Miami & Other US City Guides by West Elm

By now, most of us are very familiar with the American furniture store West Elm. But did you know that they also publish some cool (free) City Guides on their official website for a handful of American cities? Well, if your answer is no, don't feel bad, I didn't know this either. I just happened to find the guides by accident, as I was perusing their website for outdoor furniture on sale!

My recommendation, take a minute to visit the West Elm web page. I was pleasantly surprised with the content of their guides. I specifically looked over the Miami City Guide (because I live in Miami) and I found that it contains truly original, uber-cool suggestions for places to visit and things to do.

These city guides are also brief and concise - one page or two long, so they're easy to print and take along and since I'm not as familiar with the other cities listed, I'm going to assume that the other seven or eight free City guides are of the same quality of "coolness".

Take a look at them in the link below (or access by visiting the following internet address:www.westelm.com/we-love/be-inspired/city-guides). Also, if you have a minute, drop me a line and let me know what you think of these guides.

Enjoy the visit! and happy trails!

City Guides | west elm

Choosing the Best Credit Card (For Travelers) NYTimes

Are you tired of finding too many "extra charges" in your credit card bills for charges made while abroad? Here's a fantastic new list of suggestions for some of the "best credit cards for travelers", published by the New York Times today, April 24, 2011.

Word for word, these are the cards they recommend:

"For the Occasional Flier

THE CARD Capital One Venture Rewards

THE PERKS No foreign transaction fees and double miles on every purchase (not just hotel stays or airfare), which can be redeemed for monetary credit toward any travel purchase, including plane tickets on any airline, hotel rooms, rental cars and cruises. Just add two zeros to the cost of your travel expense and trade in that number of miles to pay for it. In other words, spending $12,500 earns 25,000 miles, good for a $250 travel credit.

ANNUAL FEE/APR $59; 11.9 to 19.9 percent.

BOTTOM LINE You don’t need to travel to earn miles with this card. And you won’t be tied down to one airline or run into blackout dates when using those miles.

For the Mileage Hound

THE CARD American Express Starwood Preferred Guest Card

THE PERKS Points can be used for Starwood hotel stays or be exchanged for miles on many airlines including American, British Airways, Delta, US Airways and Virgin Atlantic. Plus, you get a 5,000-point bonus when you trade in 20,000 points for miles. There is also a sign-on bonus of up to 25,000 points (10,000 points for your first purchase and 15,000 points if you spend $15,000 in six months).

ANNUAL FEE/APR $65; 2.90 percent for the first six months, then 11.99 percent.

BOTTOM LINE You’ll get the equivalent of a domestic ticket for roughly every $20,000 you spend or about 1.25 miles per dollar. That’s “a better earning rate than offered by most airline branded credit cards,” said Tim Winship, an editor for SmarterTravel.com and the publisher of FrequentFlier.com. And unlike those cards, you’re not tied to just one airline. It’s that combination of value and flexibility, added Mr. Winship, “that has long endeared it to frequent travelers.”

For the Worrier

THE CARD Escape by Discover

THE PERKS In addition to the usual secondary collision damage waiver insurance provided by many credit cards, which require travelers to first file a claim under their personal auto policy, this card offers $50,000 in primary collision damage waiver coverage — that means claims do not need to be filed under the traveler’s policy. The card also includes roadside assistance, lost or damaged luggage insurance in case the airlines lose your bags and trip cancellation insurance. It even comes with up to $500,000 in flight accident insurance. Cardholders earn double miles for every $1 spent on purchases, which can be used toward the cost of any trip.

ANNUAL FEE/APR $60; 10.99 to 15.99 percent.

BOTTOM LINE You’ll avoid paying for separate travel insurance for most trips.

For the Penny-Pincher

THE CARD The Chase Freedom Visa

THE PERKS 1 percent cash back on all purchases, plus the opportunity to earn 5 percent cash back on up to $1,500 worth of certain purchases each quarter. For example, April through June of this year is home improvement. There is also a $100 bonus cash back when you spend $500 in the first three months.

ANNUAL FEE/APR None; zero percent for the first six months, then 11.99 to 22.99 percent.

