Monthly Archives

Monthly Archives for September 2002.

10,000 free Delta miles for

10,000 free Delta miles for new frequent flyer members. Delta airlines is offering 10,000 miles for opening a new Delta Skymiles (frequent flyer) account. Delta will send a membership packet in 6-8 weeks after there’s some activity in the account, and that packet will show 10,000 bonus signup miles. “Some activity” means earning points in the account IN ANY WAY (as opposed to just by flying Delta). All you have to do is deposit points in one way or another to activate the account. This can be accomplished as easily as filling out a form for an automobile quote at Skymiles Autobuying for 500 miles or earning 250 Delta miles for requesting an auto insurance quote from AIG (Call 800-310-4258 Extension 2479). Sign yourself up if you aren’t already a member! 10,000 miles is 40%…

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Would you pay

Would you pay for food in economy class? USAirways may be considering whether to price tickets with and without food service differently. The article cites the example of Canadian low-fare carrier Tango. I remember People Express. If customers are paying marginal dollars, the food will likely be better or it will go unsold. I like the idea! Meanwhile, the New York Times food section says that airline food is getting better.

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According to a piece in

According to a piece in yesterday’s Washington Post James Wilding, head of the Washington Airports Authority, grapples with a powerful but frustrating new tenant at his airports: the Transportation Security Administration. He said he lost patience as months passed and the TSA couldn’t answer any of his questions about how airlines at Dulles and National would be able to screen all luggage by the Dec. 31 deadline set by Congress. “They’d just say, ‘We don’t have anything to say to you yet,’ ” Wilding said. “They said, ‘We’re going to rely on these contractors to do it,’ and we said, ‘When are they going to show up? Have you all looked at a calendar lately?’ ” By June, 10 months after the attacks, Wilding still hadn’t had a “substantive conversation” with anyone from the TSA…

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Reporters smuggle knives

Reporters smuggle knives onto 14 airline flights during Labor Day weekend. So the one thing the current security model seeks to do — detect weapons — is failing badly. When will Mineta stand up? (Link via Instapundit.)

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New Possibility for American Express

New Possibility for American Express Membership Rewards Points. The analysis in my post about laundering points through Amtrak means that you can finally transfer American Express Membership Rewards points 1:1 into united miles. Amex MR points transfer 1:1 into Continental. Continental transfers 1:1 into Amtrak (in blocks of 5,000). Amtrak transfers 1:1 into united. Voila! Amex MR–>united… a previously impossible task.

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Mineta Spin-Cycle. Get the Media

Mineta Spin-Cycle. Get the Media to Blame Magaw. The Washington Post carries a front page piece on the problems at the Transportation Security Administration. The piece reports that the TSA avoided involvement in the July 4 shooting at LAX, hasn’t improved the security of cargo shipping, and uses outdated methods for selecting passengers to screen. The piece lets Norm Mineta, the Transportation Secretary, off the hook. It quotes him offering a mea culpa: “We got to the point where we didn’t have credibility. . . . We were not moving the ball down the field.” Then says that Mineta has been trying to solve the problem — after all, John Magaw (Mineta’s deputy in charge of the TSA) was pushed out. That’s scapegoating of the first degree. The thesis about what went wrong focuses on…

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