Sitting here on the front porch in NW DC pondering the day ahead over coffee and my MacBook Air. Of course, I’m flying out this afternoon for Ohio, but other than that, I’ve been perusing the blogs and message boards for information. The big news of the 50,000 point Amex Business Platinum was only good for one day (yesterday), but the bigger news was the reemergence of the 100,000 Avios British Airways Visa (now my affiliate link!) (Hat tip to Gary) 100,000 Avios is pretty snazzy, biz class across the pond anyone? Unless I change my mind, I won’t play this time. I’m pretty much loaded up with all the credit cards I can manage for the moment. But if you are in a good spot with your credit and spending, you should consider this offer.

You will have to do some work for it. You get 50,000 Avios with your first purchase, then 25,000 for the next $10,000 in purchases and the final 25,000 with the following $10,000 in purchases. In other words, you have to spend $20 grand in a year to get the full 100,000 Avios. The card does have some extra bennies that make it worth considering. Companion certificate, chip technology for spending abroad, and no foreign transaction fees. I could make the spend if I tried, but I just did a Citi AAdvantage application and am working on meeting the minimum spend for that card now. Not to mention I really want to hit $25K in spending on my US Airways MasterCard this year for the 10,000 preferred qualifying mile benefit. Living 15 minutes away from US Airways’ large operation at Reagan National (DCA), it’s just too handy to have US status, and anything I can do to keep it and build on it, I will. All this coupled with most of my dining/travel expenses being charged to my Sapphire Preferred card, and there’s only so much money I can throw around.  But that’s just me. If you’ve got the spending capability, I’d jump on this BA offer right now. You never know how long it will be out there.

In cruising news, Royal Caribbean has a pretty good deal available for a limited time. If you book by April 15, you can book a European cruise AND air fare starting at $1,349 dollars per person. Seriously, if I didn’t have a big vacation commitment this fall, I’d be on this one. As you know, I think cruising represents an amazing vacation value, especially in Europe. See fantastic sights, but use the ship for your “hotel and restaurant.” Cruising can also be a great way to sample the fabulous Mediterranean and Europe to give you an idea of where you might want to take your next land-based vacation.

Well, that’s all for my Saturday morning musings. Time to get ready for the airport. Next post will be from the Southwest Airlines elite lounge at BWI aka the Vino Volo with a cheese plate and wine.

Disclosure: The credit card links in this post are not my affiliate links and I do not receive any kind of referral bonus if you apply for and receive the card products mentioned. These simply represent the best available offers that I am aware of for the card. Updated on 4/11/12 to note that the BA Visa offer is now my affiliate link. It is the best offer available to my knowlege.

….to Dayton. Well, Columbus actually, aboard Southwest and then drive to Dayton. I’ve been through one of the longer travel dry spells that I’ve ever suffered, and I’m oddly excited about the whole thing. Of course, it will be nice to see family, but just the idea of heading out to the airport and getting on a plane out of town is enticing. A friend suggested I review the whole Southwest experience so that’s exactly what I’m going to do. This should stack up nicely against all the Lufthansa first class lounge reviews, don’t ya’ think?

It ain’t easy! I have to tell you, my months-long business travel dry spell is starting to grate on me. My eyelids aren’t twitching yet, but that’s sure to come any minute. It’s gotten so bad that I’m semi-excited about a 1 hour Southwest flight to Ohio next Saturday! Now that’s saying something! At least my flight back is on US Airways so I pick up a few miles and elite qualifying segments. Then there’s the Frequent Traveler University to look forward to in late April. I am taking the train up and flying back for cheap and easy elite qualifying segments. Yes, I’m flying Newark – Philadelphia – DC. Go ahead, call me crazy!

If I could find really cheap fares right now, I might think about a little mileage running to tide me over, and save me the trouble of the end of year dash for status. Not in the cards either. There are no cheap fares (well, not many) and I need to conserve cash for our October/November cruising extravaganza from Venice to Barcelona. Speaking of which, one way I’m dealing with not traveling is planning that trip. Look for future posts on the planning of a 3-week vacation. (I can’t believe I’m going on a 3-week vacation!)

It’s no fun being off the road, but this, like all things will eventually pass. Any other travelers out there sticking close to home lately? Share your tips for dealing with it here!

I love getting emails from Delta with that subject line! My maybe business trip for next Tuesday has now turned into my confirmed business trip for Monday morning to Atlanta. When I found out, I went into our travel system and immediately booked flights. Early out Monday morning, late return Wednesday, so I can pack in a full day of work before heading to the airport to fly home. Better yet, I have a choice of hotels….. Hmmmm…. where will I stay?

