The Inside Press

Magazines serving the communities of Northern Westchester

Travel

Miles and Points Experts Unite to Launch Wing Tips

by

Register Now for Wing Tips June 30th Debut Course. Two Key ‘Miles and Points’ Experts will Explain How to Optimize your Credit Cards.

Chappaqua, New York – Credit card points and frequent flyer miles can be incredibly complicated. Getting the most out of your card benefits and earning and burning your rewards in the most productive and lucrative manner is achievable, but also very daunting.  The coronavirus pandemic adds a whole new level of complexity.   In these challenging times, The Points Mom, Cindy Greenstein, is teaming up with Rob Karp, founder and CEO of MilesAhead, to launch “Wing Tips”, an in-depth learning experience for those who want to optimize their credit card benefits and continue to maximize their rewards for when they are ready to resume traveling. 

The first Wing Tips class is scheduled for June 30, 2020, at 12 p.m., and will focus on “Optimizing Your Amex Platinum Card Benefits in a Covid-19 World.” The first half of the class will focus on the generous benefits that Amex Platinum recently announced and offer creative tips on how to take advantage of existing benefits for those of us who may not be traveling. Rob and Cindy will also discuss the best ways to use all of the Amex points you have been accumulating while sheltering at home. In the second half of the class, the duo will be answering questions that attendees submit in advance. The cost is $25 per class.  Participants can register on-line: http://www.milesahead.co/wing-tips

Rob Karp stated, “I’m super excited to announce MilesAhead’s new partnership with The Points Mom, Cindy Greenstein.  Building on our combined 14 years of experience, we will help others navigate the world of miles and points amid the coronavirus pandemic.  I have no doubt that our Wing Tips attendees will gain valuable insight.  I look forward to sharing our passion for travel.”

Cindy Greenstein stated, “Rob Karp’s depth of understanding the points and miles game is very impressive.  His enthusiasm is contagious.  We will travel again, and I am confident that we can help our Wing Tips attendees learn how to play the game so they can travel for free.”

Rob Karp is the Founder and CEO of MilesAhead, a luxury hospitality company creating unforgettable experiences of the highest quality. At age 14, Rob founded MilesAhead to help travelers use their frequent flyer miles. Today, MilesAhead manages over $15 million of travel for a network of high-net worth individuals, families and businesses. In the face of the COVID-19 crisis, Rob launched Travel Cares, a non-profit organization aiming to support and educate the hospitality industry through giving back while moving forward. Rob is a self-proclaimed aviation geek and avid golfer.

Cindy Greenstein is a mom with three kids.  She is a former lawyer and CPA but her focus now is on her family and traveling for free – using rewards.  Cindy’s free vacations have ranged from domestic trips to places like Chicago, NYC and Boston to more adventurous destinations like London, Costa Rica, Israel, Hawaii, British Columbia, Paris, Amsterdam, Morocco and, most recently, Singapore. Her savings per trip have ranged from $250 – $26,000!  She shares her knowledge with her clients through consultations and subsequent periodic check-ins and reminders to stay on task.  She manages her clients as she does herself, never letting them miss an opportunity to score some extra bonuses and ensuring that they use “the right card” for all of their spending. 

Related Links

http://www.milesahead.co/

https://www.thepointsmom.com/

 

 

Briarcliff “Points Kid” Jumps Miles Ahead

by

Vacation planning isn’t easy. Deciphering the complicated world of frequent flyer miles and credit card points, partner airlines and excursion fares with built-in stopovers seemingly requires an advanced degree. During his Briarcliff High School days, however, it was Rob Karp’s hobby. That hobby became a passion, and that passion turned into a thriving business before he was out of his teens.

On the Runway

Beyond balancing school, standardized tests, varsity soccer and the debate team, Karp (BHS ’15) had another commitment – leveraging airline and credit card points for free travel.  He had always loved flying, even as a young child.

“My true passion has always been planes and aviation; when other kids were playing on their Xboxes I was sitting on a computer being a virtual pilot on Microsoft Flight Simulator,” Karp recalled.

Fascinated with all facets of airline business, and aware of “these things called miles” which could be earned and used to pay for flights, he spent middle school Friday afternoons calling airlines’ customer service numbers with questions and poring over online blogs. Karp helped his father research business travel, and with his father’s accumulated miles got his entire family to Israel business class with a multi-day stopover in another country.

When area airports closed following Hurricane Sandy in late 2012, Karp succeeded in booking his family to Minneapolis for a bar mitzvah by routing them from Westchester County Airport, which opened first, through Atlanta. A relative was impressed and suggested he turn it into a business; three weeks later, a day shy of his 15th birthday, Karp Enterprises LLC was born.

