Dear Annabelle,
It has taken me a bit to get my head around where to have emergency kits. I am thinking that I will put the main supplies in the garage in a clearly organized area. That way we have easy access if it is an emergency where we need to stay in the house, quick access if we need to leave by car, and not that different if we need to leave by foot since the garage is the door we generally go out anyways (our shoes are by that door). I also realized that if we leave on foot we would likely take the bike trailer that we use as a stroller since we would need something to transport the girls and the stuff. This past winter we kept our emergency water in the garage and it didn't end up freezing so that was a good test. About six months ago our water turned off for about 12 hours due to a water main break. We didn't even have any extra water on hand at the time; so at least we have an emergency water supply now.
I really liked this blog's posts with details of how to prepare your "emergency survival station" in 8 weeks. In general I think I will follow her guidance.
Below are some other links on creating your emergency preparedness kits:
- from premier aquatics
- one on creating emergency kits for kids to take to school
- one on creating a faraday cage (not sure I need to do this, but came across it as a link and want to read more)
- red cross list
- wikihow list
- a car list
- DMV list
- FEMA list
- FEMA on storage locations
I think a lot of the lists are the same but I just want to cross reference them.
The car list reminded me that we should also expand on the emergency supplies we have in the car (where everything is currently kept). Because the person with the car might not be able to get back to the house in an evacuation scenario it seems like you almost want to have a duplicate set of at least the basic supplies.
I also want to consider what our back-up situation is for data. Are our pictures backed up somewhere other than in the house? Do we have our important documents backed-up somewhere (other than in the safe in the basement where they live)? Watching the evacuation from Fort McMurray also really inspired me to work on all these things since, for example, you might not have time to grab the folder from the safe. In a way I feel it goes well with all the Konmari cleaning/purging I have been doing since it is all about deciding what to keep and where to put it.
Hugs,
Jen
Saturday, 7 May 2016
Preparing for the Unexpected
Dear Annabelle,
For the first time in months I feel like I am getting my head around things that could use a blog post. I just looked back through all the past blog posts. Wow I was really focused on all the travel stuff for a while there. I am feeling really grateful that we amassed all those points since I used them for all three of my trips to Winnipeg. We are still getting new cards and working on points but at a much slower rate.
I am currently sitting here in the middle of a thunderstorm, it is hailing and pouring rain and so dark it is almost dusk like, even though it is only early afternoon. The girls have gone in with Andrew to Denver for the day.
With Kris's death I have been really feeling how much we "know we should" get things together but don't because we don't really want to think about those "worst case scenarios" happening to us. But it has made me feel really inspired to get everything in order: our wills, emergency preparedness, letters to kids, talking about death wishes, etc. We have started the ball rolling on the legal side of things; the lawyer sent us a 16 page questionnaire to fill out! We only have our own will that we wrote in Ontario but it seems a bit lacking given the whole living in a different country and everything.
Last night I spent a lot of time researching emergency preparedness. It has been on my To Do list for ages and we did pull together some things a few years ago. I think I was always wishing that it was something Andrew would take over, but as it seems that isn't going to happen I feel inspired to dive in.
Hugs,
Jen
For the first time in months I feel like I am getting my head around things that could use a blog post. I just looked back through all the past blog posts. Wow I was really focused on all the travel stuff for a while there. I am feeling really grateful that we amassed all those points since I used them for all three of my trips to Winnipeg. We are still getting new cards and working on points but at a much slower rate.
I am currently sitting here in the middle of a thunderstorm, it is hailing and pouring rain and so dark it is almost dusk like, even though it is only early afternoon. The girls have gone in with Andrew to Denver for the day.
With Kris's death I have been really feeling how much we "know we should" get things together but don't because we don't really want to think about those "worst case scenarios" happening to us. But it has made me feel really inspired to get everything in order: our wills, emergency preparedness, letters to kids, talking about death wishes, etc. We have started the ball rolling on the legal side of things; the lawyer sent us a 16 page questionnaire to fill out! We only have our own will that we wrote in Ontario but it seems a bit lacking given the whole living in a different country and everything.
