Flying for Fitness

Amazon is currently running a limited-time sale for the Echo Dot AND 1 month of Amazon Music Unlimited for only $8.98!  The Echo Dot normally sells for $49.99, and 1 month of Amazon Music Unlimited for $7.99, so Amazon is essentially giving you an Echo Dot for 99 cents if you sign up for Amazon Music Unlimited. Link to the promo Amazon Music Unlimited is like most other premium subscription music services, giving you access to over 50 million songs ad-free.  Both Prime Music, which is free for all Prime members, and Music Unlimited enable you to download music for offline access, the major difference being that the free Prime Music's library is limited to 2 million songs instead of 50 million.  Amazon Music automatically bills you monthly for $7.99, but you can cancel at any time.  I personally use Amazon Music Unlimited for my gym playlists when doing HIIT.  Most 24 Hour Fitness clubs offer free WiFi, so you'd be able to stream the music without u...

ANA is having a Discount Mileage Campaign for select cities booked by October 31st for travel between November 1st and December 3rd or December 17th.  One of the notable routes include LAX-NRT, which is on sale for only 68,000 miles roundtrip in business class as opposed to the saver rate of 85,000 miles, which is already a great deal in itself.  Most of the discounted biz class awards are for intra-Asia routes, although Perth is also on the list for only 60k miles: The discounted mileage routes for economy class is more extensive including flights to/from San Jose, Seattle, and Los Angeles in North America for only 40k miles, and Vienna, Paris, and Brussels in Europe for only 44k miles.  Many of the intra-Asia flights are on sale too. How to book For the whole list of destinations, visit ANA's Discount Mileage Campaign website .  As ANA already has an overall generous award chart, these are pretty much all good redemption deals, especially LAX-NR...

ANA first class SFO-NRT review ANA economy class NRT-Sapporo review Toyoko Inn at Sapporo Station Hokkaido University review Hokkaido University gym review Ishigaki snorkeling tours Super typhoon Hibigis hits Japan ANA Intercontinental Ishigaki Resort review Typhoon flight cancellations Tokyo Intercontinental the Strings hotel review ANA first class NRT-SFO review Technically, we were all born with muscles; they were just covered in all that baby fat.  And for those of us who lived an active youth, we grew out of all that baby fat and leaned up.  Then came adulthood where our metabolism slowed and our physical activities got sidelined by work, classes, family, and *ahem* straight up laziness, which can be a fatal flaw.  There was a point not too long ago where I could have cared less about my weight, body composition, exercise, etc. and worshiped my appetite.  Then came a Japanese doctor at Hokkaido University who frankly called me a "fat American", sugges...

This past week, Southwest announced the following changes to their Rapid Rewards program: No more expiration for Southwest Rapid Rewards Points Following the heels of United , which eliminated mileage expiration last month, Southwest Rapid Rewards Points will now never expire.  Previously, Southwest RR points expired after 24 months of account inactivity. Increased Companion Pass eligibility from 110,000 to 125,000 points Beginning January 1, 2020, Southwest will increase the eligibility requirements for their legendary Companion Pass from 110,000 to 125,000 points.  The Southwest Companion Pass allows the primary account holder to fly with any companion for free (plus taxes and fees) for the entire year on any paid flight or booked with points with no restrictions.  What's great about becoming eligible for this benefit is that bonus points earned from all their co-branded credit cards like the 60k Southwest Priority card and the 80k Performance Business c...

We've all heard of stories of passengers challenging the authority of TSA agents, especially the rude and over-arching ones.  This time, an 84-year-old Army vet challenged a TSA agent at Phoenix Sky-Harbor Airport . . . to a push-up contest!  Lieutenant Colonel Maggie DeSanti, who is a former Army Nurse and Vietnam veteran who jumped off helicopters to treat wounded soldiers in Vietnam, was flying from PHX do Washington D.C. when she challenged a TSA agent to do 10 push-ups, which the agent agreed to: After completing all 10 push-ups, Maggie received a round of applause and a hug from the TSA agent.  She was scheduled to fly on an Honor Flight , which is a non-profit group that flies veterans to D.C. to see the memorials of the war(s) in which they fought. Age is definitely but a number for this badass vet!  If I can muster to do 10 push-ups at the age of 84 or even be alive at that age, then I think I'd be happy.  Forget about biz class! H/T: Li...

ANA first class SFO-NRT review ANA economy class NRT-Sapporo review Toyoko Inn at Sapporo Station Hokkaido University review Hokkaido University gym review Ishigaki snorkeling tours Super typhoon Hibigis hits Japan ANA Intercontinental Ishigaki Resort review Typhoon flight cancellations Tokyo Intercontinental the Strings hotel review ANA first class NRT-SFO review Sapporo isn't known for its collection of luxury hotels, unlike in Tokyo and Kyoto where upscale hotels abound.  Your point redemption options for the major hotel groups are also limited to a bottom-tier Holiday Inn and mid-tier Crowne Plaza, neither of which yield good redemption values.  Interestingly, you'll find the more upscale hotel brands like Hilton and Hyatt in the countryside of Hokkaido in areas like Kiroro and Niseko, which are essentially winter-town ski resorts.  So for my 3-night stay in Sapporo, I decided to keep it cheap but convenient by staying at the Toyoko Inn at Sapporo Stat...

United Airlines is completely revamping its Premier qualifying requirements starting January 1, 2020.  Currently, you can qualify with a combination of Premier Qualifying Miles (PQM) or Premier Qualifying Segments (PQS) AND Premier Qualifying Dollars (PQD).  But effective the next calendar year, qualification will be based solely on 2 categories: Premier Qualifying Flights (PQF) and Premier Qualifying Points (PQP).  Confusing?  Surprisingly not, so let's take a look at the new qualification requirements. What are PQF and PQP? United is defining PQF simply as the number of flight segments flown, four of which need to be flown on United or United Express.  Nearly all flights with their Star Alliance and partner carriers also count towards PQF. PQP, though similar to PQD, are a bit more complex.  Like PQD, you earn 1 PQP for every $1 spent towards the following on flights operated by United or United Express: Base fare plus surcharges Economy ...