Your tracking period is coming to an end and you are just a couple of thousand points short for the next tier. It is time to find the cheapest way to get those extra miles. Trust me, we have all been there. Finding flights isn't that easy when you try to optimize price and frequent flyer points. Unless if you use Fly for Points search to do the job. Let's find out how it works. 😄
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France has a peculiar baking system where everything revolves around a RIB (relevé d'identité bancaire). Normally, I wouldn't mind eating some ribs, but, what the French term RIB stands for, only has a taste of bureaucracy. RIB is a document you get from your bank, but in order to open a new bank account, you need a RIB from your current bank. This might not be an issue for a French person, but if you are not from France, you will soon face the absurdity of the chicken-egg problem. 🐣 Luckily, I have just the solution for opening a French bank account entirely without an existing RIB. ☺️
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During my transit at Hamad International Airport in Doha, I had the opportunity to visit one of the fanciest lounges in the world, Qatar Airways Al Mourjan lounge. I did travel on an upgraded Qatar Airways business class ticket, which unfortunately, does not include a lounge access. However, I am on a sapphire level in the Oneworld program (Finnair Plus Gold), so I had the right to get in anyways. 😊 This is by far the fanciest lounge I have ever visited, however, looks can be deceiving, so let's break it down.
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I wanted to visit the Emirates recently, and I had to find flights. As a loyal Oneworld customer, I was disappointed to see that Finnair had cancelled their Helsinki-Dubai flights until the fall season. My only natural alternative was to go with an airline I had never experienced before, namely Qatar. After booking my tickets, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that while Finnair has their Oneworld lounges closed due to the Covid-19 virus, Qatar had gone an extra mile and ensured their customers had a lounge to enjoy at Helsinki airport. This is how I became acquainted with the Plaza Premium lounge. 😊
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Now that Finnair has their Oneworld lounge closed, I had to seek for an alternative lounge access in Helsinki. The only one open during the pandemic was the Aspire lounge. In addition to Aspire, I have previously visited Finnair lounges, the SAS lounge and Plaza Premium lounge at Helsinki Airport, and I must say that Aspire was the most modest one out of the options that would be there without the Covid-19 situation. 😅
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I decided to go for a trip to Dubai, but my travel plans were almost stopped by the expensive prices private health care services charge for their corona tests. I am not going to pay the price of my flights just to get my nose poked! 😣 Luckily, in Helsinki and Uusimaa region, it is possible to get a coronavirus test (COVID-19 PCR test) for absolutely free of charge! On top of that, you will get your negative coronavirus test certificate that is completely accepted for travelling abroad. ☺️
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This year I have had the chance of experiencing the business class a bunch of times for free as free upgrade and even one self paid vacation. Traveling in business class is probably a dream of every traveler, but what should one consider before throwing a bunch of money in for a business class ticket or an upgrade? 🤔
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This year I have had a chance to travel all around the world in the name of science publishing a great deal of papers and having a chance to attend conferences of so many different fields from NLP and computational creativity to a video game conference. ☺️ As Finland is a bit remotely located, there's often only one option for an airline with the least number of layovers: Finnair and its one world partners. As a result, I ended up gaining sapphire status and an access to airport lounges. In this post, I will share some ideas of a lounge access.
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I have been to many countries, also outside of my home Europe, but there's one above all of them: Japan. This is a claim I make and people tilt their heads a bit and ask why. Because it is so different to what I have used to… In a positive way. When you go to Japan, you have to forget everything you know about the world. What you know is not valid there, for the Japanese do things differently. A thing as simple as going to the bathroom isn't quite the same in Japan. Press the wrong button to flush and you will get a spray of warm water directed precisely to your butt hole. 🤣 Book a traditional inn now! (more…)