Useless Frequent Flyer Miles

Ed Hewitt, features editor for The Independent Traveler, wrote an article called, "Frequent Flyer Miles: Useless?" , in which he discusses how easy it is to obtain the frequent flyer miles, between spending money on credit cards, to staying at hotels, or eating at certain restaurants. However, he says, it's nearly impossible to actually redeem your miles and put them to use.

Hewitt ends his article with some tips.

He wrote, "Tips: By all appearances, the airlines want your loyalty with the lure of free tickets and upgrades, but they don't seem to want to make good on it. That's not exactly true -- according to published accounts, the airlines made 20 million awards last year! Hard to believe, I know. Here are my tips for turning your miles into actual travel, no mean feat.

Plan WAY Ahead. When traveling to Europe in peak season, advance purchase recommendations range from six to nine months!

Stick With Upgrades. I have never, ever been able to redeem mileage for free travel. In this day and age, with time a most precious resource, who purchases plane tickets six months in advance?

Upgrades, however, are a better bet. If the seats are empty, the airline loses nothing by upgrading you. You can also be put on a waiting list so you'll get the upgrade if an upgrade or full-fare passenger is a no-show.

Try at the Last Minute. Airlines are constantly adjusting their award quotas when reservations are canceled or planes are under booked. If you're willing to wait, try for an award redemption very close to your travel date, usually within the last week before travel -- ouch.

Try and Try Again. As above, award flyers often cancel reservations, and these awards are put back into the system for you to scoop up. Get a "not available" verdict? Try again tomorrow, and again in a few days.

Check Partner Airlines. If you can't get a flight on your airline, try one of their partner airlines. For example, United mileage members may redeem miles on USAirways, Continental members on Delta, etc.

Best and Worst Days for Award Travel. In general, Monday through Wednesday is your best bets for redeeming award travel. For international travel, Tuesday through Thursday works best, as international travelers often come home on Monday mornings. For warmer climates such as the Caribbean and Central and South America, Tuesday and Wednesday work best (book against long-weekend travel).

The worst days for award travel are Friday and Sunday, with Monday almost as bad for longer-haul or long-weekend destinations..."

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P.S. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Dive In!

In an article by Steve Friess of the Boston Globe called, "When you need to cool your heels and forget the slots, there is a pool for every taste," he assessed pools in Las Vegas with these questions in mind, "Is the pool innovative? Does it fit the hotel's theme? Is it any deeper than the typical 3-to-4 feet of most of its rivals? Is it clean? Is the layout logical or clever? Does it invite us to jump in? Do the lifeguards appear to be paying attention?"

He wrote, "In addition to the Wheel of Fortune slots, underdressed cocktail waitresses, and overpriced room service, there's one thing every hotel on or near the Las Vegas Strip has in common: a pool. Or, in the parlance of the resort business, a ''water feature."

Not all the water features here are created equal, however. Some are inventive expanses with sandy beaches, waterfalls, and bubbly hot tubs. Others are mundane, water-filled holes in the ground that reflect little of the kitsch for which Las Vegas is famous."

Here are two of his analyses:

The Flamingo: A+
3555 Las Vegas Blvd. South
702-733-3111; 888-308-8899
Who knew one of the oldest and least elaborate casino-resorts on the Strip would have a backyard so big, so lush, and so much fun? The network of water slides would have been enough, but there is also a second pool with a pounding 14-foot waterfall, and a third, more conventional and sedate pool, for those seeking a calmer atmosphere. Even that last one is clever, with 10-foot-tall concrete pink flamingos quietly spitting water out of their beaks. Live flamingos and African penguins are in the nearby garden.
Coke $2.25, rum and Coke $5.50.

Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino: A+
3950 Las Vegas Blvd. South
877-632-7800; 702-632-7777
As we treaded water in the 7-foot-deep pool waiting for the waves to start and sweep us to the sandy beach, we wondered: Why didn't anybody think of this before the Mandalay opened in 1999? There are three more conventional pools and a lazy river. (An adults-only topless pool is positioned such that youngsters cannot see it.) Lifeguards seem happy, vigilant, and alert, rare on the Strip..."

Tips for Asia trips

In an article by the Associated Press called, "Tips for Asia trips" that I found on CANOEtravel.com, they talk about some good ideas to remember when traveling through Asia.

The article says, "The October issue of Conde Nast Traveler provides the answers to these and other questions about travelling in Asia. A guide to tipping explains that in Japan, 10% may be added to your restaurant bill, but otherwise, leave nothing, and don't tip taxi drivers.

