Edition 6 | Rare award space for summer travel, underground tunnels of Mexicali, and how to leave a hotel after check-in.
Also: The biggest travel news of the week: The U.S. no longer requires a negative COVID-19 test to reenter the country.
TMT | EDITION 6
Let's dive into this week's packed edition of The Multidimensional Traveler.
INSIDE THIS EDITION.
Local spotlight. The Chinese in Baja California.
Last week in travel. How to leave a hotel after check-in.
Deal alert. Transatlantic summer flights for 44k miles in biz.
Travel trick. Cap One Entertainment for cheap tickets.
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Local spotlight: La Chinesca.
A closer look at a more obscure (and local) gem.
I recently learned about Mexico's Chinese community in Prague, of all places. I was chatting with someone from Mexicali who explained to me his favorite cuisine: Chinese Mexican fusion (!)
Just across the U.S. border in Baja California, Mexicali is home to the largest Chinese community in Mexico ("La Chinesca"). In fact, outside New York City and San Francisco, Baja California’s 14,000 Chinese are the most in the Americas.
Color me fascinated. (I want to visit.)
So how did the Chinese get there? In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Chinese were encouraged to head to Mexico in search of work thanks to the growing anti-Chinese sentiment in the U.S., escalated by the Chinese Exclusion Act.
Migrants built an underground network of tunnels and bunkers to escape the heat while still being able to move around the city. However, these tunnels served a different purpose later on for Chinese to escape during anti-Asian hate crimes in the time of the Mexican Revolution (sound familiar?)
Mexicali is now home to dozens of Cantonese restaurants and La Chinesca remains as a symbol of the former subterranean life that existed.
Last week in travel
A mini-roundup of some of my favorite stories.
Hopper Will Let Customers Pay a Fee to Leave the Hotel After Check-In for Any Reason — skift.com Hopper is expanding its "fintech" products, including one that lets customers pay a fee to leave a hotel after check-in for any reason.
'Inundated with American travelers': End of testing rule opens summer travel floodgates | CNN Travel — www.cnn.com Just as summer heats up, the US is lifting its long-standing requirement for all travelers entering the country to present a negative Covid-19 test.
JetBlue Launches New Flight Route from NYC to Vancouver - Thrillist — www.thrillist.com
JetBlue's first-ever Canadian flight route connects New York City to Vancouver, British Columbia.
Deal alert: Summer flights for 44k miles in business.
A travel deal (and live as of this email's send time).
What is it: Business class to Morocco for 44,000 miles (or 57,500 miles for onward connections to Europe) on Royal Air Maroc
Where to: Between New York (JFK) and Casablanca (CMN)
When: Through end of schedule (including decent availability this summer)
How much: Use Etihad miles to book Royal Air Maroc for 44,000 miles one-way or 57,500 American Airlines miles
How to book: Unfortunately, Etihad partner awards can’t be booked online, so you need to call Etihad Guest customer service to book them.
You can search for Royal Air Maroc award availability online through its Oneworld partners like American Airlines. But the cheapest rate (44,000 miles) would be using Etihad.
You can transfer points to Etihad Guest from four transferrable points currencies:
American Express Membership Rewards points at a 1:1 transfer ratio.
Capital One miles at a 1:1 transfer ratio.
Citi ThankYou points at a 1:1 transfer ratio.
Travel trick: (Potentially) save with Cap One Entertainment.
A travel hack that I've used to earn points (or save cash).
Well this one isn't exactly a travel hack, but it's a way to save on tickets (think: concerts, sporting events, etc.) ... and you can use that extra cash on travel.
Launched earlier this year, Capital One Entertainment is a ticket platform and portal exclusively for Cap One cardholders. I put the portal to the test for the first time earlier this week. I was looking for last-minute tickets to Coldplay, and I checked ticket prices on Stubhub, Ticketmaster, and Cap One Entertainment.
Decent savings
General admission floor tickets were about $20 less expensive through Cap One Entertainment than Stubhub (and over $50 cheaper than Ticketmaster).
While you can also redeem Capital One miles towards event tickets, the value isn't great (you'll get only 0.8 cents per point) so I don't recommend this.
Anything you want to see featured in this newsletter? Just want to chat travel or points? Let me know. Respond to this email or shoot me a DM (@thechrisflyer) on the socials.
Until next time.
-CD
New to The Multidimensional Traveler (TMT)?
My philosophy, of sorts, is to always strive to be a more well-rounded traveler. That means being more savvy: Leveraging credit card points, finding cash deals, being prepared for travel mishaps, etc.
But I also want to be open to connection and soak in my surroundings: Connecting with locals, learning more about a destination, and have experiences that are unique.
No matter how you travel, I hope the things that I’ve learned (and continue to learn) help in some way.