Introduction: Constructing — and Re-constructing — the Award Trip American Eagle DC – New York and the New Nicest JFK Airport Hotel, the Hilton Cathay Pacific First Class, JFK – Hong Kong The Wing lounge in Hong Kong and Cathay Pacific Business Class Hong Kong – Kuala Lumpur Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur Malaysia Airlines Business Class, Kuala Lumpur – Langkawi The Andaman Langkawi Malaysia Airlines Business Class, Langkawi – Kuala Lumpur Intercontinental Kuala Lumpur Things to See and Do in Kuala Lumpur Korean Airlines First Class, Kuala Lumpur – Seoul and the Korean Air First Class Lounge Seoul Korean Air First Class, Seoul – Washington Dulles It was a short walk from the lounge, down the escalator and over to our gate at the very end of the terminal. The first line encountered wasn’t for…
Monthly Archives
Monthly Archives for December 2012.
Great Deal: Double the Value of Your Priority Club Points Today
Update: Deal is dead. Some folks have received cancellation emails as well. Points.com is almost never a ‘good deal’ — the website lets you transfer points from one frequent flyer program to another, but almost always at a substantial devaluation — often greater than 90%. I would use the site about once a year to earn a partner activity credit in the US Airways grand slam promotion, perhaps transferring about 4 American Airlines miles into 1 US Airways miles. The idea there was any activity with Points.com moving a mile into US Airways would count towards a bigger bonus. Sadly that promotion didn’t come back this year, and I’m quite confident I didn’t use Points.com in 2012. There are occasionally really good values — arbitrage opportunities — and years ago I would earn eBay Anything…
Not How I Would Protest in the Mideast…
… and no doubt many readers are glad for that! But a Ukranian woman stripped naked in the Beirut airport to protest Lebanon’s smoking ban. ..[T]he traveler removed her clothes and held a sign calling for lifting the ban on smoking inside the airport. ..In a country considered a “smokers’ paradise,” the law took effect a year ago in airports, hospitals and schools, but took hold on a wider basis in September 2012, also banning tobacco advertisements criticized for luring youths into the habit, according to a report by AFP. Smokers caught lighting up in a closed public space face a $90 penalty, while restaurant or cafe owners who turn a blind eye to offenders could be fined anything from $900 to $2,700, AFP reported. If you must, there’s a photo at this link. (HT:…
Suites, Treats, and Eats, a Malaysian Mileage Thanksgiving: Korean Air First Class, Kuala Lumpur – Seoul and the Korean Air First Class Lounge Seoul
Introduction: Constructing — and Re-constructing — the Award Trip American Eagle DC – New York and the New Nicest JFK Airport Hotel, the Hilton Cathay Pacific First Class, JFK – Hong Kong The Wing lounge in Hong Kong and Cathay Pacific Business Class Hong Kong – Kuala Lumpur Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur Malaysia Airlines Business Class, Kuala Lumpur – Langkawi The Andaman Langkawi Malaysia Airlines Business Class, Langkawi – Kuala Lumpur Intercontinental Kuala Lumpur Things to See and Do in Kuala Lumpur Korean Air First Class, Kuala Lumpur – Seoul and the Korean Air First Class Lounge Seoul Korean Air First Class, Seoul – Washington Dulles After a 50 minute straight shot out to the airport we were at KLIA again, and walked straight up to the Korean Air check-in counter. The check-in process was…
Hilton’s First Quarter Bonus – Registration Open for Double Points or Double Miles
Registration is now open for Hilton HHonors’ first quarter promotion — your choice (choose when you register and you cannot change later) of double points or double miles between January 7 and March 31. There’s a really long list of non-participating hotels, almost all in the United States. It’s not an especially exciting promotion, doesn’t make sense to move stays over to Hilton as a result of the bonus in most cases, but is certainly worth registering in case you have Hilton stays — better to earn the bonus for those stays than not to earn the bonus.
American Made — No Lost — No Made — No Definitely Lost Money in November
Terry Maxon covers the spin over American’s November financial results. The bottom-line number for the airline in November was a loss of $347 million. Yikes. But wait, $301 million of that represented bankruptcy-related items, so we shouldn’t pay attention to those. Except… then they still lost $46 million. For the month. And yet they “reported an operating profit of $1 million.” See, they’re making money. Even though they lost nearly $350 million. “Operating” results can be useful numbers, the idea that there are certain one-time items that obscure the performance and viability of an underlying business. If you’re looking at financial results to gain an understanding of how a venture ‘normally’ operates you may want to exclude certain things from the analysis. But those same operating results can hinder understanding as well, and I admit…
Baclays Gets Aggressive with Credit Card Bonuses
I got another email offer for bonus miles from the US Airways Mastercard yesterday. On Thursday I wrote about the signup bonuses for this card. 40,000 miles after first purchase, $89 annual fee. 40,000 miles after first purchase, $89 fee waived the first year, promises 10,000 miles at cardmember anniversary (though there are reports this benefit is going away). Offer says it is for US Airways’ 100,000 mile flyers, and application says it is for employees only and asks for an employee number, but neither requirment has been enforced. I got my current iteration of the card (I’ve had it more than once and gotten the signup bonus each time) back in December 2011. Then this past spring I was offered a targeted 15,000 bonus if I spent $1500 or more in each of three…
The Root Cause of the Mortgage Crisis and Why the Banks Needed a Bailout
Last month I wrote about Bank of America letting their credit card holders choose a gift card of their choice. Just ’cause. Different people got different offers, I only got to choose a $5 card from Macy’s, Target, or Starbucks. I picked Starbucks. But then about a week and a half ago I got a $10 Target gift card in the mail from them. I looked at it a bit funny, gee, I don’t think I would have picked this? But if I hadn’t actually blogged the offer I probably wouldn’t have realized for certain that I hadn’t picked it. Who am I to complain? They sent me a $10 gift card when all I was supposed to get was $5. Even if it was for a different store. Then yesterday I received this letter:…
I Saw Daddy Pat Down Santa Clause
As you prepare for your Christmas holiday travels, there’s… As they say, a.. few bad apples in no way undermine the hardwork that thousands of men and women who provide security do to keep us safe, day in and day out.
New Frequent Traveler University Website Launched and Video Recap of #FTULAX
A new FTUniversity.com has been launched, the website for Frequent Traveler University, the upcoming event at the Hilton McLean Tysons Corner in Northern Virginia — halfway between Washington’s Dulles and National airports — which begins with cocktails Friday evening April 26th and runs through Sunday April 28th. About 400 tickets have been sold so far, with four months until the event, so this promises to be the biggest gathering of frequent flyers ever. We’ve taken over the host hotel. The base conference rate of $89 a night is sold out, there aren’t standard rooms available there any longer, but there are executive rooms at $139 a night which includes full daily breakfast. Those rooms will go fast as well. Some folks have booked on their own at the nearby Sheraton Premier Tysons Corner, and we’re…
