Two Nights in San Diego #4
Back at the hotel - Wed, 26 Jun 2024, 9pm

This evening my two colleagues and I who traveled to San Diego for a couple of customer visits met for dinner. Perhaps this is what May, my sales colleague, intended when he told me to arrive in time for dinner last nightBusiness dinner was nice. The pick of a restaurant was good ( Read more... )

I'm checking in how I'm using- and not using- my frequent flyer/hotel points for travel in June 2024. As usual, our trips use a mix of points and cash. That's because while points rates are almost always available for bookings in modern airline/hotel programs, they are often poor values for the high number of points required relative to the cash ( Read more... )

Los Cabos Travelog #3
Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos - Sat, 4 May 2024, 2:30pm

We arrived at our first hotel in Los Cabos, Mexico this afternoon. Yes, first because we are staying at multiple hotels on this five day trip. ...Though in this case "multiple" is only two, not 4-5 ( Read more... )

Los Cabos Travelog #1
SFO United Club lounge - Sat, 4 May 2024, 7:15amWe got up early this morning to head to the airport. Not quite zero-dark-thirty, more like five-dark-thirty. ...Which, with sunrise getting earlier as we head toward summer, wasn't even fully dark. The sky was already starting to lighten at 5:30. Technically sunrise occurred ( Read more... )

New Zealand Travelog #42
AKL Airport - Mon, 22 Apr 2024, 12pmWell, we're wrapping up our two weeks in New Zealand. In another 2 hours we won't be in the country anymore. Our last day here has been a taking-it-easy day. ...And that's because it's barely even a half day. With a flight departing at 1:50pm and the time needed to pack, return the car, ( Read more... )

New Zealand Travelog #38
Holiday Inn Auckland Airport - Sat, 20 Apr 2024, 5pm

After touring the Hobbiton movie set this morning we tried to go for a waterfall hike. We got to the trailhead... only to find "Trail Closed" signs. And while in other circumstances we might have figured, Aw, let's trying hiking it anyway, today it was pouring rain. We ( Read more... )

New Zealand Travelog #24
ZQN Airport - Mon, 15 Apr 2024, 10:30am

I'm sitting at the Air New Zealand lounge at ZQN airport in Queenstown, NZ. Yay, United Star Alliance Gold status... that gets me better treatment from airlines other than United. (United doesn't grant lounge access to Gold members on domestic flights in the US, though partners do in ( Read more... )

New Zealand Travelog #9
Queenstown NZ - Wed, 10Apr 2024, 7:30am

It's our second and last morning at the Hilton Queenstown Resort. We've enjoyed our brief stay in a two-bedroom "residence" apartment with a walk-out garden where we watched the sunrise yesterday. Yay, elite status for this nice upgrade ( Read more... )

New Zealand Travelog #6
Hilton Queenstown Resort - Mon, 8 Apr 2024, 9pm

The drive over to our hotel was quick after we landed at- and finished gawking at the scenery from- the Queenstown airport. Tonight and tomorrow night we're staying at the Hilton Queenstown Resort. Here's a photo I snapped from the balcony outside the guest lobby.


( Read more... )

New Zealand Travelog #4
AKL Airport lounge - Mon, 8 Apr 2024, 11am

If there's one place where the phrase "Hurry up and wait" applies, it's the airport. Actually it's more like, "Hurry up then wait." You hurry to get from one stage of the gauntlet to the next, only to wait in a slow moving line, only to hurry after that to the tail of the next line ( Read more... )