Can you believe that I just wrapped up living in Melbourne for a month? The Melbourne Residency Report is coming. In the interim, here are the best posts from November.
Who should make the College Football Playoffs? I am documenting my choices because this may be the last time Michigan is in the conversation. I expect Harbaugh to leave, the players to transfer, and the program to be heavily sanctioned. Until that happens, let’s be happy.
Here is TPOL’s 1-4.
Michigan: There should be no doubt that Michigan is number one. We were accused of cheating, didn’t have our head coach for half the season, and yet we beat everyone.
Washington: Washington is undefeated and handled its business in the now-defunct Pac 12.
Alabama: Alabama beat Georgia who had not lost in 2 years. That’s enough to get them in.
Florida State or Texas? If FSU had its quarterback, then FSU would be in automatically. Since it does not and since their second string and third string is not the second coming of Cardale Jones, can FSU be deemed one of the best teams in college football? On the other hand, Texas beat Alabama but had a loss to Oklahoma. If FSU had its QB, FSU should be in and Texas might be out. Luckily for the committee, this isn’t the case. Luckily for me, I believe Michigan can beat Texas.
TPOL’s Plans
I will not attend the semi-final game especially if it’s Michigan against Alabama, though I am researching flights to Houston for the national championship game. However, the last time a Michigan team played in the finals in Texas, I left disappointed (see Final Four San Antonio: Go Blue! Left Blue).
Do you know who won’t be there? The real cheaters who beat us with the aid of the refs in 2016.
Yo, I go by the name (I’m yo’ pusha)Of Pharrell, from The NeptunesAnd I just wanna let y’all know (I’m yo’ pusha)
If you’ve been reading BA, you may have noticed bloggers pushing the Capital One Venture X business card. The card has a 150k bonus offer after spending 30k in one month. Without the aid of MS or the means to manufacture SpaceX rockets (End of MS Means Get Your Life Together), I don’t know who could hit that minimum. Moreover, it isn’t a good value in terms of spend even if one did.
Now that I have that gripe out of the way, let me turn to two other offers, one slightly worth it and one astronomically absurd. If you have a Amex Hilton Business card (see Approved! Amex Hilton Business, IHG Business), you receive one free night after spending 4k. You also receive another free night after spending 15k by the end of the calendar year (emphasis added). A hoarder of points, I would much rather use hotel certs than points. As such, I forced myself to hit the 15k goal in order to have 2 nights at an upscale Hilton. I don’t find the Hilton certs to be that valuable because I have already been to most of the aspirational properties (see Hilton Weekend Certificate: Not Worth the 10k Spend). This time I have a specific use in mind. I will be staying at the Zemi Beach House in Anguilla as part of my effort to visit every island in my home, the Caribbean (see Rum Rum Caribbean Castaway Trip Report).
If I wanted to stay for a third night, I have 2 options: use my cache of Hilton points or spend more on my Hilton Amex. Option 2 brings me to the worst deal ever:
If I spend $45,000 more by the end of December, I will receive an additional free night. Who’s going to do that? OMAAT?
Conventional TPOL thinking is to avoid taxis at all expense (see “Taxi my friend?” The Worst Places to Hail a Cab) because it is such a great expense. At airports, I struggle with whether I should take public transportation or pay more for the more ‘convenient’ taxi option. I put convenient in quotes because it is often the case that taxis cost more and take longer due to traffic (see JFK AirTrain: Why Mess with Uber to Manhattan?).
Arriving in Vancouver for one day of exploration before my flight to Fiji (see Worth It! Lie Flat Toronto to Vancouver on Air Canada), I dropped off my bags (see Bag Storage Vancouver Airport) and then followed the signs for the Skytrain. At the ticket counter, I realized that:
1. I have no idea how to use this machine. Once again, I was worried about purchasing the wrong ticket and being fined (see “Tickets, Please, Tickets”: Train Anxiety).
2. I have no idea where I am going. Fortunately, a friendly police offer saw me struggling and suggested that I go to the Waterfront.
The Waterfront is located in Zone 2.Makes sense that the Waterfront would be at the end of the line.
The cost of the tickets for 3 people was $21. That’s when it occurred to me to check how much it would have been with Uber.
For $3 USD more, we could have taken an Uber and, minus traffic, arrived 9 minutes earlier. For two people, the train would be the right choice.
Overall
Absent more passengers or too many bags, taking public transport over taxis should always be considered first. In Vancouver, we took a the train from the airport but Ubered back.
