west is usually short-term furnished apartment rentals while I produce or direct a TV series. So when it came time to book a quick trip to Vancouver for a premiere event, I decided to make an impromptu working holiday of it and booked a 4-day/3-night stay in BC.

Now unlike my GWT friends who cultivate their rewards points for air, hotel and dry cleaning loyalty programs, I am more of a casual collector who goes for the easiest way to travel instead of the most points-lucrative ways. I am all about airline rewards given the mileage I rack up flying across the country and around the world for work, but when it comes to hotel rewards I am (shhh...don't tell the guys...) almost completely unregistered. Business hotels are always dictated by the companies I work for and so I haven't given much thought to rewards when choosing personal hotels. My hotel choices are always the ones with the best experience for the best value - usually much more weighted to experience as the bottom line. So in the world of rewards points and chain hotels, I always tend toward boutique whenever I have the choice.

This quick trip to Vancouver brought me back to the Loden Hotel; one of my favourite hotel destinations anywhere and one of Vancouver's premium boutique hotels. Perhaps it's the luxury of staying in a hotel in a city where you normally live in an condo or maybe it's their signature mix of detail, experience and cool that they pull off, but The Loden is my kind of hotel. And on average the cost is comparable to king rooms at major hotels downtown (approx 199$/night).

My work right now is very mobile and I can work remotely with just Internet access and my MacBook Pro. For this trip especially, the hotel was key in making my getaway an actual working holiday because I had work to do in the daytime on eastern time and needed a decent space to setup shop. Checking into the hotel I found the room I booked in excellent condition but its layout was different than other rooms I'd stayed in previously. I made a quick mention to the manager when I checked in and suddenly was upgraded from a 4th floor corner king to a 1-bedroom suite on the sub penthouse floor. THESE were proper digs for a working getaway!

Once the east coast business day wound to a close I got to enjoy the Vancouver lifestyle that everyone loves so much. Being right on the edge of Coal Harbour, I was just a short jog down to the seawall for a couple of great Oceanside runs around Stanley Park, Kitsilano beach and the west end. Running in bare legs in February is something I just don't get to do enough in Toronto. In Vancouver you'll never be the only one out there pounding the pavement no matter the time of day.

Dining was mainly a downtown affair in Vancouver this time, from the French menu at Tableau (attached to The Loden), Italian lunch at Glowbal's Italian Kitchen and fresh oysters served up with lots of beer and charm at Rodney's in Yaletown. All worthy of their own blog entries, my meals were a chance to enjoy some of downtown's restaurants on a more relaxed schedule than when I'm in and out on a day of filming. Personal favourite is definitely Rodney's, whose staff of hunky shuckers tend bar and make every seat at the bar feel like it's reserved just for you. Low key, usually a 30 min wait, and just the freshest oysters you can find.

So after a quick trip across the country and back that earned me 4,156 Aeroplan miles and 0 hotel rewards miles, I left Vancouver completely satisfied with my west coast getaway. Boutique is a great way to go when you're looking to spend significant time in your hotel room and want to enjoy thoughtful details that enhance the experience of living in a box for a few days.

Otherwise, go big chain and earn those points...so I'm told.

Ps. Much love to The Loden for always making their guests feel VIP!

My (not-so) Secret Addiction - Starbucks Mugs!

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0500

I think it's pretty common for people to collect things from places they travel to. Fridge magnets seem to be a very popular item. (My grandmother, who rarely got to travel in her life, was always proud of the magnets covering her fridge, showing her all of the places her grandchildren had been). T-shirts or shot glasses from the local Hard Rock Cafe are another popular thing to collect.

Also ranking up there in the travel collectables department is what I try pick up wherever I visit - a Starbucks mug. According to this website, as of today February 11, 2013, there are 2,382 different designs of Starbucks mugs that have been produced. That's a crazy number of mugs!

I am NOT attempting to collect them all. Not only do we not have the ROOM, I don't have the desire. I am collecting them as a reminder of where I have been, so I am only interested in the mugs that are have city names on them, and not the general Starbucks mugs.

I've come up with a set of "collecting rules" to keep the number of mugs in our cupboard to a reasonable level:

I will only buy a mug in a place I am actually visiting
A connection at an airport does NOT count as visiting
I do not ask (or want) friends to get the mugs for me when they are traveling
I will only collect the city mugs; I do not collect the country mugs (except if only the country one is produced, or as per below with the espresso mugs)
In places where they sell the city espresso mugs (generally only outside of North America), I will buy those instead of the full-sized coffee mugs to save room. These always come in packages of two espresso mugs: one with the city design and one with the country design.

I think my collection is up to about 20 full-sized city mugs, and 6 pairs of espresso mugs. (This is a paltry number compared to many people I know, but I've only recently started collecting!) In time, I plan to photograph them all and have them catalogued on this site. (Steven suggests "once you photograph them we can get rid of some of them, right?". Of course, the answer is NO!)

I'm looking forward to our cruise next month for many reasons, not the least of which is being able to get more mugs for the collection. For sure I should be able to add Singapore, Bangkok and Hong Kong. The big question mark is if the Starbucks which JUST opened in Ho Chi Minh City will have mugs available!

Do you have something you collect when you travel? Let me know in the comments below.

Using SIM Cards While Traveling Internationally

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0500

As mentioned in my previous post on apps, our iPhones are glued to our hands, even while travelling. While of course WiFi is available in many places, it's still handy to have full data service on our phones so we are ALWAYS connected.

We are located in Toronto, so our home plan covers us anywhere in Canada. But using the plan outside of the country would result in data roaming fees through the roof. (This isn't just a Canadian problem -- pretty much any data usage outside of one's home country can result in some crazy bills).

So usually before leaving on a trip, we try to figure out the best way to get data in the country we are going to. Voice service on the plan isn't as big an issue for us -- we can always use Skype if we need to make a call. But buckets and buckets of data is a MUST!

Below is a summary of some of the different services we have used around the world. Remember that cell phone plans change constantly, so there's no guarantee that these plans are still available, and/or if there are better options available. But hopefully some will still find this useful. It is important to note that we have factory unlocked iPhones, so we are able to pop any company's SIM card into the phone and it will (usually) work. If your phone is still locked to your carrier and you have not jailbroken/unlocked the phone, you will not be able to do this. You may have to try a MiFi option (see below what we did in Japan). And while these options may also work for non-iPhone smartphones, we personally don't have any experience.

