Hiltonhopper-Identifying the travelers early.

Earlier this year my wife purchased plane tickets for the five of us. She bought the tickets through an online service eight months early to save money and ensure we had the proper arrangements. She verified the ages of the children and selected options to have the entire family sit together. We were pleased to have bought early and settled in for a great experience.

The expectations were due mostly to our naiveté. I’m an experienced business traveler and tend to travel alone. The more I fly alone the better I become at flying alone. I have no idea when it comes to traveling in a group…with children. I am pretty satisfied in most situations and can pretty much control what I can control (me).  

As the months rolled by, we began to receive changes in flights and itinerary and we saw our plan unravel. Soon, our entire family is scheduled in various parts of each leg of flights. I  called United Airlines to ensure we could all sit together. I discovered that the person on the other end could not change my seating.

“May I speak with someone with the authority to make the seat changes,” I asked.

 The person on the other end told me that the changes could be made at the gate.

“Are you aware that we’ll be traveling with three children under the ages of 10?”

Silence for a moment and then, “Sir, I’m making a note about the children’s ages.”

“So, you aren’t aware.”

“No, sir,” she responded.

After making the notes, I thanked her and hung up.

Here’s the lesson: If you buy tickets using a discount service, immediately contact the airline and follow up frequently, especially when flights are changed. Make your needs known.

To wrap up, age is important as schedules change. Though we identified our children’s age at the time of purchase, the flights didn’t reflect the consideration. We bought our ticket in February for a November trip. The schedule changed many times, but our request sit sit together did not. Follow up immediately and contact the airlines frequently to ensure you and your family are taken care of.

On my Way to King Diamond

My wife is on board and so are my travel plans. Currently I have 17 stays at Hilton this year. I only need 9 more and I'll have the elusive Diamond status. Heck, I'm traveling anyway, so why not make the best of it. I've got to say that the Hilton and affiliated hotels do seem like the best.

My wife and kids recently went to DC for the fall break. I am please to say my wife did stay at Hilton hotels on the way there and on her return trip. Next week I depart to remotes tropic and look forward to staying in those wonderful locals.

Papa's Got a Brand New Bag

I got a new travel bag by Jack Georges and it is awesome. I did not get the kind with the zero radius turn. Instead I opted for the carry on luggage with the recessed wheels that will store comfortably in the overhead bin. These won't get hung up and keep the bin doors from closing. These wheels will allow for easy stowing and simple closing.

The front pocket unzips and is large enough to fit a change of clothes complete with shirt, pants underwear socks and a pair of dress shoes. Or, I could put a few pairs of shirts and fit a couple of pair of shoes snug without increasing the outside dimensions of the suitcase.

The exterior is high quality crushed leather. Durable and sensible, it should handle most bumping and scraping in stride. The carry handle is leather and the tote handle (for pulling in wheeled mode) is sturdy. When deployed there no give or free play. The zippers are high quality YKK. Inside is enough room for several changes of clothing including a few pair of shoes. The exterior dimensions are only 22 inches long and has an additional compartment for a suit. The thing is small on the outside, but like Dr. Who's Tardis on the inside.

Hand crafted and sturdy quality make the Jack Georges a great buy. Plus, I bought the Hilton hopper bag with my Hilton Honors card and now I'm well on my way to Diamond Status; booya!

Hilton Hopper's Packing List-Pack for Dress Success

While in the army, I learned to do one thing well, pack for maximum effect. I made good use of little space to be able to carry uniforms and civilian clothes to all points of the world. Sometimes that meant carrying multiple bags during major moves or just a quick back for short trips and vacations.

For best packing, select a duffle or carryon suitcase that you know will fit in the overhead bin. Currently, a 45” bag is accepted on all flights. A 45” bag is usually constructed of a 22" x 14" x 9". Plenty big enough for a three or four day journey, working travel or vacation. Keep in mind that you can carry other personal items such as purses or laptops bags. This will help you maximize carrying space and give you more convenience. For example, you won’t have to go into your stowed carry on if you have your personal item (laptop) under your seat.

Make sure the carryon bag is constructed well. Zero degree turn radius and smoothly rolling wheels are a plus, but do what your budget can afford. The last thing you want is for your bag to slow you down while negotiating a long and busy last minute gate change or flight delay.

Pack for effect. Since you might be Hilton hopping, you should be able to live out of your bag. No need to unpack your suitcase every night if you pack right. Some helpful suggestions include:

Pack mix and match cloths. Blue or black pants and business khaki trousers are great. Pack complimenting shirts and ties and you can reduce your volume. For example, wear navy pants and blue striped shirt on Monday’s travel day, Tuesday wear Khaki pants and white shirt, Wed wear Monday’s pants and green shirt, and Thursday wear Tuesday’s pants and Monday’s shirt. On Friday’s travel day, wear anything you want. You’ve just got five days of wear from two pants and three shirts. With a little experience and confidence you can probably cut it down.

Protect dress clothes with plastic. You can use dry clean plastic backs to pack your clothes. Wrapping in something like a plastic bag or cardboard gift box can protect your business and casual wardrobe. You can line layers of clothing with bags to prevent wrinkling.

Wear one pair and pack one pair of shoes. Make sure you have a good pair of shoes for recreation or casual dining. If you like to work out, the second pair of shoes can be athletic.  If you decide to pack more shoes, just remember, shoes can be filled with socks and other small packing articles

Bring a bathing suit or workout clothes. You don’t need more than two outfits depending on how much you like to work out. Make sure they are the kind that dry quickly. That way you can easily pack as they dry overnight. Working out while Hilton hopping may need to be done at night so your clothes have a chance to dry before being re-packed. If not, pack them in a plastic bag and be sure to unpack them when you check into your next room.

