Off to Wichita, Kansas for work!

I am headed of the Wichita, Kansas tonight for a 2 day work project. This is a new state that I will check off my list. I am hoping for a smooth project completion tomorrow and Friday.

This is my last work trip until September 3rd unless something last minute pops up. I am liking the few weeks of travel and a few weeks at home. I find it to be a good balance but am always welcoming more travel if needed!

British Airways Avios Points: Great Value!

A lot of folks in the miles and points world gripe about British Airways and their miles program. Rightly so since they charge HUGE fuel charges on award tickets if you fly British Airways across the Atlantic or other long flights.

Today I was able to get great value from them for next to nothing. I have had an alert on a flight I wanted from American Airlines next weekend. Since they are a British Airways partner I was thinking of using my Avios points for the booking. For a LONG time space was not available on the flight I needed. Until this morning.

Expert Flyer sent me an alert saying the seats I needed opened up! Only 1 week in advance. That was a nice email to wake up too!

I jumped online and booked 2 one way tickets from Miami to Atlanta on the late night flight home on August 5. Thanks to only 9,000 Avios points and $5 I now have another 7 hours on Key West for my birthday weekend! That works out to an impressive 9.93 cents of value per Avios point used.

If I were to buy that same ticket today it would have been $447 per person. Only spending 9,000 Avios points (which are one of the easiest to get!) and $5 in taxes is a fantastic deal in my book. I get more valuable beach hours and no rushing back to Miami to catch my flight. That's a win.

This is a direct benefit of all my research, learning, and knowing all the tricks of the trade.

The Push for Delta Gold Medallion

I travel for work pretty often but nearly as much as a lot of the other flyers I run into at the airports, Sky Clubs, and seat mates. I am the lowest level tier elite, Silver Medallion, with Delta. I get some benefits but not a lot or as much as I would like. This year my goal is to hit the second level, Gold Medallion, so I can extract more value from my flights.

As it stands now I am well on my way. Just found out that I will be heading to Seattle and back as well as Los Angeles and back for work. Between that and my currently scheduled travel I will only be around 6,500 miles short of Gold. I am hoping more work travel comes in to cover there but am prepared to do a mileage run if I have too. To be that close and miss is leaving a lot of benefits and miles on the table.

I won't start considering a mileage run until October or so. Things are still looking good at work and I may not need it. Only time and sales at work will tell how much more time on the road I will have. Either way I am hell bent on getting the Gold!

Off to Boston for work!

Another travel week for me! I am spending 2 days and nights this week in the outskirts of Boston. I am working on a project that has gone well past the original schedule and it will be nice to check it off the list. I hope everything is ready when I get there!

It is a nice change to be back on the road after a few weeks in the office. I find it a nice equilibrium to have a few weeks of travel followed by a few weeks at home. It keeps things changing and more interesting for me.

Of course I get to rack up some more points and miles for my efforts and see different places around the country I otherwise would not get to see. I have been to the Boston area enough where I am getting used to my "normal" hotels and restaurants while I am in town.

I am not sure if that is a good or bad thing but either way it gives me that extra level of comfort while on the road. It is good to know that I will have a decent bed and good-to-excellent dinner to look forward too as opposed to guessing and hoping all the time.

Free Braves tickets!

I love last minute surprises. Today I got one!

My boss had good tickets to an afternoon Braves game here in Atlanta that he couldn't use. I took them and the parking pass and went to the game. It was a nice sunny day out and I drove over to the Delta Medallion parking lot right next to the stadium.

I was at work and was running a little late. I got there during the 3rd inning and walked through the air conditioned club level. My seats were behind 3rd base and quite good. I grabbed at $7 beer and $5 hot dog and enjoyed the game.

I did have to monitor my work email from my phone which wasn't too bad.

Overall for free I cannot complain! Little surprises are great sometimes!

The office grind

I am glad I get to travel for work next week. The daily grind at the office is starting to catch up with me! I am ready for a change in scenery and people. Working for a small business can be both interesting and boring at the same time depending on what the current projects look like.

I am itching for time on the road and now I have 3 weeks straight including a fun weekend on Key West. I will be turning 30 during this time and plowing ahead with my miles and points balances.

I am fortunate to have a job that gives me a good balance of travel and home time.

Pro Tip: If you find an amazing deal: DO NOT CALL THE AIRLINE!

Mistake fares are a great way to have a cheap trip somewhere and earn some miles while you do it. I grabbed a mistake fare last year on Continental to go from Boston to San Diego for $62 round trip. I turned it into a mileage run to get enough miles to go First Class to Asia on Lufthansa. One of my best trips so far!

When things like this pop up you should NEVER call the company giving the deal. Doing so allows them to catch the mistake sooner and therefore less of us can get in on it. I have seen countless deals taken away from this. It is the number 1 killer of great deals.

Keep this in mind if you find an amazing fare!

More Work Travel: Wichita, KS

I just booked another trip for work. That makes 3 straight weeks on the road (with some time in the office each week). Kansas will be a new state to check of my list. I don't know a lot about it honestly. I am not sure what to expect!

I will be there 2 days. I will certainly take the miles and points to add to my balances!

I still have more work travel to sort out for later too but too early to hammer down dates at this point.

Next Year's Travel Goal: First Class to Asia!

I haven't even taken all of my fun trips this year yet and I am already planning for 2013. My usual research and earning strategies for miles and points also entail how I intend to use them. I have a lofty goal to fill: 2 round trip first class tickets to Southeast Asia and back.

My plan for now is to fly Korean Air first class on the A380 out of New York. This will also include first class on the 777 onward to Bangkok. I have had great experiences in their Business class product and want to try out First!

My plan for the other direction is to try out the famed THAI Airways first class. I have heard nothing but good things and getting a 1 hour massage at the lounge in Bangkok sounds awesome! I will probably connect through Europe to maximize the experience. I want to see if I can also get into the Lufthansa first class lounge in Frankfurt again.

That said I have a LOT of points to earn! I need 95,000 Chase points for each Ticket on Korean Air. I will also need 70,000 United miles for each ticket on Thai. I can use Chase points for both so my primary focus is to earn as many as I can. I am also focusing on United miles for dining and any other cheap/easy bonuses I can find. I am also looking into other options for redeeming the flights I want.

It's all part of the fun!

GiftCardGranny: Get rid of unwanted gift cards!

I recently did a focus group on restaurants. The payment was in the form of a gift card for that particular restaurant. It ended up being a place is really dislike. I decided to go online and see if I could sell the gift card below face value for cash. It works!

I found giftcardgranny.com which compares multiple sites that buy your unwanted gift cards. You can also purchase gift cards from them at a discount too. The best offer I saw was $35 for my $50 gift card. Sold!

I now get $35 I can use for something I actually want!