The line at the Dollar Rent a Car counter was nearly endless this morning at Miami International airport. I genuinely don’t understand why anyone would wait in such a line. If you’re a member of a car rental company’s frequent renter program, you don’t need to in the first place. There are many other rental car companies in Miami. None had lines like this. Outside of Priceline and Hotwire rentals there are still very few prepaid rental rates. There’s generally no penalty for failing to pick up a rental car you’ve reserved. (And you can be nice and ring them and just cancel in any case.) Walk to another counter. Or even if you’re concerned about rate, book a new car on your phone while standing in the Dollar line. At least research your alternatives.…
Monthly Archives
Monthly Archives for August 2014.
For an Airport Eatery, This Just Seems Like a Very Bad Idea
Ben’s Chili Bowl is a DC institution. It’s been around for over 50 years, hosted civil rights leaders in the 1960s, and President Obama ate there the month he took the oath of office as President in 2009. The Pelican Brief and State of Play had scenes filmed there. It’s a tourist destination. But I’ve never been especially impressed by the food. They’re open at National’s Park now, and they’ve just opened at National airport last month. It’s this that seems like a very bad idea. To be sure, while I’m not a huge fan, the food is probably better than much of what passes at the airport. But it’s also about the last thing I’d want my seat opponent to eat before a flight. Ben’s is right next to the security checkpoint for B…
Secretary of State John Kerry Flies More Than You Do and Is Excited to Earn Frequent Flyer Miles!
Secretary of State John Kerry has flown a ton. In fact, he has already overtaken his predecessor Hillary Rodham Clinton in his first year as America’s top diplomat, clocking up 519,136 miles to 51 countries in 239 days, according to State Department figures. That’s a whole lot of flying, though not necessarily more than Tom Stuker. Kerry’s Air Force plane broke down in Hawaii on Thursday and he wound up flying back commercial on United (in first class, natch). But “most everyone else” was in coach (no word who else get to fly up front). Kerry commented, “Finally, some frequent-flier miles,” Kerry said when his staffers explained the alternate arrangements, according to a senior State Department official. I wonder if: John Kerry is actually a member of United’s MileagePlus (or airline partner program, although it…
American Express Launches a New Limited-Time Transfer Bonus
American Express is offering a 25% bonus when transferring points to JetBlue through September 15. This is available for all US-based American Express Membership Rewards cardholders who wish to transfer. The normal conversion rate is 250 Amex points transfers to 200 JetBlue TrueBlue points. With this bonus the transfer becomes 1:1. JetBlue prices redemptions based on the cost of the ticket. Each point is worth about a penny and a half. That means with this bonus you’re getting ~ 1.5 cents a point in value for your American Express points. That’s far below what I look for in a redemption, though it’s better than using your points for gift cards or to buy tickets directly through Amex. The only reasons I would take advantage of this is if: You need to transfer a small number…
10,000 Bonus Miles – With Your Choice of Airline – for 10 Hotel Nights
Rocketmiles has a new offer for both current and existing customers: 10,000 bonus miles on top of usual miles earned if you stay 10 nights by September 23. Key terms: Reservations must be booked at the promotion link. Check-out for the 10th night must be by September 23. They specifically forbid cancelling existing reservations and rebooking to get the bonus. The offer isn’t combinable with other bonuses. Definitely better than free beer. New customers get 1000 miles with their first booking. New customers may want to use the offer for 5000 United miles with a 3 night stay or one of the semi-regular 3000 mile first booking offers. Each Rocketmiles bonus usually requires using a specific promotion page to start your booking in order to qualify for the bonus. Existing customers are eligible for the…
Which Frequent Flyer Program Should You Ditch United For?
With United moving to a revenue-based frequent flyer program for mileage-earning next year, customers flying on ‘cheap’ fares will earn fewer miles for their flying. I have to put cheap in quotes though because the break-even point for earning miles is 20 cents (the minimum requirement to earn elite status is only 10 cents..!). If you’re paying less than $900 or $1000 on a cross country flight, you lose out. United has told folks that the total number of miles awarded will stay the same but that hardly makes sense simply because their revenue per passenger mile is substantially lower than yet. Elite frequent flyers will probably ‘suck it up’ and keep flying United and crediting their miles to MileagePlus even though they may earn less, since elite benefits matter and United probably has a…
Secret Mileage Earning Groups and 50% Off Award Redemption
News and notes from around the interweb: Peeling back the onion on manufactured spending secret societies. Fascinating read. 50% off IHG Rewards redemptions in Mexico and the Caribbean for September and October stays. Book by September 6. Over 500 TSA screeners have been fired for stealing from passenger luggage. And it ain’t easy to actually get fired from the TSA. This has been a problem since they beginning, but a crackdown started only 2 years ago. And the TSA thinks they get blamed when it’s really others doing more of the stealing. Atlantic City is going bust if it can’t break the gambling habit. Instead the city just gets worse and worse. Behind the scenes of inflight entertainment censorship. (HT: The Forward Cabin) You can join the 40,000+ people who see these deals and analysis…
Badges? Badges? We Definitely Don’t Need Marriott’s Stinking Badges!
Marriott has been trying to get ramped up and invest in social. They rolled out Plus Points in May which they then quickly devalued. Now they’re out with social media badges that earn points. Very, very few points that it’s almost silly. You have to log into your Marriott account and then register. You get your first badge which is your elite status. This gets you nothing. When you stay twice at a given brand you earn 25 points. Marriott points are an inflated currency… Staying at a bunch of brands earns points — 5 brands for 50 points, 10 brands another 75 points, and all of 250 points if you stay at all of Marriott’s participating brands. The more nights you stay the more points you earn. Big whoop. 25 points for 100 nights…
Pilot’s Arm Falls Off, Lands Plane On His Own Anyway
He probably couldn’t join passengers in clapping for this landing. A pilot flying a Flybe plane with 47 passengers aboard learned an important lesson on a flight to Northern Ireland: always make sure your arm is attached before landing. An unnamed 46-year-old pilot was landing a Dash 8 plane at Belfast City Airport in gusty weather conditions when his lower left arm prosethetic became detached from its yoke clamp and he lost control… According to the BBC, Shortly before beginning to land the Dash 8 aircraft, the 46-year-old had checked that his prosthetic lower left arm was securely attached to the clamp that he used to fly the aircraft, with the latching device in place. The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) report said the captain had disconnected the autopilot and was manually flying the aircraft.…
ANA is Making Some of its Fantastic First Class Available for Awards in Advance
ANA’s first class service between the US and Tokyo is tough, tough, tough to get. Through the first half of the last decade it was easy, but back then there were 12 first class seats per plane. Then they went to 8 and it became nearly non-existent. Things thawed a bit 2008 – 2011 .. with space offered both within a week or two of flight and also far in advance for the winter months. Outside of those two periods, nothing. And more recently they stopped even opening up seats during the winter months. But right now there is a ton of award space in first class for one passenger booked far in advance, including over the summer months. And there are even a handful of sporadic days where you’ll find two first class seats…
