Christmas In July At Restaurant.com: $25 Gift Certificates For Only $2

There's a Christmas in July sale over at Restaurant.com where you can purchase $25 gift certificates at certain restaurants for just $2! The link will you take you over to the deal page, where you can either search by location or by type of food. The search yielded a bunch of places near my home that I eat at regularly, so it's a great way to essentially get $23 off a future meal that I would have had anyways.

Here's a full list of the terms and conditions, which note that you can only use 1 certificate per visit and some minimum spend restrictions may be in place, so make sure to check out the fine print on each restaurant's certificate before purchasing.

Terms & Conditions: The majority of Restaurant-Specific Gift Certificates are available for the advertised price. In some instances, prices may be higher. eGift Cards and Gift Cards are separately priced. Limit of one (1) certificate per visit to a restaurant. Minimum spend requirements and other restrictions on the Restaurant-Specific Gift Certificates vary and are subject to change. This promotion does not apply to previously placed orders, cannot be combined with other promotions or offers, and does not apply to eGift Cards, Gift Card and Dinner of the Month purchases. Purchase or redemption of this offer requires that you agree to all the terms and conditions found at www.restaurant.com. Registration, including valid email address, is required for purchase. When redeeming a Restaurant.com eGift Card or Gift Card, these savings cannot be applied. Offer valid from Thursday, July 24, at 1:00AM PST thru Friday, July 25, 2014 at 11:59PM PST.

The sale ends today at midnight PST, so check it out before its gone!

The 2014 World's Best Hotel Is...

 

The Triple Creek Ranch in Darby, Montana...according to Travel and Leisure's newly released list of the World's 50 Best Hotels. This is the 19th year that Travel and Leisure magazine has polled its readers to compile the list, which includes the best hotels along with other categories such as best city, island, airport, cruise line, and spa.

Back to the hotels - this year there was an uptick in US properties, which grew 19% from the 2013 list. Three US properties even broke into the top 10 this year after being shutout in last year's list, including the winner Triple Creek Ranch in Darby, MT, along with #5 Ocean House in Watch Hill, RI and #6 The Langham in Chicago. Annoyingly, they make you scroll through a slideshow one-by-one, so here's a list I compiled in case you just want a quick snapshot of the top 50:

1. Triple Creek Ranch, Darby, MT
2. Nayara Springs, La Fortuna, Costa Rica
3. Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace Budapest
4. Southern Ocean Lodge, Kangaroo Island, Australia
5. Ocean House, Watch Hill, RI
6. The Langham, Chicago
7. Singita Sabi Sand, Kruger National Park Area, South Africa
8. Londolozi Game Reserve, Kruger National Park Area, South Africa
9. Oberoi Udaivilas, Udaipur, India
10. Taj Lake Palace, Udaipur, India
11. Four Seasons Hotel, Hong Kong
12. The Lodge at Sea Island Gold Club, GA
13. The Peninsula Bangkok
14. Post Ranch Inn, Big Sur, CA
15. Capella Padregal, Los Cabos, Mexico
16. St. Regis Punta Mita Resort, Mexico
17. Cavas Wine Lodge, Mendoza, Argentina
18. Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet
19. Singita, Kruger National Park Area, South Africa
20. Brewery Gulch Inn, Mendocino, CA
21. Stein Eriksen Lodge, Deer Valley, UT
22. Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, HI, the Big Island
23. Nayara Hotel, Spa & Gardens, La Fortuna, Costa Rica
24. Mandarin Oriental, Las Vegas
25. Rosewood Mayakoba, Riviera Maya, Mexico
26. Planters Inn, Charleston, SC
27. Four Seasons Resort, Chiang Mai, Thailand
28. Dhara Dhevi Chiang Mai, Thailand
29. Farmhouse Inn, Forestville, CA
30. Oberoi Rajvilas, Jaipur, India
31. Jade Mountain, St. Lucia
32. Rambagh Palace, Jaipur India
33. The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel, New York City
34. Four Seasons Hotel Milano, Milan
35. One&Only Palmilla, Los Cabos, Mexico
36. Oberoi Amarvilas, Agra, India
37. The Peninsula, Hong Kong
38. Four Seasons Hotel Mexico D.F., Mexico City
39. Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve, Kruger National Park Area, South Africa
40. Banyan Tree Mayakoba, Riviera Maya, Mexico
41. The Cloister at Sea Island, GA
42. The Peninsula Shanghai
43. Castello di Casole - A Timbers Resort, Casole d'Elsa Italy
44. Four Seasons Hotel Firenze, Florence
45. Le Bristol, Paris
46. Inn at Palmetto Bluff, a Montage Resort, Bluffton, SC
47. Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea, HI
48. Mandarin Oriental Bangkok
49. The Ritz Paris
50. Four Seasons Hotel Prague