Taking Off

Demand grew quickly as word of his miles and points wizardry spread.  Known locally as “the points kid,” Karp’s early success and decision to charge for services was largely due to word of mouth in the Briarcliff Moms and Chappaqua Moms Facebook groups. He spent up to 30 hours every week analyzing customers’ points and miles, intended destinations and dates, researching creative ways to book flights for no or drastically reduced cost. Eventually he used money earned as a soccer referee to hire someone to build a website.

Karp also familiarized himself with credit card “points” programs, offering paid consultations to help clients maximize point-earning potential based on spending habits. And he continued to immerse himself in the aviation business; for his BHS science research project, Karp worked with Delta’s Domestic Revenue Group, analyzing “hub” ramifications of airline mergers and interning for two summers at Delta’s Atlanta headquarters.

Word of the young entrepreneur’s expertise spread. He was featured by Bloomberg TV and Fortune.com, and as a BHS junior was named a “Westchester Wunderkind of 2014,” celebrating the area’s brightest young professionals under 30. By the time Karp graduated from BHS in June, 2015, Karp had worked with 100 customers, all on his own.

Spreading His Wings: Expansion during the College Years

Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration (“SHA”) was a perfect fit for Karp. After his BHS graduation, he rebranded his company “MilesAhead,” but shut down 90% of his business the first semester.

“I wanted to start college with no strings attached,” he said. “It was one of the best decisions I’ve made, because stepping away made me realize how much I missed the business.”

Late that first semester, he hired three students part-time who shared his passion for aviation to help him research and book flights. Shifting his focus to luxury travel, in January 2016 Karp partnered with large national agency Valerie Wilson Travel, a member of the Virtuoso network, which provided MilesAhead with access to special airline values and hotel perks. Karp forged his own relationships with travel vendors, his team now having visited roughly 300 properties.

“I saw an opportunity,” Karp said. “Customers whose flights I was booking were booking hotels elsewhere, but said that they would be happy to give me the business if I were to provide it.” Building industry connections allowed him to expand MilesAhead’s offerings to hotels by the start of sophomore year.

Through 2017, his team was mostly Cornell students working part-time; Karp eventually became busy enough to hire a full-time assistant and independent off-campus “contractors,” also aviation enthusiasts, he met via connections. MilesAhead developed a presence on campus, and this past year was the first student owned and operated company to exhibit at the Hotel School Career Fair.

Flying High: Growth and Customer Service

Even during his BHS days, Karp recognized the need to keep clients happy, for example driving out to JFK himself to resolve a ticketing glitch. “That was an early example of my company’s commitment to customer service.”

He wants to make things as easy as possible for clients, and finds that MilesAhead’s use of the AXUS itinerary management app is a “key part of the customer experience.” Clients can download AXUS to their phones and view multiple trips–all flight, hotel and excursion information–and get updates on changes.

Karp has grown his company considerably–this spring about a dozen part-timers–to cover customers’ travel needs before, during and after their trips. MilesAhead is now comprised of Advisors who build trips, the Concierge Team, which finds and books anything from private guides to dinner reservations, and the VIP Team, which deals with logistics such as check-in and boarding passes.

The Sky’s The Limit

As a college student, Karp managed to devote 50-70 hours a week to MilesAhead, but upon his graduation this month is poised to “hit the ground running.” He has secured Manhattan office space and will have six full-time employees, all with the company for over two years, as well as additional part-timers. MilesAhead’s growth has not gone unnoticed; Karp and his company have been featured in or on CBSTV, the Cornell SHA magazine, the New York Times, and Forbes.com.

“I’m a full-time business owner and CEO.  But it’s been one of the best learning experiences–being a student, a ‘college kid,’ and business owner all at the same time. I’ve learned to prioritize and what’s important to me,” he said, noting his evolving role. “Now my focus is building, developing and training my team and growth. We’re always looking for awesome new young talent, and have exciting and grandiose plans to keep expanding. We’re still savvy and thrifty,” Karp added, “but with building our luxury services, we have maintained our commitment to keeping that personal touch.” 

My Travels Started In The Chappaqua Library

by

PHOTO COURTESY OF BEN G. FRANK

“I travel the world.”

It’s now the summer of 2018, and I hold the copy of my fourth edition of A Travel Guide to Jewish Europe (Pelican Publishing), 752 pages, with photos, maps, a bibliography and index and say to myself:

“And to think it all began in the Chappaqua Library.”

I picture driving down Quaker Road on Saturday mornings to the library. That’s the day many fellow residents did their chores, such as ferry their kids to soccer, basketball, and other sport games; while others play tennis, golf, enjoy the pool clubs or sleigh riding in Gedney Park, depending on the season.