Being stuck with luggage is like bringing a coat to a nightclub. You may not want to pay for a coat check but lugging it around isn’t feasible either. Arriving in Vancouver I made good use of the convenient, but moderately priced luggage storage. For $45, I was able to store five pieces of luggage.
I’ve been all over the world and have never seen such a great deal for pocket-knife storage.
TPOL’s Tip: You can book in advance online.
There are two locations: one in international arrivals, and the other in domestic.TPOL’s Tip: They close at 10PM.
TPOL’s Tip: After a day of exploring Vancouver, which may include drinking (see Guns & Butter: Vancouver, Canada:Organic Edition), don’t forget to reclaim your luggage before heading to Fiji.
How do you screw up a bagel? Typically, anything made with cream cheese makes life better (reference #philadelphiaroll).
The answer to the first, as my Canadian cousin told me, is very simple: It’s Air Canada. The answer to the second, I could not figure out while I was waiting for my flight to Vancouver to board and cannot figure out now while I write this post.
The egg mcmuffin wasn’t made with love either.
Thankfully, there was Canada Dry Ginger Ale.
And for my lovers of sweets, there was Canadian Maple Syrup.
But there was no beer this early in the morning.
Leading me back to refreshments.Overall
This was literally a stale lounge.
Don’t let the fancy French translation fool you, this was pas très bien.
After an afternoon of pho and phamily (see Pho Hung Toronto: Still Tops), I was comfortably asleep at the Hyatt Regency Toronto. Since my flight was at 6:45 AM, I set many alarms, concerned that I would miss my flight to Vancouver and subsequently miss my flight to Fiji which was departing at 11:05 PM. Due to flight availability (see Booking Miles & Smiles on Air Canada: Takes Calls, Emails, Luck) and my usual paranoia for making connections (see Cutting It Close: Will I Make My JFK-HKG Connection?), I was fine with a 14-hour layover in Vancouver (see Guns & Butter: Vancouver, Canada: Organic Edition).
I woke up to my alarm with no issue, only to come across this bad news:
Fortunately, Air Canada, as they wrote, “knows how stressful it can be when travel plans get interrupted.” (Sarcasm intended). What Air Canada should have said is that it is used to delays, and anyone who flies Air Canada should be as well (see Air Canada DTW to YYZ: Expensive in CAD, Expensive in Points). Fortunately, I was asleep when all of this happened and luckily the rebooking email was already in my inbox by the time I was awake. Otherwise, I would’ve been fixated on my phone, hitting refresh, all the while waiting for the confirmation email to come through.
Instead, I found myself stuck in the literally stale Air Canada Lounge in Toronto (see How Do You Mess up a Bagel?), waiting for my rescheduled flight to stop showing as delayed.
Ultimately, I did board my lie-flat comfort plane (see Worth It! Lie Flat Toronto to Vancouver on Air Canada), and ultimately I did make it to Vancouver at 10:30 AM, with 12 hours to spare.
Travel Lesson?
I keep a running tabulation of all my travel mistakes on my Travel Lessons page. Despite the delay, I still wouldn’t change this part of the itinerary. Not only did I have more than half of a day to make the connection, but also there was a flight from Toronto to Vancouver every hour. The bigger tragedy would have been if I went through the aforementioned trouble, had my flight cancelled, and was rebooked in coach.
Could there be a more frustrating challenge than booking a partner award using Turkish Airlines‘ Miles & Smiles? No, there certainly is not. But is there a better value than making an Air Canada booking using Miles & Smiles? Again, the answer is no.
If you’re just joining in on the fun, my flight to Fiji left from Vancouver (see 55K Alaskan to Fiji And My New Melbourne Residence). The most comfortable way of getting from the Midwest to Vancouver is on Air Canada’s lie flat from Toronto (see Worth It! Lie Flat Toronto to Vancouver on Air Canada). The best way to book this flight is using Miles & Smiles. For only 12,500 miles and $52, I would be able to lie flat. The sticker price for such a trip is $1523.
To book the trip, I went to Turkish’s website and searched for availability under Star Alliance.
The good news was that many flights were available. The bad news is that I could not book the ticket for myself, let alone for two people.
TPOL’s Tip: If you want to book a Miles & Smiles award for someone else using your miles, you need to have flown on a Miles & Smiles award ticket before you try to make the booking for that special someone. I have no idea why this is a requirement.
TPOL’s Tip: If you want to book a Miles & Smiles award for someone else using your miles, you have to call Turkish as bookings cannot be made online. Ask yourself if you really like that person before committing to making such a booking.
Call Center Time
I called the call center. The good news is that I was not on hold for a long time. The bad news is that the agent could not find availability. I called again and again and again and again. I finally was able to put one ticket on hold. I could not put another ticket on hold because there was no availability.
