Sunday, March 10, 2024

Flying from Phoenix / Strange Happenings in AA Points Redemptions


 

An American Airlines Plane Departs in the Shadow of Camelback Mountain

 

Fluid Points and Wildly Differing Fees

I am planning two international bicycling trips in 2024.

Trip One: Cycling Tuscany (April /May)

For this trip I'll make a brief pre-trip to Rome. Then I'll take the train to Florence to meet up with friends in Florence to cycle for six days through the Chianti region. We will finish up in Lucca (near Pisa). 

Trip Two: Cycling Sparta, Monemvasia, & the Peloponnesian Peninsula (October/November)

To avoid crowds I'm traveling well out of the normal tourist season. There will be a brief pre-trip in Athens and then on to another week of sunshine, good cycling, and great food.

Expect lots more on those trips later.

However, while planning those trips I encountered lots of interesting oddities in the current frequent flier redemption marketplace. It is frankly a bit wild out there.

 

Collecting Points and Earning Elite Status

First off, many airlines are offering very generous point incentives if you open branded credit cards and make a minimum spend. Yet experience shows they then take steps to make it increasingly difficult achieve elite status. Today, elite status is all about how much you spend, not how often (or how far) you fly. 

And once your frequent flier points begin to pile up you may notice that airlines raise the redemption levels needed to use them. Similarly, when you reach a top elite status level, the airlines simply add new, even higher, status plateaus. 

Remember how Lucy always moved the football?

Thankfully, I have lifetime elite status with multiple hotels and airlines. However, I secured my lifetime status under the old points systems. Road warriors of today don't have it so easy. 

 

Spending Your Points.....

First, if you are like me and use your frequent flier points to offset the cost of annual personal travel, I strongly advise you to plan ahead and then remain flexible. 

The days when redemption values were fixed have long since disappeared. Now the airlines post ever changing daily redemption rates; mostly up, sometimes down.

And the airline you choose makes a big difference too. Although Delta is a wonderful airline, it has redemption rates that are typically much higher than rates on the other legacy carriers. And all of the major airlines have priced redemption levels for Premium Economy and Business Class cabins well out of reach for most of us. I used to routinely fly my family of four to Europe and Asia in business class for about 53K per person each way. Now business class can run 400K per person each way. 

But, with a little shopping, you can still do very well flying coach (particularly on American where a flight to Europe can frequently be redeemed for 30K each way). 

Also don't get fixated on flying to a specific destination. So what if you are going to Italy? It may well be more advantageous to first fly to a city like Madrid as your gateway. Shop around and once you get to Europe, buying a connecting toyour final destination by train or on regional air carrier may be pretty inexpensive. 

For my Greek trip I found AA service from Athens to be spotty. So I priced other gateways for my return home. My favorite European gateways are typically London and Madrid (I love Madrid's Barajas Airport). Amsterdam is also a good choice. In a pinch I'll shop Paris, Frankfurt and Barcelona too.

We began our trip to Vietnam last fall by flying to Thailand. After a few days in Bangkok we connected to Hanoi on a very inexpensive commuter flight.

Once you've booked a flight on points check back now and then. If redemption rates drop, consider canceling your booking and getting your points reinstated. Then re-book at the lower rate. I recently did this on a flight from Boston to London next October. The original booking was 30K. The new booking was 19K for the same flight. And since I cancelled the old one first, I still got my favorite bulkhead seat.

Searching for my return flight from Athens I'd initially hoped to return via London (on my favorite AA flight 195), but I forgot how ridiculous the fees are on flights originating at Heathrow. The fees going to London are cheap. The fees coming home suck.

And when I went to check AA initially posted high redemption points too. This led me to switch to a flight returning home from Amsterdam. That routing saved me 21,000 points and $150 in fees. And the redemption rate for my Amsterdam flight has since dropped three times. First it was 30K, then it was 27K, now it is 19K. 

So I'll take an extra day and fly Aegean to Schipol, check into the airport Hilton or Sheraton (you can walk to the gates from these hotels), then spend a day exploring the Rijksmuseum. 

The next morning I'll walk to my gate and fly home to Phoenix a lot more rested. 


