Jeffsetter Travel

Travel Consultants and Travel Tips

Jeffsetter Blog (featuring Island Miler)

One of my Favorite Uses of Miles: Speculative Award Bookings

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When your house is listed for sale and you have already moved your possessions, you can expect a high level of uncertainty with every day that passes. What if the house sells before I’m scheduled to come back next? Who will mow the lawn? Who will take care of X and Y? I have found the whole process to be quite annoying. You can take the “out of sight, out of mind” approach … [Read more...] about One of my Favorite Uses of Miles: Speculative Award Bookings

Getting a United Status Match in 5 Easy Steps

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The first airline I ever flew was Northwest Airlines (NWA), and I was loyal to the red tail for pretty much my entire life into early adulthood. NWA was a Minnesota staple, to the point that when the 1987 Twins won the World Series, the noise of the crowd in the Metrodome was compared to the noise of an NWA 747 taking off from the nearby airport. Then Delta took over and the … [Read more...] about Getting a United Status Match in 5 Easy Steps

Grapes Ready for Harvest in Sonoma County

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I spent much of Labor Day weekend exploring some of the beautiful areas north of San Francisco, experiencing great food, fun hikes and lots of wine along the way. On Sunday we stopped at one of our favorite wineries in Sonoma county and had a library tasting of some of the special wines they had been storing for 10+ years. In between tastings, I took some time to photograph … [Read more...] about Grapes Ready for Harvest in Sonoma County

Taking the Pain out of Flight Research

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One of the biggest pain points I come across while playing the travel hacking game is award flight research. While it’s fairly easy to understand where airline alliances can take you, piecing together the perfect itinerary and award booking can take several hours/days/weeks/months to complete. It might start with a simple trip to Wikipedia or Open Flights to understand … [Read more...] about Taking the Pain out of Flight Research

Is a $500 Fine for Negative Reviews a Brilliant Marketing Scheme?

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An article has been making the rounds about an upstate New York Hotel fining customers $500 for leaving a negative review for their hotel. Here is the original text that sparked the story: If your guests are looking for a Marriott type hotel they may not like it here. Therefore: If you have booked the Inn for a wedding or other type of event anywhere in the region and given us … [Read more...] about Is a $500 Fine for Negative Reviews a Brilliant Marketing Scheme?