Tagged With "Holiday Inn Express"
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Re: Wow! Iceland Express successor adds U.S. flights
I really am excited about hearing this.I was a big fan of Iceland Express, so I'm hoping Wow will offer the same consistent low prices to North America as they did.
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Re: Holiday Flying: How to Beat the Wrap
Just a note of caution, if, as PHeymont suggests, the airport mall tempts you to pick up holiday cheer and other liquids, don't forget connections and possible second trips through security. Just because you bought it at the airport doesn't mean they won't snag it if you have to leave airside to get to your connection. I can imagine very well supplied TSA holiday parties courtesy of some chagrined passengers.
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Re: Holiday Flying: How to Beat the Wrap
PM is right, and the caution applies especially to liquids. There are some exceptions for duty-free items sealed in special bags, but not always.
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Re: Holiday Flying: How to Beat the Wrap
Thanks for the good information. I would not have thought about the airport mall, Amazon Locker or the big box stores. Those are terrific ideas. I have given up on gift wrapping and just toss a few colorful gift bags and some tissue paper into my luggage. Later, I put the gifts in the bags for the big "reveal" for the recipient.
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Re: Ryanair: Sell the Extras, Give Away the Tickets?
For those who were traveling to Europe about 30 years ago, you may or may not remember the short-lived airline, People's Express. I bought 2 tickets from the US West Coast to Brussels for $300 each which was, if I recall, an introductory price and very cheap even then. They didn't last long which I lamented as I liked the CEO's attitude and approach. On the other hand, I think O'Leary has something up his sleeve, he always does, making noise for the publicity. A most unpleasant man, from all...
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Re: Ryanair: Sell the Extras, Give Away the Tickets?
I certainly remember People Express...the only reason I became familiar with Newark Airport. We used to fly to Buffalo ($19, $29, $39) and then rent a car to visit family in Toronto. Then we snagged $49 specials from NY to SFO...and while we were sitting on the plane realized we could have gone to London for the same price! Which we did the next year, but it cost us a bit more. PE didn't always make its schedule, and other things could go wrong, but the staff were unfailingly friendly and...
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Re: Up, Up and Away: Airline miles cards with big bonuses
I have a Delta American Express Platinum card that has served us well. The fee is higher than the gold card, but we can check two bags free, priority boarding, and a free companion pass yearly. We fly two or three times a year and the value of the waived baggage fee and the companion pass far exceed the $150 annual fee. The card also accrues one mile for each dollar spent and lately has offered cash back incentives. For example: spend $15 at Panera's using the card and receive $5 credit on...
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Re: Gallery: The Worst Train in the World Redux
This is the true Orient Express.. Thanks for the great pictures, and the chance to "be" somewhere truly special.
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Re: Cruising through the holidays
Looks beautiful, Marilyn. I think I may consider this option for next Christmas (or any time of the year for that matter!)
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Re: Holiday Inn Express to Offer Selfies on Pancakes
OMG. The end of the world must be very near.
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Re: Holiday Inn Express to Offer Selfies on Pancakes
PHeymont -- the end will definitely be near if that pancake is delivered at the end of a selfie-stick.
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Re: Holiday Inn Express to Offer Selfies on Pancakes
I'm not an ad executive, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express recently, so that qualifies me to tell them. This is a horrible campaign. Couldn't they of come up with a selfie free breakfast campaign instead?
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Re: Yellowstone National Park in Winter
Thanks so very much for making us a part of your fascinating road-trip by sharing your visit to this unique place at such a special time. It's so rare to actually talk to someone who visited Yellowstone in the winter, much less to read such a wonderfully written report and to share in your experience through your beautiful photos. I'm sorry you didn't get to see wolves in the wild, but in this you are not alone. As many times as I've been in the wilderness, I've yet to see them (though I was...
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Re: Heathrow Airport Will Show Live Costs and Times to Central London
I wonder why not the tube, as well, I'm guessing the most popular option of all. Considering tube stations have screens for "next train" arrivals, it seems it would be a simple extension to give that information along with those 2 more expensive options. I've paid for speed on the Heathrow Express train, only to have it stuck along the way, making the slower/cheaper Heathrow Connect train or the tube the best option all-around.
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Re: Do Airlines offer the Best Loyalty Rewards Programs?
A very interesting interview...and one of the points that comes clear from it is the one I've always made: What are you looking for? He gives examples, for instance, of how younger people may want low-cost rewards (dinner, say) that they can get immediately. Others may be mainly interested in the free wifi, lounges and upgrades some hotels offer. And others, like I, who seldom stay in hotels (Airbnb, thank you!) are interested mainly in convertibility to air travel. For those in my...
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Re: The Intrigue of the Orient Express
You still can give - never too late !! http://www.mulberrytravel.com/...plon-orient-express/
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Re: Check Your Statement! A Big Hotel Credit Card Breach...