Phoenix / Airline Desert

I love living in Phoenix, with our warm, sunny climate and amazing Sky Harbor Airport. Yet, we suffer from crappy international air service. Despite being the fifth largest metro area in the US we only have two, count 'em two, daily flights to Europe and both of them go to the same place. We have no international flights to Asia at all. strip away our Canada and Mexico flights and Phoenix is an international airline desert. 

Just before covid hit American added a daily non-stop flight from Sky Harbor to London (joining British Air whose daily flight to London had been our only direct flight to Europe for decades). Now, perhaps due to the pressure of the new-ish AA flight, British Air has downsized the aircraft they operate for their PHX flight.

Seasonally, Condor flies a few days a week from Phoenix to Germany and Air France recently announced they will soon offer seasonal service from Phoenix to Paris.

I find it bizarre how grossly underserved Phoenix is especially when I compare offerings from highly weather impacted hubs like Denver, Dallas, and Salt Lake City.

IMHO the situation has steadily gotten worse after American's consolidation. Once the merger moratorium on abandoning hubs dropped off AA started reducing non-stop services to/from Phoenix. Aa and Delta have poured (literally) billions of dollars into LAX and DFW, while methodically redeploying Phoenix based flight crews.

When we fly globally anywhere (except London) Phoenicians have to fly through ATL, DFW, JFK, ORD, or LAX. Now, if I were to ask you to name the most universally despised airports in North America, wouldn't all of those airports make your list?

to me they are all poorly designed aviation relics continuously undergoing expensive and superficial upgrading.

Another oddity I've noticed is how AA sometimes leverages it's FF redemption strategy to nudge fliers into cashing in AA points on competitor's flights. For example when I checked into using AA points to fly non-stop from LHR to PHX on one day / one-way rate was:

AA: 59.5K points + $190 taxes / fees 

However, using the same AA points on the BA flight was only 22.5K points + $384 taxes / fees one way

Low points / high fees. The AA flight that day required 2-1/2 times the points of the BA flight (but came with those crazy high LHR fees). Fees are reasonable flying to LHR, but dreadfully high flying from LHR. 

Initially I speculated the point discrepancy might be AA's way of driving non-rev passengers to code share partners in order to keep their own seats open and available for more profitable fare paying passengers.

But a few weeks later the discrepancy vanished and, in fact, it reversed. 

LHR to PHX a few weeks back = 59K

The same LHR to PHX flight a few weeks later and AA's same flight cost = 19K

The moral of the story; be flexible, book your flights then check back now and then. 

So to recap, find a good rate and book it. Don't procrastinate. If rates goes up, no worries, you are protected. If rates goes down, you can cancel and re-book. 

You just might save enough miles for another trip.


Roadboy's Travels © 2024

Sunday, February 18, 2024

Traveling in the "Off" Season

The Upside Down Travel View of Phoenicians

I know I've written this before, but with record crowds now traveling again it feels like a good time to repeat it.

Much of my travel and recreation activities include riding a bike. And in Arizona, with our upside down seasons, we cycle as much as possible in late fall, all winter, and during spring. We ride like crazy while the rest of America hibernates. 

So when winter begins to melt into spring and the rest of America starts tuning up their bikes for summer, we feel the dread of putting our bikes away as we prepare to endure another nuclear summer. 

For us, summer is a good time to go somewhere else. But summer is precisely when many of the world's most scenic places become overpriced, hot, and obscenely overcrowded. 

So I grudgingly trade some of my own ideal winter cycling season for some off-season travel to the places I'd prefer to experience without the company of a zillion other hot tourists. 

For example, this year, in my quest to avoid excessive crowds, I'll be biking in Tuscany in late April and on Greece's Pelopponnesian Penninsula in late October.

And, I admit it, even when not riding a bike, I've come to seek out some cold places for mid-winter travel. 

Paris and Rome are especially beautiful in winter. 
 
One fond wintertime Parisian memory was the Sunday afternoon my daughter and I spent just hanging out among Parisian families in the Luxembourg Gardens. They were all wrapped up in their stylish puffy coats pushing baby strollers, chatting and playing cards around its glaciated fountains. 
 
To me that Sunday defined the true spirit of the City of Light.
 
And, spending a frosty foggy winter day strolling among the rows of severely pruned trees in Versailles was equally ethereal. There was something just magical seeing the morning steam rising from the Palace's fountains and waterways as some heroic white and black swans slowly paddled by.