It only appears that one of the major chains made it on the list, which was Starwood at #16 with the St. Regis Punta Mita Resort in Mexico. Of the luxury chains, it looks like Four Seasons was the big winner with 10 entries, with Peninsula Hotels a distant second place with 3 entries, and Mandarin Oriental coming in with just 2 entries.

Any hotels on this list on your hotel bucket lists for future trips?

Will New Startup Airlines Disrupt The Market?

 
Living in San Francisco / Silicon Valley means that there isn't a day that goes by where I don't hear the word "disrupt". People want to disrupt everything from how you make restaurant reservations, how you find parking spaces, and even how you drink from a cup, which got the Stephen Colbert treatment in one of the funniest segments I've seen in a long time.

There's an interesting article over at the WSJ today about four new startup airlines that are potentially looking to break into the ultra tough airline industry. In an industry that has extremely high cost of entry and regulatory hurdles coupled with razor thin margins, we see airlines come and go all the time. Even the major carriers aren't immune, with United and American going through bankruptcy in recent years. This has led to hyper-consolidation, now with just four carriers servicing over 80% of domestic travel.

This is why these four new airline startups, only two of which are actually funded and ready to take off, think they can break into this industry and succeed. One of the two, La Compagnie, launched just this past Monday and made a splash with an introductory deal from Newark to Paris at just $2,014 round-trip for 2 people, in their all-Business Class configured Boeing 757 with just 74 seats. Those seats will be angled lie-flat, but while the hard product won't be industry-leading, that is an insanely good price and better than what you can find in Economy Class with the major carriers. If their initial success goes as planned, they La Compagnie hopes to offer 4X weekly service by September, and daily service by November.

The other airline already up and running is a reincarnation of the old People Express Airlines which went under in 1987, and has already made its inaugural flight out of Newport News, VA on June 30th. People Express will be servicing Newark, West Palm Beach, FL, Pittsburgh, and Boston initially, with fares as low as $56 one-way.

The two other startups that are still raising capital include a new version of the long-departed Eastern Air Lines that has raised $10 million and placed orders for 10 Boeing 737-800s with the hope of flying as soon as January 2015. Other applicants even include a company that wants to fly 581-seat 747 jumbo jets domestically.

What does this mean for you?

Competition is good in any industry - it raises supply and ultimately reduces prices. In order to successfully disrupt, that's exactly what these airlines will need to do, which is to undercut the prices that are already available to consumers. That means you'll be able to find some great deals on routes which are serviced by them.

So the key question is, will you be willing to take that initial leap-of-faith and try one of these new airlines? In my opinion, their timing is great as the major carriers continue to gut their frequent flyer programs, angering their loyal customers in the process. Everyone is loyal only up to a certain point. Like many other leisure travelers, I've become far less loyal to my primary carrier, and now find myself "Kayak-ing" to find the best deal. If these startup airlines routinely show up at the top of my Kayak search as the lowest cost option, and the price differential is big enough, there will come a point where I'll be willing to give them a shot. From there, the startups that are able to continually offer a safe, reliable, and cheap option may just be able to win enough market share to succeed and grow, like Virgin America has been able to do in recent years.

