Amazing Rocket City Adventure Introduction

This post is Amazing Rocket City Adventure Introduction where I provide background on my trip to Huntsville, Alabama to attend a travel conference.

Background

I visited Huntsville, Alabama which was the host of the 2017 TBEX North America Conference. The conference brings together bloggers for networking and education over the course of a week including pre- and post conference meetings and events.

The conference is held throughout the world in various regions. I previously attended the conference in Minneapolis in 2016.

The conference combines a bit of fun with great networking and educational opportunities and I was excited to go.

Travel Plans

Huntsville, Alabama is a regional airport that receives service from all the major airlines. Huntsville is a large government city so there is a lot of travel between Washington DC and Huntsville as well as NASA travelers from Texas and Florida.

All of the airlines use regional jet aircraft to serve the airport.

It’s a bit odd flying on a barbie jet to the rocket city… but nonetheless that is how air travel works these days.

I booked my airfare on American Airlines but credited the trip to Alaska Airlines as I am focusing on Alaska for 2017 now that American Airlines uses the revenue model and has slashed miles earning on travel.

I booked the airfare for around $375 using cash as the flights were not available at the low mileage level on American.

The conference hotel was the Embassy Suites Huntsville which was attached to the Von Braun conference center.  

The hotel was on the higher price point for Embassy Suite Hotels as the average rates were in the $200-$300 range.

I used Hilton points and stayed at the hotel for five nights. Hilton has a program where the fifth night is free via a discount on the daily point rate. The standard rate is around 30,000 points per night for the hotel; however, due to the fact that Hilton removed its award chart, the point redemption’s now fluctuate based on demand. I utilized around 24,000 points per-night thanks to the fifth night free promotion.

While I generally do not recommend using points for lower end hotel redemption’s, I did so anyway due to the five night stays, which saved me over $1,000 in cash.

Book your next trip: Agoda, Booking.com, Expedia, Hilton, Priceline, or TripAdvisor. Note: Elite benefits may be limited when not booking direct.

What to do in Rocket City

There are so many great things to do in Huntsville, Alabama, from going to Space Camp, getting some great craft beer, or checking out the rockets that took us to the moon and back, there is something for everyone.

Trip Advisor has a great resource for what to do in the city. Here it out: Huntsville Activities.

There is an awesome food and beer scene in Huntsville as well.

Trip Report

This trip report will be over multiple posts including the following:

Amazing Rocket City Adventure Introduction

Amazing Rocket City Adventure – American Airlines Minneapolis Dallas

Amazing Rocket City Adventure – American Express Centurion Lounge DFW

Amazing Rocket City Adventure – American Airlines Dallas Huntsville

Amazing Rocket City Adventure – Embassy Suites Huntsville

Amazing Rocket City Adventure – Huntsville Botanical Gardens

Amazing Rocket City Adventure – Craft Beer Experience

Amazing Rocket City Adventure – Is Huntsville Haunted?

Amazing Rocket City Adventure – NASA Marshall Space Flight Center

Amazing Rocket City Adventure – Party in a Lumberyard

Amazing Rocket City Adventure – Party Under a Rocket

Amazing Rocket City Adventure – Party Old School Huntsville

Amazing Rocket City Adventure – American Airlines Huntsville Charlotte

Amazing Rocket City Adventure – American Admiral’s Club Charlotte

Amazing Rocket City Adventure – American Airlines Charlotte Minneapolis