 
A February Day in Versailles

On bitterly cold winter days in Brugge cafes put out big blazing fire pots. The pots flank their front doors to tempt you in for Moules et Frittes (steaming bowls of mussels accompanied by a pile of crisp french fries). There is something kind of perfect about that.

On a winter trip to New York City the sight of the snowy Bethesda (Angel's in America) Fountain in Central Park patiently awaiting new life to begin in spring felt uplifting.

Although winter visits deprive us warn days and blooming flowers, I'll happily wear a hat, scarf and ear muffs to join rosy cheeked Londoners as they cheer for jugglers and street performers in Covent Garden.

And on one bright and crisp December morning I sat all bundled up on a bench in Rome's Borghese Gardens and watched the passing walkers and cyclists. The imagery was pure Edward Hopper.

A December Morning in the Borghese Gardens

So travel in the off season. Whether you visit Prague, Madrid, Rome, Athens or Berlin, you will have a much better chance of rubbing shoulders with locals on a cold winter day than any day in summer.

And, those are the days that will help you to truly discover the soul of a place. 

Once my kids hit the age when travel was no longer confined by the tyranny of school calendars, I discovered crowd-free off-season travel.

And you should too!

 

Roadboy's Travels © 2024


Sunday, January 28, 2024

Cycling SE Asia 2023 Part 9: Ho Chi Minh City

 

Hot Saigon!

An early morning shuttle transported us from Hoi An to the nearby airport in Da Nang. Along the way we made brief stops at Da Nang's Dragon Bridge and to see its beautiful silver strand of urban beach (strongly reminded me of Waikiki).

After landing at Saigon's Tan Son Nhat International Airport and being shuttled into the heart of the city my first impression was "wow, Saigon is even hotter than Hoi An!"

I say this acknowledging that, being a Phoenician, we are not exactly wimps when it comes to hot weather. Each year we masochistically count the number of days (in a row!) when our daytime temperatures exceed 110° F. 

In the summer of 2023, we set an awful record with 54 days at, or above, 110° F. Yep, it was hell.

Yet adding one drop of moisture to our heat and Phoenicians (like me) just melt 🫠. So the climate of Ho Chi Minh City, where heat is saturated with humidity, just hammered me. 

In fact, our guides chided us that Saigon only has two seasons; hot and damn hot! Lucky for us, our visit was in "hot" season 😓. 

A sidebar rant....

For any of you brain dead idiots still clinging to some anti-science fantasy that climate change is just cyclical or some kind of left wing hoax, as glaciers recede and ice caps melt, know that thinking humans believe God wasted a brain (and certainly a heart) on you. 

Please do not vote or have children.

OK, now back to the  post....

Despite the heat (?!) our first stop was lunch and a big steaming bowl of very hot Phó.

 

Phó Rush - Lunchtime Saigon

Lunch was followed by a tour a tour of Saigon's mid-century modern Independence (or Presidential) Palace. The Palace was conceived in 1962 by ill fated president Ngo Dinh Diem. Diem, was murdered the next year in a coup and never saw his completed palace.

The building, finished in 1966, was designed by the celebrated Vietnamese architect Ngo Viet Thu. Thu was a graduate of the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and was the recipient of The First Grand Prize of Rome in 1955. He went on to be the first Asian architect to be accorded the title of Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. 

The palace ultimately served as the home of the leader of the military junta Nguyen Van Thieu and his family. They lived there until just before the final defeat of the Republic of South Vietnam in 1975. The Palace was the site of South Vietnam's surrender.    

Saigon's Independence Palace

Ambassador's Reception Rm.
 
The building is monumental in size (180,000 SF) and extraordinarily formal in layout. It is now used for conferences and other related activities. Frozen in time, it symbolically exemplifies the excesses of a past era.
 
A textbook example of early 60's sleek Camelot modernism, it reminds me of the formal, highly linear, layered designs of Edward Durell Stone (as exemplified in his US Embassy in New Delhi and Kennedy Center in Washington DC). 
 
Stacked Brise Soleil Windows 
 
Rich details abound in this building. I really loved these three-part stacked windows mounted behind the vaguely bone fragment like concrete "bamboo" brise soleil. 
 