Riding Coach?
Needing to get two passengers to Vancouver, I informed Ms. TPOL that she may have to fly peasant to Vancouver (see Points in the Front, Peasants in the Back). Why? Because she had applied for the Citi Premier card and was not approved (seeLeave Your Lover Behind? What If She’s Bad at Recon). She was not happy but accepted that this may be the only way.
Ticketing for Myself
With my ticket on hold, I called to pay the taxes. It took four phone calls until the taxes populated correctly and I was able to secure my flight.
Business Availability?
Understanding that I could not leave my lover in peasant, I kept checking availability for another business class seat. Time and time again, the website would show seats. Time and time again, I would call and the agent would say that there was no availability.
Time to Give Up? Never
I called at various times to see if availability would show up. It finally did. I tried to pay for the taxes, but the system kept rejecting my credit cards and Ms. TPOL’s credit cards. With the award hold expiring, the agent agreed to extend the time the award could be held.
Emailing Credit Card Information
Making zero progress, I thought that I could pay for the ticket when I arrived in Toronto. Googling this option I learned of a different option. I could email a Turkish ticket office and, if they responded, I could send them my credit card information. I looked up every Turkish office in the US and Canada and sent them this email:
I have been trying to pay over the phone with Turkish. System keeps giving an error. I would like to send you the documentation to complete this booking. The ticket is in [Ms. TPOL’s] name but it is my account number. Please help. Response #1Delivery has failed to these recipients or groups: ZMEZOUARI@THY.COM The recipient’s mailbox is full and can’t accept messages now. Please try resending your message later, or contact the recipient directly. The following organization rejected your message: ISTPEXCF13V.thynet.thy.com.
Of course, this didn’t work, I thought to myself.
Response #2
The next day I received this:
Dear Alexander,
You reached the Turkish Airlines office, we can accept the USA credit card for payment via email only.
The cost of the ticket against reservation below will be 12500 miles and 52.00USD as airport taxes.
Kindly ask you to transfer to our side the following:
-Miles&Smiles card holder’s passport copy
-Award ticket request form (attached)
-CC authorization form (attached)
-credit/debit card photo
Ticketed
I sent in the required information and received the confirmation email. That was easy!
Response #3 & 4
Many offices did not respond. However, two other offices did. They sent this message: Dear passenger, Thank you for your email. Ticket seems already issued. Have a nice flight.Which Office Should You Email?
I didn’t list the offices that responded. Why? Fellow travel bloggers advised against doing so as the responsive office would get inundated with emails, and it would ruin it for everyone. Since multiple offices did respond to my request, I do not feel bad about not publicizing this information. I am confident that you will get a response following my steps.
Overall
When it comes to points bookings, I get fixated on making it work. While Ms. TPOL was very happy that she didn’t have to ride in coach for 5 hours, I was happier than she as I had, once again, proven my points-booking prowess.
Damn right it was worth it!
Thanks to Covid (see The Lost & Found Year(s): COVID Trip Report), it has been years since I have seen my cousins in Toronto. Thanks to Covid, it has been years since we met for a bowl of pho at Pho Hung.
In 2014, I wrote Pho Sho, Fu Uh Sho: The Top Ten Places to Get Pho!. Many things have changed for the worse since then. One thing that has not is Pho Hung, one of the best places in the world for pho. Another thing that has not changed is the great experience of sharing pho with family. For this reason, it is worth re-posting pictures to commemorate this happy time.
Pho Your Review
Do not order beer during pho. It is an unnecessary extra both in terms of cost and in terms of corrupting the palette.
Do order Cafe Sua Da. It’s a necessary stimulant after a large bowl.
Only order one order of spring rolls. Yes, you can eat an unlimited amount, but this caviar of the Far East should be savored.
Overall
No pandemic will keep me away from pho and phamily again.
TPOL’s Tip: 350 Spadina Ave., Toronto, ON M5T 2G4, Canada.
For $3 USD more, we could have taken an Uber and, minus traffic, arrived 9 minutes earlier. For two people, the train would be the right choice.
Overall
Absent more passengers or too many bags, taking public transport over taxis should always be considered first. In Vancouver, we took a the train from the airport but Ubered back.
And for my lovers of sweets, there was Canadian Maple Syrup.
But there was no beer this early in the morning.
Ultimately, I did board my lie-flat comfort plane (see 
Pho Your Review
Overall
No pandemic will keep me away from pho and phamily again.
TPOL’s Tip: 350 Spadina Ave., Toronto, ON M5T 2G4, Canada.
