Or at least, that jet lag may have lasting effects on memory and learning. [T]he impacts of jet lag—memory loss and learning problems—may alter your brain’s structure long after you unpack… The researchers now believe that frequent travelers suffer physical changes to their brains due to chronic jet lag. The jet-lagged hamsters showed a drastic drop in neuron production in the hippocampus area of the brain, which closely contributes to memory processing and learning. “This is the first time anyone has done a controlled trial of the effects of jet lag on brain and memory function,” said lead researcher Lance Kriegsfeld, a psychology professor at UC Berkeley. “Not only do we find that cognitive function is impaired during jet lag, but we see an impact up to a month afterward.” At least now I have…
Monthly Archives
Monthly Archives for December 2010.
US Airways Introduces Star Alliance Upgrade Awards
US Airways has been saying it’s coming, I’ve been skeptical, but they finally joined the vast majority of Star Alliance airlines by participating in the Star Alliance upgrade program. Now, the benefit won’t be useful to most. You have to buy a full (Y or B) fare coach ticket in order to upgrade to business class, and a C or D business class fare in order to upgrade to first class, no advance purchase discounted Z business class fares are eligible. If you don’t buy at least full fare coach tickets, you cannot use your US Airways miles to upgrade on their Star Alliance miles. This is the same way it works with other Star Alliance mileage programs as well. Further, each flight segment requires a separate award redemption. And the upgrade can only be…
Free Ticket and 10% Cash Back (in Gift Cards) on First $5000 in Spend from Southwest Airlines Visa
Chase is offering a Southwest Airlines Visa that comes with 16 Rapid Rewards credits on first purchase (enough for a free flight) and Southwest Airlines gift cards based on your spend in the first 3 months with the card: $100 gift card after your first $1000 in purchases $150 gift card after your first $2500 in purchases $250 gift card after your first $5000 in purchases At each spending threshold it amounts to 5%10% cash back to spend on Southwest in addition to the regular credits for spending and in addition to the Rapid Rewards credits at first purchase. That’s a pretty attractive first purchase offer and cash back offer in the first three months. First year annual fee is waived, but if you keep the card then the regular $59 annual fee comes with…
Southwest Preparing to Make a Run at Hawaii
Holly Hegeman reports that Southwest is advertising for an ETOPS manager. One only needs to consult Wikipedia on ETOPS if you aren’t familiar to know that it means they’re looking to fly significant distances over water that are far from the nearest diversion airport. And their current aircraft won’t make it to Europe. The folks down in Dallas are getting themselves positioned to fly to Hawaii!
New York to South Africa $699 Roundtrip
Via Dan’s Deals, and this only prices out on the New Zealand Expedia site. Total is $930 New Zealand dollars which comes out to just $699 US Dollars! This seems to work for tons of dates in January and February. If you can find it in other months please post a comment! Sample dates for JFK-JNB 01/12/11-01/19/11. 02/07/11-02/14/11. 02/15/11-02/22/11. Update: According to the Flyertalk thread on the deal: Works for IAD as well. When AndrewT84 mentioned CPT works as well, I checked and there is the same (or noted +$) base fare to LAD, LVI, DKR, LLW, PLZ, ELS, VFA, HRE, BLZ (+$50), LUN (+$50), DAR (+$120), NBO (+$120), EBB (+$120).
Five Delta Lounge Passes for $99
Via Fly Gracefully, Delta is offering 5 lounge passes for $99. The one-day passes are valid for a year and can only be purchased at a Delta Sky Club through December 31 by mentioning the offer. I’ve got Delta lounge access via the American Express Platinum card (access when flying Delta only) but I always feel like these make nice gifts to the occasional traveler flying Delta. I’d never buy them at the standard $50 per pass but $20 feels about right.
Andaz 5th Avenue: Really Great First Stay, Could Become My New Go-to in New York
The Andaz 5th Avenue is a bit of an enigma, I think the property is widely misunderstood and expectations were certainly high so when it opened a few months ago many of the reviews were lukewarm or negative. It’s not an inexpensive property, but it’s not an expensive property by New York standards either. It not ultra-hip trying to be cool W, but it’s still sleek and fun. And it’s a new brand trying to get out all of the kinks, there aren’t a whole lot of Andaz properties such that they’ve figured out exactly who their customers are (as opposed to what market research tells them to expect) and how those customers’ needs actually match pre-planning. So lots of misses being reported at the outset: people who feel like it’s not their style, trying…
US Airways Awards Lifetime Silver Status After 1 Million Flown Miles
Wandering Aramean and One Mile at a Time both take notice of US Airways introducing a million miler program to Dividend Miles. They’re the only major US carrier that didn’t have one (hey, even Philippine Airlines Mabuhay Miles does!). Only flown miles on US Airways, and not on partner carriers, count towards status and one million miles nets you Silver. That makes US Airways the least rewarding million-miler program overall. United only counts flight miles on their own aircraft (including United Express, of course) but gives you mid-tier status. Delta only gives you lowest-tier status, but includes partners. American currently even includes non-flight activity, though that’s long been rumored to be on the chopping block. Fortunately I’ve crossed my 2 million mile threshold with American already! Pretty much across the board the reaction is that…
Hyatt Confirmed Suite Upgrades Can Now Be Used for Stays Past Their Expiration Date
Hyatt’s confirmable suite upgrades for Diamond members were new in 2010 and they did take a little while to figure out some of the wrinkles. At first the suite upgrades, which ‘expire’ February 28, had to be used by the expiration date. But that left requalifying Diamonds in an interesting pickle. They wouldn’t be receiving ‘new’ suite upgrade certificates (with expiration in February, 2012) until the new member year. Hyatt doesn’t award these when a member requalifies, they do a sweep each year to award them. So Diamonds who wanted to book early for stays past February 28 could not use these certificates. That turned into a strange incentive to wait and not make bookings. That’s clearly not what was intended, and there’s not any reason why there ought to be a gap in the…
Starwood’s First Quarter Promo: Double Points PLUS 500 Points for Each Weekend Night (Including Thursday Nights!)
Starwood is offering Great Weekends from January 3 through April 15, 2011: double Starpoints on all stays and 500 bonus Starpoints per night for every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday night stayed. There’s no limit to the points earned under the promo. It looks like about 10% of Starwood’s properties aren’t participating in the promo. Registration will be required, but won’t be available until the start of the promo on January 3. A really nice points bonanza for folks making weekend stays, though not as potentially lucrative as free nights offers. Update: It turns out this promo was all that was ‘next’ — all the recent speculation about something big for SPG notwithstanding. C’mon, folks, don’t tease us that way!