Last night I spent a lot of time researching emergency preparedness. It has been on my To Do list for ages and we did pull together some things a few years ago. I think I was always wishing that it was something Andrew would take over, but as it seems that isn't going to happen I feel inspired to dive in.
Hugs,
Jen
Tuesday, 24 November 2015
Play Dough
Dear Annabelle,
We just made some new play dough this morning. Here is our recipe:
Mix together:
1c salt
1c tapioca starch
2c rice flour
Add:
1 Tbsp oil
1 1/2c boiling water
We just made some new play dough this morning. Here is our recipe:
Mix together:
1c salt
1c tapioca starch
2c rice flour
Add:
1 Tbsp oil
1 1/2c boiling water
The last few times we have also added some natural food colouring. Those ones I keep in the fridge, the previous batches I just kept out.
Hugs,
Jen
Monday, 2 November 2015
Aeroplan vs. United Fees
Dear Annabelle,
This is an earlier post I wrote but it is still a mystery to me. I looked into summer 2016 flights DEN-YOW the other day and found a similar trend with the fees for United being quite a bit lower than with Aeroplan.
----------
I am trying to compare awards with Aeroplan to those with United MileagePlus. Specifically at the moment from DEN to YOW. I managed to find an award ticket with the same flights on both airlines (Sept 8 to Sept 30, 2015). This comparison flight had one stop both ways in Dulles and all flights were with United (same flight numbers with both programs).
Aeroplan was 25K plus 107.90 USD in fees:
United was 25K and 59 USD in fees:
For comparison United says that I could buy this ticket for $758.92 without redeeming miles.
So the question is why are these fees different (by $48.90). Neither are charging a fuel surcharge, but the fees are differing based on who you book with.
The following charges are the same:
That leaves the following fees on the Aeroplan ticket that aren't on the United ticket:
This is an earlier post I wrote but it is still a mystery to me. I looked into summer 2016 flights DEN-YOW the other day and found a similar trend with the fees for United being quite a bit lower than with Aeroplan.
----------
I am trying to compare awards with Aeroplan to those with United MileagePlus. Specifically at the moment from DEN to YOW. I managed to find an award ticket with the same flights on both airlines (Sept 8 to Sept 30, 2015). This comparison flight had one stop both ways in Dulles and all flights were with United (same flight numbers with both programs).
Aeroplan was 25K plus 107.90 USD in fees:
U.S. Passenger Safety Fee
$11.20
U.S Passenger Facility Charge
$13.50
U.S. International Transportation Tax
$35.40
Canada Domestic/International Air Travel Security Charge
$10.00
Canada Harmonized Sales Tax
$2.30
Canada Domestic/International Airport Improvement Fee
$18.00
U.S. Customs User Fee
$5.50
U.S.A Immigration User Fee
$7.00
U.S Agriculture Fee
$5.00
Total per passenger
$107.90
Total passengers
1
- September 11th Security Fee $5.60
- Canadian Security Charge $10.00
- Canada Harmonized Sales Tax $2.30
- Canada Airport Improvement Fee $18.00
- U.S. Customs User Fee $5.50
- U.S. Immigration User Fee $7.00
- U.S. APHIS User Fee $5.00
- September 11th Security Fee $5.60
For comparison United says that I could buy this ticket for $758.92 without redeeming miles.
So the question is why are these fees different (by $48.90). Neither are charging a fuel surcharge, but the fees are differing based on who you book with.