For those of you in markets where these startup airlines are servicing, would you consider giving them a try?

Napa-versary: Calistoga Ranch, An Auberge Resort Part I - Check-In, Our Lodge

***This is part 2 of my "Napa-versary" trip report detailing a recent visit to Napa Valley to celebrate our 1-year wedding anniversary***

1. Eating Napa
2. Calistoga Ranch, An Auberge Resort Part I - Check-In, Our Lodge
3. Calistoga Ranch, An Auberge Resort Part II - Resort Facilities, Activities, and Food
4. The Restaurant at Meadowood + Meeting Chef Christopher Kostow
5. Eating Sonoma
___________________________

As I had mentioned in the previous installment, we wanted to recreate something as close to our honeymoon as possible with our choice of hotel. Since there aren't any beach resorts in Napa Valley, Calistoga Ranch most closely fit the bill with a similar look and feel to the Emirates Wolgan Valley Resort in Australia that we absolutely loved.

Check-In

After lunch in Downtown Napa, we continued the drive up Highway 29 to Calistoga which took another 20-30 minutes. It's an easy drive along the country roads which are surrounded by the scenery of blue skies and vineyards. We took the final turn onto Lommel Road which ends in a private driveway that leads to the hotel lobby. The only option for parking is to valet which is complimentary. Upon pulling up to the main lobby, we were warmly greeted by the valet staff who immediately started to help unload our luggage into a buggy while we went inside to check in.

One thing worth noting is that since the resort is huge (spread out over 157 acres), at any given time the hotel staff are spread across a large area. Therefore, most wear ear pieces connected to a walkie talkie, and they do a fantastic job of communicating with each other. We noticed an example of this right off the bat - the valet staff had asked for my name and relayed that to the check-in staff, who had all of my paperwork ready the moment I stepped through the lobby doors, along with water and champagne.

Check-in only took a couple minutes, and we jumped in the buggy and headed for our room. Immediately, we were feeling relaxed as we took in the fresh air and beautiful scenery all around the property. The answer to the question "is this far enough from home?" was a resounding yes, and it felt like we had been transported millions of miles away from the city's hustle and bustle. As we rode in the buggy, my wife turned to me and gave me a thumb up for the choice - a much better start than getting a Gladiator-style thumbs down, because we all know what that would mean.

Calistoga Ranch entrance

Main lobby

View of lodges from walkway

Main walkway from lobby

Our Lodge

The buggy ride to our room, Bay Forest Lodge with Spa #117, was quick and took less than a minute. The pictures on the website don't do the lodge justice, its was absolutely gorgeous and incredibly spacious and private. In fact, before arriving I had read reviews on TripAdvisor complaining about the lack of privacy, but we just did not feel that this was an issue at all (another reason why I have a hard time trusting reviews on TA these days). The only thing I could see is that from the walkway, if someone really tries, they could potentially see into the outdoor deck and hot tub area. However, their view would be 95% obstructed by the strategical placed landscaping. The lodges are very well-spaced, and we didn't hear any noise from neighboring lodges throughout our stay and there isn't much foot traffic to begin with.

We really liked the location of our lodge which was just a 3 minute walk from the main lobby. It was far enough from the main entrance to feel secluded, but close enough that all of the facilities were accessible by foot without the need to call for a buggy.

Bay Forest Lodge with Spa #117

Lodge exterior

Outdoor deck and seating area

Indoor/outdoor fireplace

Outdoor hot tub

The lodges are designed to be all about indoor/outdoor living. There are completely separate structures which house the living room and bedroom, each of which has a bathroom, and are connected to each other by the outdoor deck. This meant that we were constantly walking back and forth between the bedroom and living room, and just kept the doors open the entire time we were present. It's certainly an interesting setup, since each structure on its own isn't particularly spacious, but the combination of the structures flowing into the outdoor deck completely opens up the space.

