After arriving into Honolulu on my American Airlines mileage run, I wandered aimlessly through the open plan terminal looking for my next gate and club lounge. Along the way there is some great plane spotting as there are no windows clouding your view. I just wish I had brought my camera with me instead of just my phone!

After a long walk, and missing the sign twice, I finally found the lounge near the Kona Brewing Company Restaurant and up the stairs. Unfortunately this is ...

I needed about 20,000 elite qualifying miles at the end of last year to re-qualify for Executive Platinum. Luckily the end of year double elite qualifying promotion along with $460 fares to Hawaii from New York made qualification much easier. I booked a flight departing Saturday morning and returning Sunday afternoon: LGA-DFW-HNL-OGG-LAX-JFK.

Since no one was on the road early on Saturday morning in New York, the car service got me to Laguardia in just 20 minutes. The ...

Back in 2009 I wrote a quick post on using ITA to search for flights for an American Airlines Challenge by specifying some advanced options. ITA has a number of routing rules (or codes) that can be used to tailor your search requirement. Since I constantly have to remind myself of some of the codes I thought I'd make a quick "cheat sheet" here.

For those of you new to ITA and searching for mileage runs your first stop should always be the calendar search function. ...

For the seasoned mileage runner or leisure traveler, United has had some killer deals out of San Diego this year and today's Atlanta - San Diego r/t for $169+ takes the cake. Heck, even business travelers may wish to make speculative bookings based on this cheap price (noting that with United's increased changes fees, there would be no value for a cancelled ticket).

Route via Washington and San Francisco for maximum miles and you are looking at 6,798 base miles for $180. If you are a ...

Some would say I’m crazy, others would say they would do the same, other’s just shake their head in disbelief. Nevertheless, as I write this I am somewhere over the Pacific Ocean and by the time you read this post I’ll be in Hawaii. Nevertheless, over the next 3 days I will travel 15K+ miles as my carbon footprint grows and I ply the skies between San Diego, Hawaii, New York, and back again! I’ll travel for many hours above the 30K feet mark as my routing takes me ...

I mentioned last week that I had to take a last-minute year-end mileage run from LA to Boston on December 30th in order to secure the 5K miles necessary to push me over the 150K EQM mark.

The trip itself was fine—no sleep, but a productive redeye from Los Angeles to Houston. A quick stop in the United Club at Houston to grab a newspaper and a cup of tea as well as watch the sunrise. Then, breakfast and a nap on what turned out to be a quick flight to Boston. Five hours of work ...