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Showing posts from August, 2017

Tip about Google flights...

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When you're searching on Google flights, you can put a list of 5 cities into the search fields, separated by commas. The airports don't have to be anywhere near each other . In this case, I'll call this the "they're giving my husband's team the entire holiday weekend off" search 😁 ♨️ 🐷 🥘 🌮 or 🌭 for the weekend?      

Great Economy fares to Tokyo this fall ($489 round trip!)

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I was poking around Google Flights for a friend and noticed that there's quite a few dates in Autumn with super cheap economy fares to Tokyo from New York. Normally these would be in the $1000-$1300 range but these are as low as $489! Most of the cheap fares seem to be on Air China via Beijing or ANA/United via Chicago or Los Angeles, and both have reasonable layover times. If it were me, I'd take the ANA itinerary because of ANA's stellar reputation . As far as Business Class fares go, there's a few Air China itineraries for $2100, but from the reviews I've read , the food and service is terrible, so that $2100 is to get you a lie-flat seat and not a whole lot else. Keep in mind that the arrival of Tokyo's fall weather lags New York's by a month, so the weather should be mild and pleasant on a lot of the Oct and Nov dates... $489 via Beijing on Air China Click to enlarge or $627 on ANA/United Click to enlarge My Japan tips are here .

Alternative for an actual Priority Pass Lounge

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I'm not a huge lounge person. There are a few international First Class lounges that still have a huge wow factor, but Business Class lounges – especially ones in the US – are increasingly crowded and often don't even include free drinks or hot food . Meanwhile, the terminals themselves have been getting increasingly nicer: food from famous local restaurants healthier and more interesting food and beverages flexible seating with USB and chargers gate-side seating so you can keep an eye on your gate while you wait to board...  In fact, I recently had a friend ask me about the lounge in JetBlue's main terminal at JFK and I told him it wasn't even worth visiting. Priority Pass is a lounge membership program that lets you enter a selected list of lounges around the world for a fee (their handy app lets you see which ones they partner with). Due to the huge popularity of the Chase Sapphire Reserve (which includes a free membership), lots of people ended up w