The decor of the room was stylish and elegant, yet home-y enough to still make you feel like you're in a cottage in the middle of the woods. There is a centrally-placed indoor/outdoor fireplace which was great in the evenings, and an outdoor shower outside of the main bathroom. Needless to say, I didn't use the indoor shower once, since I'll shower outdoors whenever I have the opportunity..

The lodge was decked out with TVs and surround sound speakers in both rooms, and an iPad was provided which was loaded with information about the hotel, and from which you could even order room service. In the living room there is also a mini-bar with complimentary snacks and drinks.

Living room

Indoor/outdoor fireplace

Complimentary mini-bar

Living room desk and iPad

Living room half-bath

Bedroom

Main bathroom

Indoor shower

Calistoga Ranch-branded toiletries

Closet/wardrobe

Outdoor shower

  
Upon arrival, we were showered with a variety of welcome amenities, including a welcome letter, champagne, fruit, a chocolate cake, and a gift bag from Round Pond Estate winery which included a free tasting as well as small bottles of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. We had booked the room through Virtuoso which I recommend since you receive additional benefits, including free breakfast, for the same price as booking directly through the website. Since we were booked with Virtuoso, I'm not sure if these welcome amenities are provided to all guests. Another example of the seamless communication among the hotel staff was that the cake was still ice cold, meaning that it was delivered to the room just before we arrived.

Welcome amenities

Chocolate cake

Round Pond Estate gift

Bag of seeds to take home as a souvenir

It doesn't get much better than arriving at a hotel and being showered with gifts and food. A fantastic start to our stay, and it only got better. Stay tuned for Part II of my trip report where I'll detail the hotel facilities, activities, and of course, food and beverage.

New Starwood and Six Senses Hotels Coming to Bhutan Starting in 2015

One of the places at the top of my bucket list is Bhutan. In case you're not familiar with Bhutan (officially Kingdom of Bhutan), its a relatively small country located in South East Asia at the eastern end of the Himalayas, bordering China and India. Because it's located near the Himalayas, the terrain features many steep and high mountains which make for some amazing hikes, one of the most famous of which leads to the Tiger's Nest Monastery as shown in the picture above.

The coolest part about Bhutan? In my opinion, it's the fact that instead of measuring their economy by GDP, they prefer to measure Gross National Happiness (GNH) which they believe is a more holistic indicator than GDP, measuring quality of life and social progress. Bhutan even has a GNH Commission that is charged with reviewing policy decisions and allocation or resources. The focus on happiness is one of the big reasons that Bhutan has even earned the name "The Happiest Place on Earth".

Similar to Myanmar, at least prior to the ex-RGN bonanza, until recently Bhutan hadn't been a huge tourist destination due to a variety of historical military and political issues. It's also really expensive to visit, since the only way to fly to Bhutan is with their national airline Druk Air, with flights from Bangkok, Singapore, Bangladesh, and multiple locations in India. As you can imagine, since Druk Air has a monopoly on flights servicing Bhutan, prices are quite high (~$1,000) and obviously no mileage redemptions are available.

In terms of hotels currently there are only two Western chains that have a presence in Bhutan, which are the uber-luxury Como Hotels and Aman Resorts, each of which has multiple properties across the country. Rates at these hotels start around $500 per night, and in addition to that there is a $200-250 (depending on season) per person per day tourism fee tacked on. The silver lining is that for longer stays, the hotel rates for both Como and Aman typically come all-inclusive of meals and guided tours/activities. Most people stay at least a week to visit multiple destinations since travel can be time-consuming, taking up to 4 hours from Paro to Punakha, and 10 hours from Paro to Bumthang.

The good news is that starting January 1, 2015, Starwood will be opening two Le Meridien hotels in Bhutan, located in Paro and Thimphu. It doesn't look like either location is bookable yet, and no information has been provided as to the potential rates or the hotel category. But there are a few graphical renderings on the Thumphu location's website, and at least judging by these the lobby looks pretty darn swanky. I'll keep you updated as soon as I hear more information on the hotels. It's an exciting development since this could be an extremely valuable use of SPG points in Bhutan's expensive hotel market.