The following charges are the same:
- Canadian Security Charge $10.00
- Canada Harmonized Sales Tax $2.30
- Canada Airport Improvement Fee $18.00
- U.S. Customs User Fee $5.50
- U.S. Immigration User Fee $7.00
- U.S. APHIS User Fee $5.00
That leaves the following fees on the Aeroplan ticket that aren't on the United ticket:
- U.S Passenger Facility Charge $13.50
- U.S. International Transportation Tax $35.40
In the ITA Matrix this routing shows up with the following fees:
- US Transportation Tax (US) $46.77
- US September 11th Security Fee (AY) $11.20
- US Passenger Facility Charge (XF) $13.50
- US Flight Segment Tax (ZP) $16.00
- USDA APHIS Fee (XA) $5.00
- US Immigration Fee (XY) $7.00
- US Customs Fee (YC) $5.50
- Ottawa Airport Improvement Fee (SQ) $18.00
- Canadian Harmonized Sales Tax (ON) (RC) $2.30
- Canadian Air Travelers Security Charge (CA) $10.00
Why does Aeroplan charge the Transportation Tax and Facility Charge but United doesn't? And why is the Transportation Tax higher in the ITA Matrix than it was for the award flight with Aeroplan? I just double checked and the Aeroplan flight is giving the same fees now, so it isn't a matter of the delay between checking.
-------
Nov 2/15: Just doing a bit more looking around. It seems like the US International Transportation Tax is a constant value and is a combination of a $17.70 departure tax and a $17.70 arrival tax. The 7.5% I was referring to applies to domestic flights.
Here is a link to general airline fees. And according to this (very old) thread I am not alone in my confusion. Oh wow, here is an entire recent thread about this very subject, including a lot of really grumpy people. A lot of confusion about why Aeroplan is charging these additional fees and United is not. Is it because Aeroplan is separate from Air Canada? Is it because some other small fees are being charged so it isn't a completely free ticket? People don't seem to know but they are mad at being charged both the passenger facility charge and the US International Tax.
Hugs,
Jen
-------
Nov 2/15: Just doing a bit more looking around. It seems like the US International Transportation Tax is a constant value and is a combination of a $17.70 departure tax and a $17.70 arrival tax. The 7.5% I was referring to applies to domestic flights.
Here is a link to general airline fees. And according to this (very old) thread I am not alone in my confusion. Oh wow, here is an entire recent thread about this very subject, including a lot of really grumpy people. A lot of confusion about why Aeroplan is charging these additional fees and United is not. Is it because Aeroplan is separate from Air Canada? Is it because some other small fees are being charged so it isn't a completely free ticket? People don't seem to know but they are mad at being charged both the passenger facility charge and the US International Tax.
Hugs,
Jen
British Airways Avios
Dear Annabelle,
Another old post that will soon be partially redundant, at least for the within North America values....
There is an Avios calculator website that lets you plug in your location and destination. This is telling me for Dublin and Munich from Denver it would be around 27K or 30K each way. This compares with the other airlines, except for a lot of them might let us do an open jaw and see more places in Europe. Not sure I want to lock us into it costing more to do this by using Avios.
This post lists hubs of partners for Avios points. We are not a hub but we do get US Airways and American flights from DEN. There are not any fuel surcharges within North America (I think). I wonder how Avios would work for going to Ottawa. Flying DEN to YOW through Chicago would give 888 miles and 655 miles - under 650 is 4500 miles and to 1150 is 7500 so both of these would be 7500 or 15000 but this is only one way so it would be 30K return, so not as good as the base 25K. Wonder if there is a routing where one is under 650 and one is still under 1150. This would give 4500+7500 each way OR 12000, so 24000 return. Doesn't really help but could be an option.
Here is the Travel is Free Guide to Avios. And here is a discussion of the Household Accounts feature of Avios. Basically you can pool the rewards and they get used out of everyone's accounts.
TPG outlines how you would pick between BA and Virgin Atlantic:
"If it’s a question of transferring miles to Virgin Atlantic or to British Airways, it’s worth having a look at Virgin’s mileage chart and comparing it to BA’s mileage calculator to see which requires more on your route. For example, a roundtrip economy ticket from JFK to London on Virgin only costs 35,000* (26,000 if booked as two one-ways separately), 55,000 or 80,000 miles roundtrip in economy, premium economy and business class respectively, while BA would charge you 40,000, 60,000 or 80,000 Avios for the same classes of service, so in economy, I’d do Virgin to save a few thousand miles. However, if pricing awards one-way, they seem to be coming up cheaper. For instance, a one-way award from New York-London was pricing at only 13,000 miles and just under $97.50 in taxes and fees. There were very limited dates, so play around to see if you can find these lower priced awards."