I spent my Saturdays in the library: First, doing research to prepare myself for forthcoming trips to exotic lands such as Tahiti, India, Morocco, Cuba, Monaco, and Peru. And then, once I landed in Europe, for instance, I people-watched on the Champs-Elysees and the Via Veneto; I stared at stately statues in London; I danced at a bar mitzvah party in Marseille; I prayed in the oldest functioning synagogue in the world, the Atlneuschul in Prague; and I spent hours at the Shoah Memorial and Holocaust Center in Paris.

In Tudela, Spain, I wrote in the new edition of my travel guide: “There are no Jews in Tudela. But I went anyway. You see, Tudela is the birthplace of my namesake, Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela. In the 12th century, he became the first Jewish travel writer, pioneering an entire branch of writing.

Like that travel writer: I chronicle the Jewish world of Europe; I record the Jewish population and describe the people; relate their history; comment on their rulers and define the Jewish Community.”

I also made sure that my travel book would be a practical, anecdotal, and adventurous journey through Jewish Europe, including in the text: kosher restaurants, cafes, synagogues, and museums, plus cultural and heritage sites.

Years after the first edition of A Travel Guide to Jewish Europe came out in 1992, a Florida woman reminded me of a phrase I used in my first travel guide. Like most authors, I felt good when a reader of one’s work, recalls a specific quote. The saying in question dates back to early 1930s-Poland, a decade later the site of the Nazi death camps. Then, Alfred Doblin, writer and novelist, wrote: “I realized I didn’t know any Jews, So, I asked myself and I asked others: ‘Where do Jews exist?’ I was told: ‘Poland.’ And so I went to Poland.”

This writer also went to Poland. Only my comment after the Holocaust was: ‘Someplace along the Polish road, you will shed a tear.’ It’s true, said the woman who remembered my quote.

After sojourning to those far off lands–24 countries in Europe alone, I would return to Chappaqua and, yes, spend Saturdays in the library, checking observations against fact. And so it went for the better part of the wonderful 37 years that my wife, Riva, resided in the hamlet including the years our two sons, Marty and Monte, were at home, until they left the nest.

What, therefore, is the essence of  A Travel Guide to Jewish Europe? My publisher put it succinctly: “This newly updated handbook from travel historian, Ben G. Frank, guides travelers through Jewish customs, neighborhoods, and historical sites in Europe. From kosher dining in France to memorials in Scandinavia, Frank combines practical information, intriguing stories, and an enlightening investigation into the Jewish contributions to European history.”

Not only did I include travel information for the tourist, I always wanted to update the political and social conditions, as well as historical information on Jewish life in Europe. Country by country, I discussed the rise of anti-Semitism, hate speech and hate crimes, especially in East Europe, as well as the rising nationalism in nations such as, Hungary, Poland and Austria.

I uncovered an interesting phenomenon:  European Jews are not only immigrating to Israel but many are relocating within Europe. In fact, Jews are moving from France to the UK, from the UK to Germany, and from Turkey to Spain and Portugal.

Thinking about my new work, I believe this new edition of A Travel Guide to Jewish Europe will help the reader understand the past history of Jews in Europe, as well as the present and the future.

So, let’s travel. As the Chinese say: “the journey of a 1,000 miles begins with the first step.”

Mount Kisco Resident Ellen Portman’s Genealogy Trip to Eastern Europe

by

Interior of Nozyk Synagogue in Warsaw, Poland. The synagogue survived only because the German troops used it as their stables PHOTO BY ELLEN PORTMAN

Ancestry tourism or roots tourism is an increasing trend in the travel industry thanks to genealogy websites such as ancestry.com and 23andme.com. The rise of popular TV shows such as TLC’s Who Do You Think You Are, PBS’ Finding Your Roots and CNN’s Roots has also sparked interest in genealogy, self-discovery and tourism.

Mount Kisco resident Ellen Portman who grew up in Armonk took a genealogy trip this summer with her parents, two sisters and brother-inlaw to Eastern Europe to the “Pale of Settlement”, a geographic area where Jews had flourished for many years prior to the Holocaust. They were accompanied by a genealogical tour guide based out of Poland, Adam Zalewski.

Portman visited cities such as Riga, Warsaw and Krakow which she noted were beautiful and had gorgeous town squares where European Jewry once thrived but today only a few hundred or thousand remain. “No one returned after the war.”

Although Portman’s immediate ancestors had emigrated to the US in the early 1920s, she had always thought that her family hailed from Russia but national boundaries evolved in the Pale of Settlement area and her ancestors actually came from the nations of present day Latvia, Poland and Belarus.

A major highlight of the trip was finding the home they believe where Portman’s maternal great grandmother lived in the town of Daugavpils in Lithuania. They also traveled to Ostrow Mazowiecka in Poland where Portman’s father’s ancestors lived. The town was once two-thirds Jewish and during the Holocaust was the site of a mass shooting on November 11, 1939 when 500 Jews were shot and buried in a mass grave.

