California Bucket List is a huge hit with this reader — and it’s not over yet

California Bucket List — one of the best things the Los Angeles Times has ever done. I looked forward every day to see what new adventure was awaiting me. Wish it would continue in 2018. I will miss it.

Thanks for bringing something so positive to my life when so much news is difficult to deal with. California has so much to offer. Thanks again.

Judy Tautrim

Tujunga

Editor’s note: California Bucket List (lat.ms/CABucketList), a compendium of quintessential experiences in the Golden State, began online on Jan. 1, 2017, and continued daily until Dec. 31. You can see a list of favorites from staff writer Christopher Reynolds, who wrote most of the items, at lat.ms/BestofCABucketList. Reynolds promises to periodically augment the 365 items, including one Monday on Nacimiento-Fergusson Road, which he calls the “back door to Big Sur.”

When in Hamburg …

Re: Christopher Reynolds’ “18 Places for 2018” (Jan. 7), which included Hamburg, Germany: A public transportation day pass includes free access on the small ferries that serve stops along the Elbe River. It’s in effect a free, if un-narrated (a plus?), harbor tour.

Very scenic; both commercial port and upscale residential waterfront areas slide by.

Kort Orbach

Huntington Beach

Don’t toss that paper ticket

I agree with just about all that Catharine Hamm wrote in “Secret Information Trove?” (On the Spot, Dec. 17), except for one item: “When you are done with your paper ticket, shred it,” she wrote. I disagree from experience.

I now hold onto all paper tickets for one year until I get a qualifying notice from United that my account is in good standing for the gold level for the next year.

One time, the miles from a Lufthansa flight from Germany to the U.S. were never transferred to the United site, and the airline said I had to pay $1,200 to stay at gold level for the next year.

I explained that United had failed to capture the miles from this one flight, and the carrier told me to prove it. Luckily I had the paper ticket and sent a copy. My account was finally credited, so there was no need to pay the $1,200.

Imagine if I had not caught this error and had had no paper proof. Hold on to your receipts for one year, until you are sure the airline has accumulated all of your miles.

Amy Cavan

Los Angeles

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