Priority Pass Cyprus is part of the Quest Around the Globe Trip Report.
I had not heard of Swissport, a cargo carrier, until visiting this Priority Pass Lounge that bears its name. There was nothing special to document here besides the fish tank.
And now onto Jordan.
Anyia Napa Travel Guide is part of the Quest Around the Globe Trip Report.
TPOL’s Guns & Butter Travel Guide is the best way to see as much as you can in as little time as possible. Here’s how it works – A trip is composed of two factors: Labor And Lazy. The opportunity cost (what is given up) for relaxing and being Lazy is gained by being adventurous in the form of Labor and vice versa. The guide includes inefficient activities i.e., tourist traps that should be avoided and aspirational activities that are worth doing but may be impossible to see given the constraints of time and resources.
Getting There: Take the bus from the airport. A private driver is far too expensive.
Why Avia Napa?
Ayia Napa is the lazy choice for where to go in Cyprus. After running around, St. Petersburg and Moscow, I wanted an easy trip. Here’s what I did in the limited time I was there:
I only had two days in Ayia Napa, just enough time to visit the popular beaches but not enough time to lounge.
Have I mentioned I love gyros, shawarma, kebab(p) or anything that consists of light bread and skewered meat (see The Best Kebab in the World, Illiad & Odyssey: Quest for Best Athenian Gyros, Searching for the Best Shawarma Beirut, Make Corfu Greek Again! How Tourism Ruined an Island)? In this life, I was able to sample gyros/kebab from many establishments.
Tourist trap may be a bit too harsh when describing the restaurants, but in a town that is built around catering to tourists, I did not find any stand-out restaurants. I preferred the light Italian restaurant to the fancy seafood one. Given the choice, I would take gyros/kebab over both.
It wasn’t peak season when I went, but if I had to describe the nightlife in one word, it would be amateur. Bedrock Inn: Ayia Napa :: La Boom: Cancun (see The Best Nightclubs in the World). Does this look exciting?
The island has various party favors to keep the party going. I stuck to beer and coffee.
Next Life
There will be a next time for me in Cyprus. I will still go to Ayia Napa for a couple of nights but I will venture beyond that city’s borders to see more of the island’s beautiful beaches.
Hotel vs. Hostel is part of the Quest Around the Globe Trip Report.
I arrived in Ayia Napa, Cyprus with nowhere to stay. Spoiled by the perks of my Russian hotels (see Park Hyatt Moscow: Luxury Inside & Out, St. Regis Moscow: Setting the Standard, W St. Petersburg: Vivid Veuve Memories, Radisson Royal St. Petersburg, Russia: Where’s the Sauna?), I was not ready to abandon the luxury lifestyle alive.
Faros Hotel
With no name-brand hotels in the area, I decided to pay for a ‘3-star’ hotel. While it was not bad, I don’t believe it was worth the $150/night that they were charging. It certainly is not worth the advertised rate of $350 a night.
There’s no need for a giant pool when the draw of the island is the beaches. It’s worse when the pool lacks signs of life.
Comfort The room was decent and the shower was fine.
I give this hotel a solid two stars. It would be a bargain at $75. At $150, it’s a bit much. At $350, it’s ridiculous.
Senator Hotel Apartments
I switched to Senator Hotel Apartments for my last night.
While the location was a bit further from Bedrock nightlife (see Guns & Butter: Ayia Napa Travel Guide), the pool was just as good. In addition, it was nice seeing young travelers at the pool instead of grandma and grandpa.
The trouble with any hostel-style hotel is comfort. Happiness in life, including hangovers, requires a good shower, a comfortable bed, a humming a/c, and good Wi-Fi. Here, the beds were horribly uncomfortable and the shower had no pressure and intermittent hot water.
Comparison
So which one is it? Hotel or hostel? Each of them had perks and each of them had drawbacks. For the hotel, the perk is the location. The drawback is the price. For the hostel, the perk is the price. The drawback is more of the location than the expected lack of comfort, especially for one night. If I had to choose, I would stay for free and be pampered at a brand-name hotel. Since there weren’t any, I was fine splitting my time between these two.
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WonderBoom 2 Review is part of my Travel Widgets where I review all indispensable travel gadgets.
