I've hosted two MileValue dinners in Los Angeles that were both a ton of fun and informative. I know I learned a lot at each one. Throw in some good, cheap food and a chance to meet other travelers or reconnect with people from the Chicago Seminars or an FTU and it's a recipe for a great Saturday night.

If you haven't been, MileValue dinners are very informal. We get a big table (or more than one at the last dinner with over 25 readers), and I try to move around and talk to everyone.

Right before Christmas, The Week published an article odd in tone and subject matter. The story "Confessions of a hotel insider" and subtitled "If you want the best room, sparkling service, and free booze, just follow these rules" was an excerpt of a new book "Heads in Beds" by Jacob Tomsky, a career hotel employee.

The first few tips fall under the general idea of being polite to the person checking you in because they have a ton of control over whether you end up in a good room or a bad room.

Last month, I used 145,000 Hilton points to book a four night stay at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki. (This was a 55,000 point discount because I booked an AXON award.)

When I booked, the only room available was one king bed. My traveling party wanted two beds, but I wasn't worried because I knew that would be an easy change at check in.

Chauffeur Service

Pre-Departure Services and Emirates Club Auckland

Emirates First: Suite, Seat, and Bed

Emirates First: Service and Food

Emirates First: Shower Spa

__________________________________________________

Once inside Auckland's airport, I headed straight to the Emirates check in counter.

According to this thread on FlyerTalk, the Wyndham hotel group has devalued their loyalty program in a big way.

This is terrible news, especially coming on the heels of Priority Club adjusting their award chart for the worse by introducing a whopping nine redemptive tiers. For a complete breakdown of that change, check out my post, Priority Club's Big Award Chart Devaluation.

What does the new chart look like?

I have attached a screen shot of the new award chart below:

That looks fairly innocuous.

Part I: The Main Award & Finding a Free Oneway

Part II: Breakthrough: Maximizing the Routing in a Major Way

Part III: Adding a Great Sidetrip

As part of my New Year's travel resolutions, I really wanted to visit Tokyo and see a close friend in Europe this year. My vacation time is extremely limited, so I was forced to maximize the award ticket. Luckily, my best times to take off are in October and November.

LOT, a Polish airline that is a member of the Star Alliance, flies several Boeing 787 Dreamliners to North America with incredible award space in business class.

The Dreamliner is a technical marvel, a plane I am dying to get on.

LOT's business class on the Dreamliner is up to international standards--a fully flat bed with a big TV monitor at each seat.

LOT flies to three North American destinations, all with the Dreamliner.

New York (JFK) <-> Warsaw (WAW)

Chicago (ORD) <-> Warsaw

Toronto (YYZ) <->

LOT, a Polish airline that is a member of the Star Alliance, flies several Boeing 787 Dreamliners to North America with incredible award space in business class.

The Dreamliner is a technical marvel, a plane I am dying to get on.

LOT's business class on the Dreamliner is up to international standards--a fully flat bed with a big TV monitor at each seat.

LOT flies to three North American destinations, all with the Dreamliner.

New York (JFK) <-> Warsaw (WAW)

Chicago (ORD) <-> Warsaw

Toronto (YYZ) <->

Chauffeur Service

Pre-Departure Services and Emirates Club Auckland

Emirates First: Suite, Seat, and Bed

Emirates First: Service and Food

Emirates First: Shower Spa

__________________________________________________

My shower-in-the-air, room-service-to-my-suite, bar-on-a-plane trip report starts on the ground with the first part of my trip: the included chauffeur service.

With a few exceptions, Emirates First Class and Business Class passengers are eligible for free chauffeur service to and from the airport. This page lists the rules for every airport.

1. Wear ear plugs every night. 

This is by far my number one tip, and I'm shocked that not everyone does it already. Hostel rooms are loud. Someone will come in after you've gone to bed--perhaps turning on the light and rustling through his bag for his toothbrush. Someone will be waking up for a 7 AM bus with an alarm set for 6 AM. Lockers will be opened and slammed. Bags will zip. Plastic will rustle.

Wear earplugs, and you'll sleep through the night.