Author: Terence Chan

a box with a silver cover
|

Saying Goodbye To The JPMorgan Palladium Card

ByTerence Chan

It’s a process that I go through every year for each of my credit cards – the annual retention call. I throw on my most innocent sounding voice, and call the number on the back of the card. “Hello, I just noticed that the annual fee was billed and I’d like to cancel my credit card.” That sentence usually triggers a “WAIT STOP!” type of response from the customer service representative, and a couple minutes later I’m walking away with some free points or a statement credit.

a plate of food on a black surface

The World’s 50 Best Restaurants For 2015

ByTerence Chan

It’s a list that’s as controversial as the rankings of “Best Airlines In the World” and “Best Hotels In The World”, but I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t interested in the newly released 2015 World’s Best Restaurants. This is an annual list produced by Restaurant magazine in the UK with results based on a polling of chefs, restauranteurs, and food critics. In other words, the scores are probably about as subjective as a figure skating competition or college football’s BCS.

a white airplane on a runway
|

Flight Review: Alaska Airlines First Class San Jose To Maui

ByTerence Chan

In recent years I’ve been very fortunate to have the opportunity to travel to the Maldives and the Seychelles. But while the Maldives and Seychelles provide ultra-exclusive island getaways, they also have the price tag to match, and are a 24+ hour journey each way from the USA. As beautiful and amazing as those destinations were, as I reflect on those trips, what I really walk away with is a renewed appreciation for just how lucky I am to have Hawaii in my backyard. From the West Coast it’s less than a 5 hour direct flight to the Hawaiian islands, and they are chock full of mainstream chain hotels to use points at. Also, since you’re still in the USA, it’s easy to drive around and there’s worrying about cell phone service.

an airplane on the tarmac
|

Flight Review: ANA Boeing 787 Business Class Tokyo to San Jose

ByTerence Chan

I still find it interesting that you can fly from Japan into San Jose, the oft-neglected and less glamorous sibling of San Francisco International (SFO), located just 45 minutes south along the 101. I had taken SFO-NRT route before in First Class, and if I’m being honest would have definitely done so again if available, but the only premium cabin availability happened to be on the 2-cabin flight into San Jose. For those in a similar predicament, keep in mind that the San Jose route has very light loads in Business Class and almost always has availability last-minute. As an added bonus, the flight was operated by a Boeing 787 Dreamliner which I’d get to fly for the first time.

a seat with a seat and a seat with a seat and a seat with a seat and a seat with a seat and a seat with a seat and a seat with a seat and a seat with
|

How Much Are You Willing To Pay To Reserve Seats In Advance?

ByTerence Chan

Last week, there were some great Business Class deals floating around for travel to Europe later this year and even into next year. It seems like the East Coast gets the majority of the European deals, but this wave included departures from the West Coast (SFO and LAX) on either American Airlines or British Airways as low as $2,100. While I’m never keen to transfer via London’s Heathrow airport, I was able to knock an additional $400 off the price by booking with British Airways and utilizing the AARP discount, so it was a no-brainer to choose BA over AA.

a two coffee machines on a counter

Lounge Review: ANA Business Class Lounge at NRT

ByTerence Chan

All good things must come to and end, and as much fun as we’d had over the past week eating our way through Japan, it was to time to pack up and head home. After checking out of the hotel, we jumped on the Metro for just 1 stop to Tokyo Station, and connected to the Narita Express (NEX) for a smooth 1-hour ride to the airport. By now we had been accustomed to the amazing Japanese efficiency, and took for granted how we were literally through security and at the entrance of the lounge in minutes.

a piece of meat on a towel
|

Fat And Furious: Cherry Blossoms and THE BEST STEAK EVER In Tokyo

ByTerence Chan

On the initial stop in Tokyo we were hoping to take advantage of our jet-lagged body clocks to wake up in time for the daily fish auction at Tsukiji Fish Market. Based on our research, we had read that you really need to be there by 4AM at the latest to secure a spot. But we ended up going 0 for 2 on our attempts, although I fully admit that I only gave it a half-hearted effort. After all, while on vacation there’s no way that you should be forced to wake up earlier than you do for work.

a plate of food with a bear made of food
|

Fat And Furious: Maids, Robots, and Cosplay In Tokyo

ByTerence Chan

At Kyoto Station we hopped on the shinkansen for a very pleasant 2-hour journey to Tokyo. Even by the lofty standards of train systems in Asia, the shinkansen is truly amazing. We had received some mixed signals from the hotel concierge on whether to book our tickets in advance. Perhaps the they assumed that we were using the Japan Rail Pass, in which case you will want to make reservations ahead of time. Since we weren’t, we simply purchased tickets at Kyoto Station for the next Nozomi train which left every 15 minutes.

a sculpture of a curved object
|

Hotel Review: The Peninsula Tokyo

ByTerence Chan

Even though I’m a total creature of habit, there was no way that I’d forgo the opportunity to stay at a different hotel when we returned to Tokyo. Similar to my restaurant dilemma, Tokyo has so many amazing luxury hotels to choose from that it was hard to pick one. Ultimately, I settled on The Peninsula Tokyo, mainly because I’d been wanting to stay at a Peninsula property for quite some time. Our shinkansen arrived at Tokyo Station in the late afternoon, and even though we had our luggage with us, we ended up walking to the hotel. It wasn’t bad at all, and arrived about 15 minutes later.