Uzbekistan popped up on my radar as a possible destination a couple of years ago. The country has been at the crossroads of civilizations for millennia and is deeply infused with the most fascinating history of the Silk Road. Its ancient cities, famous hospitality and delicious food all had the makings of an unforgettable and affordable trip. 

Uzbekistan is a long way from home, so my goal was to find business class award space. I traveled with my friends, and we booked mostly local hotels, with the exception of the Hyatt Regency Tashkent.

I’ve been a huge fan of card combinations that can really sweep you off your feet at the ability to rapidly earn tons of points without chasing a bonus. Combos like the Citi Premier® Card and the Citi® Double Cash Card, or the Chase Sapphire Reserve® and the Chase Freedom Unlimited®.

For the past few years, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® has been my absolute go to combo. However, with some recent updates I think another bank may be wooing me in.

No, it isn’t American Express, Bank of America, or Barclays.

Similar to Disney’s “Big Hero 6” film, Turkish Miles&Smiles is easily one of the most underrated loyalty programs out there.

Citi ThankYou Points are almost an afterthought for many points and miles collectors. However, if you are ignoring ThankYou Points, you are doing yourself a disservice.

A trip to Greece has been on my to do list for a long time, but, I must admit, I was a bit put off by pictures of crowded beaches and tourist overrun islands. But when I learned that Greece is one of the first European countries to open to U.S.

Capital One Venture Miles have been somewhat unpopular among the true experts in the points and miles community. The program isn’t among the top dogs because rewards don’t transfer to partners 1:1 and therefore aren’t as valuable. The points are kind of like candy corn. It's still candy, but it's not what kids want to find in their bags after a night of trick-or-treating. However, things are changing for the better.

Capital One has expanded its program by adding several new transfer partners and improving points transfer rates for select loyalty programs.

The purpose of this post is not to tell you whether or not you should be traveling. Rather, I’d like to share my experience and my impressions of what it’s like to travel right now. I’ll share my experience with booking flights, what it’s like to fly and stay at hotels during the pandemic and my overall impressions of the precautions taken by hotels, airlines and tourist attractions.

Planning the Trip and Finding Award Space

At the beginning of September, my friends and I felt safe enough to travel abroad and decided to take a trip to Turkey.

If you’re anything like us, nearly every moment of this pandemic has been spent dreaming of travel. Especially as we try to avoid nauseating headlines like “Corona” being on the rise for baby names. With U.S. residents barred from entering Europe for the foreseeable future, now is the time to focus on feasible travel.

In this three-part series, we are looking at the basics of the cheapest domestic awards.

You can now transfer ThankYou Points earned by your Citi Prestige, ThankYou Premier, ThankYou Preferred, Citi Chairman, or Citi Forward card to Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles frequent flyer program at a rate of 1:1.

That means ThankYou Points now transfer to 14 airlines and one hotel loyalty program.

The only partners that don't normally have a 1:1 transfer rate are Hilton (1:1.5) and Jetblue (1:.5).

Priority Pass recently added the Turkish Airlines Lounge at Washington Dulles (IAD) to its network.