USA

We travel to the States a lot, so having a good data plan available is pretty important to us. Unfortunately, the US is probably one of the HARDEST countries to get pay-as-you-go SIM cards that give data access. So what we use instead is AT&T's pay-as-you-go data plan designed for iPads. You have to go through a few hoops to get these SIMs to work in an iPhone (since it's not something that AT&T officially supports for this plan), but it can be done.

The first step is to get your hands on an AT&T SIM card, either micro-SIM or nano-SIM depending on what your phone takes. They can be picked up at any AT&T or Apple Store in the US (although for the Apple Store you may need to make a Genius Appointment first - YMMV).

Next step is to activate your account. There may be other ways to do this, but we have found that the SIM needs to be activated in an actual iPad. With the AT&T SIM in the iPad, navigate under Settings to the screen that allows you to set up a data account. You don't have to be actually in the US to do this -- you can be connected to the Internet through WiFi. There are three data plans available - $14.99 for 250MB, $30 for 3GB, and $50 for 5GB, good for a month. You can stop the plans from renewing and restart again later if you don't need it every month (you can do this online - no need to have access to the iPad anymore). .

Once you have the SIM activated, the last step is to "trick" the iPhone into having the proper settings to accept the iPad SIM. What needs to be done is to change the APN setting to "broadband". In order to do this, navigate to www.unlockit.co.nz on your phone, select the option to "Create APN", and then select Country:US and Carrier:AT&T (Broadband). Then follow the directions to create the APN and install it on your device. (When you are back in your home country, you will have to go into Settings/General/Profiles and delete the APN changer.)

Australia

We went to Australia for about 2 weeks a little over a year ago. Getting a SIM card there to work with our phones was super easy, and super cheap. We went to the Apple Store on George Street in Sydney to see what company they recommended, and they suggested Telstra, since they had the best network and good pay-as-you go plans. We went to the Telstra store across the street, and within minutes had SIM cards and some pre-paid data. Under their current pricing, $50AUD buys 800MB of data, plus about 1000 voice minutes. We didn't NEED the voice minutes, but it actually did come in handy at times not having to deal with Skype.

New Zealand

After Australia we heading to New Zealand for a week and drove up the North Island (from Wellington to Auckland). We did some research before to see who had the best network for our route, and Telecom NZ came out on top. Unfortunately, I can't seem for dig up how much we ended up paying for the plan we got, but I do recall that it was more expensive than what we got in Australia (despite almost everything else being cheaper in New Zealand than Australia!). But the service worked great.

Japan

Japan is one of our favourite countries in the world. Steven and I have each been there 3 times (the last 2 times together), and we can't wait to return there and explore more of the country. Our last trip was for about a week in the summer of 2010. Communicating what you want in a Tokyo retail store can be pretty complicated at the best of times when you speak no Japanese, so the thought of purchasing SIM cards and a data plan while there was not something we wanted to deal with. So we decided to rent a Japanese MiFi device in advance instead. For those who don't know what a MiFi device is, it's a small portable device that picks up a cell signal and creates a local WiFi network to allow you to connect to it. If you have a locked phone, this is easiest way to connect.

We rented the MiFi through a company called JCR Corporation. It ended up costing about $190 for the week for unlimited data, but it was super convenient. It was waiting for us at the hotel when we arrived, and there was a pre-paid mailer for us to return it when we left.

Israel

Our Hebrew is as rusty as our Japanese, so we wanted to make sure we had our mobile data plan worked out before our arrival. We rented SIM cards from a company called IsraelPhones. They have a number of agents around the world through which you can rent the SIM cards from. I called one of their agents in suburban Toronto, and they arranged for the SIM to be FedEx'ed downtown to us (We may love to fly half-way around the world on a whim, but it will take a lot to make us drive to the 'burbs!). These SIM cards gave us unlimited data while in Israel, and a local number to make and receive calls. They take your credit card number and charge you after you return the SIM, based on usage. Our bill for just over a week's rental was about $60 for each of us.

UK

The UK is a pre-paid SIM card heaven. There are tons of companies to choose from, but I ended up walking into a 3 store and getting my SIM there. 15 Pounds got me unlimited data for the time I was in London. Great deal. Note that there are machines at Heathrow that sell SIM cards. These work, but they end up being more expensive than SIMs purchased directly in a store in town.

France

Getting a SIM card in France turned out to be trickier than we thought. Admittedly we didn't do much research before our 4 night trip there earlier this year, but we figured it would be like the UK where prepaid service for tourists would be ubiquitous. Zut alors, it turned out to be a hassle. We went to the retail outlets of a few different companies, but none had pay-as-you-go plans that you could sign up for as a foreigner and just use for a few days. But we finally were able to get one through Bouygues Telecom. We paid 1 Euro for the SIM card, and an additional 20 Euro to load up the card with enough data to last us for the trip.

Future Travels

In the next few months, our travels take us to Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Turkey and the United Arab Emerates. If anyone has any advice for pay-as-you-go data SIMs in those places, please let us know in the comment section below.

Indispensable Apps While Traveling

Sat, 02 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0500

Those who know the 3 GuysWhoTravel personally know that we have our iPhones permanantly affixed to our hands. Sure, some may claim it's a problem, but we think we're doing just fine, thank you very much! (And yes, we have been known to line up at the Apple Store at 3 in the morning when new equipment comes out)

Our addiction to our phones doesn't end when we travel. It only grows stronger, since it's become an integral part of the experience. Here are a few of the apps that I find indispensable for travel junkies like us.

Trip It

Even if you only travel once in a blue moon, go to www.tripit.com and open an account! And if you have an iPhone, download the app! (There are versions for Android, Blackberry and Windows Phone 7 as well). For the basic services, it's totally free.

Think of Trip It as your personal travel organizer. When you make any kind of reservation (air, hotel, restaurant), mail the confirmation e-mail to plans@tripit.com, and Trip It will automatically add the information to your account. The app on your phone will automatically be able to pull up all of the itineraries you have added, including flight times, PNRs and confirmation numbers. No need to print out all of the reservations before heading on your travels - everything is consolidated in one place!