Le Meridien Thumphu lobby renderings

It's also worth noting that the luxury hotel chain Six Senses  will be opening a series of 82 guest suites spread across 5 separate locations in Thumphu, Paro, Punakha, Gangtey, and Bumthang. These properties aren't scheduled to open until 2016, so only graphical renderings are available, but if the actual property looks anything like the picture below then all I can say is wow.

Six Senses Bhutan renderings

Anyone planning a trip to Bhutan in the near future? And if it's been on your bucket list, will these new hotel openings speed up your decision to go?

When To Use Airline Miles For Flights And Which Class To Book: A Visual Cheat Sheet

There are few things in life with a larger divergence between price tag and perceived value than airline miles. If I'm willing to pay $5 at lunch for a sandwich, it's because I've decided that the value of that sandwich is worth the cost. Similarly, if I'm willing to pay $30,000 for a brand new car, I made that purchase because my valuation of the car is commensurate with that price tag.

It's been well documented and discussed by many (Lucky does a great job in a series of posts on this topic, the most recent of which is here) about the value of airline miles. In extreme cases, First Class airfare tickets can sell for as much as $20,000, and if that same seat is bookable using 160,000 miles, that puts the value of those miles at 12.5 cents-per-miles (CPM). But while I was willing to pay the sticker price for the sandwich and car in my previous example, would I really be willing to pay $20,000 for that First Class seat? Heck no. In fact, my personal valuation of First Class tickets is closer to 3X the cost of an Economy ticket on that same flight. That would bring the value of the First Class ticket in that example down to something like $5,000, and the CPM of that particular redemption down to 3.1 CPM.

I was inspired by a post I read over at Deadspin during the World Cup where they outlined how all of the potential scenarios of the US vs. Portugal and Germany vs. Ghana games would impact the US's advancement into the next round of the tournament. I really liked the way the chart was presented, which grouped each of the 121 discrete outcomes into just three color-coded scenarios.

For some reason, that chart popped into my head when I was recently searching for award availability, and mulling over the value I would be getting on each possible redemption. Similar to the chart above, my thought-process was a series of decisions based on discrete scenarios, but instead of looking at goal differential I was comparing CPM of various Economy, Business, and First Class redemptions relative to my desired or target thresholds.

I imagine that's a similar question many of you ask yourselves each time you want to use airline miles  - "Is the CPM for this particular booking a good use of my miles?" The key here is that we can all agree that "good" is subjective, with some people valuing tickets using the actual sticker price, and others like myself, using something much lower.

Based on an illustrative person's valuation of miles, the chart below shows a sample cheat sheet of when that person should use miles vs. cash for flights. It also shows the situations when using miles, when that person should book Economy, Business, or First Class tickets. Each cell in the chart represents a discrete situation based on number of miles required for a flight (Y-axis) and the cost of the flight ticket (X-axis). Baked into the CPM thresholds outlined in the key on the right, is the value that this person has placed on their miles at each booking class, which again will differ from person-to-person, and even by airline program.

For example let's say that this person is presented with the opportunity to redeem 140,000 miles on a flight redemption. At what point should they use miles, and if using miles, which class of ticket should they book? Based on this person's CPM targets, they would pay cash (shown in red) for any ticket up to a value of 1.5 CPM (~$2,100). Anything above that, then they would be willing to use miles. A similar decision-making process when choosing the class of booking. Based on this person's valuation of Business and First Class tickets relative to Economy class, they would be willing to book Business Class (in light green) within a range of 3.0-4.5 CPM in value ($4,200-$6,300), and First Class at a CPM greater value than 4.5 CPM ($6,300+).

