hilton

2019 was a lot of things; a down year in travel it was not. I visited seven new countries as well as some new North American cities. My work travel has been mostly west coast based, which has certainly made life easier. I also had a long stint of time at home, which was much needed considering my flight mileage for the year was close to 150,000 miles.

The decade

The decade was an interesting one for me. The beginning of it I was fresh out of college in the middle of the Great Recession. I dreamt of traveling the world but didn’t have the means to do so, perhaps supercharging my desire. It wasn’t until 2011 that I took a job in Charlotte, North Carolina that I got the opportunity to start traveling for work. My job took me to Los Angeles every week, while my new girlfriend Leigh of 3 weeks (and now wife) stayed home. I was home so infrequently that I gave up my apartment and moved in with Leigh, only to never look back!

We traded Charlotte’s mild weather for Miami’s beaches in 2014. To say this was life-changing would be an understatement. If you’ve visited Miami before, you know that the culture is night and day from anywhere is in the US (I would have plenty of opportunities to practice my Spanish)! After nearly four years in South Florida – and making some lifelong friends – we moved West, to San Francisco. Moving to California was something we’d always wanted to do and two and half years in, we’re having a blast. The Bay Area has a never ending list of things to, so we do find that we drive for more day or weekend trips, versus getting on a plane.

In 2017, I finally (finnnnally) popped the question! We married in early September 2018 in Savannah, which is where Leigh is from. It was the sweatiest day of my life (see early September in Savannah).

It’s been a hell of a ride thus far. On the one hand, we’ve lived the life that both of us always thought we might live: nomadically wandering the world. On the other I’ve been “gone” more than I haven’t been (due to work). As John Mayer put it, I miss the Home Life. In just six years, we’ve been to almost 35 countries and six continents (Antartica in the future?).

Through a lot of trial and error, I end this decade much smarter than I started it.

Statuses

Airlines

United 1K

I began the year on a 1K challenge, which I barely hit. After a few months as a 1K, I immediately came to appreciate much of what United offers its elites. I just requalified for 1K and am excited with the the things that United is doing, like the introduction of PointsPlus and its robust international route network. I’m not sure how I feel about the move to a strictly revenue qualification system for 2020. At the end of the day, I live at a fortress hub and United is the best option out of SFO. 1K also comes with Star Alliance Gold status which provides a plethora benefits.

American Platinum

Weird. That’s the first time I’ve written out my soon to be Platinum status on American. After seven straight years as an Executive Platinum, I finally “broke up” with American. Why? First and foremost, they’ve decided to be uncompetitive on the west coast and their route network no longer works for me. Their further degradation of the Alaska relationship was the final nail in the coffin. The other reason I had no problem cutting ties with American is due to its continued downhill slide in just about everything. The leadership at American has provided no vision to their employees and its unclear to consumers whether they want to be a low cost carrier or a premium airline. What’s left is an airline that is good at neither and a new reputation that they no longer care about comfort or on time arrivals. I hit platinum primarily based on an inexpensive partner business class fare that earned me far more qualifying dollars than I actually spent. Platinum keeps me as oneworld Sapphire, which allows me business class lounge access when flying internationally.

Hotels

Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador Elite

I managed to keep my Ambassador status another year which is great, because I really like my ambassador, Alie. While not earth shattering, I do find having an ambassador to be a nice perk. Having a single point of contact for everything is incredibly helpful when you’re busy. Given how big Marriott is now, it’s also the best way to ensure upgrades, special treatment, etc. Being Platinum no longer means much (other than free breakfast), so I’m happy being two levels above. With that said, I’ve become disenchanted with Marriott through the merger process. Communication was minimal and they absolutely did a bait and switch when they moved to peak/off-peak award pricing. The way it was represented to everyone is that it was based on the season, but in reality it’s dynamic pricing based on occupancy levels. Points Advance was effectively killed, and Suite Night Awards seem to be harder to confirm. At the end of the day, Marriott has hotels everywhere and the legacy SPG portfolio has dozens of aspirational properties that make it hard to leave Marriott.

Hyatt Globalist

Hyatt is new for me this year. I completed a challenge using my American Executive Platinum status that got me Globalist status after just 18 nights. Four months in, I’m really impressed with Hyatt overall. Unlike Marriott, where you need a VLOOKUP to figure out where breakfast is complementary, Globalists get free breakfast at every property. Globalists also get suite night awards that are incredibly valuable, allowing suite upgrade confirmation at time of booking. While still small in comparison, Hyatt has also done an excellent at increasing their footprint through some recent acquisitions. Looking to 2020, I’m planning to double down on Hyatt and make them primary hotel chain.

