Yearly Archives

The CEO of Kayak.com calls Expedia’s best price guarantee for airfare “laughable.” Of course he’d say that, he’s a competitor, but the fine print is a doozy — it doesn’t count Expedia’s booking fee (so an airline’s site offering the same fare will be cheaper) and it doesn’t count airlines that Expedia doesn’t sell (so it doesn’t matter that Southwest and JetBlue offer it for less). And since Expedia only selectively honored the $3 room nights at the Tokyo and Osaka Hilton properties, we know that some rates are too good on Expedia…

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Suzanne Marta of the Dallas Morning News takes a clearly tongue-in-cheek look at American Airlines service cuts. While there are bigger cutbacks that have been made, she focuses on the ice cream sundaes which American stopped offering made-to-order in international business class.The piece cites some cutbacks but then offers up American’s spin:Last year, American changed the hot towels it gives elite passengers from cloth to paper. Earlier this month, business-class lunch service changed from a four-course feast to lighter fare. A spokeswoman said it’s the carrier’s first menu overhaul in seven years for domestic transcontinental flights. The changes are meant to better reflect how people eat during the midday meal. After complaints the made-to-order sundae will come back on dinner flights but remain pre-made for lunch. Marta concludes: The changes don’t apply to travelers in…

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Leigh Witchel has a new ongoing series on finding the best mileage awards. So far he’s written about credit cards and also mileage programs with awards based on distance. The latter key takeaway is one of my favorites, the neat benefit of Cathay Pacific Asia Miles — awards in business class under 5000 miles are only 60,000 points. So flights on British Airways from the East Coast of the US to most destinations in Europe qualify. Similar flights would cost 100,000 British Airways miles. Separately, the new Gratis Air Blog is posting daily airfare deals, some of which are pretty good.

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A Flyertalker reports that Depending on the number of Aeroplan Status Miles collected over the year, a member can reach Air Canada Prestige, Elite or Super Elite status. To make Super Elite status a customer has to fly 100,000 miles a year. There are 9,000 Super Elite 68,000 Elite and 57,000 Prestige customers. These numbers are usually proprietary and so are interesting to learn. There’s some discussion there of how they compare to past figures, given changes in the travel industry and changes in qualifying requirements. I’ll save analysis of this for another day, but thought I’d pass along the figures.

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From Meg Mueller’s hotel blog, QuickBook has extended its best rate guarantee to allow you to find a better price within 72 hours of booking rather than the industry standard 24 hours. Internet booking site Quikbook just upped the ante in the stakes of “why book here” on the Web. The company has extended its “best-rate guarantee” to 72 hours after booking. Most hotel sites and online booking agents (Orbitz, Hotels.com, etc..) offer a refund or matching price if you find a lower rate on the same room at the same hotel, but that offer generally expires after just 24 hours. Quikbook also has one of the better cancellation policies on the Web, charging nothing if it’s a “pay when you get there” hotel. For pre-paid reservations, cancellation fees run just $10 for changes made…

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Joe Sharkey’s column today is on mid-market hotels and the absurd prices they go for in Manhattan. This subject is simply a gold mine that keeps on giving to journalists. Most of the country is shocked at what a hotel night goes for in New York, after all. But what to do? People from out of town sometimes ask me in tones of desperation where they can find a hotel for less than $150 a night. “You could try the Jersey side of the Holland Tunnel,” I joke. Please don’t actually follow this advice, because the cheap motels on that bank of the river are not particularly known for restful activities such as sleep. I dropped Joe a note about the Jersey City Hyatt which frequently goes for $179 at Hyatt.com and can be had…

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