It's important to note that the chart isn't saying anything about the typical number of miles needed to make a booking at each class (I know that it would be rare to need 140,000 miles to book an Economy ticket). Instead, it's simply showing the break-points at which this person would find enough CPM value to make a particular booking. For example, if someone was offered Business Class tickets for 140,000 miles and valued at $4,000, they they would happily make that booking since the value exceeds their target thresholds. However, the value would be too low to be considered an acceptable First Class booking.

As I mentioned, the key assumption here is baked into the CPM thresholds, which is each individual's valuation of their miles. Personally, I value Business Class tickets at only 2X the value of Economy tickets, even though they can easily cost 3-4x as much. Similarly, I value First Class tickets around 3X the cost of Economy, while actual costs can easily be 6-10X as much. Therefore, I have a lower value on premium cabin tickets than the sample person above, and therefore would require higher CPM redemption values before willing to make the same booking, as illustrated in the chart below:

As you can see here, while the sample person would be willing to book First Class tickets for 140,000 valued at $6,300, I wouldn't be willing to make that booking unless the flight ticket cost exceeded $9,800.

A couple of notes on methodology - I chunked the mileage redemptions into 5,000 mile increments, and the cost of flight tickets into $250 increments. While there is a clear line drawn between the colors, in reality there is a grey area between neighboring cells that cross into different colors. This would be especially prevalent in low mileage / low cost redemptions that you would find with domestic tickets.

So did I solve the million-dollar question "what is the value of airline miles?" Nope. But the value of this exercise for me was to, through some trial and error, determine what my "acceptable" thresholds really are that I am looking to get out each type of booking. Until now, it's a calculation that I had been doing anyways each time I looked at a potential redemption, but this was a good way to visualize the entire spectrum and to really see where those break points are.

I'm curious, what is your process for determining when an airline mileage redemption is a "good" value?

Today's Deals: Alaska Airlines to Mexico, Back-To-School Discounts With Apple

Here's a couple deals that may be of interest to you today:

 
As I wrote about last week, Alaska Airlines is having a month-long sale in July celebrating the country of Mexico. While Cabo and Cancun are the better-known vacation destinations, this week's sale features a couple of lesser-known destinations in Ixtapa and Manzanillo. Fares start as low as $179 one-way and must be purchased by midnight on July 28th. Here's a summary of the destinations and the restrictions from the Alaska Airlines website:

Zihua/Ixtapa & Manzanillo: Luxury, leisure, and local flavor.
For our third week of Mexican exploration, we invite you to pick your paradise with fares starting at $239* one-way. Offer ends July 28, 2014.

Discover the neighboring beach towns of Zihuatanejo and Ixtapa. These sister communities are the perfect destination for the adventuresome traveler who still appreciates a little comfort. Take an ATV ride through the jungle, wander the winding streets as you shop for local crafts, or pamper yourself in a high-rise hotel.

Or ... choose Manzanillo, a perfect place to unwind. Luxury accommodation, all-inclusive resorts, and world-class golf courses, make Manzanillo one of Mexico's most loved destinations. Then, just an hour to the south, you can find black sand beaches and some of the best surf in Mexico. 

*Restrictions Apply

Fare Rules: Purchase by 11:59 p.m. (PT) on July 28, 2014. Travel to and from Manzanillo is valid Saturdays from August 30, 2014 through October 11, 2014. Travel to and from Ixtapa is valid Tuesdays and Fridays from September 2, 2014 through October 10, 2014.



Apple is currently having a back-to-school sale where you can save money by receiving a $100 Apple Store Gift Card when you buy a Mac or a $50 gift card when you buy an iPad or iPhone, coupled with special education pricing. Depending on the model you purchase, the education pricing can save you up to $200 on Macs and up to $30 on iPads. If you're a prospective or current college student, or a parent with a child in college and are in the market for Apple products, make sure to take advantage of this deal.

Who Qualifies?
To qualify for education pricing or get a gift card, you must be a college student, a student accepted to a college, a parent buying for a college student, or a faculty or staff member from any grade level.