Wheels Up with Points

For only 100,000 ANA miles transferred from American Express and $668.21, I was able to fly 13 hours in comfort on Turkish Airlines' business class via Istanbul to Baku for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. For the first time on an international flight, I was able to check in entirely online and bypassed physical check-in entirely since I wasn't checking any bags. Having spent the night prior at the Hyatt Regency, we arrived at the airport too early to enter the Turkish Airlines lounge, but I was able to come back later and board directly from the lounge. In the meantime, we headed down to the primeclass lounge which I was able to access thanks to Priority Pass which is included with the newly re-vamped American Express Platinum Card  and Chase Sapphire Reserve  cards. As we were the first guests of the day, we had the lounge to ourselves for a while but it filled up by lunchtime.   Breakfast was delicious and as I was leaving to head to my gate, they were setting up lunch ...

Despite having sworn to stay away from JFK, a deal like this was too good to pass up and a fun way to spend my birthday in the air while also revisiting a city I really enjoyed 11 years ago.   I booked with American Airlines AAdvantage program which cost 115,000 miles and $48.60 taxes/fees round trip for lie flat business class.   Unfortunately my outbound direct flight was cancelled due to pilot strikes at Finnair and I was originally re-booked in American Airlines economy with a layover in London, but after a quick call, customer service was able to get everything sorted. After spending an hour covering the last 18 miles of the Van Wyck Expressway, I breezed through priority check-in to American Airlines' Greenwich Lounge.  I went straight to "The Bridge" which overlooks the terminal. There is a full service bar and as a bonus, I was sitting right next to Dean Norris from Breaking Bad!  I tried the chicken and waffle along with some deviled eggs, both of which...

One of my favorite uses of points is for high demand sporting events when cash rates are highest and points can bring great value. The JW Marriott Singapore South Beach sits at the corner of turns 7 and 8 of the Singapore Grand Prix circuit and cash rates are ~$1,000 a night for the race. But thanks to Marriott's Bonvoy program, we were able to redeem 189,000 points each for four nights with the fifth night free! The property has two infinity pools which both offer incredible views of the track from different perspectives. We watched the first practice session from the pool and then moved to our seats, but you could realistically geta way without buying race tickets and just watch race from pool. Finally, Marriott does a nice job rewarding their most loyal customers especially at properties outside of the US, where Platinum members and above receive free breakfast, which at this property was incredible. If you're interested in making more of your hotels stays with points, reach...