BOTTOM LINE “Miles can be confusing and hard to redeem, but cash has no blackout dates, and everyone understands that value of a dollar,” said John Ulzheimer, president of Consumer Education at SmartCredit.com. “If you’re getting reimbursed for your travel expenses and your company pays you back before your due date, this is a no-brainer.”

More on this article in the blue link below. Hope this helps!

Choosing the Best Credit Card - Practical Traveler - NYTimes.com

Photos, courtesy of American Express.

My View from 30,000 Feet

Wow, another blog (website) written by a Flight Attendant, one of our peeps! and it's a really cool site! Bravo chica! Please visit her site My View from 30,000 by clicking on the enclosed (blue) link below or go directly to her site www.myviewfrom30000feet.blogspot.com and support her efforts!

A sample post from her website is included in the link enclosed. It covers "items one must bring on a trip to be comfortable". A very informative post and it's spot-on with the suggestions!

My View from 30,000 Feet

A Funny Flight Attendant book - Betty in the Sky with a Suitcase!

This is so cute, a book on funny airline stories authored by Flight Attendants Janet Spencer and Betty N. Thesky. It's titled Betty in the Ski with a Suitcase. Here are some details from the book, as posted by Heather Pool in her popular Flight Attendant Blog - Galley Gossip With Heather Pool:

"...10 FUN FACTS FROM BETTY'S BOOK...

1. Around 25% of first class passengers pay full fare. The rest are upgrades, frequent fliers and airline employees.

2. Airlines update the fares in their computers about 250,000 times daily.

3. 12 million free tickets are issued annually due to frequent flier miles.

4. Airplanes take off and land every 37 seconds at Chicago's O'Hare Airport.

5. The first airplane toilets were simply a hole in the fuselage of the plane through which one could see the countryside passing below.

6. The Unclaimed Baggage Center in Scottsboro, Alabama, sells about 10 million items from lost luggage annually.

7. One of the biggest planes is the Boeing 747. If set upright it would rise as high as a 20 story building

8. Air travel is the second safest mode of transportation. Only the elevator / escalator is safer.

9. Tolerance for alcohol drops by about 30% when you're at 30,000 feet, so a few drinks will go a long way.

10. The longest flight in the world is the nonstop flight from New York to Hong Kong which travels 8,439 miles over the North Pole in 15 hours and 40 minutes.

Betty N. Thesky is a flight attendant who works for a major airline and the host of the popular podcast Betty in the Sky with a Suitcase. You can read more about Betty on her website BettyInTheSky.com ..."

For more on Heather's blog or on this article, please click the following enclosed link below. Thank you Heather and Betty!

Galley Gossip: Funny flight attendant book - Betty in the Sky with a Suitcase! | Gadling.com

World "Luxe City Guides" for your iPhone

Wow, I just discovered (courtesy of Jeffries Blackerby from the Travel Section of the New York Times) that my favorite travel guides - The Luxe City Guides - are now available as applications for the iPhone. Hurray!

For those of you who are not familiar with these amazing travel guides, you can check my earlier post on the paper travel guide version via this link. POSTCARDS FROM THE AIR: TRAVEL GEAR - The Irreverently Hip "Luxe City Guides"



The folks at Luxe City Guides now have twenty city guides ready for downloading for your iPhone via iTunes for $5.99 each - half their usual price until February 2011!!!

I haven't purchased one yet, but right after posting this, I will do a quick search to see what cities they have published thus far. These guides promise to be "cheeky", "funny" and "irreverent". Plus, they now come loaded with handy GPS enabled maps, automatic downloads and the ability to build your own personalized itineraries based on your favorite selections.


Also, for you Balckberry users, I hear that the applications are on the works and being tested as we speak, so keep checking for availability. They're on the way!

More Flight Attendant Travel Blogs!

Here are two great crew travel blogs written by Flight Attendants. Both contain useful travel information for our trips, each written in it's own special way. Take a minute to visit these sites and support the work of your Flight Attendant co-workers. Don't forget to save the links for future reference. Once you're done, pass the information on. That's how we help them grow.

