I was recently asked how someone could get (2) first class tickets from Washington, DC to San Francisco without paying first class prices. So I sat down to think for a few minutes. First, I compared airfare costs. Tickets purchased now for travel in October and November from DC to San Francisco run ~ $276 in coach (although some specific itineraries can be had for as little as $203). First class runs from $1450 (for one-stop service from Baltimore to San Jose) to $3000 (for non-stop Dulles to San Francisco) per person. How to Get into First Class Upgrades can be confirmed on most airlines and on most fares using frequent flyer miles. You can search for flights that have space available in free upgrades to First Class when you’re booking, and choose those flights.…
Monthly Archives
Monthly Archives for April 2003.
Junk Food Ban
Health officials in New Zealand want to outlaw selling burgers to children.
The Problem with Anti-Spam Legislation and a New Way to Stop Spam
Sonia Arrison thinks charging spammers to send you email might just be the answer.
United Really Doesn’t Care
I fly United. They have been very good to me. But it became very clear last night that United Mileage Plus really doesn’t get it. At the post-Freddie Awards reception, I stood next to a very frequent traveler from Texas (> 220,000 miles flown last year and a top-level elite with both United and American) talking to Robert Sahadevan of Mileage Plus. She told him that the changes to United’s top-level elite program were chasing her away. No longer are United’s “Systemwide Upgrades” (certificates given to 100,000 mile flyers that can confirm international upgrades at the time of booking) good on any fare. That means that if she chooses to give United her high revenue business fares, she is not able to upgrade her lower priced personal trips — and so she’d rather give all…
The Freddie Awards Were Great
Obviously, I enjoyed being in the company of loyalty program executives and fellow frequent flyer enthusiasts. I managed to visit the House of Miles where this server is located. The results are available online along with a blow by blow of the evening. My travel to the event was great, as I managed to score an upgrade on a United award ticket and I also managed to get my rental car from Avis for half their lowest web rate and for 25% less than my reservation with Thrifty. I even won one of the door prizes — a (4) night stay at one of two Wyndham resorts (Telluride or Puerto Rico). Definitely worth the price of admission! Thanks, Randy.
20,000 Mile Signup Bonus for Mileage Plus Visa
This may be the most generous credit card offer yet. No, it isn’t the 25,000 mile bonus that Northwest offered last summer — but you had to wait 15 months for all the miles to show up. And it isn’t the 25,000 mile bonus that Delta has been offering at times — but you had to spend tens of thousands of dollars before all the miles showed up. This offer is simple. Use the $60 annual fee card once and pocket 20,000 United miles. Very bold… especially since the consensus seems to be that United is turning a corner financially with labor concessions in place and the impact of the war on Iraq being somewhat less than expected.
Thai May Not Honor the $0+tax Fare
Best understanding at this time is that Thai Airways is refusing to honor the $0+tax fare for first class travel from London to Bangkok. Ironically, this is just as the Bangkok Post is reporting that Thai Airways is planning to offer complimentary tickets and heavily discounted tour packages to 20,000 travel agents worldwide in a bid to woo back passengers. It seems, though, that Thai caught onto the computer glitch pretty quickly, but the programmers had all gone home in Bangkok before correcting the error. The London ticket office seems to be refusing to ticket the fare. In most past cases, tickets like this have been honored. United tried to back out on its $29 Paris fares a couple of years ago, but relented after some bad press. (Giving away tickets gets good press worth…
Fare Glitch… Go!
London to Bangkok in First Class for 55 Pounds Go to the Thai Airways booking site Choose departure airport London-Heathrow Choose arriveal airport Bangkok The system will pull up one available flight per day. Regardless of class of service, it is returning a fare of 55 pounds. I just tested it with May 1 outbound and May 8 return and it is still working, but I expect this to last minutes to hours at most. It is a mistake. Looks like they’ve mis-loaded the 2-for-1 fare, not requiring the first ticket purchase before allowing the second ticket purchase. Several folks have already bought this and now hold confirmed reservations… Thanks, Matthew Clement!!!
Bush Endorses Another Term for Greenspan
In this space on February 28, I predicted that Bush would renominate Alan Greenspan to stay on as head of the Federal Reserve. Yesterday, President Bush announced that this is his intention. With apologies to Mickey Kaus… Advantage: View from the Wing
Double US Airways Miles on United International Flights
Register to earn double USAirways miles on United flights to Europe and South America and United flights to Asia and the South Pacific.