A guide to performing arts recommends the Shanghai Acrobats in China; the Thang Long Water Puppets in Vietnam; and the Sala Rim Naam dancers at the Mandarin Oriental's riverside restaurant in Bangkok.

Sunrise may be the best time of day to visit places like Angkor Wat and the Taj Mahal, the magazine advises; crowds from tour buses frequently show up for the sunset views.

Conde Nast Traveler also checked out booking and flights on the new low-cost carriers serving various Asian cities, and found 12 worth recommending: Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines, Air Deccan, Spicejet, Jetstar Asia, Cebu Pacific, Tiger Airways, Nok Air, One-Two-Go, Thai Airasia, Airasia Malaysia and Valuair.

Finally, when in doubt, the doorman or concierge at a decent hotel is your best bet for advice and assistance. The magazine warns that Western travellers in Asian cities are easy prey for taxi and pedicab drivers who deliberately take circuitous routes or charge more than agreed upon. Doormen can negotiate the fare in advance and make sure the driver knows where to go..."

Dancing with the Devils

Alex Quesada/Polaris, for The New York Times

In a NY Times article written by Seth Kugel, called Dancing With the Devils in the Dominican Republic, he wrote about the Carnaval celebration in La Vega.

Kugel wrote, "People come from all over the country to La Vega for the celebration.

But that changes in February, when Carnaval comes to town. Then, the quiet streets of La Vega are crowded with visitors who seem to double the population of 200,000, the clubs fill with deafening music that keeps their customers dancing until almost dawn, and - most notably - grotesquely beautiful, intricately decorated, jingle-bell-draped demons race through the streets of the jam-packed town every Sunday, whipping anyone who dares to get in their way with reinforced cow bladders that carry a surprisingly nasty sting.

It is a month peppered with street concerts that attract the country's big music stars; of weeks spent with family members who have returned home to relive the traditions of their childhood; of days and nights filled with music - the blaring brass of merengue, the tinny guitar of bachata, both played at absurdly high volumes on huge portable speakers - that acts as a kind of nonstop soundtrack to the surreal events that unfold as Carnaval gathers steam.

Carnaval takes place on each weekend of February, with parades on Sundays, culminating with the largest one, on Feb. 27, Dominican Independence Day. Many Dominican cities and towns have their own Carnaval traditions, usually with some demonic or outrageous character as its symbol and centerpiece. But none rivals that of La Vega, and, in fact, many other cities send representatives there on the 27th to march alongside that town's famed diablos cojuelos - horned, fanged, winged creatures whose outfits are created in ramshackle workshops by people who have been honing this skill for years..."

Cruising with the Kids

In an article in the travel section of the New York Times called 'Are 15 Decks Enough Entertainment for a 13-Year-Old?', Scribner editor, Colin Harrison wrote about how difficult it is to travel as a family. Finding something for every member to enjoy isn't easy. However, Harrison feels that a cruise really suits everyones needs.

He wrote, "The key element of our debilitated search for comfort was that our older daughter, 13, was getting harder to please. Teenage daughters need content in their vacations: iPods, movies, makeup, shopping opportunities - and other teenagers. They view their parents as the never-cool undead, released from the crypt of the 70's, scary only when they don't dispense cash.

Providing even a slender percentage of what teenagers demand is - well, work. Yet we knew that our daughter would make our vacation a weeklong agony if at least some of her demands were not met, not to mention those of her brother, 11, and sister, 5.

Yes, going for a cruise is arguably indulgent, and parents need to limit the excesses of American consumerism they model for their children: but please understand, we were tired and pale and desperate.

We arrived at the West Side docks and indeed, there was the ship, the Norwegian Dawn, magnificent and spotless, all 965 feet of it, 15 decks, 10 dining rooms, 92,250 tons, a floating extravaganza with streamers and confetti painted on the sides. Within a few minutes, it was clear that not a few other families had done exactly as we had: frumpy parents sheepishly eyed each other, their teenagers already forming whispering packs, punching in each other's cellphone numbers, creating instant secret societies impermeable to adult scrutiny.

Our daughter already had "friends" with whom she exchanged room numbers. Packs of animated teenage boys surveyed the ship. It didn't take much of an imaginative leap to arrive at their point of view: girls plus a big ship equals excitement..."

To read the rest of this entertaining article, visit the New York Times Travel Section.