Globetrek - (www.globetrek.org) - This crew travel blog was started by Robert Roach, a DCA based Flight Attendant. Robert, a self described travel photo journalist, publishes articles about his own travel experiences around the world and illustrates them with his own photos. The photos, by the way, can be purchased right from his site. Don't miss the photo gallery. There are some wonderful shots.

His blog also includes helpful links for travel, like currency conversion charts, weather reports, travel movies, etc. Feel free to browse through Roberts blog by clicking here or by following him through his Globetrek Facebook page.

Thanks Robert for sharing your travel adventures with us!

Airline Layovers - (www.airlinelayovers.com) - Our second crew-site, "airline layovers" was created by one of our own Flight Attendants based in DCA, but she chooses to remain anonymous. Her blog, which she claims it's really not a blog, but just an information site, provides brief "Cheat Sheets" with place specific information about some of our international layover, destinations.

What kind of valuable information do the sheets include? they have directions to the nearest reasonably priced restaurant to your layover hotel, to the nearest ATM or supermarket, cultural details about the city, like the language that is spoken and the currency that is used plus much, much more.

So next time you find yourself racing to your next international layover with out a clue about your destination, hit the computer before your briefing and visit this site. Access the necessary quick "life-line" or information sheet about the city you're about to visit and rest assured, you'll have at least some idea about the basics for your destination before you get there.

To reach her site to take a look now, click here and remember, once you visit, pass the information on so we can support her research and work.

Thank you miss "airline layovers" for providing us with such valuable help for our layovers!

PARIS READS - The Sharper Your Knife

This is very funny book about a middle aged woman who gets fired form her high powered position in London and then decides to start over in Paris, by training to be a Chef at the famous Le Cordon Bleu cooking school. The book describes her struggles through a new language and culture while living in Paris, and her difficulties learning to cook, while attending classes at the most famous cooking school in the world, The Cordon Bleu.

I loved the characters descriptions of her cooking classes at the Cordon Bleu and of the Paris markets, neighborhoods and shops. I also enjoyed, the lovely recipes included at the end of each chapter of the book.

if you wish to get the book, please visit the Amazon link enclosed.

Amazon.com: The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry: Love, Laughter, and Tears in Paris at the World's Most Famous Cooking School (9780143114130): Kathleen Flinn: Books

Enjoy!

Do you have any travel books you would like to recommend? Please write to us with the titles of your suggestions at postcards@me.com and we will publish them. Thanks!

PARIS READS - My Life in France

Now a major motion picture, this is a wonderful read following on the foot steps of Julia Child as she arrives in France for the first time to live in Paris right after World War II , around 1947.

You'll experience Paris in the 50's with Julia, as she describes with infectious excitement, the meals, menus, cooking classes, food, markets and food vendors she discovers during her extended stay.

A great read before you go to Paris.

Amazon.com: My Life in France (Movie Tie-In Edition) (Random House Movie Tie-In Books) (9780307474858): Julia Child, Alex Prud'Homme: Books

Middle Eastern Reads - Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women

Nine Parts of Desire is one of my favorite books ever. It's about the lives of women in the Middle East and written by an extraordinary writer, Geraldine Brooks. This is a must read if you have any plans to visit any country in the Middle East or if you entertain any curiosity about the hidden lifestyles of women in these often misunderstood, far away parts of the world. Powerful and revealing.

Read it and let me know what you think. Also, here's the link to Amazon in case you want more information about the author and/or the book. Amazon.com: Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women (9780385475778): Geraldine Brooks: Books

DUBAI - Great Book about Life in Dubai in the 1950's

If you're planning to visit Dubai anytime soon, you may want to read this book, "The Sand Fish" by the Emirati writer, Maha Gargash. Her book describes the lifestyle of a young Bedouin woman who lived in the Dubai desert in the 1950's.

My friend Milena who currently resides in Dubai, just read the book and recommends it, specially if you're interested in understanding the local Emirati history and culture.

To preview the book click on the enclosed link by Amazon and enjoy the book!

Amazon.com: The Sand Fish: A Novel from Dubai (9780061744679): Maha Gargash: Books