With travel around the corner, it’s time to update My Travel Technology post originally written in 2015. Today, I’m starting with the best travel speaker, the WonderBoom 2. In 2015, I promoted the Big Jambox as my travel speaker, a device that the Israelis said tested positive for explosives (see “You Leave Only with Passport!” Detained in Tel Aviv Again) and a device that continuously baffled TSA (see The TSA Won’t Jam).
Tired of being interrogated and tired of carrying around the heavy JamBox, I searched for a worthy alternative. For years, I was using the original WonderBoom, which I called the Avocado on account of its green color. I upgraded to the 2 because the new Boom has a better battery life, more powerful sound, and a boost feature for amplifying the sound outdoors. Unlike the Big Jambox which weighs 2.7lbs, Boom 2 only weighs 15oz. Unlike the Big Jambox, it clearly looks like a speaker, leaving me less likely to end up with a device ripped apart like this:
Most importantly, the Wonderboom 2 fits snugly in my golf cart, allowing me to play my jams which are controlled by my Garmin Venu, while crushing the competition (see VIDEO: Golfing Rio Mar, Puerto Rico).
What’s in your carry-on? Hopefully nothing that triggers a positive explosive test.
WonderBoom 2 Review is part of my Travel Widgets where I review all indispensable travel gadgets.
I’m sure you did not know that TPOL is a movie critic. Last year, I predicted all the major Academy Award winners. I typically do not write about movies because it has nothing to do with travel. In this case, it is relevant. The original Coming to America is my favorite movie, and I reference it as frequently as I reference Seinfeld. In the post, Since I cannot personally go to SE Asia with Mikey and show him the ladyboy bars in Bangkok… I wrote, “Remember when you saw Coming to America the first time or tried princess chicken for the first time at Empress of China when you visited Flint, Michigan? That and experiencing other firsts is why I continue to travel and seek new adventures in new places. While I love going back to a country that I have visited before, nothing compares to the first time in a new city.”
A movie sequel rarely lives up to the original. Here, I knew the movie would be awful when the rating was only PG-13. Ten minutes in, I turned it off, refusing to let it contaminate my child memories of Akeem. The same can be said about traveling back to the same city. The saddest thing is when a city that I love doesn’t deliver the magic of years past, leaving me to wonder if I actually enjoyed it then as much as I thought I did (see New Years 2016! My Last Binge in Bangkok). Sometimes it is better to cherish the perfect memory of a destination instead of tempting fate and returning. This is why I have yet to return to one of the most beautiful places in the world, Seychelles. When I went in 2013, I saw nothing but sun and pristine beaches (see Round the World Dividends From the Geographically Challenged). I would hate to go back and be disappointed by swaths of tourists and storm clouds.
That is not to say that there aren’t certain places that I enjoy the more I go. Cape Town and New Orleans come to mind. Indeed, there are places I hated the first time and only enjoyed them the second time around (reference Bangkok again). However, like Coming to America, there are places that should be one and done because a masterpiece does not need a sequel.
The last time I used my passport was on the way back from Shanghai in 2019 (see Recap! TPOL in Shanghai & Recap! Year Of The Monkey Trip Report). I needed it today, not for traveling, but to open a business account. I went to retrieve it from my safe and it was not there. I checked my closet, sock drawers, my travel jacket, and the freezer. I found nothing. I began to panic and wonder if somehow I had thrown it away. I tried to think of what else I could have used it for and why I may have moved it. Since I have not traveled anywhere in over a year, my panic turned into a panic attack. After flipping the house upside down, I went back to the safe. As it turned out, the safe has a shelf. On top of the shelf was my passport.
Losing a passport is the ultimate rookie mistake. That drama and the indefinite break from travel does not give me the confidence to take to the skies. I am going to have to review my Lesson from Travel and take baby trips to see how rusty I am before going back to the 10 country, 3 continent tours that I was accustomed to doing. Hopefully, it does not take long to get back into mid-season form.
Are you trepidatious to travel because it has been so long? Where are you having your travel pre-season?
Disclaimer: I don’t make anything off of credit cards. It’s a shame.