Steven and I pay for the enhanced service "Trip It Pro". The main benefit of that is that it allows us to see each other's full travel plans in our own apps. Other benefits include automatic monitoring of our flights (with notification of any flight time changes or cancellations), as well as a service to keep track of points/miles earned in a multitude of different airline/hotel programs.

So do not pass GO! Get this app!!!! Download for iPhone here.

Flight Track Pro

Until last week, I wouldn't have thought of including this app here. I've had it for a long time, since before I was paying for Trip It Pro. It can link into the data you have stored in Trip It, and has a delay notification service similar to Trip It Pro. I mention it because it seems to have more timely notifications than Trip It, at least from my one observable datapoint.

When we were coming back from L.A. last week on our LAX->LAS->IAH->ORD->YYZ itinerary, all was going well until we got to ORD. While we were sitting in the new United lounge in terminal 2 (which is stunning by the way), Flight Track Pro sent me a push notification that our flight to Toronto had been delayed an hour. I checked the United departures board in the lounge, and it was still showing the flight as on time. I checked in Trip It, and it was still showing the flight as on time. I checked in the United app, and it was still showing the flight as on time. I checked on the status of the incoming metal that would become our flight, and that TOO was showing on time. I figured that Flight Track Pro must have screwed up, so we made our way down to the gate at the scheduled boarding time. It was a full 20 minutes after Flight Track Pro notified me of the delay that things started going bing bing bing, and Trip It Pro and United notified me of the delay. I have no idea where Flight Track Pro is getting it's delay information from, and how it can be better than United's own systems, but I was pretty impressed!

Download for iPhone here.

OpenTable

OK, you're at your destination, and it's time to make dinner reservations. You can do it the old fashioned way, and call up the restaurant, or use the consierge at the hotel. Or you can avoid all of the messy human contact and do it through OpenTable instead. LOTS of restaurants use the OpenTable reservation system, which allows you to instantly see the availability either on their website or on the app. A few clicks later and a reservation is made. As an added bonus, you collect OpenTable points for every reservation you make through the app. For normal reservations you get 100 points, although some restaurants give 1,000. 2,000 OpenTable points can be redeemed for a $20US gift certificate (or for a $26 Canadian dollar gift certificate -- obviously OpenTable hasn't looked at exchange rates lately!)

One thing to note is if you have your heart set on a restaurant, but OpenTable doesn't show any availability, that's the time to find your inner-extrovert and actually call the restaurant. Sometimes they will hold back tables that can't be reserved through OpenTable.

Download for iPhone here.

Über

You've probably heard about Über in the news. Traditional taxi dispatch companies are not that happy about it, because it's taking away a lot of their business. It's currently available in about 30 cities around the world, and they are constantly adding more. (There are competing services such as Hailo and GetTaxi, but I am most familiar with Über).

In a nutshell, you set up an account online or on the app, and enter your credit card information. Then, when you need a taxi, you open up the app, and hit the button to hail a cab. The GPS in your phone alerts the driver where you are, and you can even track his or her car coming to get you on a map. When you get to your destination, you jump out of the car and that's it. Über bills your credit car, and arranges for the driver to get their cut. No need to fumble with old fashioned cash.

Über offers different levels of service depending on the city. Here in Toronto, you can choose between a normal taxi, a black Town Car, or an SUV (each with their own pricing scheme). For the taxi system, these are the same licensed taxis that you would hail on the street. Because pricing is regulated for taxis, they cannot charge more than what it says on the meter, although they do also add a 20% service charge meant to cover the gratuities. I'm not sure how much of that actually goes to the driver, but since I would probably tip around that much anyway, it's a zero-sum game for me (except that now I get credit card points for the taxi ride!). And the drivers are happy since they are getting fares that they normally wouldn't get. (All of the drivers that I've talked to have been quite happy since signing up with Über).

We used it last week in LA to take us from West Hollywood back to our hotel in Santa Monica. In LA they don't have the normal taxi service, just black car and SUV. We ordered a black car, and it showed up where we were standing within a couple of minutes. We probably paid about $10 more than a taxi would have been, but it was worth it for the convenience and comfort.

If you do decide to sign up, if you use this link we will both benefit: www.uber.com/invite/uberbradintoronto.. After your first trip with Über you will get a $10 credit, as will I.

After creating an account with the link above, download for iPhone here.

ITA On The Fly

This app is more for when you are planning travel than when you are actually travelling. Normal travel websites and apps allow you to enter a set of dates and destinations, and it will pull up the cheapest fares for that period. But On The Fly allows you to set a range of dates, as well as a multitude of parameters (such as leaving after 4pm, or away for a certain number of days), and it will find the best deals. For example, say I wanted to find the cheapest fare from Toronto to Tokyo, leaving between April 28 and June 1, and staying either 5 or 6 nights. On The Fly brings this up:

You can't actually book through On The Fly, but it does direct you to the best deals. Plus you can save your search, and check as many times as your OCD-self desires.

Download for iPhone here.

Friend Trend For Twitter

OK, I'm a bit biased about this app, since I wrote it!!! And while it hasn't quite given me the same kind of riches as had programmed Angry Birds, I'm still kind of proud of it.

I consider Friend Trend a quick way to see what's going on with my friends on Twitter. I follow a lot of people, and I just don't time anymore to read everyone's tweets. I want to know quickly what people are talking about, and view the tweets on that topic. This is especially important when travelling when I don't have as much time to spend on Twitter.

When you open Friend Trend, it pulls in your friends' tweets, and then finds the words, phrases and hashtags that they have mentioned the most. It will then rank them, and allow you to see the tweets for that word/phase/hashtag. All of the normal twitter functionality such as reply and retweeting is of course also available.

And the best thing is that you can get it for FREE! (Well, maybe that's not the best for ME!). There are two versions. The Free version contains ads, but for a $1.99 in app purchase you can remove the ads. You can also download Friend Trend Pro for $1.99 that also is ad free.

Download for iPhone here (for the free version) and here (for the pro version)

Of course there are many MANY more apps that I use, but these are the ones that are dearest to my heart right now. If you have any suggestions of apps I should try, please let me know in the comments!

My Weekend In LA

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 00:00:00 -0500

My trip this past weekend to LA was VERY different than Steven's and Zak's.

