Starwood is offering up to 50% off of bookings made by July 20 for stays between July 16 and October 20. Now, this is up to 50% off of rack rate, which means it will sometimes be a small savings off the rates you’ll otherwise find from Starwood’s website. But it’s worth checking rates under this promo. The rates are available in North America, South America and Asia Pacific. Some hotels place a 4 night maximum stay under the rate, and seven nights generally at resorts. They’re advance purchase, non-cancellable rates. Another interesting offer is Starwood’s $100 spa credit per night offer for hotels in the Southeast, Florida, and Carribean. Bookings must be made by July 31 for stays through September 30. Rates will likely be a bit higher than booking without this package, but…
Monthly Archives
Monthly Archives for July 2009.
US Airways Club Cutbacks
They’re closing Las Vegas and reducing staff in Phoenix. At some point the unique U.S. model where airline lounges are paid memberships rather than a perk of status, becomes no longer sustainable. Crowded rooms with insufficient furniture, virtually no snacks, pay cocktails, and without special services agents don’t make for an attractive sales proposition. I realize that they’ve reduced their Vegas flying, and they claim they’re not seeing the usual staff attrition hence the need for Phoenix club layoffs. But this is just another step n the US Airways model of catering less and less to the premium customer. One less club in the US system, though no expected corresponding reduction in club membership fees…
Northwest Worldperks Added as American Express Transfer Partner
With the Delta/Northwest merger, Northwest Worldperks has become an American Express Membership Rewards transfer partner. Of course, you could already transfer to Delta and then from Delta to Northwest. And this will only last until the Worldperks program is officially folded into Delta Skymiles. But it makes the process a little easier if you need to top off a Northwest account, as you get to skip one step.
Priority Club PointBreaks and 50% Off Redemptions in Mexico
Lucky points out that the new Priority Club PointBreaks list is up, noting in particular the Intercontinental properties in Vienna and Warsaw and the Intercontinental COEX Seoul. That is, these are properties being offered for redemption at only 5000 points per night. I’d add that the Intercontinentals in Wellington and Fiji to the list of notable Intercontinentals. And until I clicked on Mexico, where I found no Point Breaks on offer, I hadn’t been aware that Priority Club was offering ALL Mexico redemptions at 50% off through December 1.
These World’s Best Hotel Lists Drive Me Nuts…
I don’t know why I read these things, they always make me want to throw my laptop, but the 2009 Travel & Leisure World’s Best lists are up. The Hay Adams is not the best hotel in DC. The Marriott in Budapest is not better than the Four Seasons George V in Paris (neither is the Westin Milan, which was a perfectly respectable city hotel when I stayed there two years ago — but the 4th best city hotel in Europe? That’s absurd.) Perhaps I’m most offended by three “Couples” resorts — and for that matter a Sandals — on Jamaica being rated above the Aman resort property in Turks & Caicos, which doesn’t even make the list of best resorts in the Carribean. But then the Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort gets ranked as the…
The Hidden Value of the Asiana Award Chart and Asiana American Express
In my extensive post discussing the best rewards credit cards, I briefly mention the Asiana American Express card from Bank of America (which earns 2 miles per dollar spent!). I posted my credit card commentary on Flyertalk this morning, and Flyertalk member Guava went into extensive detail on why he values the Asiana Amex more than I was giving it credit for in my post. Because this advice is rather unique I will quote at great length. Bottom-line the card is useful especially to those who earn their miles predominantly from credit card spend and who want to redeem in particular from the Eastern U.S. to Europe or for upgrading from full fare coach or paid business class on Star Alliance partners. Not my redemption pattern, but it does match that of some readers, so…
New York, LA, Miami, or Chicago to Buenos Aires $287
Mexicana fare QLABUE, 2-day minimum stay. Non-refundable coach. Best way to find availability is to go to matrix.itasoftware.com and choose month-long search, from JFK (or enter LAX) and destination EZE. That will pull up a calendar showing the departure dates with the $287 fare available. Only available a few days in August, for instance, but every day in November. Last day of travel under this fare is December 9. This amounts to $59 each way plus taxes and fees.
Too Bad They Don’t Name the Resort…
A Polish woman is suing an Egyptian hotel, “claiming her daughter got pregnant using their mixed swimming pool.” The bizarre claim surfaced as Magdalena Kwiatkowska demanded compensation after her 13-year-old daughter came back from the family holiday expecting a baby. Apparently the daughter claims not to have met any boys on the trip…
Continental Gets DOT Antitrust Immunity Approval for Star Alliance Integration
The Department of Transportation has granted final approval to antitrust immunity for Continental’s entrance into the Star Alliance. The Department of Justice had opposed the move, despite being late to the party and despite strange objections about the risk of “monopoly profits” as though they hadn’t looked at an airline balance sheet in 8 years. Naturally, DOT had to make some face saving concessions for Justice. The limitations, also called “carve-outs,” affect four transatlantic markets, four markets between the United States and Canada, and all markets between the United States and Beijing, China, it said. “The Star carriers may continue to serve these routes, but they will not be covered by the grant of immunity at this time.” In addition to clearing the way for coordinating on frequent flyer benefits, the ruling permits Continental to…
Mileage Manager Introduces Integrated Award Search Tool
One of the most frequent questions I get is “how do I find the award seats I want?” I’ve tried to give some answers on this blog, for example here. I even wrote a piece in Inside Flyer on the subject. That’s me trying to teach folks to fish. But not everyone has the time or inclination, and it’s not an easy endeavor in any case. I used to be able to direct folks to Award Planner, a pay service full service travel agency that specialized in booking awards. But they ceased operating. Wendy Perrin frequently recommended them in her annual Conde Nast Traveler piece on the best specialty travel agents. LaDonna — and others — were great. I never talked with Randy Petersen about why he shut down that part of his business. I…
