eBags Price Guarantee Comes Through

I primarily travel with a Briggs & Riley Baseline carry-on that I've had for about 5 years.  Even on a long international trip, I try to bring the carry-on if possible.  The bag is indestructible and I highly recommend it.

Emily is typically packing a bit more (we have a giant Briggs and Riley as well) and so we're usually checking a bag for her.  Somehow I was able to convince her to carry-on to Dubai which is an accomplishment I'm quite proud of.  On the way home, we had accumulated enough stuff done a fair amount of shopping and needed to check bags home.  We ended up with 4 checked bags and several carry-ons which was just too many bags to be lugging 11,000 miles home.

Giant Briggs & Riley lost...then found

So I've been looking for a new "medium sized" bag for future travels.  You can generally find good deals on luggage at Amazon and department stores across the year...and it seems luggage is a great thing to purchase late in the year as well - lots of sales.  I've also purchased several bags from Denver based eBags over the years and have been pleased with their pricing.

I actually found the 25" TravelPro we were interested in purchasing on eBags and Amazon.  The price was nearly $50 cheaper on Amazon (prices have changed several times since my purchase) so I sent in a "price guarantee" to eBags to see if they would match.  A day later I received an email that they would match and provide a 10% discount!

This was actually a quintuple dip:

1)  I purchased the bag for $175 on eBags who provided a $53 credit back to my card for the price match + 10% discount
2)  I put the purchase on my Starwood Preferred Guest Amex which triggered a $10 eBags Amex Offer
3)  I made the purchase through an online shopping portal offering me 10% off the entire purchase
4)  I used past eBags credit (about to expire) to save another $16 on the bag
5)  I earned 5% for a future purchase at eBags which I'll use for holiday shopping

My true out of pocket expense for the bag was about $73 - not bad!

Review: Emirates First Class 777-300ER Dubai to Male

Introduction
Planning & Booking
American Express Centurion Lounge DFW
Emirates A380 First Class Dallas to Dubai
Al Maha Desert Resort & Spa Dubai
Emirates First Class Lounge Dubai
Emirates 777-300ER First Class Dubai to Male
Transfer to Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa
Park Hyatt Maldives - Resort & Park Villa
Park Hyatt Maldives - Water Villa
Transfer to Male
Singapore Airlines 777-200ER Business Class Male to Singapore
Grand Hyatt Singapore
Singapore Airlines The Private Room Singapore
Singapore Airlines 777-300ER First Class Singapore to Hong Kong
Singapore Airlines 777-300ER First Class Hong Kong to San Francisco

We boarded from the Emirates First Class lounge which basically means you get your boarded pass scanned at the "gate" in the lounge, talk an elevator down to the concourse and walk straight to the jet bridge (cursory boarding pass glance on the way).  The boarding area had already been cleared out so when we stepped on the plane, we were amongst the last passengers to board.

This flight was scheduled to be operated by an older version of Emirates' First Class Suite.  The flight to Male is under 4 hours during the day so that didn't matter much to us.  We were pleasantly surprised when we stepped onto the plane to see Emirates' "new" first class.  The seat is essentially the same as the A380 seat - just a little bit narrower.

Emirates 777-300ER First Class

Mini bar in the air

Since we flying into Male, we both selected window seats (1K/2K) so we could enjoy the views.

Dom, Date,  Arabic Coffee

Review: Emirates First Class Lounge Dubai

Introduction
Planning & Booking
American Express Centurion Lounge DFW
Emirates A380 First Class Dallas to Dubai
Al Maha Desert Resort & Spa Dubai
Emirates First Class Lounge Dubai
Emirates 777-300 First Class Dubai to Male
Transfer to Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa
Park Hyatt Maldives - Resort & Park Villa
Park Hyatt Maldives - Water Villa
Transfer to Male
Singapore Airlines 777-200ER Business Class Male to Singapore
Grand Hyatt Singapore
Singapore Airlines The Private Room Singapore
Singapore Airlines 777-300ER First Class Singapore to Hong Kong
Singapore Airlines 777-300ER First Class Hong Kong to San Francisco

The drive from Al Maha to DXB took around 40 minutes in light traffic.  It was early on Saturday morning when we pulled up to Emirates premium check-in at DXB's massive (and awesome) Terminal 3.  The premium check-in experience isn't really that in my opinion.  It's massive in scale, there's an enclosed porte-cochere with exhaust from idle engines and tons of people running around.  Nothing like the Singapore Airlines First Class check-in at Changi or Lufthansa's First Class Terminal in Frankfurt.  Definitely an area where Emirates can/should step up their game.