First of all, my luggage actually made it. Of course, it helped that I only brought a carry-on! I didn't want to leave work as early as Steven and Zak, so I didn't book their YYZ-IAD-SFO-LAX itinerary. Instead, I booked a later flight on Air Canada YYZ-SFO, and planned to meet them on the SFO-LAX leg. Of course, they got rerouted and never made it to SFO, but they were still at the airport by the time I landed in LAX because they were sorting out their lost luggage fiasco.

But the main reason why my trip was different was because I was there for a work-related reason. And I was stuck in meetings half the day Friday, and all day Saturday and Sunday. And those Saturday and Sunday meetings started at 7:30am. Ugh. Even with the time change, I am NOT a morning person. I've been to LA many times, so missing out on some of the touristy things wasn't the end of the world. But it sounds like the Paramount Studios tour that they went on was a lot of fun, so I will definitely check that out next time I am there. And I still managed to enjoy LA with them in the evenings (which didn't help with the 7:30am start times the next day!)

Of course, the benefit of being there for work is that all of my expenses get reimbursed. So that's points for FREE. We stayed at the Doubletree in Santa Monica, which is Hilton family property. The bill for the room came to about $900. From that one stay, I'll get 1,800 American Express membership rewards points (since I used my Gold Amex that gives double points for travel), 20250 Hilton HHonors points (including the double points "Double Your HHonors" promo for the first quarter of 2013, and the 25% bonus for being HHonors gold), and 900 Aeroplan points (since I chose the "points and variable miles" bonus miles option in HHonors). On top of that, I also have one of the two hotels stays I need to get the 2,500 bonus Aeroplan points as part of this promotion listed at the top of this page. (I'll get the second stay at a Novotel next month in Bangkok). Plus of course the points for the flights themselves, and the credit card points for the meals.

But the best part of the trip was that I beat Steven and Zak in the "Celebrity Spotting" game. They may have seen LL Cool J and Chris O'Donnell, but I got to see Marcia Cross while at True Food Kitchen for lunch! (See picture above. She obviously had her hands on her face to mask her excitement from seeing Brad from GuysWhoTravel.com)

Great food always at Pizzeria Mozza

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 00:00:00 -0500

With Brad still at work and Zak and I hungry after our Paramount Tour, I quickly turned to OpenTable to see if I could get a reservation at Pizzeria Mozza... OpenTable, the best thing since the iPhone.

Steven says...

A friend of mine claims that his favourite chop salad on the planet is from Pizzeria Mozza in LA. I had it the first time I came to Pizzeria Mozza. I have to say that the salad is good, but something in the dressing throws me off in a bitter sort of way. The salad makes up for it when you hit the strips of cheese and salami. It is a sizeable portion and when I paired it with bufala mozzarella and prosciutto appetizer, I was happily content after this meal. I do have to note here that I do prefer the chop salad on the lunch menu at Villa Blanca in Beverly Hills. I mentioned that to my friend and he has taken that as a challenge and a reason to make a trip to LA to make a fair comparison. I'm game.

I went for the Bufala Mozzarella and Proscuitto because I don't eat complex carbs. Doesn't look too exciting but was quite delicious.

And the chop salad.

Zak says...

My theme for the weekend was a Caprese salad. In the short time we were there I think I had a total of 5 or 6. Steven kept talking about Pizzeria Mozza and how he was excited for me to go. I never turn down a good Italian restaurant.

Let's start with the Caprese salad. It was delicious. And when I say delicious, I mean: top 3 I've ever had in my entire life. The pesto sauce was fantastic with the perfect amount of salt (I tend to like my Caprese salads a little salty). The cheese was gooey, and melted in your mouth. The ONLY qualm I had was with the tomatoes. I'm not a fan of roasted tomatoes, but these were good. The rest of the salad made up for it.

I also decided to get a Marghertia pizza. Again, somewhat of a theme this weekend. It was fantastic. The dough was cooked perfectly. The cheese was greasy enough, so you still had flavor, but not overbearing. The sauce was tangy, but not so much that you realize you're eating a fancy pizza. This was the type of pizza I would expect to eat in Italy. The meal was fantastic and the next time I'm in LA, I'll be eating there, twice.

Oh, and if you check in on Foursquare, you receive a free glass of Prosecco! We totally didn't know, and happened to come across by accident. And they filled the glass up! It wasn't a freebie glass.

First Time in LA

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 00:00:00 -0500

There's one thing you need to know about LA if you've never been...Everything seems close, but it's not. You have to drive EVERYWHERE, and there is always traffic. Maybe I'm just spoiled since I've moved to Toronto and can walk or take the subway.

The weather was pretty crappy on Friday, but Steven and I had a Paramount Studios tour planned early in the morning. It was actually pretty cool. We went on the set of Happy Endings and Glee was filming. We got to see LL Cool J (Dude's actually a big guy in real life). I really enjoyed the whole thing.

Then we went shopping at the Beverly Center. Got some clothes because our luggage was lost.

Friday night we had dinner at Villa Blanca. If you watch Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, you know where it is. We wanted to go, just to say we went (Brad and Steve already went, it really was for me). The place has a great atmosphere and a great selection of food. Then to my surprise, I look over and see Ken with Giggy. I was like, "Where is Lisa..." Then... like a ray of sunshine, Lisa walks in. She is just the greatest. I poked Brad and said "POKE STEVE!" and we both had our little giggle fit (Brad doesn't watch the show so he doesn't get our excitement, nor did anyone at the table with us). I had a mini freak out moment. She sat down at the table next to us with a group of people. I felt bad because everyone was taking photos of her. She was there for dinner, not for work, leave her alone. Dinner was great, company was great, great night.

Saturday we went to Venice beach. Pretty cool how many people are out during the day there. The weather was fantastic! We walked along the beach and the pier.

Saturday night we went out to West Hollywood for dinner at Basix. I wasn't sold. I got a steak, and they put this weird seaweed garnish. It tainted the whole meal, but beer was cheap ($4). Afterwards we went to Fubar. It's a small strip bar. It was fun, and all drinks were $1 for like 2 hours. It was crazy. We hung out there all night before walking through West Hollywood. Pretty crazy the amount of people. Very fun.