Simple, yet just beautifully designed and crafted, the windows adjust to perfectly direct the breeze into major building spaces. And, without any perception of air conditioning running, most of the spaces we toured felt pretty comfortable.   

 
The Presidential and Vice Presidential Reception Rooms

As with all palace architecture, the design intent of the building meant to humble a visitor while conveying an image of power and stability.
 
The Presidential and Vice Presidential Reception Rooms in Use

It was to serve as a concrete symbol of prestige for Diem's authoritarianism. All of its formal room layouts are out of human scale and remind me of short little Putin sitting at his huge conference tables in the salons of the Kremlin (where he sits a mile away from anyone else in his presence). Of course, for Putin it is as much about paranoia and fear as it is prestige.
 
Reception Salon
 
Beyond its dignitary spaces, the building also housed a bunker and subgrade command center. It remains a concrete symbol of a tragic period in Vietnam's history.

After visiting the Palace we viewed some of Ho Chi Minh City's other major buildings and public spaces. They run the gamut of "Tony Stark's" Avenger's skyscraper with its mid-level helipad to the classically designed Opera House and Post Office.  


Saigon Opera House at Night
 
That evening we had the pleasure of seeing the incredible AO Acrobats show in the Opera House. The show seemed inspired by the Cirque du Soleil type shows but was adapted to reflect the lyrical culture and character of Saigon. As I age, my appreciation for the pure lithe agility and strength of the performers only increases.   

 

Scooter Parking at the Saigon Opera House


Modern Saigon's Bitexco (Tony Stark's) Tower Rises Above Old Saigon  

The next morning we cycled in the countryside with a stop to visit the Viet Cong's Cu Chi Tunnels complex. Our tour began with a presentation and question and answer period conducted by a former Viet Cong guerilla and inhabitant of the tunnels.

Tunnel Presentation
 

We learned how the 75 mile complex of tunnels was designed and compartmentalized. Sections were built at various depths to absorb blast impacts and included with features such as smoke chambers to trap and hold smoke from cooking for eventual dissipation at night. 

More adventurous visitors could enter and explore sections of the tunnels. No way Mr. 6'-4" was gonna venture down there.  


A Concealed Tunnel Entrance


Lifting a Access Portal


 The Climb Out

The balance of this day's ride took us through vast groves of banana trees and rubber plantations. 

The history of Vietnam's rubber industry is laden with sadness and heartache. The plantations began by the French (Michelin), were significantly destroyed by the Japanese, and then resurrected by Americans. 

Working in the rubber plantations was pure hell. Writer Tran Tu Binh states that the bodies of plantation workers all eventually "become fertilizer for the capitalists' rubber trees".

Rows of Rubber Trees

Dripping Latex

Between understanding the use of the Cu Chi tunnels and the history of the rubber plantations it was a day for reflection on the durability of the human spirit.

The next (and final) day of cycling was a 21 mile tour in the Mekong Delta. Along the way we passed locals transporting whole families and amazing arrays of goods on their scooters and bicycles.

Bicycles as Freight Transport 

Our ride was punctuated with stops to talk to farmers raising various crops including dragon fruit and coconuts. 


 Coconut Harvests Require Hand Stripping of the Shells 

We learned that every part of a coconut is used. I was particularly impressed by the reduced glycemic value inherent in coconut sugar and brought a tub home to use in my baking.

Many of the rows of dragonfruit were punctuated with large elevated family funerary memorials. I was fascinated that many of the fields were outfitted with lights between each row.

Dragon fruit Plants

Freshly Harvested Dragon fruit

A Sweeter Pink Variety

At one random stop we chatted with a dragon fruit farmer who was happy to show us the pink variety of dragon fruit they proudly raise. The farmer also explained that rows of lights we noted between plants were simply a way to "trick" the them into producing an additional harvest. 

We sampled some fruit and I found it to be significantly sweeter than the typical  we get exported to the US.  

In addition to the dragon fruit and coconuts were seemingly endless rice fields. The Vietnamese rice industry produces some of the highest quality and award winning rice varieties in the world.

The Mighty Mekong River

Although the tide was out, it was clear how immense the Mekong River river is.  Originating in the Tibetan Highlands, the 2,700 mile long river is critical to multinational agriculture and commerce. 