Emirates First Class Lounge DXB Entrance

We were happy to get inside and quickly made our way to the first class check-in desks where we were assisted with very little words and zero smile.  Perhaps due to the fact that it was early on a Saturday.  Bags checked to Male and boarding passes issued, we walked down the corridor to the dedicated first/business immigration and security.  I missed taking a picture of the business class check-in section...there must have been 100 desks.  Emirates really does "connect the world."  Unbelievable.

Which flight is Jennifer Aniston on?

Review: Al Maha Desert Resort & Spa Dubai (2015)

Introduction
Planning & Booking
American Express Centurion Lounge DFW
Emirates A380 First Class Dallas to Dubai
Al Maha Desert Resort & Spa Dubai
Emirates First Class Lounge Dubai
Emirates 777-300 First Class Dubai to Male
Transfer to Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa
Park Hyatt Maldives - Resort & Park Villa
Park Hyatt Maldives - Water Villa
Transfer to Male
Singapore Airlines 777-200ER Business Class Male to Singapore
Grand Hyatt Singapore
Singapore Airlines The Private Room Singapore
Singapore Airlines 777-300ER First Class Singapore to Hong Kong
Singapore Airlines 777-300ER First Class Hong Kong to San Francisco

After a phenomenal flight on Emirates we were first off the A380 and through immigration in a matter of minutes.  We hit the ATM and duty free to grab a bottle of scotch given that liquor is about the only thing not included at Al Maha.

Since we didn't check bags we were outside of customs 30 minutes after exiting the plane.  It was a sunny and warm day in Dubai as we met our driver in the arrivals hall.  I had pre-booked transportation (our driver was waiting for us with a name placard) through the hotel which I would highly recommend.  Round trip transport cost around $150.  The resort is a 45 minute drive from the airport.  The last 15 minutes you're driving through conservation park over dirt roads with little light.  Our return trip was going to be very early in the morning so we were glad to have someone that was used to navigating the route.

Welcome to Al Maha

Before I get into the review, a little background on Al Maha.  The resort is situated in the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve which is essentially a protected park owned by the government.  While others can use the park, Al Maha is the only hotel located within the boundaries.  The park is pretty massive - encompassing 225 square kilometers which is nearly 5% of Dubai.  The resort plays a pivotal role in managing the park's ecosystem and sharing all that the park has to offer with others.

2015 Year in Review: Flights

It's hard to believe it's almost 2016!  I'm done flying for the year so here's the year in review.  You can read about my 2013 and 2014 flying history if you'd like.

In 2015, I traveled a fair amount for work (8 trips) so racked up enough miles to keep my United Premier Silver status.  Nothing to jump up and down about but it's better than nothing.  I took 7 long haul flights (all award tickets) and flew over 88,000 miles after flying 65,000 in 2014 and 87,000 in 2013.

I booked almost a dozen award tickets across the year and flew on several new carriers (Emirates, Maldivian, and British Airways.  I don't have anything booked for 2016 so will have to get on that over the holidays!