Sunday was Rodeo drive. We had lunch at Cheesecake Factory, Followed by shopping. Steven was looking to replace his Rimowa, so we went to the Rimowa store, and he bought nothing, and I walked out with a new travel zippy for my passport, credit cards, boarding passes. They're essential for traveling. I talked myself out of the Bally one, just didn't want to spend that on a zippy.

Dinner was at this semi vegan restaurant/diner with Margaret. I had a guacamole stuffed grilled cheese. Mediocre, but the fries were good.

Our flight out of LAX was at 1040. Again, Steven talked me into multiple legs on the way home so we went LAX->LAS->IAH->ORD->YYZ Ridiculous. I have a hard time sleeping on planes if they are short flights, and the longest was 2.5 hours. So when we landed in Toronto at 3pm today, I was exhausted because I got 45 minutes of sleep in almost 36 hours.

Overall LA was amazing. We went and looked at celebrity houses (did you know you can find their addresses online? Sorry Jennifer Aniston for creeping in your driveway), saw them in real life, ate lots of great food, met some great new friends, and more importantly, got out of freezing Toronto for a hot second.

Paramount Studio Tours - Fantastic!

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 00:00:00 -0500

Since Zak had never been to Los Angeles, I wanted to do something touristy. Disneyland is a lot of fun, but it is a lot of effort when you are staying in Santa Monica... And it is a full day adventure. So a friend of my cousin (@kmedmay) suggested the tour at Paramount Studios and we weren't disappointed (sadly, Brad was stuck in an office all day working so he wasn't able to join us).

There are two tours you can take, a 2 hour or 4 hour (that includes lunch). We opted for the 2 hour tour not knowing what to expect. The two hour tour was more suitable with the chilly rainy weather... And it was awesome.

Paramount is less of a studio and more of a rental space for productions to film their shows. Some of them you may know... Glee, American Horror Story, NCIS and my favourite Happy Endings. The property is also steeped with history from the time when Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez had their own production studio. Each sound stage has a list of productions that have been filmed... Shows like Star Trek, Family Ties, and many many more. So it was so cool to drive by and see the lists of shows that have been filmed there.

If you are lucky, and we were, there may even be some star sightings. We saw LL Cool J getting it of his Maserati. And shortly after we saw Chris O'Donnell. Both working on NCIS. But Zak and I were probably more excited to see the trailers for the Happy Endings cast.

Speaking of Happy Endings, we saw the cafe where they hang out, Wing Wongs and Xela, Alex's store. Our tour guide also stopped near the Glee stage door that was filming in hopes the Gleeks on our tour would see someone coming out of the door. But alas, we just saw some sad looking extras.

What was also cool was the anecdotes that the guide gave us. I won't tell them all since I highly recommend the tour, but here are a few:

Lucille Ball had a garden built because she was criticized that she didn't spend any time with her kids. So she would visit them at the garden. It is the same green space that was used when Fin screams at the end of a football game and it zooms out to space. It was also used in Brady Bunch when Greg was caught smoking.
Tom Hanks, while filming got a the costume department to make him a Forrest Gump costume made. He sat on the Forrest Gump bench and whenever a tour group came by, they would point out the bench and he would be sitting there. For the entire day he would only talk as Forrest Gump and answer questions as Forrest Gump. He even had chocolates to give out!

The bench used in the movie!

Jane from Happy Endings' trailer.

This is the cafeteria set that folds up nicely when not used!

So you never know what you may see on these tours. Next time I'm in LA, I will definitely book the 4 hour tour because I want to see more! Plus it is always changing with new shows being filmed and more stars to be seen!

You Can Steal My Luggage, But You Can't Steal My Spirit

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 00:00:00 -0500

I wasn't planning on tagging along with Brad and Steven to LA, but Steven convinced me that I needed the miles, and I've never been, so I decided to go last minute. Steven had this crazy itinerary (YYZ->IAD->SFO->LAX) and SOMEHOW convinced me to tag along with him (I am not the biggest fan of layovers).

I recently acquired the Chase United MileagePlus Explorer credit card (for the 35K bonus signup miles), which gives me a free checked bag. The three of us didn't know if we wanted to check a bag because of all of the layovers, but at the same time realized we didn't want to carry a bag through all of the layovers, so I decided to bring my big suitcase and go crazy on overpacking.

Sidenote: I'm an insane over-packer. I will packing multiple options of clothing for each day, and end up wearing a fraction of what I brought, but the comfort of knowing I have options makes me happy.

So after packing all of my favorite shirts and shoes, I left some room for my North Face jacket because we were taking the subway/bus to the airport and were going to be outside for a short period and I didn't want to freeze. Less than an hour before we were going to leave for the airport, I received a notification that our flight was going to be delayed. Knowing that we weren't going to make our connection we called and United rerouted us through Chicago instead of Washington, but still had a connection in San Francisco.

We arrived at YYZ and as I realized the importance of getting Nexus as I waited in line for over an hour to get through customs (I'll write about Nexus later). After checking my bag and going through security, I met Steven in the lounge for a quick beer and headed to the gate. We arrived around boarding time, and after about 30 minutes realized that THIS flight was delayed also. We called again and they put us on a direct flight from Chicago to LA.

Fine, ok, let's do this already.

Flights weren't bad. I watched some Dexter. Steven slept. We ate at the food court in Chicago and hung out in the lounge.

We arrived in LA a little late (about 30 minutes) and headed to the baggage claim. We were the first to arrive and for shits-and-giggles decided to look up our luggage tag number to make sure it made it. It read, "Your luggage will arrive on carrousel 3." Perfect. So we waited, and slowly all of the luggage started coming out. After about 30 minutes, I was staring at the baggage claim, not paying attention to my surroundings and more so focused on the luggage ramp, the United employee goes "HEY! You're luggage not come out? Come look over here." I looked around and there wasn't anymore luggage coming out.

We go over, nothing.

We decided to look it up on the scanner again while we waited to talk to an employee. "Your was delivered to carrousel 3." No it wasn't, you liar.

We talked to the lady at the desk. She was very helpful and said, "Maybe they're in the back. Let's go look!" After scouring the back luggage office, where lost luggage goes to die, we couldn't find our luggage.

