2014 hidden gems: Traveler’s Triangle, paying $15 for the seat next to mine, road trips, BRGs, #FT4RL, transfering Arrival miles, 17 pieces of luggage and more

Okay okay – one more “Best of 2014” post and then I promise I’ll go back to trying to remember to write 2015 when I write a check (when I write a check, which is like never).  Last week, I wrote a series on the top 20 posts of 2014 based on traffic (the posts that were actually visited the most).  I thought it would be good to write a separate series on some “Hidden gems” – posts that I wrote that I thought were good, but didn’t get as much traffic for whatever reason

• Introduction of the Traveler’s Triangle: the relationship between your flexibility of time and location and the price that you’ll end up paying.

• When preparing a trip to take me somewhere warm, I came up with a comprehensive guide to airport taxes and fees for the Caribbean airports
• #TBT – A trip report from 2012 when I appeared on the game show Wheel of Fortune.
• Road trip time!  17 hours, 3 kids, 0 electronics.  How would you survive?
• Speaking of 17, here’s how our family managed 17 pieces of luggage through the airport on our recent family trip.
• One of the very first things I did this year was try to help a family of mine go from zero to enough miles for a family trip to Berlin. Read the original post, and then the followup to see if / how they made it.
• Southwest devalued their points from 1.67 cents per point to 1.43 cents per point earlier this year, but I took a look at how much Southwest points are REALLY worth?  Hint: it’s actually MORE!
• One more reason we’re so fortunate in this hobby…
• If you’re booking flights with British Airways Avios (and it can be a great deal!), you’ll want to make sure to get a confirmation number from the airline that you’re ACTUALLY flying on!
• You can transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards between spouses, but can you transfer Barclay Arrival miles from one account to another?
• 5th time’s a charm!  My Best Western BRG is (finally) approved!
• In August of this year, I went to the Family Travel for Real Life conference and I live-blogged the event.  Shawn from Miles to Memories about traveling vs. vacationing, Phil from MilesAbound about manufactured spending, Jason Steele on getting multiple award tickets, the Carolina Travel Girl on alternative lodging sites, and Debra from Traveling Well for Less on keeping costs down once you GET to your vacation destination.  I’m going to #FT4RL again this March so look for another series of posts!

• Why yes, US Airways, I WOULD like to pay $15 more for the seat right next to mine!!!
• Avis tried to triple the price on me when I added my loyalty number, but I finally managed to get them to stop their tricks on me.  Why does renting a car feel like such a scam?

So what do you think – were any of these “hidden gems” or was there a reason that they weren’t as well viewed in the first place? 😀  Feel free to leave your hidden gems for 2014 in the comments.