You would think the cost of all this fraud would be more than enough to validate new chip and PIN rollout in the USA. Can't quite understand why the US banks are so resistent to this PHeymont. Have you an understanding of what their reasons are?
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Re: Check Your Statement! A Big Hotel Credit Card Breach...
It's been a long path. For a long time, observers thought it was because they were committed to contactless (RFID) technology as the next step...but that hasn't advances as fast as some predicted, and it has big security issues, too. Now that MC and Visa have set down a "you must comply or you will be responsible for fraudulent charges" rule for next year, we're seeing motion. BUT...so far most issuers have been sticking to chip-and-signature, not and-PIN, which guts the whole process.
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Re: Check Your Statement! A Big Hotel Credit Card Breach...
I don't quite see why using a pin would prevent fraud of the type we're seeing on a large scale. Presumably, if the hackers continue to target terminals, the pin would be compromised too. Yes, we could change the pin but it would need to be done immediately, before the damage is done. What am I missing?
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Re: Check Your Statement! A Big Hotel Credit Card Breach...
As I see it, PM, mostly they are just stealing the data off the magnetic strip. Or the PIN in the card has data that can also be copied, but that's a little hard than just scamming the read off the strip. With a PIN, that data, validated by your unique PIN (which you pick) are encrypted and sent off to the bank for approval. Not just the strip data, but the two together are the key. I have a credit card with a Canadian bank (chip and pin) which I prefer to use over the swipe and sign USA...
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Re: Check Your Statement! A Big Hotel Credit Card Breach...
In the most secure system, the PIN is known to you, the user, but is not in your records at the issuer. That's why if you forget your PIN, a new one can be generated, but no one can send you your "lost" PIN the way that passwords can be. In the PIN system, the first communication takes place at the terminal. The terminal reads the PIN from the chip on your card, and asks you to enter it on the pad. If it matches, the terminal does NOT send the PIN to the clearing house or merchant...it only...
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Re: Check Your Statement! A Big Hotel Credit Card Breach...
So, if I understand it then, even if the hackers can read the entered pin keystrokes from the terminal keypad which we enter, it cannot be used without the card with the unique chip, which cannot be duplicated as a magnetic strip can be duplicated?
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Re: Check Your Statement! A Big Hotel Credit Card Breach...
That's correct. It is, of course, not totally impossible to create a duplicate chip, but it takes major equipment, not $5 worth of RadioShack parts...and it would also require much more information than can be harvested easily. The relative security (and it is relative) has driven over 80% of the world's credit card fraud toward the U.S. as other areas become more difficult. And once everyone is on board, the Trojan Horse mag stripe can come off the card as well.
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Re: The Intrigue of the Orient Express
A bit over a year ago, when I wrote the blog above, I mentioned the surprise picture I'd taken of my daughter, with the Orient Express sign on our train at Munich, about to leave for Vienna, by then the last stop. Imagine my surprise, and pleasure, this evening when my wife found the picture while sorting through pictures to be scanned from the trip! And here it is...
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All the Tea In...Charleston?
Tea gardens, as the farms are traditionally known, no matter the size, have been seducing me for over a decade. In Yunnan and Guangxi Provinces of China, Himachal Pradesh and Darjeeling in Himalayan India, in the Cameron Highlands of...
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Update: Loyalty Programs and Credit Cards
For some of us, credit cards are more than a convenient way to pay—they are the lifeline to free travel through loyalty programs. Between points for purchases and bonuses for opening or upgrading credit card accounts, it's possible to get quite...
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Cruising through the holidays
Every year thousands of passengers find out warm tropical breezes and Christmas festivities mix well aboard a Princess Cruise Line ship. “We install more than 347 Christmas trees fleet wide. Each vessel has a showcase tree in...
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Wow! Iceland Express successor adds U.S. flights
The headline's not a pun; Wow Air is the company that bought budget carrier Iceland Express in 2012. The carrier will now re-enter the U.S. market with roundtrip Boston-Reykjavik-London Gatwick flights, connecting in Reykjavik with its other European...
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Gumbo's Pic of the Day, March 30, 2015: Mission Inn, Riverside
In many respects, Riverside, California, is a forgettable city -- one of dozens you drive by on the freeways of the sunny Southland. Besides its university, it does have one interesting landmark, known for its beautiful Spanish...
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Economy Ticket, Private Jet!
Weather can really scramble airline schedules, and this week was no exception with hundreds of flights cancelled or delayed, and thousands of passengers rebooked on other flights. But for two lucky Delta passengers enroute from Cleveland to New York,...