Hilton Diamond

Ah Hilton, my first hotel status. I’ve been Diamond off and on for years, though Hilton hasn’t been my primary hotel brand in 5 years. Why? I moved to SPG and fell in love (RIP) and frankly, Hilton doesn’t have a long list of aspirational properties, though that’s changing. This year I managed to get Diamond through a status challenge that only required 8 stays. Upgrades are hit or miss, though that’s primarily a function of the Hilton Aspire card providing diamond status, so the numbers are much larger. Because Golds get many of the same benefits – including free breakfast – I don’t put a huge price on Diamond status. Hilton has always been my “back pocket” brand and one I always try to keep some points. Remember, no matter where you go, there’s probably a Hampton Inn nearby.

Rental cars

Living in San Francisco – where we don’t own a car – I find rental car status to be valuable, but most probably don’t. I won’t got into a lot of detail, but I ended up with Avis Preferred, National Executive, and Hertz Presidents Circle, all of which give me access to better cars and easier check out.

2019 stand outs

Places

Moorea, French Polynesia

Our trip to French Polynesia was a random booking due to award availability at the Le Meridien there and two, United starting service to Tahiti with incredibly low fares. We spent five nights in Bora Bora but what really stood out was our two day, one night stay on Moorea, a small island just off the coast of Tahiti. Unlike its more famous cousin Bora Bora, Moorea offers visitors with far more things to do than lie on the deck of their overwater bungalow like in Boring Bora (as the locals call it). With plenty of hiking, water sports, and the ability to be self sufficient through renting a car (again, unlike Bora Bora), there’s non-stop things to do and the French Polynesian island that we said we will return. The Hilton Moorea offers a great points option for those visiting.

British Columbia, Canada

Another trip that was helpfully dictated by points. I’d purchased a Marriott vacation package using points, which netted some incredible deals. Part of the deal was a seven night stay at a Category 1-4 hotel. Normally a low category hotel is the last place I want to spend a week, but we find a gem in the Vancouver suburb of Burnaby at the Element hotel. As an extended stay hotel, it offered us the ability to cook for ourselves, not to mention it was pet friendly. Even though it wasn’t in the heart of the city, the hotel was less than 10 minute walk to the rail that takes you into downtown Vancouver. It also offered a great jumping off point to explore the region, such as Grouse Mountain and Whistler, where we stayed a night. We went around the July 4th holidays, so the weather was absolutely perfect for being outside. We also took the ferry to Victoria for a night and had a blast. In an effort not to backtrack, we took the ferry straight back to the United States, arriving at the Port Angeles terminal. We spent 10 days hiking, swimming, eating, and exploring the best of British Columbia and can’t of recommend visiting enough.

Lake Como, Italy

Wow. That pretty much sums up how we felt about Lake Como. On the same trip we visited Florence, Cinque Terre, and Venice, but none of them struck us quite like our time on the lake. The scenery is jaw dropping and mixed with the culture and food of Italy, it’s a can’t beat destination. We were initially supposed to rent a boat for our anniversary, but the winds that day had other ideas, so we slummed it by the pool instead. We stayed two nights at the Hilton Lake Como using points. We will return.

Bonus round: Uruguay

My dad, brother, and I have started a somewhat tradition of taking a trip every year. This year we went to South America, specifically to Buenos Aires and Uruguay. While Buenos Aires needs no introduction, Uruguay is probably not a place that many people have heard of. Getting inspiration from Anthony Bourdain, we added Montevideo to our list (along with some day trips). What we were rewarded with was a country as interesting as any place I’ve been. A socially liberal country – they’ve legalized weed and same sex marriage – with one of the highest per capita incomes in the world, Uruguay sits just across the Rio de la Plata from Buenos Aires. While there are many similarities between Argentinian and Uruguayan culture – and they both love wine, beef, and fútbol – Uruguay has a distinctive flare and plays the part of the “less famous cousin” really well. We made a day trip to the beach town and capitol of the superrich Punte del Este, where we found warm weather and locals frolicking on the beach.

Best flight:

Qatar Q-Suite A350-1000

I almost feel stupid for even including this. Thanks to some dumb luck and a willingness to fly out of the way, we flew in the Q Suites for the second time in September. Honestly the flight was better than the first Q Suite experience, not to mention the new plane factor (spoiler: the A351 is my new favorite plane).

Best hotel:

St Regis Florence

On our trip to Italy, we stayed at two of the premier hotels not only in Marriott’s portfolio, but the world. Although the Gritti Palace was a close runner up, Leigh and I felt like the St Regis in Florence was on another level in terms of service. From coffee being delivered daily to the room, to the sabering of the champagne every night at the bar, to every other little detail in between, the St Regis Florence is a cut above anywhere else that we’ve stayed.

A close runner up: Las Alcobas Napa Valley – you can find my review here.

Did 2019 live up to all your travel ambitions?