Triangle Trip

It has been a year since Triangle Trip’s inaugural post. Looking back at the past 12 months, we have shared all sorts of valuable information on www.triangletrip.com.

Highlights from the past 12 months’ posts include:  multiple EQM and MQM bonuses, bonus hotel offers, airport reviews, free golf clubs, iPhone apps, dining experiences, rental car perks, driving tips and short cuts, where to stay in different places, etc. We will continue to provide more insight in the years ahead.

The Triangle Trip team wants to thank our readers.  We wish everyone a safe and happy holiday, and a prosperous new year.

Best wishes from Big A, Captain G, Statusmonger, Terminal D, the Coach, and Ace

United Airlines (UAL) has announced 2010 Mileage Plus program changes that will end of 500 mile certificates a few weeks ago. Starting in the second quarter (probably July) of 2010, United Premier members would get upgrades to first or business class based on availability – similar to Continental, Delta and USAir. This leaves American Airlines to be the only major carrier still requiring certificates for upgrades.

This is a positive move by UAL. However they didn’t tell you the following:

1.  United complimentary upgrades are not available for P.S. (Premium Service) flights. United P.S. are flights between New York and San Francisco and Los Angeles. This means your coast-to-coast travel cost would go up as economy seats generally fills up the fastest (see previous post regarding best coast-to-coast travel option). This forces united customers to buy business class tickets.  You can however use redeem miles to upgrade on these flights, and if you are 1K you will still receive Confirmed Regional and Systemwide Upgrades and may use them on these flights as well.

2.  Your United 500-mile certificates would be useless if you don’t use them. UAL used to convert the 500-mile certificates into miles and put them in your Mileage Plus account. With the devaluation of airline miles and airline cut backs, UAL does not endorse expiring 500 mile certificates nor do they convert the miles for flight redemption.

3.  Complimentary upgrades are limited to flights within Region 1 only, which includes the continental United States, Hawaii, Alaska, Canada, the Caribbean, Central America and Mexico. Also, award flights are not eligible for the complimentary upgrades. Not much different than the 500-mile certificate model.

United Premier and Premier Executive statuses become absolutely worthless.  Good luck trying to get upgraded with all the people that made Premier Exec and 1K (us included) in 2009 for 2010 thanks to the 2 double EQM (and one EQS) promotions.

Another collaboration post from Statusmonger & Captain G

As a follow up to our previous Pasadena restaurant review post which ranked 15 restaurants, Statusmonger, Big A and Captain G have since visited a few more restaurants in Pasadena, CA. We found Pasadena restaurants are a bit overrated. Nonetheless, we feel obligated to share our experiences with our readers.

Below is a list of our experience and ranking.

1.  Langham Hotel Dining Room – The only restaurant inside a hotel in the greater LA area to have a Michelin star! Dining experience was worldclass and worth the price. Great wine selection and dessert. Located inside the Langham Hotel, the Dining Room is kind of hard to find as it’s in a residential neighborhood. There is another restaurant called “The Terrace” which does not have a Michelin star. Make sure you tell the reservation specialist that you want the “Dining Room” if you want to experience real fine dining.

2.  Sushi Roku – Japanese restaurant nested in between Colorado and Union (near the corner of Colorado & Fair Oaks) — near Crate and Barrel. Very trendy restaurant with lots of young people. Service was excellent. Great sake selection as well. It’s fusion Japanese so do not expect anything real authentic.

3.  Tani – Japanese restaurant on Colorado Blvd and Raymond. Tiny looking restaurant on the outside but Tani has a pretty sizeable patio area seating on the outside. Good food selection as restaurant offers both cooked and raw Japanese food. Poor sake selection.

4.  Malagueta – A Brazilian joint located on Colorado (down the block from 1812 but 20x better). Has wide selection of Latin American wines. Mostly meat dishes. Avoid if you want veggies.

5.  Trattoria Tre Venezie – Little snobby Italian restaurant with one Michelin star that opens Wednesday to Sunday. We do not think this restaurant is worthy of the Michelin star. Food was mediocre at best. We were there on a Wednesday and the restaurant was not crowded at all. Wine list were all from Italy. The bright spot is they have authentic Italian soda.

Trattoria Tre Venezie6.  Yard House – Usual chain, American beer place.  It is usually packed with younger college kids.

7.  City Thai – Typical Thai food, nothing special.

8.  Tokyo Wako – A pricey Teppanyaki steakhouse. The show was typical of a Teppanyaki place but the waiters/waitresses provided excellent service. Portions were huge. Sake was good. However you’re paying for $30+ for Teppanyaki.

9.  Cafe Santorini – Mediterranean food inside an alley near Colorado and Fairoaks (by Roku). This restaurant has great ambiance. The restaurant is actually located on the 2nd floor of a building with outside seating. Service was horrible. Waiter could not recommend any dish — all he said was “pick whatever you want.” Food was very salty. The bright spots are: large portions, good dessert and great fresh bread. Perhaps the portions and dessert is what drive people to come to this restaurant. We were at Cafe Santorini on a Monday night and it was packed.

10.  Mojito’s – Cuban place on Raymond. They served great Mojitos as the name suggested. Food was so so at best. It was not memorable so it’s at the bottom of our list. Menu items were not too expensive.

11.  Central Park – Located on South Fairoaks and across the street from Pasadena’s Central Park. It’s an American style restaurant with seafood and meat on the menu. Nothing special. Just an over-priced restaurant that serves typical diner food.

12.  JJ Steakhouse – Steakhouse on the 2nd floor of a shop on Colorado. JJ Steakhouse is probably the worst steakhouse in Pasadena. For the same price, you are better off at Arroyo’s or Ruth’s.

13.  Kansai – Small Japanese restaurant on Fairoaks near Colorado. Kansai has a huge variety of Japanese dishes on its menu – perhaps too much to choose from… Setting is kind of ghetto. Food is so so. We will probably not visit them again.

14.  Nepal Tibet House – Located on Holly Street which was kind of out of the way… The restaurant marketed itself as Himalayan food but it was actually more Indian food than anything. We were disappointed and the meal was pricey.

15.  Cafe Bizou – We attempted to go to this restaurant 3x but couldn’t experience it. The first time they were closed after 9PM. The second time we were seated by the host and sat for 15 minutes without service. Furthermore, the patrons that night were at least 65 and up – crowd was definitely not hip. We gave Cafe Bizou one more chance on a Monday evening and they were closed for Monday’s.

With this list and our previous post, we have evaluated 30 restaurants in Pasadena, California. I don’t think you will find a better place with a more candid review of each restaurant at a particular location.

Big A | Captain G | Statusmonger