We filled out a lost luggage claim and they sent us on our way, saying that most of the time it's a "bag-swap" or something, where people take the wrong ones home.

We called United, and they said we could get $100 worth of reimbursement for essentials and clothes. Okay sounds good, let's go shopping.

Friday we went to American Eagle, cheap shirts, underwear, socks, just to get the essentials so we weren't wearing the same dirty skibbies.

We called United a couple of times to try and see if there was any sort of an update. None. We didn't lose hope though, and definitely didn't let it ruin the trip.

We went out for dinner at Villa Blanca, SO good, and afterwards decided to head to the airport to see if they had shown up yet. We walked in, explained the situation, looked in the backroom again, nothing. The lady we were talking to was extremely nice, and asked one of the people in back, and immediately the other lady's response was, "Yeah we have these marked as a possible theft." After 24 hours already saying they thought they were stolen?! They advised us to make a police report with LAPD (There's a tiny little trailer right next to the United terminal) so they could look at tapes and such. We filed one, and headed back to the hotel.

So now it's Saturday and we needed more clothes and stuff, so I called and asked for more reimbursement money. They gave us $200 each! So again, Saturday was spent shopping (which is totally fine by me). The crazy thing was, when I called the customer service agent said, "Let me call LAX for an update." When she came back she goes, "Yeah bad news." Obviously. Followed by, "Maybe a crew member stole them." Well I'd hope not!

After that call we made the decision that they were going to be lost forever. I didn't have anything worth a tremendous amount of value in there. The luggage itself, clothes, my favorite watch, couple pairs of shoes, mine and Steven's jacket. Everyone has been extremely nice. I don't blame United. I truly think someone took them after they were scanned off the carrousel. Now comes the tedious task of writing down everything that was in there, how much it cost, when it was purchased, and anything over $100 has to have a receipt. I'm too tired to even start it tonight, so I'll do it tomorrow after work.

Moral of the story: Things happen, things get lost, things get stolen, but they're just things. No one wants to lose their clothes and luggage and belongings, but there are many people out there with a lot less than me. So, I'll roll with the punches and deal with it. It didn't ruin my trip at all, and now I get to shop for a whole new summer wardrobe!

Crazy flight from LAX-LAS-IAH-ORD-YYZ

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 00:00:00 -0500

In order to make my United Premier Match Challenge, we booked a crazy flight which is about to begin. Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Houston, Chicago, and then finally Toronto. We will be flying for a total of about 12 hours. Call us crazy? Maybe.

Actually, I lied, we actually booked this itinerary so that we can fly on the now grounded Boeing 787. So planes changed and now we are flying this crazy path for no reason at all... although I will benefit from the 5 legs it is going to take us to get home.

Here is Zak... looking very happy in the United Lounge... but we haven't stepped foot on a plane yet. Wait until our third stopover.

Lost bag. If found return to me.

Sat, 26 Jan 2013 00:00:00 -0500

I'm not mad. I'm not sad. But my mind is constantly running through the contents of my lost baggage. I know, shit happens. And it happened last night to my luggage.

I scanned my tag at the baggage carousel and it said my bag was on the way... But the conveyor stopped. I scanned it again and it said my bag was waiting for me at carousel 3. Well, I was standing next to carousel 3. My bag isn't some uniform black bag, it is a pretty distinct gunmetal grey soft plastic four wheel spinner.

I still wasn't mad. I still wasn't sad. The staff was wonderful even walking us to the back room to check to see if it had slipped through the system. But it wasn't there. So we left the airport with our case number and the hope that the bag would magically appear at the hotel. It is now 5pm on Friday and nothing has magically appeared, and nothing has shown up on the tracking web site.

I was sad though... By the time we got out of the airport In-N-Out Burger has just closed for the night.

UPDATE: SATURDAY, JANUARY 26, 2013

Looks like I have to start making a list of contents that were in the bag. United has basically said that they think it was stolen. We stopped by the airport last night to do another search but it was fruitless. The baggage lady was amazingly nice and very sympathetic. She advised us to go to the Airport Police to file with them since they are the only ones that can look at the video of the carousel. Again, the LAPD was extremely friendly and we filed a report for the lost baggage.

So it looks like someone out there may be using my new Sonicare toothbrush. I hope it chips his or her tooth. We won't find out until we are home if something turns up and we'll be opening a claim with United to get a portion of the money back. We think I can get back a maximum of about $1,700 because it is international. (It is a lot higher if you are flying US domestic). That should cover my bag, a belt, and most of the clothing. I have to start digging up receipts to try to put a value to all my stuff.

So what did we learn? We learned how to file a claim. We learned that United staff are all pretty friendly if you aren't an asshole to them. We learned that only 1% of bags are actually stolen (so we can officially say we are in the 1%). We learned that if we are connecting more than once, maybe we should look at going carry on. Although a lot of this could have fallen on our shoulders because we are the ones that proactively switched our flights. If we had just taken the flights that we were scheduled for, it probably would have all worked out.

The United Challenge

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 00:00:00 -0500

Heading into my third year of Air Canada Elite, I'm now setting my sights on United Premier Gold. But acquiring it next year isn't good enough, I want it sooner.

If you make the flight requirements of 25,000 travel miles before June 1, United will give you status (Premier Silver) starting from June 1 for the rest of the year, and then again the following year. If you make 50,000 by June 1, you get Premier Gold. Well, I am an impatient person. So that wasn't good enough either.

So starting this month I'm doing the United Match Challenge. My goal is to reach 15 segments (take off and landing is one segment) or 12,500 status miles. I won't make the miles but I currently have 16 segments booked between now and April 9. Now, that is actually only two trips... so I'll be visiting a lot of airports in three months!

Not everyone can do this challenge, in order to qualify you need comparable status on a competing airline... in my case I have Gold on Cathay Pacific... (Not from flying but through a Platinum Amex card I got last summer). I wrote them a note, attached a copy of my Gold card from Cathay and 4 days later I got an email accepting me into the program.

So as of January 9, I became unofficially Premier Gold until April 9. When I finish the challenge I will have Gold until the end of the year and I have enough travel planned to maintain that for the following year... maybe aiming a little higher even.

Here are are the flights I'll be completing to get this, a total of 16... 1 extra. Wish me luck.

