I’m betting this deal will not be honored — just my gut — but the Conrad in Bangkok is showing up at $16/night for a suite and $51/night for the Presidential Suite. Discussion over at Flyertalk. You can book a prepaid reservation at Priceline (using their conventional booking tool, not their “Name Your Own Price” bidding system). This can also be found on Travelocity and American Express Travel without prepaying. Prepaid bookings might have a better chance of being honored, but as with all these things there are no guarantees. I’m betting name changes and date changes certainly will not be allowed if the deal is honored at all. So choose a booking, get in on the offer if you wish, and then wait and see. Certainly don’t book other prepaid travel around this stay…
Monthly Archives
Monthly Archives for August 2006.
It Takes a World Famous Sex Offender to Drive Interest In… Business Class?
There’s all kinds of misinformation and speculation being reported as fact as to why John Mark Karr flew business class back to the United States. On an early news show this morning I heard it was for security, that somehow there was less chance of Karr escaping custody (from 35,000 feet?) from the business class cabin. Another theory espoused in the news piece I’m linking to here is that by treating him well he might spill the beans a bit more.Regardless, the description of Thai Airways business class is somewhat amusing (in a twisted sort of way, given the underlying subject matter): Before takeoff, Karr took a glass of champagne from a flight attendant and clinked glasses with Spray, who sipped orange juice. Dinner on board, served on a starched white tablecloth with silverware, was…
United Bonus for DC-Tokyo
Aug
20
2006
United is offering 5000 to 15000 bonus miles for flying its new non-stop between Washington-Dulles and Tokyo between October 28, 2006 and March 31, 2007. 15,000 miles is for paid First Class and Paid Business Class (except for Z fares). 7,500 miles is for Z fare business class and expensive coach fares (Y, B, M, H, Q fares). 5,000 miles for less expensive coach fares (V,W,S,T,K fares). The bonus can be earned up to 3 times, and flights between December 20, 2006 and January 10, 2007 do not earn the bonus. Registration is required.
Toyota Owners Get 500 United Miles for Signing up for E-Newsletter
Aug
18
2006
You do need to be a Toyota owner, though, since they ask for your vehicle identification number. Sign up here. You’re asked to enter a promo code, just click the ‘need help’ link beneath the promo code box and you’ll be given a code to enter. Miles apparently post within a couple weeks, at least according to reports on Flyertalk.
5000 American, Alaska, or USAirways Miles for $50
Points.com is offering 5000 American, USAirways, or Alaska miles for upgrading to a ‘Gold’ membership for $49.95. The membership isn’t worth much, but buying miles at one cent apiece is generally a good deal. There’s no clear expiration date on the offer, so verify that your mileage choice is available before offering up payment.
First Class – Harrisburg, PA to St. Croix – $156+tax
Aug
16
2006
This has already gone out over Fare Alert so not sure how long this will last. As discussed on Flyertalk, there’s a $156+tax first class fare from Harrisburg, PA (just a few hours drive from DC) to St. Croix on USAirways. Go to Travelocity (or the USAirways site), enter MDT and STX as your origin and destination, and select discounted first class for your fare type. (Or don’t specify fare type, it will still pull up this fare as it’s the cheapest fare in the market even for coach.) Service is only on Saturdays — and only from Aug 12 to Sep 2 and starting again November 4 — so you either fly in and out same day (just under an hour in the airport!) or stay for a full week. It’s an A fare…
2500 Starwood Points for Adding a Second Card to Your Amex Account
Passed along to me this morning, thanks to Don: American Express is promoting adding an authorzed user to your Starwood Amex account by offering 2500 Starwood points with the first additional card requested. The offer comes via email — the web page for adding an authorized user to your account does not mention the bonus. No offer code is listed. The terms and conditions (which don’t mention this as targeted or restricted in any way to recipients of the email) are as follows: Terms and Conditions (when applicable) 1. The Additional Cardmember must be 18 or older and never have had a defaulted account with American Express. Any account you have with American Express must not be in default. 2. 2,500 bonus Starpoints will be awarded to your Starpoints Account in 8-12 weeks for an…
Security Screening Make Believe
Taking off your shoes at the security checkpoint is now mandatory — as though it wasn’t before. Okay, it varied by airport, with some incredulous TSA staffers asking passengers “WHAT are you doing taking off your shoes? You don’t have to do that!” (in the same tone one might ask, “have you soiled your underwear AGAIN?”) But generally shoe removal was ‘recommended’ but optional — though if you chose not to, you received secondary screening that included taking off your shoes. Now you have to take them off in the first instance. And no more soiled comments from screeners. The joke of it is that the x-ray machines you’re putting your shoes through can’t actually detect explosives. So what’s the nonsense reason for taking off shoes? Consistency! Oh, and in case you’re concealing a James…
Round-the-World tickets
The New York Times mentions one of the neat tricks about international travel. If you’re going to buy a business class ticket somewhere, it’s often no more expensive to buy a business class round-the-world ticket and get a lot of extra flying for free. Where you buy the ticket and start the journey makes a ton of difference in the cost, as the Upgrade Travel Blog observes:Start in Sri Lanka. If you’re going around the world twice or more, consider buying the second (and third, etc.) ticket someplace like Colombo, Sri Lanka. I’m not kidding. You can buy a business class RTW ticket there for about the same price as a coach RTW ticket in the US or most of Europe, on the same airlines. The article mentions this, but it’s really worth driving home.…
W Hotels Store Blowout Sale
I’m a little late to the game here, most items are already sold out, but the W Hotels Store is having a blowout sale with items up to 80% off. At least it appears that they’re adding items to the sale, so keep checking back as well. I just picked up a couple shirts.