TPOL has slipped when it comes to maximizing the use of his credit cards for points. Perhaps it’s because I do not travel anymore (see What’s a Travel Blog Without Travel?) or perhaps because I am lazy. Hopeful that travel is coming, I have taken a hard look at my credit card portfolio and put together a plan to maximize each.
Wallet
Mercenary
These cards have mins I have to meet. Once they are met, they will go back in the binder.
Automatic
Keep Forever
I have called in retention for these cards and this year it was successful. However, I wouldn’t cancel them anyway because the free nights offset the annual fee.
Leftover
Cancel
What am I missing?
March 4th, 2020, I was supposed to go to San Diego. Paranoid about COVID, I called AA to say that I wanted to cancel my flight. At that time, no one was worried about COVID and there was not an official government directive on the virus. As such, AA initially said it would not refund the ticket nor would it provide a voucher. After plenty of yelling, I was finally given the ‘courtesy’ of receiving a travel credit towards a future flight. The next step was to call the conference and ask for a refund. Initially, they also said no and promised that the conference would be safe. The person said, “Don’t worry, there will be plenty of hand sanitizer.” I insisted on a refund and was finally told I could have a voucher.
Fast forward a year later, my predictions, despite the angry comments along the way, about this terrible virus have sadly come true (see Travel Or Stay Inside? TPOL’s Thoughts on Coronavirus & Do I Stay Or Do I Go? Thoughts on the Second Covid Wave). As the anniversary of my canceled flight approached, I continued to ask AA for a refund for my ticket because I have no immediate travel plans. They would always decline stating that the ticket was non-refundable and that my voucher was valid through February 2022.
The issue is that when I viewed my voucher, it continued to say that it would expire on March 4, 2021. As the expiration date approached, I contacted American Airlines and they stopped responding.
To the shock of none, when I tried to access my voucher today, I received this:
If I call AA, they instruct me to email customer service. It seems like there is no alternative but to go back and not find justice in small courts. Perhaps this is an oversight. Or, more likely, AA did not appreciate that I called them crooks and thieves for not returning my money, opting to give me a voucher that I have no interest in using. Meanwhile, they are enjoying the bailout courtesy of American taxpayers. Contrast this to my experience with Delta which automatically extended my vouchers through December 31, 2022!
Many of you may know this, but since this debacle began I have been out of the loop. Sensing an end in sight, I called Delta to see when my unused vouchers for trips that were supposed to happen last year would expire. I assumed it would be by the end of this year. I found out that they do not expire until 12/31/2022. That is news to me. Now, I need to figure out the rules for canceling points flights across all airlines. And maybe, just maybe, I may book something one day.
When I wrote Keep vs. Cancel: Amex Green, I decided that I wanted to cancel the card and was not going to bother asking Amex to waive the annual fee. After a successful Marriott Business Bonvoy retention offer, I thought it wouldn’t hurt to see what Amex would give me. After a quick chat, I was told that I would receive 7,500 points if I did not cancel. I told the representative that I was not sure and wanted more time to think about it. He advised that I take the offer now and that I had still had a few days if I wanted to cancel.
Valuing the opportunity to qualify for the Hilton Amex versus over a few thousand MR’s, I contacted Amex again and said that I was changing my mind. The chat representative said it was my right to cancel but also sent me this warning, “I can honor your request to cancel your card. Before doing so, I would like to let you know some important information regarding the Retention Bonus Offer terms. If American Express determines that you have engaged or intend to engage in abuse, misuse, or gaming in connection with the loyalty offer, including if you cancel or downgrade your account within 12 months after acquiring it or if you return purchases you made to meet the threshold amount, we reserve the right to withhold, freeze, or revoke Membership Rewards from your Platinum Card account and cancel any accounts you have with us.”
While some may think it is worth the risk of accepting the 7,500 and then cancelling or downgrading, I am not one of those people. I told the rep that he could take away the 7,500 points right now. I explained that I only took the offer because it was advised that I do so. He reiterated that they ‘reserve the right’ to claw back the points and said it would happen automatically if it happened at all. If they go away, so be it. If not, I certainly won’t blog about it because posting about it may make me an accomplice in gaming the system.
Anyone else think Amex is being too sensitive with this points claw back nonsense? (see Amex Shutdown? Remedy & Going Forward)
