Practical Points Traveler

03/12/2022

Frankfurt Airport — got time to kill there? If you go to area near Gate B41… take the escalator upstairs to find a relaxation area, sleep pods, and showers.

26/09/2022

I’m very happy that my friend Howard at the great website Backroadplanet.com invited me to contribute to this review of the Island Princess. Cruising is a lovely way to travel.

A collaborative review of the Island Princess cruise ship, including the pros and cons of sailing one of the oldest and smallest vessels in the Princess fleet.

17/09/2022

Iberia A330 Business Class Madrid to Miami. Iberia off season awards are a value 42,000 Avios points plus about $150. Most other airlines charge about 60,000 miles/points. And I found Iberia seemed to have upgraded their bedding since my last flight.

06/09/2022

American Airlines Business Class from Tallahassee to London Heathrow via Dallas Ft Worth. 69,000 AA miles and $5.60.

05/08/2022

MSC Cruise - Part 2 - Inside The Guest Experience. Enjoy more details about the MSC Experience. And be sure to check out other great resources on Backroad Planet while you are there.

Step inside the MSC Cruises guest experience with a critical review of activities, entertainment, dining, and guest relations challenges passengers may face.

01/08/2022

I'm very happy to have been invited to participate on the awesome website Backroad Planet as a guest contributor. I hope you enjoy this post, and be sure to check out the entire website. Special thanks to Mr. Backroad Planet, Howard Blount, for the kind invitation and the excellent editing.

A revealing look at the MSC cruise line, its history, classes of ships, destinations, and onboard services, compared and contrasted with other popular lines.

24/05/2022

Turkish Air 787 Business Class Istanbul to Miami. The best flight I ever accidentally slept through. I am sad to report that I was so tired I missed most of the great stuff on Turkish Air’s long haul flight to Miami.

18/05/2022

MSC WiFi - it’s pretty good. My experience with MSC onboard wifi is very good. It is quite good in the public areas of the ship. I am able to easily upload Facebook posts, emails, and things like FB messenger including pictures and short videos. I can check twitter and other social media. I can even stream some short videos on You Tube. Google works fine. Back in my cabin, everything works though it is a bit slower. This is all a vast improvement over the sorry state of wifi in Europe over at Princess cruises, where they have virtually no service. So Thumbs Up MSC on this aspect.

15/05/2022

Misc MSC quirks and differences. This European line operating in Europe does some things like the mainstream lines that cater to US folks — and some things differently. A few things don’t make sense to me, but I have now mostly accepted them. I’m following my own advice of “If you want things to be the same as at home, then stay home.”

15/05/2022

MSC Preziosa. Meal report. One of the biggest complaints about MSC cruises is that the food isn’t as good as on other lines. I have not found that to be true on this cruise. The menu may not be what Americans expect, but it is very good so far. I’ll post more later in the week.

14/05/2022

MSC Preziosa - 10 day cruise to Norway and Arctic Circle I’m including some detailed info about this cruise (to try to show the full MSC experience). I’ve decided to post some of these detailed posts here on my travel page, so the folks that don’t care about the details can skip.

01/03/2022

My somewhat disappointing experience flying Jet Blue Mint from Miami to Los Angeles.
I must preface by saying this is a first world complaint at best. I am beyond fortunate to do the traveling I do, and have no right to complain about any trip that is safe and on time
However Jet Blue markets it’s “mint” service as both amazingly comfortable and cutting edge. I agree that it is potentially better than sitting up for 5 hours. But there were issues I experienced that made it less than stellar.
LOUNGE ACCESS- one advantage of most high end travel on mainline carriers is that in addition to the flight you get access to a comfortable lounge to use in advance. So you can relax at the airport and your premium experience begins then. No such luck with Jet Blue. No lounge access. I would have thought JB would try to contract for access, but no. You just enjoy the airports with everyone else. (note - in Miami I was able to independently access Air Turkey’s small but nice lounge. Later post to follow on that.)
PRE DEPARTURE DRINKS (and flights) — this is a plus for Mint. Jet Blue has created a very refreshing drink called Mint Condition, which can be had with or without alcohol. It’s delicious, fresh, and minty unique. Enjoy.
THE SEAT— this seems to be the main selling point and the biggest downfall of the product IMHO. JetBlue has given flyers a choice of lie flat business type seats.. sort of. I have been fortunate to work and sleep in a wide variety of business class products. I used to think that Deltas coffin class things were pretty bad, and they are. But Delta just makes you feel cramped. I have not suffered a back ache as on JetBlue.
The mint seats seem to be leather covered plywood. There are adjustment buttons that allegedly adjust the cushioning level. I found them useless, and I have read the same from others. I managed to fall asleep for about 2 hours thanks to being up all day. But I woke up with a back ache.
I managed to grab a “suite” which is one seat per row, and it even has a door for privacy. But the narrow seat was more confining than comfortable (though admittedly I am a larger woman. Somebody more petite might have better luck.
FOOD— the food offered is more creative and generally good. The airline offers a choice of 5 “small plates”. Passengers can choose up to 3, and then are given a dessert as well. I think it was unique and generally adequate for a 5?hour flight. I had a creamy burata that was heavenly, a flat iron small steak that was dry and on the tough side, and a mystery item that turned out to be a nicely prepared fish. Getting a balanced meal seemed a challenge, but I enjoyed what I had. At the end of the flight a package of chocolate covered nuts were distributed.

BOTTOM LINE — again, I have no right to complain. I paid 64,000 JetBlue points for this flight which is a good price to fly Mint. But I didn’t view it as a good use of points.

17/12/2021

Amazing Delta Award part 2. Paris to Atlanta and Tallahassee. Boeing 777. 9 1/2 hours to Atlanta. Then 45 minutes to TLH. In the best of circumstances just this part of the award would be about 60,000 miles. And on Delta, prices of 180,000 miles is more the norm. I’m not sure I’ll ever get this lucky with Delta again.

17/12/2021

Amazing Delta award. I recently completed a trip to the Middle East including Dubai. One of the most outstanding aspects of the trip was redeeming 82,000 Delta miles for a business class award from Dubai to the US on Air France. Getting this much value out of Delta miles is like finding a unicorn. Part 1– Dubai to Paris. Air France B777