Los Angeles:	Toronto (YYZ) to Chicago (ORD)
	Chicago (ORD) to San Francisco (SFO)
	San Francisco (SFO) to Los Angeles (LAX)
	Los Angeles (LAX) to Las Vegas (LAS)
	Las Vegas (LAS) to Houston (IAH)
	Houston (IAH) to Chicago (ORD)
	Chicago (ORD) to Toronto (YYZ)

Las Vegas:	Toronto (YYZ) to Newark (EWR)
	Newark (EWR) to Boston (BOS)
	Boston (BOS) to Washington DC (IAD)
	Washington DC (IAD) to Denver (DEN)
	Denver (DEN) to Las Vegas (LAS)
	Las Vegas (LAS) to Denver (DEN)
	Denver (DEN) to Boston (BOS)
	Boston (BOS) to Washington DC (IAD)
	Washington DC (IAD) to Toronto (YYZ)

Fly More With Your Miles

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 00:00:00 -0500

Recently I was asked by fellow GuyWhoTravel.com’er Zak to assist him in booking an award ticket for this September using his United Miles.

He wanted to fly from Toronto to London, with a return from Dublin to Toronto. We ended up finding good flights for the dates he wanted, in Business Class over to Europe (via Washington on United), and in Economy on the way back (via Frankfort on Lufthansa and Air Canada). United charges 60,000 miles for round trip to Europe from North America in Economy at the Saver Award level, and 100,000 in Business, so for this hybrid booking, the cost would be 80,000 miles.

He was quite excited about this booking (especially since he earned most of those points through the Chase Sapphire card, which is dear to his heart). But he was even more excited when I told him that he could get half of another trip added into this award without spending any more miles!

Just to back up a bit, let me explain the stop-over rules for United awards. If you are booking a one-way reward, no stop-overs are allowed. But if you are booking a return ticket, they allow you to have one stopover and two open-jaws (an open-jaw is when there is a city pair in your itinerary that you are not actually flying between). Zak already had one open-jaw in his itinerary since he was flying into London and out of Dublin, so the key was how to maximize the other allowances.

The GuysWhoTravel.com team are planning a trip to Las Vegas in August, a month prior to Zak’s UK/Ireland trip, so I went to work trying to work that into his award ticket.

My strategy was that instead of booking him a Toronto->London, Dublin->Toronto award, I would instead book a Las Vegas->London, Dublin->Toronto award, with a stop-over in Toronto (for one month!) on the outbound flight. Because this itinerary involves one stop-over and two open-jaws (London->Dublin and Toronto->Las Vegas), it is legal under United’s rules, and would not cost him any additional miles.

Note that if we weren’t able to add a stop-over in Toronto on the way back and tack on another half-trip to Vegas. While this would have eliminated one of the open-jaws, it would have added a second stop-over, which is not allowed.

So in the end he spent the same 80,000 miles he was planning to, but he got a Las Vegas to Toronto flight for free!

This covers United’s rules, but note that other airlines have rules that are similar, although perhaps not as generous. For example, while American allows a stop-over on one-way rewards (and in fact all of their awards are booked as one-way awards), the stop over must be in the “North American International Gateway City”, which greatly decreases the number of cities available.

My Experience Redeeming Aegean Air Miles

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 00:00:00 -0500

In a previous blog post I discussed how crediting miles to Aegean Air is the fastest route to attaining Star Alliance Gold status. But of course the miles you earn aren’t just used towards getting status – like on any other airline they can also be redeemed for travel!

Up until recently Aegean had a pretty draconian awards booking policy. Once you booked an award, that was it. No changes allowed. If you wanted to cancel you could, but you would only get 50% of your miles back. Ouch!

Thankfully they changed that a few months ago. Award tickets can now be changed or cancelled for a 30 Euro fee (and with a cancellation you get all of your points back). Much more reasonable.

Unfortunately their online booking engine for award tickets leaves a lot to be desired. In fact, I wouldn’t even call it an engine – it’s just a webform where you enter the cities you want to travel to, and then someone will get back to you! Not quite user friendly, nor helpful when you are trying to snap up award inventory that can disappear quickly. So in almost all cases, a phone call to their award centre in Greece will be needed to make an awards booking. I suggest that you do some research on other airline’s sites to search for reward availability before calling (I tend to use ANA’s website, but Aeroplan and United also are usually good bets).

For my particular booking, I knew exactly what I wanted. A ticket on Air Canada from Toronto to Vancouver, a few days before Christmas. For those not familiar with this route, tickets are expensive at the best of times. Around Christmas they are astronomical, with reward availability being scarce. On Aeroplan’s site I managed to find one flight that was available using miles. Aeroplan wanted 17,000 miles + $83 taxes for the award (on Aeroplan one-way rewards are NOT half the price of a return reward). I knew that on Aegean a one-way award ticket within North America is only 12,500 miles, so it seemed like a good time to start using up my Aegean points.

I called the Aegean Call Centre (using Skype since I was calling Greece) and was quickly speaking to an agent. I want to mention here that this agent, and every Aegean agent I have spoken to had perfect English, and were extremely professional and polite. So I give them full kudos for that.

The agent was quickly able to find the flight I wanted, and asked me if I wanted to book the award for 12,500 miles and 300 Euro in taxes, plus a 20 Euro booking fee.

WHAT???

300 Euro in taxes? That didn’t make any sense. How on earth could the taxes be 300 Euro, when Aeroplan wanted $83? The agent said he didn’t know, but that’s what the computer said. I asked him if he could check with a supervisor, and he said he would double check with his rate desk, but that may take a day or two. I requested that he put the flight on hold with Air Canada, since I knew the award ticket would be snapped up by someone else quickly. He said there was no way he could do that, but he promised he would call me back as soon as he heard back from the rate desk.

In the meantime, I did a bit of online research, and found a thread on Flyertalk.com where other people were having similar issues. Apparently the Aegean computers were calculating the taxes (including the 13% Canadian Harmonized Sales Tax) on a full-fare economy ticket, even though this was an awards ticket that should be calculated with a $0 base fare.

The agent called me back the next day with good news. The rate desk came back and said that the correct tax was 61 Euro. This was slightly more in line with what I was expecting. But alas, the bad news was that the award inventory was no longer available to book. Someone else had snapped it up. Grrrr. I was SOL.

