Author: Terence Chan

a plane on the runway
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Should I Credit My Upcoming British Airways Business Class Flight To Alaska Or American Airlines?

ByTerence Chan

A few months ago I was able to jump on a great deal for Business Class tickets aboard British Airways from San Francisco to Europe for just $1,700. Although it’s a little bit less of a great deal when you factor in the $250 that British Airways is asking for in order to select seats in advance. At the time, it was a no-brainer for me to credit this flight to Alaska Airlines, since I’d need the elite qualifying miles to re-qualify for status, and as an existing elite I’d receive a 100% bonus. But now things are a bit more complicated …

a large airplane in an airport

Am I The Only Person Excited To Try “Jetihad”?

ByTerence Chan

I’m off to India in the coming weeks, and as excited as I am to visit a new country (and attend an Indian wedding), in true #AVGeek form I’m even more excited to fly a new airline.

But while my return flight from India is booked in First Class on Etihad, it’s worth noting that it will actually be on one of the Boeing 777-300ER planes wet leased to Etihad from Jet Airways. In other words, the seat, food, and service really won’t be the same as that offered on standard Etihad flights.

a circular arrangement of flowers
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Introducing A New Blog Series: “What’s The Big Deal?”

ByTerence Chan

Like many of you, I spend a ton of time on Flyertalk and these forums contain a wealth of information about everything you could ever want to possibly know about anything travel-related. But with user-generated content comes a fair amount of complaining. It simply comes with the territory. I generally group the complaints and rants that I come across into 3 buckets:

a large airplane in a building

The Math Behind My Singapore Airlines Award Redemption To Singapore and India

ByTerence Chan

In case you hadn’t realized, I’m a math nerd (as are some of my coworkers). That means that numbers weigh heavily into any decision I make around getting the best value out of my miles. In fact, I even built a model that tells me when it makes sense to use miles or spend cash for a specific ticket. For my upcoming trip to India, I dusted off the model to compare a few different options. Here was the situation.

a restaurant with tables and chairs under a clear tunnel

Triple Points With Hilton For The Rest Of 2015

ByTerence Chan

A new promotion from Hilton was just announced this week, which will allow you to earn double points for weekday stays and triple points for weekend stays starting September 1, 2015 and running through December 31, 2015. While many of these promotions are diluted based on specific hotels choosing to opt-out, the great news here is that ALL Hilton-family hotels will be included.

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Saying Goodbye To JPMorgan Palladium, Paying To Reserve Seats, Eating Maui And Japan

ByTerence Chan

t’s been fun being a featured blogger this week on BoardingArea! To wrap things up, in case you missed it here’s a summary of the top posts from the past week. Just a note that you can still find Hungry for Points on the Prior2Boarding site, and the best way to keep up-to-date on the latest updates by adding me on Twitter or Facebook (or by using the buttons on the right-hand side) and feel free to drop me an email anytime!

a mountain in the distance

Fat And Furious: My Gluttonous Tour Of Japan Via Singapore Suites

ByTerence Chan

I’ve had a great time this week filling in as a featured blogger on BoardingArea! To those that aren’t familiar with my blog, Hungry for Points, the best way to introduce myself is probably through one of my trip reports. Earlier this week I wrapped up my “Fat and Furious” trip report, detailing a recent trip to Japan which included stops in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Matsuyama. This is one of the best trips I’ve ever taken, and I instantly fell in love with Japan. That excitement must have carried over into my writing, as it quickly became my all-time most popular report over on Flyertalk.

a cake with bananas on top
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Eating Maui – Road to Hana, Hawaiian BBQ, and Shave Ice

ByTerence Chan

We arrived in Maui with an ambitious to-do list, but were barely able to put a dent in it. The problem? Our stay at the Montage was so relaxing that we literally spent a couple days just lounging by the pool. That’s something that we NEVER do, and was probably a testament to just how amazing the hotel was. However, we did get out a few times to explore the surrounding areas, mainly in search for food. The food options in Kapalua are somewhat limited, especially if you don’t want to eat at the hotel. And even though we had a full kitchen at our disposal, we didn’t feel like cooking, but did stop by the neighboring supermarkets to pick up tuna poke and other snacks.

a lighthouse on a cloudy day
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Hotel Review: Brewery Gulch Inn (Mendocino, CA)

ByTerence Chan

My wife and I aren’t really the types to plan our weekends well in advance, and actually prefer to make spontaneous, last-minute plans. So halfway through the week prior to the 3-day MLK weekend in January, we decided that it’d be fun to drive up to Mendocino for a couple nights. Despite having both lived in Northern California for essentially our entire lives, neither of us had been to Mendocino before, but we’d heard that the drive along the California coast was something that everyone needed to do at least once. Given that it was January, the weather wouldn’t be ideal, but we were fine with the gloom as long as there wasn’t constant rain.