What the guides did not point out to us was how the river is now dangerously low due to years of drought. It is also suffering from severe overfishing and relentless dam building on tributaries to the river in Laos and China. Hopefully, the stalled construction of the Sekong A dam (being built largely in secret by a state owned Vietnamese company) signals a reevaluation of the ecological price the dams will exact on the river for the relatively little power they will produce.

Experts studying the river have been warning that it is arguably the World's most important river and that overfishing and dam building has left it close to a ecological tipping point. A tipping point that could affect the food supply and livelihood for 70,000,000 people.   

Lush Farms Along the Mekong

We shuttled back to our hotel to freshen up for our farewell dinner to be held in the former US Ambassador's residence.


The View From The Hotel Majestic

I used the time to sneak off to view Saigon's historic Victorian style post office and snag just one more egg coffee. 

Egg coffee is a specialty that was reportedly created by a clever bartender at the Hotel Metropole Hanoi to compensate for milk shortages during the first Indochina war. It remains popular today as a marvelous sweet treat to be savored. The baristas at The Legends of Coffee in Saigon always caution that its creation will take at least 10 minutes. But it is so worth it. This is now my favorite coffee drink. And it makes sense to come from the country that ranks second in the world in coffee production.

Each cup requires two whipped egg yolks that are carefully creamed together with sweetened condensed milk and a little vanilla. The mixture is gently poured over slightly bitter Vietnamese (robusta) coffee. In the US some people substitute New Orleans style chicory coffee. The Legends egg coffee is served in a cradle of warm water. Upon presentation you stir and stir the mixture together to fully blend the egg mixture with the coffee and then you should take your time to thoroughly enjoy it. 

Sumptuous Vietnamese Egg Coffee

Our final night was capped off with a catered dinner in the former residence of US ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. The present owner of the residence toured us through the home noting the history that took place in the residence.

Lodge was appointed as the US ambassador to South Vietnam by President Kennedy in 1963. In what many (including Dwight D. Eisenhower) counseled was a no-win political move. Lodge's sense of service compelled him to accept the appointment. His mission was to find a way to end the chaos of the Diem regime. 
 
But like many of his predecessors, he arrived with an inadequate understanding of the full political situation. Diem and his family were aggressively pro-catholic and had unleashed a wave of terror against Buddhist leaders including a massacre in Hué.
 
President Kennedy, being furnished with contradictory messages from Lodge and General Harkins about the viability of the Diem regime, waffled back and forth in his support of future leadership of South Vietnam.  

Many felt Kennedy had sent Lodge so he could accept credit if an American engineered coup of Deim brought stable leadership. If the coup failed he could place blame on the "rogue" (Republican) Ambassador Lodge.
 
Of course much that could go wrong did. Lodge had offered Diem a US promise of political asylum if he stepped down (instead he was murdered). 
 
Then, more chaos followed as President Johnson took control of the war following the November 1963 assassination of JFK.
 

Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.


The Ambassador's Residence

With a great dinner and a history lesson under our belt, we retired to the Hotel Majestic for a good nights sleep. 

Our morning journey home would start early with a first leg to Seoul. 

I arrived with a suitcase of unresolved emotions about Vietnam and all its name signified to someone my age. I left full of admiration for the Vietnamese people and hopes for their future.

 

Roadboy's Travels © 2024

Thursday, January 4, 2024

Cycling SE Asia 2023 Part 8: Rural Cycling and The Red Bridge Cooking School

Final Day in Hoi An 

On our final day in Hoi An we took a brief, but very pretty, bike ride through the surprisingly colorful agricultural lands surrounding the city. Afterwards we returned back to Hoi An's Old Town.

Short Morning Ride Near Hoi An

Through Carefully Tended Micro Fields

 

Farmers Aided by Water Buffalos

 

Lagoon Scenery Along the Way

Our brief stop in Hoi An allowed for a brisk walk through Hoi An's town market prior to catching a boat ride to the Red Bridge Cooking School.

Hoi An's Town Market

(Very) Fresh Seafood at Hoi An's Town Market

The cooking class was both fun and instructive. We were counseled on how to select ingredients, use and adjust basic seasonings, and (of course) then go on to cook some wonderful basic Vietnamese specialties. I loved making the rice paper spring roll wrappers! 

