CheapAir.com to Accept Bitcoin

CheapAir.com announced today that it has become the nation's first online travel agency to accept Bitcoin for hotel reservations. Customers can now use Bitcoin to buy flights and book hotel rooms at more than 200,000 hotels throughout the world.

In November 2013, CheapAir.com became the U.S.'s first online travel agency to accept Bitcoin for flight purchases. By adding this option for hotel reservations, CheapAir.com has made it possible for customers to book an entire vacation using the digital currency.

According to their press release, "Customers who purchase hotels and flights using Bitcoin enjoy all the benefits of booking with CheapAir. Travelers can mix and match flights from multiple airlines to create tens of thousands of possible itineraries. Bitcoin purchases are also backed by CheapAir's Price Drop Payback™, the one-of-a-kind price guarantee that gives customers up to a $100 in travel credit if their flight fare drops    
                                              after purchase."

I don't get Bitcoin, but I guess this is the right direction. If one website accepts it, others websites will soon follow. Once enough places accept it, does it become an acceptable form of currency?

Time will only tell . . .

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A Hotel First For Me

In my entire life, I have stayed at maximum 200 nights in hotels. This past weekend, I went to Boston with a friend and experienced a hotel first: hearing my neighbors have sex. To be honest, I could have had past hotel stays that this occurred and I either forgot or did not notice. However, this weekend, my neighbors were particularly loud.

FoxNews.com

It all started on Saturday night around midnight, when I heard a moan, then some slapping, and then some very vulgar words. I will save you any more details. I don't know if the walls were thin or that we had a connecting door that contributed to me hearing their private session.

The noise left me awake and got me to thinking: is their etiquette on having sex in a hotel particularly involving noise? I did a quick search online to find the answer and I was shocked by the amount of information out there on this subject. After reading a bunch, there tends to be three rules that everyone agrees on:

1) Drown Out Your Noise With The TV or Music

2) Be Conscience of What Time It Its

3) Stop or Quite Down if Contacted By Hotel Staff


I don't think any of these rules are overbearing. As much as you have a right to "do your business," your neighbors have a right to expect not to hear your business.

Did I complain? No, it didn't bother me enough. Maybe gave me a little shock. Also,  it last no more than 5 minutes.

Have you encountered this? If so, did you complain?
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Ride Super Shuttle, Earn Miles

Super Shuttle is a door to door shared van service to and from various airports.

All vans in the Super Shuttle fleet are bright blue and very noticeable.

You can earn United miles for each trip booked at Super Shuttle's website. Currently, you can earn 50 miles for each one-way trip (100 miles per round-trip). For those choosing private sedan service, the earning rate jumps to 150 for each one-way trip (300 round-trip). The sedan service looks like this:

Here are the niddy gritty details:

Important part within the terms is that miles are only earn on "airport transfers only."

You can also earn Southwest, US Airways, Delta and Frontier miles through Super Shuttle.

The cost of super shuttle depends on where you are being pick-up/drop-off. For instance, when I used Super Shuttle to IAD,  its cost $25 without tip.

On the other hand, I used Super Shuttle in San Diego and the cost was only $12.

The other variable that changes price is the number of passengers. As you can see above, the 1st Passenger costs $29, but the next passenger on the same reservation is only $10. Therefore, booking 2 people on one reservation drops the per person cost to $20.

The only downside is that you have very little control with Super Shuttle. They try to get you to the airport around 2 hours prior to your flight. Using them to get home, you are at the mercy of the drop-off list. I have been the last one on the drop-off list and arrived home 2 1/2 hours after boarding the van.

Super Shuttle is a great service if your luck is your favor!

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Hotel Review: Richmond Marriott

For our Memorial Day Weekend Trip, we spent our first night at the Richmond Marriott. This hotel is across the street from the Richmond Convention Center.

When I was booking the room, we had the option to get valet and internet for $10 more. I jumped on that offer because valet parking for 1 night was $26.00. After driving up to the hotel, the valet crew of 8+ were ready to help us with our bags and the car. The valet crew was the best set of employees that we encountered during our quick say.

As soon as you enter the hotel, there was a glass pane of water. The feature was neat and gave the hotel a modern feel.

The hotel lobby has many places to sit:

The check-in desk was to the left of the lobby:

Check-in was quick. Very quick. 3 minutes in and out. The staff person was cold and spoke very fast. I had to stop her a few times and ask questions especially about the prepaying for the valet. She did not seem to care. We had the same women check us out. On my bill was a charge for the valet that should not have been there. She gave no apoligie. Actually she said nothing, only handing me a correct bill. This coldness was a common theme from the staff. One quick note, the hotel was overrun by high school volleyball players. There were kids running around all weekend. The hotel separated us from those staying for the tournament. We were grateful for this action.

The room was on the small side. The beds were tight for two dudes:



When we arrived in the room, the bathroom only had one towel. One towel for four people. Worse, on my reservation, I ask for extra towels. Someone else must have gotten my extra towels. A quick call to housekeeping resulted in towels being delivered within 5 minutes.

The hotel had this old color scheme: red and gold. It was not pleasant to my eye. Actually, it hurt my eyes.

The hotel had a Starbucks and T-Miller's Sports Bar in the lobby. Both of them were packed with tweens.

                                     

On the second floor was the gym and pool. No pictures of the pool because of little kids. However, the tweens running amock caused the hotel put a staff member in the gym to watch over the kids. 

Overall, if you are looking for an average hotel, then stay at the Richmond Arriott.

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Hilton: Stamford Conference Center

In February, I had to go to a conference in Stamford, Connecticut.  I wrote here that I would be staying at the Stamford Hilton.

If you are driving, I don't recommend driving up to the front of hotel (pictured); instead drive down to the garage and park first. The entrance has a very tiny driveway and one can be stuck in their car waiting for someone else to move their car.

I used the conference rate and got my rooms for $115 a night. 

The lobby is large, spacious and full of light:

The lobby also provides many places to sit:

My room was on the 9th floor or the executive floor:

I was given a spacious corner two bed room:

The first thing you see when you open the door is a long hallway.

And the hallway continues:

To the right in the hallway is the bathroom. The bathroom was typical:

My luck with hotel bathrooms is not great. This one was disgusting:

                                        

 

When I arrived, I only had 15 minutes to change before a meeting. Needless to say, I stopped by the front desk and asked them to send someone up to clean.

The rest of the room was standard:

My room rate was only good for double beds, but I could have up to four people in the room at no extra charge. Why is this important? Well, my gold status with Hilton gives me free breakfast benefit and since I put down that there was three people staying in my room, I got to treat two friends with me at the conference to breakfast:

The hotel has club, but it is only open Sunday through Thursday's. The other days of the week, members with Gold Status get complementary breakfast (the buffet) in the restaurant downstairs:

There were both cold and hot options for breakfast plus an omelet station:

 

The hotel has a small gym and a pool. The gym is open 24/7, but the pool is open only from 6am to 11pm:

The gym has treadmills, elliptical, and some free weights.

 One needs to go through the gym to get to the pool:

The entire hotel had amazing photographs in the hallways:

Overall, the stay was great. This is the second time I have stayed at this hotel and each time has been great. Why would someone stay here? First, there are a ton of businesses in the area. Second, Stamford is not far from New York City via MetroNorth. Also, the Jerry Springer Show is taped down the road.

The hotel was spacious, the room was somewhat clean and my status was recognized...overall, a great stay!

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