Rental car gas: I never “prepay the gas tank” when renting a car, since with most rental agencies you’re prepaying the entire tank and you aren’t going to come out well unless you return the car almost empty. But that doesn’t mean it always makes sense to bother refueling the vehicle yourself. It depends on what the rental company’s penalty rate is. While they may post a per-gallon price, usually you’re going to be charged a per-mile price … if you don’t fill the tank up at all they will multiply miles driven by the per mile gas cost which is based on an average fuel economy and their current price for gas. Here’s the pricing at the gas station next to the rental car return at Miami: Wow. $4.79 per gallon. The default rate…
Monthly Archives
Monthly Archives for August 2013.
In China, If You Know Your Air Traffic Controller You’ll Take Off On Time
Via Marginal Revolution. Much of modern air traffic control and the aviation system generally in China was set up in conjunction with Boeing. It was important to describe the process not as modeling the U.S., but as “bringing China up to world standards.” Nonetheless, the Chinese military controls most air space in China. There were excellent discussions of these phenomenon in James Fallows’ China Airborne which I enjoyed reading last year. As a result, with a burgeoning aviation market, congestion around major cities is common. Apparently priority is given to flights with ‘important’ passengers, international flights, and flights where a crew member knows the air traffic controller. The latest statistics shows that the flow of air traffic accounts for as high as 40 percent of the total number of flight delays during the first half…
San Diego is a Great Town for Sushi.. and Dessert
The Gaslamp district of San Diego is great, lots of things to do, it can be fun. But though there are tons of restaurants, the point of those restaurants is something to do (and of course, like the Checkers commercials say, ‘Ya Gotta Eat!’). On the one hand it means there’s competition – but it’s mostly competition for fun and a scene. So if you want to eat well, you need to choose carefully. I much enjoyed Taka for sushi. Online reviews were good, and it turned out to be better than expected though not at all inexpensive (you’ll pay extra for something to be good in the Gaslamp area, I think, the rents are relatively high). There’s a menu of specials and their list of sushi and sashimi I decided to add their live…
New York State Assembly Speaker Under Fire for Turning His Commute into Mileage Runs
@pcpontificates tweets, Sheldon Silver should talk to @garyleff about racking up airline miles. No need to do this kind of nonsense How would you like New York State taxpayers to fund your mileage runs? The Speaker of the New York State Assembly needs to retain US Airways Chairmans Preferred status and takes circuitous routings between New York City and Albany. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver spent $20,219 in taxpayer money over the past three years jetting from New York City to Albany — but the top-flight pol turned easy 150-mile, one-hour jaunts into epic 500-mile, five-hour odysseys in a greedy quest to rack up frequent-flier miles, according to sources and expense records. …“He brags about his ability to build up mileage,” said one Albany insider. “Taxpayers are footing the bill to allow Shelly to fly halfway…
You Really Don’t Have an American Express Bluebird Yet?
There was a tremendous frenzy last year when you could buy reloadable money cards at office supply stores, earn huge bonuses, load the money onto the Bluebird by American Express. It was an almost free way to generate large numbers of points. That opportunity didn’t last forever, they never do. But Bluebird remains a very useful, valuable tool in the arsenal. There are plenty of times you’ll say, “gosh, I’m reading about all these things I can do with Bluebird and I don’t have one.” Since it gets sent in the mail it can take time to get, so it’s better to have it now and use it later than not to have it when you want to use it. And it’s free to get. That’s why I genuinely don’t understand folks who don’t get…
Why Does Coffee Taste So Much Better in Asia?
There are coffee shops strewn about all around Singapore serving specialty coffees. I see more (non-Starbucks) chain shops in Kuala Lumpur — there’s an Old Town White Coffee everywhere — but more craft coffee purveyors in Singapore than anywhere else I’ve been. (Disclosure: I live in Arlington, Virginia and — as memorialized by GoRemy in the Arlington Rap we mostly have Starbucks.) A few months ago I had a fantastic cup of coffee at Oriole Cafe & Bar at the Pan Pacific off Orchard Road. Singapore is one of the heaviest coffee drinking countries per-capita. But the phenomenon of really good coffee in Southeast Asia is hardly limited to Singapore. I’ve only tried Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee in the air (on Singapore, Asiana, and ANA in first class). It’s good but not my favorite and…
The Best View from Any Airline Lounge, Anywhere: Review of the Premier Lounge – Denpesar, Bali
The best planespotting is probably from the fence off the beach at the end of the runway at Princess Juliana International Airport, Saint Martin. Close behind would be sitting down at the outside tables at the In ‘n Out Burger at the edge of LAX. The best view from any terminal has to be the airport in Bora Bora. Like many of the airports in the Maldives you approach by boat. But instead of sailing to the island which houses an airport, the Bora Bora airport is simply its own small island (motu). And the waters are indeed stunning. But here I’m interested in the very best view from an actual airline lounge. And I’d venture to say that honor may go to the Premier Lounge at the Denpasar Bali airport. It won’t be around…
How to Properly Dispose of a Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
Chase has done a whole lot with credit card design over the past 2-3 years. No longer just a piece of plastic with raised numbers, several of their cards are now made of metal or contain various interesting metals to give them a more substantial feel. The most common is probably Chase Sapphire Preferred. It’s probably the best introductory, all-around points-earning credit card. It’s popular with the points and miles set. Two even more substantial cards are the Ritz-Carlton Rewards and >JP Morgan Palladium products. I held a Ritz-Carlton Rewards Visa for the first time a few weeks ago and wow that was an impressive-feeling card, it made Sapphire Preferred feel positively pedestrian. But since these cards aren’t just plastic, an interesting problem arises. You can’t shred them. They don’t just cut up with scissors.…
El Al Will Give You Lifetime Gold Status — If They Don’t Think You’ll Use it Much
El Al has introduced lifetime gold status. You have to have been a Gold elite member or higher for each of the past ten years. And you must currently be at least 67 years old Lifetime status is for use primarily in retirement years, it would seem. And oddly 20-year Top Platinum who skips a year in the 10 years leading up to their 67th birthday is ineligible. In other news, I hear they’re considering awarding Top Platinum status posthumously. You can join the 30,000+ people who see these deals and analysis every day — sign up to receive posts by email (just one e-mail per day) or subscribe to the RSS feed. It’s free. Don’t miss out!
Win a Rimowa 21″ Spinner Bag … or a Seat on Star MegaDO 5!
Milepoint is running two big MegaDO related giveaways. Win a seat on the Star MegaDO 5. You just need to post in this Milepoint thread to be entered to win. Win a new custom Rimowa Salsa Deluxe 21″ Cabin Multiwheel (spinner) which retails for $595. You post one of two things in the thread in order to be entered to win. Full details in those two Milepoint threads. The upcoming European MegaDO (September) is completely sold out. There are a few seats left for Star MegaDO 5 (October) and indeed a few people who were going had work and personal commitments come up and had to cancel, so there are even a few “Tommy Class” seats available and not just regular coach. As I noted last week when sharing that September MegaDO participants could receive…