As far as Europe the key is the fuel surcharges and whether you could find a route without too many. One option is to use BA on Aer Lingus.
Some other links:
Hugs,
Jen
Another old post that will soon be partially redundant, at least for the within North America values....
There is an Avios calculator website that lets you plug in your location and destination. This is telling me for Dublin and Munich from Denver it would be around 27K or 30K each way. This compares with the other airlines, except for a lot of them might let us do an open jaw and see more places in Europe. Not sure I want to lock us into it costing more to do this by using Avios.
This post lists hubs of partners for Avios points. We are not a hub but we do get US Airways and American flights from DEN. There are not any fuel surcharges within North America (I think). I wonder how Avios would work for going to Ottawa. Flying DEN to YOW through Chicago would give 888 miles and 655 miles - under 650 is 4500 miles and to 1150 is 7500 so both of these would be 7500 or 15000 but this is only one way so it would be 30K return, so not as good as the base 25K. Wonder if there is a routing where one is under 650 and one is still under 1150. This would give 4500+7500 each way OR 12000, so 24000 return. Doesn't really help but could be an option.
Here is the Travel is Free Guide to Avios. And here is a discussion of the Household Accounts feature of Avios. Basically you can pool the rewards and they get used out of everyone's accounts.
TPG outlines how you would pick between BA and Virgin Atlantic:
"If it’s a question of transferring miles to Virgin Atlantic or to British Airways, it’s worth having a look at Virgin’s mileage chart and comparing it to BA’s mileage calculator to see which requires more on your route. For example, a roundtrip economy ticket from JFK to London on Virgin only costs 35,000* (26,000 if booked as two one-ways separately), 55,000 or 80,000 miles roundtrip in economy, premium economy and business class respectively, while BA would charge you 40,000, 60,000 or 80,000 Avios for the same classes of service, so in economy, I’d do Virgin to save a few thousand miles. However, if pricing awards one-way, they seem to be coming up cheaper. For instance, a one-way award from New York-London was pricing at only 13,000 miles and just under $97.50 in taxes and fees. There were very limited dates, so play around to see if you can find these lower priced awards."
As far as Europe the key is the fuel surcharges and whether you could find a route without too many. One option is to use BA on Aer Lingus.
Some other links:
- How direct flights are calculated: It turns out that at least with some American Airlines flights, Avios actually prices flights by flight number rather than by individual leg in some cases. In effect, only one Avios redemption is necessary for multiple flights in each direction so long as they are marketed with the same flight number.
- US Airways map
- AA map
- There are sometimes transfer bonuses to BA from AMEX
- Saving with stopovers
- Reducing fees
- Avios map for DEN
Hugs,
Jen
Award Availability Links
Dear Annabelle,
I feel I still have a lot to learn about searching for award seats. I am sure this will become more relevant now that we have points!
Some links for sites that could help:
http://travelisfree.com/2014/12/02/master-chart-of-what-sites-search-airline-award-availability/
http://wandr.me/award-search/
http://thepointsguy.com/2015/02/whats-the-best-way-to-search-airline-award-availability/
http://www.kvstool.com/
http://www.expertflyer.com/
https://awardnexus.com/user/login?url=%2F
Hugs,
Jen
I feel I still have a lot to learn about searching for award seats. I am sure this will become more relevant now that we have points!
Some links for sites that could help:
http://travelisfree.com/2014/12/02/master-chart-of-what-sites-search-airline-award-availability/
http://wandr.me/award-search/
http://thepointsguy.com/2015/02/whats-the-best-way-to-search-airline-award-availability/
http://www.kvstool.com/
http://www.expertflyer.com/
https://awardnexus.com/user/login?url=%2F
Hugs,
Jen
GCMap
Dear Annabelle,
Have you ever used the Great Circle Mapper site?
I keep going back to it to look up distances since I need them for comparing the mileage programs that are distance based.
Hugs,
Jen
Have you ever used the Great Circle Mapper site?
I keep going back to it to look up distances since I need them for comparing the mileage programs that are distance based.
Hugs,
Jen
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)