The fact that a routine biz trip to Atlanta is this exciting = a sure sign that I’ve been off the road for too long. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

As my long national nightmare…..er…ok, my quarter of no business travel winds down, I find myself in an odd mood. Teleworking does that to a guy. Now, don’t think that I don’t enjoy the privilege of teleworking at times. Frankly, there are things I do in my day job that uniquely lend themselves to working at home, undisturbed by the workaday intrusions that come with being in the office. This week I need to accomplish an intensive writing exercise, and working at home tends to help me accomplish big writing assignments more effectively. The downside of all this is that it’s also very quiet, and with no social interaction other than CNBC and the cats, I’ve been thinking too much.

How can one think too much? Well, there are signs. I may have a business trip next week. It’s to a city that I’ve visited for business on too many occasions to count, and I’m genuinely excited about the prospect of 2 nights at the Marriott. It’s a nice Marriott, mind you, but still. I think I’ve been off the road too long. I think it may be time to get back to work in a location other than the office or my home.

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You might remember that I’m quite proud of the fact that I have already arranged air travel for Mrs MJonTravel’s (ahem) 29th birthday extravaganza this coming October. I was able to nab First Class on United on the nonstop from Dulles to Rome on the big day, getting us to Italy a few days before our 14 night cruise from Venice on what will then be the brand new Celebrity Reflection. Not long after booking opened, I booked the 777 nonstop.

Just a few days ago I was taking a routine look at my airline reservations and noted that there had been a schedule change on our flights to Rome. Upon a deeper look at the reservation, I found that the flight time had changed slightly, but the operating equipment had changed from a 777 to a 767-300. Still in First Class, seats 2A and 2C, across the aisle from each other. I think I prefer the 777, but having never flown on a United international 767-300, I can’t speak to whether the seats are better or worse. Do any readers have experience with United’s international 767-300′s? What do you think of the seats and the service?

Being in a temporary (and planned) travel slump, I’ve been thinking of little things I could do to ensure that I don’t suddenly find myself statusless next year. I could try a couple of mileage runs, and there’s a good chance that I will, but I actually need to head down to North Carolina to check in on my Mom pretty soon. We only have one car, and Mrs MJ on Travel needs that on the weekends, so my choices are Amtrak, plane, or walk. You know which choice I picked.

I poked around the interweb earlier today for flights and prices. Unfortunately, DCA is out because of prices ($500 dollar range for a roundtrip), so I expanded my search to BWI departures. Both Southwest and Delta have nonstops from BWI to RDU, but who wants to do that when you need segments?! Not me. I found a reasonable fare on US Airways routing me BWI-PHL-RDU-CLT-BWI. I need to go to Raleigh, and I need to start working on qualifying for Dividend Miles Preferred status for next year, and I will qualify on segments. Problem solved. Now I need to figure out how I can do something like BWI-PHL-LAX-CLT-RDU-CLT-LAX-PHL-BWI for my next trip to Mom’s house. Not much time for that kind of thing right now, so this will suffice just fine.

Right now, I’m contemplating an endless string of Monday mornings in the office. The mere possibility of it is depressing. Not to fear, I’m just at a place with work projects that will keep me in town for a while. I’m sure unforecast travel will pop up, but for now, I’m stuck flying my desk. What should one do in a situation like this other than be depressed? Well, to start, I’m not depressed about it, merely contemplative about the possibilities.

Perhaps it’s time to think about some well placed mileage runs to make sure I hit my elite status goals for next year? Or better yet, take the time to expand the blog’s focus a tiny bit. How the heck does a general travel blogger do that? Stay tuned. I’ve been thinking….and you know that’s dangerous!

Hello from Port Everglades where MrsMJonTravel and I are waiting to disembark the beautiful Navigator of the Seas. I really didn’t mean to totally disappear this past week, but it sure was fun. Great weather, calm seas, no rocks. It was awesome. I probably should have put up a little “best of” content while I was away, but it’s too late now. It was a great week!

Reality returns tomorrow as I will be heading down to Atlanta for a one night biz trip. So look for a new hotel review this week, the Atlanta Marriott Marquis, and of course a few details on our cruise too.

Just a brief note to wish everyone a joyous holiday season! I hope you were able to celebrate with those closest to you. MrsMJonTravel and I spent the weekend with my mother and other family in North Carolina, and will be heading back to MJ on Travel World Headquarters tomorrow. Flying the 2005 Mini Cooper so no 500 mile segment minimums for this trip!

I hope 2012 brings you the best of everything!