With the foods prepared we retired to a beautiful nearby outdoor dining pavilion to enjoy our cooking efforts for lunch.

Preparing Fresh Ingredients and Seasonings

Demonstrating Cooking Techniques

A Finished Effort

After the cooking class there was time to go to the tailors for our final fittings. 

After the fitting we enjoyed a great bahn mi sandwich from the little cafe near the hotel and then retired to our rooms to pack for our morning shuttle through the gleaming, and rapidly expanding, modern port city of Da Nang to catch our final flight to the rollicking anthill that is Ho Chi Minh City.

 

Roadboy's Travels © 2024

Saturday, December 30, 2023

Cycling SE Asia 2023 Part 7: Exploring Hoi An

Hoi An the Peaceful Meeting Place

After a wonderful breakfast (I loved having noodles for breakfast paired with small glasses of guava juice and that wonderful cold, sweet  Vietnamese coffee) we took a brief walking tour of Hoi An's Old Town before heading for the bikes. 

It is easy to see why Hoi An is such a popular destination. This city of 120,000 is home to wonderful resorts on pristine beaches and an old town worthy of a 1999 UNESCO World Heritage designation. The name Hoi An translates to "peaceful meeting place", yet because of its lunar full moon festival it is also known as The City of Lanterns.

Bright Beautiful Lanterns are Everywhere in Hoi An

Lanterns in Profusion

Hoi An was Vietnam's largest trading center on the East (South China) Sea for more than two hundred years. But its importance waned in the 18th century with the collapse of the Nguyen rule and ensuing battles which left Hoi An in ruins. The winner Emperor Gia repaid the French for their aid in the war by giving them exclusive trading rights to nearby Dà Nang, which relegated Hoi An largely to backwater status. 

Hoi An's renaissance came in the 1990's in part through the efforts of a polish architect, educator, and conservationist Kazimierz Kwiatkowski. Today Hoi An's links to Poland are noted throughout the city.

I noted the "I Heart Poland" on the Incense Offering

During the tours it was pointed out how severe flooding is very common in Hoi An. Further, over tourism now poses a risk to Hoi An's Old Town. The city is as fragile as it is pretty. To help reduce further damage Old Town is now closed to auto traffic.

Hoi An offers a different face by day and by night with a bustling restaurant zone on one side of the river and a large shopping district with a focus on art, textiles and exquisite custom tailoring on the other. 


An Embroidery Shop

After our tour, and a walk through the large waterside market, we boarded a ferry to cross the river to where our bikes were waiting for us.    

Waterside Market

After collecting our bikes we cycled through rural Hoi An on small streets and crossing numerous bridges in its rich marshy agricultural area. All along the way there were stacks of recently harvested and dyed marsh grass drying in the sunshine. The grasses are used by weavers to make the sleeping mats commonly used instead of mattresses throughout Vietnam. We stopped in to visit one family of weavers (a woman and her 93 year old mother) in the process of weaving. They told us they weave two mats a day selling for $12 each.

Mat Weavers
 

As we rode, we passed more farmers working with their water buffalos and lots of children eager to wave and test out their "hello's".

Hello!

At the end of the riding we stopped at the Dao Tien a new restaurant on the rivers edge for one of the best meals of our trip.  The menu included two spring roll appetizers and then presented crispy fish with young mango, grilled chicken with honey and five spice and cabbage salad. The meal was rounded out with wok fried vegetables in oyster sauce and steamed rice in pandan leaves. Truly a delight.

Rice Paper Appetizer

Birds Nest Rolls

Steamed Rice in Pandan Leaves

Boat Themed Waterside Cafe

At the conclusion of the day those that were interested went for fitting at a noted local tailor sho (BeBe). I took a photo of Walt Disney in with me to show them some trousers that I'd like. I wondered if they'd be able to create a couple of pairs like Walts. One summer weight linen the other in heavy wool lined half in silk.

Walt Disney's Slacks

24 hours and two fittings later my beautiful pairs of new slacks were dropped off at my hotel. I asked how they did it so fast and was told they employ dozens of seamstresses who work all day and night. The slacks will serve as a cherished souvenir of the trip.

 

Roadboy's Travels © 2023