Europe in business class for $299 – sounds impossible!  Not only is it possible, but it’s easy and many people have done it, myself included – here’s how.  Almost everybody knows someone who has flown somewhere using various “points” systems – but few people know how easily you can do this and for how little cost!  For this deal, we are going to take advantage of two signup bonuses that credit to Aeroplan for a reward ticket to Europe.  Just so everyone is clear, this is neither illegal nor against any rules of Aeroplan or American Express, it’s simply common sense! A round-trip business class reward from anywhere in North America...

Athens embodies the financial pain that much of Europe is enduring more than any other place we visited.  Despite that, it’s impossible to not be awed by a city that has been so integral to so many moments in history.  Remnants of Athens’ ancient beginnings are woven throughout the city like an amazing tapestry of new and old.  This is a great example of ancient history in Athens getting in the way of modern progress.  The plaque on the opposite side proclaims that they found these artifacts by accident while excavating for a planned subway station and as a result, ended up having to move it to over 100′ to...

When we first arrived on the ferry from Crete (where we had booked our accommodation in advance), we were absolutely overwhelmed by the sheer size of the crowd of eager Greek salespeople hoping to fill their hotels, hostels, guesthouses, and camping space with unprepared tourists.  As we waded through the crowd keeping one hand on our wallets and our eyes out for cafes advertising free wi-fi, we were met by a most unlikely suspect – a Californian surfer-gone-restaurant-manager who pegged us as North American from a mile away and hustled us into the restaurant.  Our new friend, Nick, turned out to be a great guy who had helpful advice on where...

We ended up on Crete somewhat by accident, it doesn’t have the cachet that Santorini or Mykonos enjoys, but once we got off the airplane, we were amazed by what we found.  Crete is a substantially larger island than most and having no idea what would differentiate one part of the island from another, we simply picked the highest rated hostel, the Youth Hostel Plakias and set out figuring out how to get there. While we arrived safe and sound to Crete at about 9:30pm, the same could not be said for our bags which took an unexplained detour to parts unknown. We had plans to rent a car and...

Split is the city that I never knew I always wanted to visit, until I got there.  It’s a city that has literally grown out of the walls of the 4th century Diocletian’s Palace, complete with classical orange tiled roofs, cobblestone roads, and open air cafes littered across the boardwalk.  The thing that is most surprising to me about Split is that while many European cities look similar, here more than most you feel an unescapable feeling that the ways of the old times are stronger and fresher.  Yet despite this obvious nod to history, Split never feels old fashioned, it simply feels… well, Croatian. When we first decided to...

The name Venice conjures up images of classic gondoliers serenading their passengers as they paddle gently through the occasional waft of traditional Italian cooking while navigating the truly unending maze of canals that snake throughout the city.  I didn’t really know what to expect when walking out of the airport – the pragmatic side to me knew there were probably going to have to be some adjustments to this fairy tale, but how much? Let’s get the bad news out of the way first: Venice costs a [relative] fortune, smells terrible, and it’s virtually impossible to get anywhere without tripping over a 20-person tourist group being paraded around by an...

Rouge is the new low cost division of Air Canada designed to cater to leisure and infrequent travellers.  We flew this entirely new division only 6 days after their inauguration on July 1st, 2013. Flight: Air Canada Rouge Flight 1906 (YYZ-VCE) Class: Premium Rouge Seats: 1A, 1C Date: July 7, 2013 We were in seats 1A & 1C and would recommend these seats. It was nice to not have anybody reclining in front of you. The tray tables for this row come out of the armrests and I actually didn’t check to see if the non-bulkhead row was any different – the trays were pretty annoying two piece folding deals that didn’t...

The Barcelona trip was totally an accident – we had a Europe trip planned for Summer 2013 and this wasn’t it.  Those who know me know that I can’t resist a deal though, and the fateful day that United posted a mistake fare for business class airfare from Seattle to Barcelona for $1700 return, I knew this was happening.  After booking the airfare on a whim without even clearing the time off work… we found this beautiful 2-bedroom apartment right in the heart of the gothic quarter, listed on AirBNB for about $100cdn/night. We had the details of the apartment printed out but didn’t bother to get a map – after...

Figueres is a small town near the French-Spanish border known most prominently as the hometown of famous surrealist artist Salvadore Dali.  Not surprisingly, Figueres is home to the largest Dali museum in the world – an absolutely fantastic view into the man’s insane mind.  Even the building is an homage to the Dali style of bizarre meets extreme. Figueres has enjoyed its rise to popularity thanks to Dali, but is not devoid of other charms.  The beautiful square next to the museum is filled with tables from small cafes nearby and a stroll down any number of the twisting and turning cobblestone roads is likely to bring you to somewhere...

This was a great opportunity to sample United’s newest business class offerings across the Pacific ocean on an overnight flight into Frankfurt on the way to our final destination of Barcelona. Flight: United Airlines Flight UA926 (SFO-FRA) Class: Business Class Seats: 15J, 15K Date: May 12, 2013 It’s hard to not be excited about going upstairs on a plane to your “private” business class cabin.  It’s even more fun when you get treated to a view of the cockpit before takeoff right from your seat. But enough gawking at the cockpit… onto the seat: The Seat The business cabin is split into three sections – two on the lower deck,...