Looks like the rejection letters are out:

Dear Alena Kerins,

Thank you for participating in The Leading Hotels of the World’s 80th anniversary USD 19.28 Sale. We are sorry to inform you that we were unable to fulfill your travel request.

We appreciate your support and interest in our brand, and hope to bring you more celebratory offers in the future. As previously promised, all personal information obtained from you with regard to this promotion will be removed from our database. Should you wish to receive updates and news from The Leading Hotels of the World, please feel free to sign up for our e-newsletter at www.lhw.com.

Thank you again!
The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd.

Check out the November issue of Budget Travel where Follow Alena is featured in the “Blogger on Board” article on page 36. You can also read the piece on their website linked below. Thanks to BT for the shout out!

Follow Alena in Budget Travel

I love shopping online because I find so many great deals and of course, I use a credit card that gives me frequent flyer miles. I also often earn additional miles by clicking though an airline’s website to the store I’m shopping at. Most retailers online have partnerships with airlines and you can earn anywhere from 1 to 4 miles per dollar that you spend. Usually, you just go to the airline’s frequent flyer webpage and click on the ways to earn miles section. More often than not, there is a link that says shopping, miles mall or retail partners. If the store you are shopping at is listed, you can enter your frequent flyer number, click through to your store and make your purchase. These days, miles are more valuable than ever so you may as well earn them for something you intend to buy anyway.

Here are the shopping portals for some popular airlines:

American Airlines AAdvantage eShopping

Northwest Worldperks Mall

United Mileage Plus Mall

Continental Airlines ShopOnePass

Delta Skymiles Shopping

In 1911, John Wanamaker debuted a giant pipe organ in his Philadelphia department store. The instrument, which had been created for the St Louis World’s Fair, featured over 10,000 pipes and entertained visitors as they shopped. As the years past and the company went downhill, the organ fell into disrepair. Although it was deemed a National Historic Landmark, it was no longer able to play using all of its pipes. In 2005, Macy’s acquired the store and as part of their 150th anniversary celebration, they decided to restore the organ to its former glory. On September 27th the Wanamaker Organ was played to its full potential for the first time in 27 years. Visitors can see the organ in Macy’s Grand Court and hear it at one of the free concerts played daily Monday-Saturday.

Friends of the Wanamaker Organ

Did any of you try for the Leading Hotels $19.28 special when it reran today? I actually forgot about it but was reminded by my sister about 30 minutes in. I submitted a request but wonder if I have a chance registering so late. If any of you end up getting in on it, let me know how it turns out!

Google Maps can now help you plan trips using public transportation or walking in many metro areas worldwide. You can get step by step directions as well as station schedules and information.

Can a complete Google Travel site be far behind?

Google Maps Transit

Most museums have overnight programs for children. I blogged about a few of them here. This month, the Guggenheim in New York will take the night at the museum concept to another level with “theanyspacewhatever”. The exhibition, designed by artist Carsten Höller, is a revolving hotel room that visitors can actually book and spent the night in. Guests will have towels, robes and slippers, a continental breakfast and access to a shower as well as private access to the museum itself all night long. The program runs from October 25th through January 7th and is, unfortunately, already sold out but perhaps its success will inspire the Guggenheim to add additional nights or run similar programs in the future.

theanyspacewhatever at the Guggenheim Museum

Thanks to everyone for your well wishes. I’m not 100% but I’m feeling much better than I was and I’m back to my regular, crazy schedule.

Things have gotten quite busy and I’m travelling more than ever. I’m going to be cutting down on my daily posts to give me more time to work on my trip posts which I’d like to get up quicker but are fairly time consuming. Don’t worry, I’ll still be blogging regularly…probably at least 2-3 times per week. I just want to get up more photos and information on all the places I’ve visited and I have a huge backlog to work on. Currently I’m working on the Fallingwater trip and I hope to get that posted soon!

Hey everyone….currently I’m sick and haven’t been able to blog. Hopefully I’ll be back to normal within a couple of days.

Zagat, a company best known for collecting restaurant ratings and publishing them annually is now rating both domestic and international airlines. You can vote on the airlines you’ve flown in the past year until October 19th and be entered for a chance to win a $300 Visa giftcard. Final results will be published on Zagat.com.

Zagat Airline Survey