Viola, pack right and you too can be ready for Hilton hopping.

The the Hilton Honors Credit Card

Another way to rack up points is with a Hilton Credit Card. I have an American Express that I use while traveling. You can charge food, rooms, transportation and anything you desire at any time and watch your points rack up. This is part of the great Hilton deal in that points are always valuable. You never have to work too hard to earn points for a moving target. I use mine frequently to build up toward free stays.

What I’ve learned to do is use my AmEx card and turn in the receipt to my wife who writes a check. I don’t want to take in new debt to get these points. However, the rewards are worth using the card for daily expenses and paying them off immediately.

Five steps to increasing your points and stays

Get a Hilton Honors credit card and build points through purchases. You can get Visa or American Express or both. Hilton Honors gives generously giving up to 10 points for each dollar spend depending on product.

1. Check into a different Hilton Hotel each night. Moving up in status is quicker with stays. The Diamond status starts with 26 stays, not nights. For example, when I travel for a week, I stay in four different hotels. Sometimes they are quite close to each other. One night in a Hilton, the next in a Double Tree, next a Homewood Inn and Suites and etc. That comes out to four stays. If I just spend the week in one hotel, it only counts as one stay.
2. Look for values and specials. Sometimes Hilton offers double  points for stays at selected hotels. If your schedule is flexible, take up their offer.
3. Set your Hilton Honors profile to earn points. You can select to receive points instead of breakfast. Some hotels don’t offer free breakfast automatically, so they will offer points instead of the meal. Go through your profile and determine what you can exchange for points.
4. If you have a good chance of making Diamond status, don’t cash in your points. If you redeem points for a free stay, you don’t get credit for the stay. You can save a few hundred bucks, but wait until you reach diamond status. Then, you can redeem points and still get credit for the stay.
5. Use Airline miles and other awards programs to feed your Hilton points.

That's it, five ways to get the most out of Hilton Honors point opportunities. Join us for more information later.

Why Hiltonhop

Hilton Honors allow you to build up points while travelling. Earn enough points, you get free hotel stays. I’m currently working on hotel stays to move from Gold to Diamond status. It eluded me last year, but this year I will achieve it.

This requires a lot of work.  The quickest way to earn the Diamond status is to change hotels every night. This is tiring and for a five night working engagement, I change hotels four times. This also requires packing the luggage in such a way as to be able to pull out a new set of clothing for work and entertainment each day. This also requires packing in such a way as to prevent clothing from wrinkling.

I usually travel with a small duffel back or suitcase. My wife graciously taught me how to fold my cloths into crisp little bundles that maintained their shape through the duration of travel. My shirts, pants, ties, shorts, shoes, workout and exercise clothing, and etc all have a place.

Also, when I get a set of clothing, I carefully unpack and repack everything just to get the clothing out. It is a most inspiring ceremony the first few times, but soon, it becomes routing. The key is to make sure the suitcase is packed every night before the morning checkout. You never know when you might oversleep.

To prevent oversleeping, set all alarms as soon as you get into the hotel room. All Hilton hotels have alarm clocks, wakeup call service and you should also use watch or telephone wakeup alarms if available. Sometimes it’s hard enough to sleep on the road. If you do finally fall asleep, you want to be able to wake up and get moving in a timely manner.

During the week of 1-5 August I stayed in four great Hilton Hotels in the Crystal City, Arlington, Washington, DC area. 

The first night, I stayed at the Hilton Crystal City at National Airport, 2399 Jefferson Davis highway, Arlington, VA 22202, 703 418-6800. This hotel offered a small swimming pool, a fitness center and had an office space for public use. As a gold member, I received free internet and complimentary breakfast. The room had  a large bed, desk and couch. I was able to work for a few hours in relative peace and quiet.

That night I met friends to eat at the

The second night brought me to Double Tree Hotel 300 Army Drive, Arlington, VA 22202, 703 416 4126

The third night I stayed at Embassy Suites 1300 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, VA 22202 703 979-9799

The last night I stayed at Hilton Arlington 590 North Stafford Street, Arlington, VA 22203 703 528-6000

We ate lunch at the Hamburger Hamlet in the Crystal City shopping complex. That’s the key here, where I live everyone drives to work. In this metropolis, everyone commutes and spends of good deal of time walking from public transportation areas to their places of work or pleasure. So, the choice is walk in the open air during good weather or navigate the underground walking routes packed with shopping and food vendors.

Hamburger Hamlet was a delicious restaurant complete with a professional staff and competitive menu. True to it’s name, Hamburger Hamlet did have gourmet and regular burgers. However, it offers other wonderful meals. I had the Stella; a three piece meal. It comes with a sandwich of choice, salad and soup of the day. I had the open face veggie sandwich with tomato, olive, onion, reduced vinaigrette on a sourdough bread face. The soup was a great chicken gumbo.

We ate at Union Jacks in the mall by the Bolston Exit in Arlington. My meal was a Grilled Salmon with rice and seasonal vegetables. This meal was tender, fresh and just a perfect way to end a long day. The bar featured about 15 European (mostly British) beers on tab and twice as many in bottles and many non-alcoholic choices. The DJ took requests and kept the dinner alive with alternative hits from the 80’s, 90’s and early 2,000s. Shortly before my bedtime, they moved tables and built a dance floor.