Swan Archives - Your Mileage May Vary

WDW Hotel Expansion, Tricks To Saving Money While Shopping, New Way Of TSA Pre-Check Enrollment & More…

Happy Sunday, travel friends! Here are some articles we’ve read this week from other bloggers (and other sources) that we think you may like, as well, so we’re passing them along.

Jon from No Mas Coach asks the important question, “Why Do We Fart So Much On Airplanes?“
Million Mile Secrets posted about the 349 room expansion to the Walt Disney World Swan hotel. This is great news for those who use Marriott/SPG points to stay at Disney but you’ll need to pay more points to stay there now since the new point charts were released.
Harlan from Out and Out tells the 7 tricks to save when shopping at Costco.
We’re enjoying our service with T-Mobile but I was interested in Greg’s post on Frequent Miler about the different options available when you need to use international roaming on your phone.
Gary from View from the Wing writes about how American Airlines has started to proactively notify passengers about overbooked flights.
The Orlando Weekly has given us a taste of what’s in store for the new Universal theme park that will open in 2020.
One of the hassles of signing up for TSA Precheck is going for the interview. Wait times are long and you might not live near an airport. Well, Miles to Memories let us know that you may now be able to enroll at your local Staples store.
Lucky from One Mile At A Time just flew back from the Canadian Yukon and wrote a review of his flight on Air North, the Yukon airline. From what I can tell, it was a full Canadian experience.

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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary

Update to Staying at WDW With Reward Points, What’s Wrong With B.A., Halloween at Theme Parks & More

Happy Sunday, everyone! Here are some articles we’ve read this week from other bloggers (and other sources) that we think you may like, as well, so we’re passing them along.

For a while, we’ve heard about difficulties using Chase Ultimate Rewards to book stays at Walt Disney World. Fortunately, you could use a work around to purchase Disney World travel packages by calling Chase’s Travel & Cruise desk. Doctor of Credit reports that’s no longer possible and only Chase Freedom cardholders can buy Disney tickets though the Chase portal.
Steph from One Mile At A Time was stuck overnight at Chicago’s O’Hare airport due to a flight cancellation. Here’s the details of her filing a claim under her credit card’s trip delay coverage.
John from Loyalty Lobby shared an article from The Telegraph where Richard Quest asks “What’s wrong with British Airways?”

Halloween is approaching and Erin from Million Mile Secrets put together a list of her favorite Halloween theme park celebrations. I don’t know about you, but I’m skeptical of any list that doesn’t include the Golden Ticket winning Halloween Horror Nights at Universal.
Gary writes on View From The Wing about his need to cancel an award ticket due to a family emergency. One airline stepped up and showed they are able to be compassionate and act like human beings instead of being bound by company policies.

Many people are tempted by low cost fares on trans-Atlantic flights. The World According To Dev shared a tale of a flight on WOW Air that didn’t end up as planned. It’s an interesting read because the passenger involved works for another airline and is able to describe events better than most others could.
Mark on Miles to Memories reminds us that it’s always a good idea to have the airline apps loaded onto your phone before traveling. I fully agree and include them as part of my travel apps you need to have.
Ed from Pizza in Motion was looking for hotel rooms around Disney World and stumbled upon this hidden use for Wyndham Rewards points. I never even knew this resort existed but if you’re traveling with a large group, it looks like a great option.
Lastly, there has been a lot of frayed nerves over the Marriott/Ritz Carlton/SPG loyalty merger. Some things are working, others are not and there’s no ETA on when everything will be fixed. However, in instances like this you’re occasionally able to find a hidden value if you know where to look. Nick from Frequent Miler managed to snag a 5 night stay at the St. Regis in Bora Bora for 48,000 Marriott points a night. Not bad considering the Swan or Dolphin at Disney would cost 40,000 points per night for a 5 night stay. (Five night award stays at SPG/Marriott/Ritz hotels get the 5th night free)

It’s WDW Food & Wine Festival Season, But Did You Know About This Other Food & Wine Event at Disney?

Walt Disney World’s International Food & Wine Festival has been held at Epcot since 1995. Starting as a relatively small event nearly 25 years ago, it’s now grown into a 10-week affair that includes exclusive food and beverage-related events, culinary classes, the Eat To The Beat concert series, special souvenirs galore and, of course, dozens of booths around World Showcase, highlighting samples of food and drink from around the world. It’s become a very popular event over time and one of the highlights of the year for hundreds of thousands of Disney and food fans.

However in the midst of all this, there’s another food and wine event held on Disney property that many less people know about…

Continue reading “It’s WDW Food & Wine Festival Season, But Did You Know About This Other Food & Wine Event at Disney?”