Here are some of the highlights from 2015:

• Visited 11 countries (4 new)
• Visited 2 continents (Europe & Asia)
• Flew on 12 airlines (United, Singapore, Thai, Asiana, Cathay Pacific, Air India, Maldivian, Emirates, British Airways, Delta, Frontier, and American) 
• Flew 46 segments
• Flew 88,415 miles
• Visited 27 airports in 12 countries and 7 US States
• Shortest flight was London to Amsterdam at 231 miles
• Longest flight was Dallas to Dubai at 8,040 miles
• Four flights over 7,000 miles
• The best flight of the year was definitely Emirates First Class DFW to DXB

And maps...courtesy of the Great Circle Mapper:

2015 International Travel

2015 Domestic (and Canada) travel

Review: Emirates First Class A380 Dallas to Dubai

Introduction
Planning & Booking
American Express Centurion Lounge DFW
Emirates A380 First Class Dallas to Dubai
Al Maha Desert Resort & Spa Dubai
Emirates First Class Lounge Dubai
Emirates 777-300 First Class Dubai to Male
Transfer to Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa
Park Hyatt Maldives - Resort & Park Villa
Park Hyatt Maldives - Water Villa
Transfer to Male
Singapore Airlines 777-200ER Business Class Male to Singapore
Grand Hyatt Singapore
Singapore Airlines The Private Room Singapore
Singapore Airlines 777-300ER First Class Singapore to Hong Kong
Singapore Airlines 777-300ER First Class Hong Kong to San Francisco

I can't begin to describe the excitement of boarding our Emirates A380 flight to Dubai. While I've had the opportunity to fly almost 20 international first class segments, this would be the first time flying Emirates...on the A380...with the shower spa...and the on-board bar.

Time to fly

For those that don't want to wait until the end of the post...this was my best flight ever.  I think Emily will agree.

Happy wife at the bar

Have you seen the Emirates Jennifer Aniston commercial?  Flying anything but Emirates seems like a nightmare going forward.

Review: Amex Centurion Lounge DFW

Introduction
Planning & Booking
American Express Centurion Lounge DFW
Emirates A380 First Class Dallas to Dubai
Al Maha Desert Resort & Spa Dubai
Emirates First Class Lounge Dubai
Emirates 777-300 First Class Dubai to Male
Transfer to Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa
Park Hyatt Maldives - Resort & Park Villa
Park Hyatt Maldives - Water Villa
Transfer to Male
Singapore Airlines 777-200ER Business Class Male to Singapore
Grand Hyatt Singapore
Singapore Airlines The Private Room Singapore
Singapore Airlines 777-300ER First Class Singapore to Hong Kong
Singapore Airlines 777-300ER First Class Hong Kong to San Francisco

After dropping Perry off for her vacation Tuesday evening, we finished packing and went to bed as early as possible for our 3AM wake up call.  We caught the 5AM American Airlines flight to DFW which was completely uneventful.  We landed a little before 8AM and made our way over to Terminal D and to the Centurion lounge which is located on the upper level near gate D-17.  We didn't check bags on the way out so transferring was a quick walk and an Airtrain ride.

American Express Centurion DFW

We had visited this Centurion outpost before on our way to Istanbul.  I'd say this one is the best in the system (I've visited SFO, LAS, LGA, and DFW) given the spa.  Access to the lounge is complimentary for Amex Platinum and Black Card holders.  A day pass is $50 for all other Amex cardholders.

Centurion DFW Entrance

We made our way to the far end of the lounge - through the buffet and bar to the area with a handful of chaise loungers.  The loungers were all occupied so we set ourselves up at the one of the tables for breakfast.

Centurion DFW loungers with a terminal view

The 2+ hours we spent in the lounge flew by.  We grabbed some breakfast (food is excellent, btw) and had a couple of cappuccinos while catching up on work/email before the flight.

Centurion DFW Bar

Centurion DFW Buffet

Emily visited the spa for a manicure prior to our departure where you can choose (complimentary) from a few different treatments.  I took a quick shower to prepare for the flight where I would take yet another shower.

At T-50 we headed down to concourse to stretch our legs and watch the fashion show our Emirates crew board the aircraft.

Coming down the runway

Up close

We're rarely in Dallas but if we are, we're headed to the Centurion.  It's among the best lounges in the US and the food, bar, and spa provided a great start to what was a phenomenal longhaul flight to Dubai.