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Cold in Canada? Good Fares to Hawaii
Here is a good deal from Calgary to Honolulu round trip on United.Feb4- Feb11 494.91 Canadian dollars( $ 413.32 US Dollars )If you check the round trip price from Denver- where the connection is- it's a lot higher. There are other...
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Don't Leave Home Without...80 million AmEx points
A Chinese billionaire who's been buying classic Chinese art works at auction is not likely ever to run out of loyalty awards; he's racked up over 80 million American Express Membership Rewards points in the past few months using his card to buy two...
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PortMoresby's Birthday Road Trip
March 25, '15: Day 1: City of 10,000 Buddhas and The Skunk April 1, '15: Day 2: Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden April 4, '15: Sea Gull Inn April 8, '15: More Day 2: Point...
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32 years later, Marriott opens its 1000th Courtyard
Hard to believe there was a time before Hilton Garden Inn or Holiday Inn Express. Back in those days over 30 years ago, Marriott pioneered the idea of a hotel aimed at busy people traveling, often sales people or businessmen on the...
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Gumbo's Pic of the Day, April 4, 2015: Sea Gull Inn, Mendocino, California
March 10, 2015 On my road trip to the Northern California coast in March, I stayed with a friend 17 miles down the road from Mendocino. But on 2 previous visits I’d stayed at the Sea Gull Inn . The first time was in...
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Road Trip, Day 3: A Sunny Day in Sonoma
March 11, 2015 The drive down California Highway 1, along the Mendocino and Sonoma County coast, was a bit of a bust. It started to rain as I arrived at Point Arena and Fort Ross was closed, it turned out, on weekdays, so I...
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Amex's new idea: Plenti points across industries
American Express has launched a new points program, called Plenti, that has some unique features. It's a "coalition" program, which doesn't tie points to a particular card or industry. There are interesting features: Although Amex runs it, you can...
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Luxury Centurion Airport Lounge to Open in Miami - June, 2015
Photo from Centurion Lounge Dallas /Fort Worth American Express is set to open their latest Centurion Airport Lounge in Miami in June. It will be a ring shaped 8,000-square-foot space with tarmac...
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All Aboard! on Platform 9-3/4
Last week we reported on the big boost that Universal's Orlando theme park has gotten from its Harry Potter exhibits (click HERE ). Now, the Guardian (UK) has a topper: the original Hogwarts Express steam engine, with passenger cars...
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Extra-day offers on Eurail passes
The Eurail pass has two current offers for extra days of travel. One adds a day to Single-Country or Regional passes; the other adds up to five days to Global Passes, which are good for 28 member countries of the Eurail consortium. To qualify,...
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Marriott to offer free wi-fi to all its Rewards member
Marriott is breaking the old internet template used by many hotel chains. Lower priced hotels, including lower end Marriott properties (eg. Fairfield Inn, Courtyard) have offered free wi-fi for some time. Upper end Marriott properties have...
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A Place of Fairy Tales & Magic – The Biltmore Estate
By JP Chartier NUZZLED SNUGLY, DEEP WITHIN THE PISGAH NATIONAL FOREST AND ENCIRCLED BY MOUNTAINS THAT BREATHE BLUE SMOKE IS WHERE YOU CAN FIND THIS PLACE OF FAIRY TALES AND MAGIC. The opulent and somewhat imposing French Renaissance,...
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A Busy Weekend in Philadelphia
A few weekends ago, my fiancé, my best friend and I decided to go to Philly for an overnight trip. Our goal for the weekend was to see all the touristy parts of Philadelphia. When we got to Philly from NYC, we headed straight for the L...
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Airline scheduling: Hurry up and wait, or run like crazy?
Have you ever stopped to wonder, while planning a trip, how your airline’s schedule was planned? Especially when it seems you’re about to be condemned to a headlong half-marathon across the airport to a flight that leaves all-too-soon, or...
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Heathrow Airport Will Show Live Costs and Times to Central London
Screens will been installed near Heathrow's Terminal 2 baggage claim to show passengers live price and time comparisons between taxis and trains to central London. The information combines traffic, weather and Heathrow Express train service info...
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Carnival Celebrations in Trinidad & Tobago
Carnival is an annual celebration of life found in many countries around the world. It first originated as a pagan festival in ancient Egypt which was subsequently celebrated by the Greeks and then the Romans. Carnival was later adopted by the Roman...
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Back to Oaxaca: Michael's House
PortMoresby finds her perfect place in Oaxaca, Mexico, in a strikingly modern house tucked into Xochimilco, the oldest neighborhood in the city.
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Spain: No room at the inn?
Spain's had a tourism boom, especially since travel to North Africa and the Middle East tanked, but high demand is pushing prices up.
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Finding Nature in England: Holkham National Reserve
Kirsten Hines continues her voyage of natural discovery in England, this week with a stop at Holkham National Nature Reserve.