The Resort Traveler, Author at TravelUpdate

Review: Hilton Reykjavik Nordica Executive Level

Posted by The Resort Traveler | May 9, 2019 | Hotel Reviews, Hotels | 8

Background: On my trip to Iceland, I decided to book the Hilton Reykjavik Nordica because I’ve been keeping my eye on this property for awhile haha. I told myself that when I came to Iceland I would try my best to stay there and then the perfect opportunity arose! There’s not many chain hotels in Iceland, and the Hilton has great reviews online. Plus, with my Diamond Status it was a no brainer! Free breakfast + lounge access thanks to my AMEX Aspire Card. Arrival + Check-In: On mobile check-in, it showed that I was upgraded to a room...

Review: Hilton London Angel Islington Executive Level

Posted by The Resort Traveler | May 7, 2019 | Hotel Reviews, Hotels | 0

Background: I booked the Hilton London Angel Islington to be my hotel in London for 4 days as it was the lowest priced Hilton in London. I thought it would be great as I would have breakfast and lounge access due to my Diamond Status from my Hilton AMEX Aspire Card. Arriving at the Hilton London Angel Islington: Oh my, the Uber from Heathrow took forever (1.5 hours) as our flight was delayed and arrived at rush hour, and the Hilton London Angel Islington is on the northern-east side of London (total opposite of Heathrow Airport!). Thankfully, we were...

Review: Icelandair B767 KEF-LHR Extra Legroom

Posted by The Resort Traveler | May 5, 2019 | Airlines, Flight Reviews | 0

Background: I booked a trip on Icelandair to visit London and I added a 3 day stopover in Iceland for free! I previously reviewed the SFO-KEF leg, and on this post I’m reviewing the KEF-LHR leg. We had the “Economy Light” lowest fare, and was happy that I could still book my seat for free! Even better for me was that the old “Economy Comfort” seats (rows 6-8 on the 767) were popping up as free as they discontinued the product. So of course, I snagged them! (thankfully they honored the seats!) Nowdays, it’s rebranded as “Extra Legroom” and...

Review: My First La Quinta Hotel Stay, And it was Good!

Posted by The Resort Traveler | May 3, 2019 | Hotel Reviews, Hotels | 0

Background: I booked the La Quinta Morgan Hill-San Jose South because I just needed a night in the San Jose area before my flight back to LA the next day. Last September, La Quinta still had their rewards program and this hotel was only 11,000 points. I had some Wyndham points and they transferred 1 to 1 at the time, so 11,000 points for a room was much better than the flat 15,000 Wyndham charged for all their properties at the time. Plus, this hotel was pretty new having only opened about 3 years ago. Fast forward to right...

Review: Icelandair B767 SFO to KEF Extra Legroom

Posted by The Resort Traveler | May 1, 2019 | Airlines, Flight Reviews | 0

Background: I booked a trip on Icelandair to visit London and I added a 3 day stopover in Iceland for free! I decided to fly SFO-KEF-LHR, stay 4 nights then do LHR-KEF, stay 3 nights in Iceland, then head back from KEF-SFO. All for $320! A great deal if you ask me! What’s nice is that even in the “Economy Light” lowest fare, you still get to pick your seat for free! And of course, on this fare you don’t get checked baggage but you do get a free carry on! I call it “Basic Economy Plus” Even better...

Priority Pass Review: The Club at SJC

Posted by The Resort Traveler | Apr 30, 2019 | Lounge Reviews, Reviews and Reports | 2

Background: Before my Alaska flight back to LA, I had some time to visit The Club at SJC which is part of Priority Pass and the only Priority Pass Lounge at San Jose International Airport. The lounge is located on the 3rd floor next to gate 15. This is in Terminal A, but near the entrance to Terminal B. SJC is relatively small and both terminals are connected airside, so this is an easy lounge to access regardless of where your flight is departing from. But there’s going to be some walking as there are no tram or moving...

Priority Pass Review: Plaza Premium Lounge London Heathrow T2

Posted by The Resort Traveler | Apr 26, 2019 | Lounge Reviews, Reviews and Reports | 0

Background: I was flying out of Heathrow’s Terminal 2 and the Priority Pass Lounge option that was in my terminal was the Plaza Premium Lounge. The lounge is located right after security, but for many flights it will be a 15 minute walk from the lounge to get to B gates. My flight was at B41, and it was a decently long walk so do remember to allocate time for that. The lounge is open from 5:00 – 23:00 daily. At 12PM on a Tuesday, the lounge was at about half occupancy. There is a lot of seating...

Review: Alaska Airlines Premium Class New A321 LAX-SFO

Posted by The Resort Traveler | Apr 24, 2019 | Airlines, Flight Reviews, Uncategorized | 0

Background: I needed a flight to position myself to San Francisco and booked an Alaska Airlines flight to do so. This flight was back in September, so this review is more than half a year overdue (oops!) I was originally booked in a Main Cabin seat on an Airbus A320 in row 5, then about two weeks prior to the flight there was an equipment swap to an Airbus A321 and Alaska kept me in my row 5 seats. Butttt, on an Airbus A321, row is 5 Premium Class. I was happy to have an upgrade to Alaska Airlines...

Review: Alaska E175 First Class SJC-LAX

Posted by The Resort Traveler | Apr 3, 2019 | Airlines, Flight Reviews | 0

Background: I booked this flight specifically because I noticed that on the 5:30 PM Saturday flight, the First Class Cabin often left with empty seats with no one on the upgrade waitlist! My plan worked! My parents and I were upgraded 24 hours before departure after I split up our reservations once I arrived back from Iceland. As I wrote before, if you have a party of 3 or more, regardless if everyone has MVP status, you must split the reservations so that you may receive an upgrade. So I split off my parents at about T24 and shortly...

Review: Plaza Premium Arrivals Lounge LHR T2

Posted by The Resort Traveler | Apr 2, 2019 | Lounge Reviews, Uncategorized | 0

Background: After landing in Heathrow from my Icelandair flight, I wanted to grab a quick bite. Right after exiting customs, there was a Plaza Premium Arrivals Lounge in Terminal 2. Perfect for me! I gained access to this lounge through my Priority Pass Select Membership and was able to let in two guests with my Hilton AMEX Aspire Card. The lounge is open from 5:00am to 10:00pm daily. Entrance Interior It was much smaller than I imagined as it literally was just one small room. There were probably no more than 20 seats, but it was nicely appointed. On...