Michael

Liverpool/Manchester weekend away by train

Since I’ve been working on expanding the scope of the travel blog, I decided to add a review of the Avanti West Coast service from London to the Northwest Powerhouse of Manchester and Liverpool. I travelled to see a handful of friends of mine that still live up north just for a short weekend trip. Continue reading “Liverpool/Manchester weekend away by train”

Guest post: San Francisco to New Orleans and back!

Today we’ve got a guest post from Valerie, who recently flew from San Francisco to New Orleans (and back) for a long weekend. On the way out, she flew on United flight 2462, which was a 737-900ER (registry: N66803). Valerie is not one to spend longer at airports than needed, and so she didn’t botherContinue reading “Guest post: San Francisco to New Orleans and back!”

Return to London during Storm Franklin

After a nice weekend in Dublin, where I saw some friends, stayed at the Aloft Dublin City, went on the Guinness tour, and went shopping, it was time to return to London. I flew from Dublin to London Gatwick on an Aer Lingus A320 (EI-GAM). At the time of booking this ticket, Aer Lingus flightsContinue reading “Return to London during Storm Franklin”

Exciting new Barclaycard UK Avios credit cards

A couple weeks ago, Barclays released a new pair of co-branded credit cards that are almost certainly the best non-Amex rewards cards currently available in the UK. These two cards are the Barclaycard Avios MasterCard (no annual fee) and Avios Plus MasterCard (£20/month = £240/year). Barclays has recently been expanding their relationship with British Airways,Continue reading “Exciting new Barclaycard UK Avios credit cards”

Weekend trip to Dublin (Storm Eunice edition)

For my first trip of 2022, now that travel restrictions have been eased again with Omicron largely under control. I decided to keep it simple with a short weekend trip from London to Dublin. I picked a great weekend for flying. On the Friday, my flight took off after Storm Eunice had just passed throughContinue reading “Weekend trip to Dublin (Storm Eunice edition)”

Michael’s 2022 credit card strategy

Since I’ve started posting about credit cards, which are a topic I can enjoy without having to drag myself to an airport, I figured I’d discuss my current credit card strategy. Specifically, I’ll discuss my US credit card strategy because my UK strategy is minimal. For the purposes of this article, I’m going to pegContinue reading “Michael’s 2022 credit card strategy”

AMEX UK Platinum card

One of the most coveted (and expensive) credit cards available in the UK is the Amex Platinum Charge Card. Like the Rewards Gold Credit Card, this card earns American Express Membership Rewards points. Unlike the Gold Credit Card, you have no pre-set spending limit but instead have to pay off your balance in full everyContinue reading “AMEX UK Platinum card”

Washington Dulles (IAD) Polaris lounge review

The first trip report of 2022 is going to be a bit different from the others! This report covers my trip from Washington DC to London, and I decided to do something a bit different because I slept for the entire flight and so can’t comment on the inflight service. Originally, I had been planningContinue reading “Washington Dulles (IAD) Polaris lounge review”

AMEX UK Rewards Gold Credit Card

In the last two UK credit card posts, I discussed co-branded Amex cards that directly earn British Airways Avios and Marriott Bonvoy points, respectively. In this article, I’m going to discuss the American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Credit Card (Gold Card), which earns American Express Membership Rewards points and has an annual fee of £140Continue reading “AMEX UK Rewards Gold Credit Card”

Marriott Bonvoy’s UK credit card

My primary hotel chain that I collect loyalty points with is Marriott. Marriott is the largest hotel chain in the world since its merger with Starwood a few years ago. After that merger, the new Marriott Bonvoy changed around its credit card setup because Marriott partnered with Chase and Starwood partnered with American Express. AsContinue reading “Marriott Bonvoy’s UK credit card”