Portman was also struck by the fact that there were many memorials to the Holocaust that were prominent in the cities that she visited but there would also be hidden memorials that would also pay tribute to victims of the war. “Some were down a woodsy path with overgrown grass that you would only know about if you were looking for them.”

Her trip included a visit to Auschwitz. “There were hundreds of people getting off buses to tour it. But actually being there as opposed to reading about it is something else.” She was glad to see that many of the visitors there were not Jewish and still eager to learn about the Holocaust. Ultimately the trip inspired her to learn more about her family’s past and when she returned home, she enjoyed telling her three sons about her family’s ancestral background and showing them photos along with historical documents.

Ellen Portman, second from right

Byram Hills Teacher Travels to Japan on Study Tour and Incorporates Highlights into Curriculum

by

PHOTO COURTESY OF MARTIN GILBERT

Byram Hills High School teacher Martin Gilbert, who teaches both global history and economics recently traveled to Japan on a two week immersion experience for history teachers sponsored by the Foreign Policy Research Institute and the Center for East Asian Studies. The study tour took the twenty participating American teachers, chosen through a selective application process, to various sites in Tokyo and the northern island of Hokkaido handpicked for their cultural, political and economic significance.

“Every day was a highlight,” says Mr. Gilbert. He particularly enjoyed interacting with the diverse mix of young teachers on his trip. As the oldest teacher on the tour, he filled the role of a mentor to them. Some of his favorite experiences included attending a very lively baseball game, traveling around Hokkaido and soaking in its natural beauty, visiting a school and working in small groups with students learning English, visiting the site of the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, and riding the high speed bullet train, the Shinkansen. He really enjoyed visiting the “onsens,” Japanese hot springs, and partaking in the public bath ritual.  Mr. Gilbert was pleasantly surprised to discover that the hotel owned a “yukata,” traditional bathrobe for the onsen, that fit his tall 6-foot-7-inch frame.

Other highlights of the trip included visiting and spending time with staff at the United States Embassy and meeting a Japanese diplomat at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who was an expert on Chinese-Japanese relations. The diplomat discussed the tension over islands in the South China Sea.

“For me, as someone who is very interested in current affairs, it was fascinating to hear about trade relations between China and Japan, the second and third largest economies in the world.” Mr. Gilbert said. “I like to discuss current events in my classes. This year I will certainly talk more about Japan and the United States and the current trade war.”

Visiting the Shrines

Mr. Gilbert has always longed to visit Japan since the country holds special meaning for him. He has told many Byram Hills students this story when talking about shrines in eastern religions in his global history class.  When he and his wife were newlyweds, she traveled to Japan on a fellowship. While there, she prayed for a baby at a shrine.  After returning from her trip, she was soon pregnant with the couple’s first son. Ever since then, Mr. Gilbert wanted to travel there.

In his class, Mr. Gilbert teaches about Shintoism and Buddhism. After visiting many shrines in Japan, he can now relay his first hand experiences to his students. Like his wife, Mr. Gilbert had his own opportunity to pray for a wish at a Shinto shrine. The process involved buying a small thin wooden plaque for the equivalent of ten dollars, writing your wish on the plaque, and hanging it on the rack of wishes in the hope that the deity housed at that shrine will make your wish a reality. He took pictures of the plaques that he plans to share with his students to allow them to visualize this ritual that they may have only read about in a textbook. His personal experience gave him perspective to share with students who might be familiar with the custom of placing prayer notes in the Wailing Wall in Israel.

Incorporating the Trip into Classroom Lessons

Between his first hand account of customs observed and the videos he recorded of his experiences that he will incorporate into his curriculum, he will be able to offer a glimpse into Japanese culture to his students.  Visiting in person allowed Mr. Gilbert to gain deeper insight into customs he may never have read about in a textbook. He learned that people are prohibited from walking through the center of a “torii” gate into a shrine because the center is reserved for the gods. He learned that people entering a shrine must follow a purification ritual with very specific steps with regard to washing your hands and face.

Even after teaching at Byram Hills for twenty-seven years, Mr. Gilbert is continually seeking educational and cultural enrichment for himself and his students. This was his fourth trip to Asia. On previous study tours, Mr. Gilbert has traveled to Korea twice and China once. He has also been to Israel on a Fulbright Scholarship and to Nicaragua through the Byram Hills Education Foundation.

“I really want to give back to the kids by sharing my experiences. I hang pictures of my trips up in the classroom and I let my students know that there is a world outside Armonk. I hope that some of my students get the travel bug,” says Mr. Gilbert. Opening himself up to new learning experiences as a teacher, he is a great example to his students of how one can always continue to learn in life.