I kept checking Aeroplan every day to see if any new inventory opened up. Miracle of miracles, a flight DID open up that worked for my schedule. So onto Skype I went again to call Aegean. And once again, the agent came back with 300 Euro in taxes for the ticket. I explained the entire story of what happened with the previous booking attempt, but alas she was still forced to only go with what her computer told her, and would have to contact the rate desk. I pleaded with her to put the award on hold, and she said “sure, no problem”, and gave me a PNR for the hold.

Thankfully, she called me back the next day with the correct tax amount, and the hold stayed held. I was able to get the ticket!

So the morals of this story are:

Aegean Air agents are extremely professional and friendly
Aegean Air computer systems date back to the first Olympics
Aegean Air does not fix their computer systems when an error is pointed out
Know what the taxes on your ticket should be before you call
If an agent says they can’t put the award on hold, YES THEY CAN

And as a footnote, I also want to mention that there are a few sweet spots to Aegean’s award chart. While some awards are way overpriced compared to other airlines (80K from Canada/US to Hawaii in economy?? No thanks!), some are quite sweet (since they only have one North American region, awards from Canada/US to the Caribbean or Mexico are only 25K in economy and 42.5K in business!). Their full chart can be found here: http://en.aegeanair.com/milesandbonus/program-description/spend-miles/

Aegean Airlines - The Easiest Way to Star Alliance Gold

Sun, 20 Jan 2013 00:00:00 -0500

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September 2014 Update: Looks like Aegean has changed the terms of their plan. The party is officially over!!! New terms require 48,000 miles in a year to achieve Gold, and then 24,000 miles each year to retain it. Still one of the most generous plans in Star Alliance for keeping Gold status, but now where near as generous as what I talked about below!

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If you love to travel as much as we do, having some sort of travel status in an airline is a must. Shorter lines to check-in. Waived baggage fees. Lounge access prior to flight.

On most North American airlines, flying 25,000 miles in one calendar year will give you the lowest level of status. On Star Alliance (United, US Air, Air Canada, etc.), this is called Star Alliance Silver. This is enough to waive fees for the first bag and special check-in privileges in some cases, but it won’t give you lounge access.

You start hitting the fun tiers when you fly 50,000 miles in a calendar year, which will give you Star Alliance Gold. Depending on the airline you achieve this with, will get a number of goodies, including upgrades to business class, and access to the airline lounges prior to flight.

But there are a few caveats: The biggest one being that if you have your Star Alliance Gold status through United or US Air, you can’t use their lounges unless you are flying on an international itinerary. Chicago to LA just doesn’t cut it! And to keep your status, you have to keep flying at least 50,000 miles EVERY YEAR. For many business travellers this is no problem (and they easily hit the 75,000 and 100,000 mile tiers), but for us mere mortals who only travel for fun, it’s a lot of work to fly on all those flights!

That’s where the magic of Aegean Airlines comes in. Aegean who? I must admit that I wasn’t aware of Aegean until a few years ago when I found out about this easy entry to the Star Alliance Gold club!

Aegean is based in Greece, and joined Star Alliance in the summer of 2010. When they entered the alliance they kept their tiers as they were, and just tacked on getting Star Alliance Silver and Gold when you reached them. So the rules to get status are very different than most other carriers, and are by far the easiest way to achieve and KEEP Star Allaince Gold status!

First of all, the basics: Go to www.aegeanair.com and sign up for an account. Currently, new members get 1,000 points free. Boom – free points. Wasn’t that easy?

Now for the math:

In order to get their first tier (Blue), you need to earn 4,000 miles in any 12 month period. You just earned 1,000 miles by signing up, so the clock has now started, and you now have 12 months to earn 3,000 more! (Yes, those free points count towards your status. This is one of the few times when you can get points towards status without actually flying with your butt in a seat!). Those 3,000 points can be earned by flying any Star Alliance carrier and crediting the miles to your Aegean account. (But note some warnings about certain carriers later in this blog entry)

OK, getting those 3,000 miles within a year is pretty easy if you like to travel. As soon as you hit the 4,000 total mile mark you will be sent an “Aegean Blue” card, which also gives you full Star Alliance Silver status. On United, US Air and Air Canada, this alone will allow you to check your first bag for free, so that could end up saving you a fair chunk of change.

Once you hit the 4,000 miles to get the Blue card, the 12 month clock mentioned above stops, and a new 12 month clock begins. You now have 12 months to collect 16,000 more miles (and miles you earned on the flight that took you over the 4,000 mark count – or at least the ones above the 4,000 mark). If you can get those 16,000 miles in within the year… BINGO, BANGO, you’ve now earned yourself an “Aegean Gold” card, which gives you Star Alliance Gold status.

Now here is the crazy part. According to the rules as they are currently written, all you have to do is credit one flight to Aegean every 36 months, and you will KEEP the Gold status! That’s right – unlike on United where you need to fly 50,000 miles EVERY YEAR to keep status, with Aegean you just need one flight every three years. (Note that there is some debate on this point, so to be on the safe side I plan to credit at least one flight a year to Aegean). And of course, Aegean has the right to change the rules whenever they want, and there are always rumours that they will (or will go bankrupt before they have a chance), but my view is that you might as well go for it and enjoy the party while you can!

And oh, remember that part above where I mentioned that United and US Air Star Alliance members can’t use the lounges for domestic itineraries? Well that doesn’t apply to Star Alliance Gold members who got the status from airlines outside the US!! So flying from Chicago to LA on United? Just show your Aegean Gold card at the United Club, and in you (and a guest) go.

One thing you do need to be careful of is the fare class that you are flying in when racking up those miles, particularly when flying on United metal. The cheapest fare classes on United (W, S, T, L and K) only credit 50% of the miles flown when you credit them to Aegean. And some fares on Air Canada and Lufthansa earn 0%! All US Air flights however earn 100%. A full chart of the earning percentages is here: http://en.aegeanair.com/milesandbonus/program-description/earn-miles/

So that’s about it. I’ve had the Aegean Gold card for about 2 years now, and have really enjoyed having the lounge access and baggage privileges. In another blog post I will discuss my experiences with actually redeeming the Aegean miles I earned towards a free ticket.

Image: easyshoot / Shutterstock.com