Yesterday American Express came out with a 35% bonus on transfers to Virgin Atlantic. But Virgin Atlantic has the worst miles and hits you with fuel surcharges. Today they came out with a 50% bonus on transfers to Starwood Preferred Guest. Starwood points are awesome, but you’re still only getting 1 Starwood point for every 2 Amex Membership Rewards points. There’s the occasional person that’ll find some value in this offer. But most should hold onto their Amex points. There’s now also a 33% bonus on transfers to Hilton through November 30. Oddly, I don’t see the bonus when using Google Chrome. But it does come up for me using Internet Explorer. In any case, especially after Hilton’s massive devaluation last year (and that was after program changes during the Great Recession that was ‘the…
Monthly Archives
Monthly Archives for October 2014.
The First Class of Etihad’s Residence Butlers in the Sky Have Graduated. Here’s Who They Are.
When Etihad’s Airbus A380 takes to the skies, it will include the most luxurious accomodation by far in commercial aviation — in addition to what looks to be an amazing first class, there will be a single three-room “residence.” The residence offers: a single or double occupancy 3 room cabin with double bed, 2 dining tables, lounge room, private shower suite (4 minutes of water) and dedicated butler. The Residence is 125 square feet. The living room has a reclining sofa, dining tables, and a mini-bar as well as a 32 inch television. A door separates the living room from the bedroom and shower room. The bedroom has a 27 inch TV. The Residence can be booked with miles. Cranky Flier thinks the Residence is clever because it makes effective use of otherwise dead space.…
How to Protect Yourself from Ebola: the Dulles Passenger in a Homemade Hazmat Suit Goes Viral
Dulles Passenger in Homemade Hazmat Suit Goes Viral (Get it? ‘Viral’) A photo of a traveler in a homemade “hazmat” suit at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C., is making the internet rounds as hundreds of real suits are selling out online. The female passenger was spotted sitting down in an airline terminal and dressed in what appeared to be a full-length white onesie, topped with a blue rain poncho, blue latex gloves and a white face mask. This doesn’t actually seem all that strange to me. Maybe I’ve just flown enough in Asia where it’s common to see a decent percentage of passengers wearing surgical masks. Maybe we don’t need an ebola travel ban. We just need to to practice safe travel. Which strangely reminds me of the old Capitol Steps tune, “Little Doc…
Hilton HHonors Updates Its Rules for Shutting Down Your Account
Hilton HHonors has has updated the section of the Hilton terms and conditions where they describe their right to shut down your account. They can shut down your account for violating Hilton terms and conditions or the intent of the program which isn’t spelled out in the rules. The standard of proof is very low, “if there are reasonable grounds for suspecting, in its sole discretion” — Hilton decides if their own actions are reasonable, and only their perspective matters. While the changes mostly look like one lawyer not liking the way another lawyer wrote some clauses, the major change is to clarify that when Hilton decides to shut down your account that you don’t just lose your points, you lose your elite benefits as well. Which strikes me as funny — someone thought it…
New United Elite Website, How to Cheat on Your Expense Reports, and LifeMiles Forgot to Raise Some Prices
News and notes from around the interweb: Sneaky ways to cheat on your business expense reimbursements Is 7500 American AAdvantage miles for test driving a Cadillac worth your time? Battle lines are drawn. Secretary of State John Kerry’s plane went mechanical. I think this has happened before — recently. What I don’t understand is why they choose to fly him transatlantic in a 757 (hopefully they’ll get him a longer range aircraft for his trips in the Winter, or else he’ll refuel at one of United’s focus cities in Goose Bay or Gander). Someone ought to inquire whether he was booked onto the Austrian Airlines codeshare with United for his flight back to DC, to see if he was compliant with the Fly America Act.. United has a new Premier status tracker on its website.…
American Airlines 777-200 Business Class: Photos of a Great New Product Now in Service!
Last week I flew American’s 777-200 in first class to and from Buenos Aires. It was my goodbye to the Flagship Suite. That’s because American’s new 777-300ERs have a new first class, and the American Airlines 777-200 business class is getting a retrofit with a top shelf product… but no first class. American’s trusty old Flagship Suite will be a thing of the past. That story and review is coming up, but for now what I’m interested in is the new 777-200 business class. I love American’s new business class onboard the 777-300ER. That one was put together quickly, a version similar to what Cathay Pacific offers (and a generational upgrade on the seat US Airways pioneered). The 777-200 business class seat is supposed to be even better. And now that the first redone aircraft…
Why Was President Obama’s Credit Card Declined? And Which Card Was It?
President Obama credit card declined! @TomBruneDC reports that Obama’s credit card was declined at a restaurant in New York. Obama: NY restaurant rejected his rarely used credit card when he was attending UN general assembly. “Fortunately, Michelle had hers.” As regular readers know, the President has been known to carry a JP Morgan Select card. The only way to get this card currently is to be a Palladium card cardholder. JP Morgan Select is issued for times when Palladium cardholders want to be ‘low profile’ and not use the heavy metal payment instrument with laser-engraved signature. It used to be possible to apply for the JP Morgan Select card on its own, although this was exceedingly rare as it was an obscure product. We do know that the President is a long-standing JP Morgan Chase…
Review: American Airlines Flagship Lounge JFK (And Bottom-line on the Rest of the First Class Lounges, Including the Secret One)
American continues to offer ‘Flagship Lounges’ or first class lounges in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York JFK, at London Heathrow. There are no longer Flagship Lounges in Dallas or Miami. The Dallas lounge still has the dedicated room, just walk into the Admirals Club in the A terminal and when you get upstairs and come out of the elevator you are facing the desk with reservations agents. Turn completely around, because right behind you is the room that used to be the Flagship Lounge. Almost no one is ever in it, it has separate restrooms, it’s great for quiet and privacy even when the rest of the lounge is busy. In Miami the Flagship Lounge closed, and didn’t re-open. My favorite flagship lounge is Los Angeles, I think the food offerings are pretty good and…
Delta’s Coyote Ugly Regional Jet Sabotaged By the Road Runner
On Tuesday a Delta regional jet taking off from Grand Rapids and bound for Cincinnati hit a coyote. The plane apparently escaped damage. Which means residents of Grand Rapids will continue to experience the comforts of the 50 seat regional jet. Now, I’m not sure how I missed this story for a couple of days. I was probably too busy on hold with Cadillac trying to schedule a test drive. Sadly, under Delta’s new revenue-based frequent flyer program next year, the coyote wouldn’t even have earned miles for the flight, since he wouldn’t have paid a fare. Of course there is of course only one possible reaction to this whole incident. And the commenters on the news story nailed it: Next up: A United regional jet flight is cancelled because the co-pilot had ants in…
Ebola Travel Ban: How Would Shutting Down Travel from West Africa Even Work?
I’m not an epidemiologist and I have no greater understanding about the spread of ebola than what I’ve read from others. So I am limiting the scope of my commentary on the spread of the disease and travel. (Relatedly, I found this Wired piece from August on the extent to which disease spreads on planes interesting.) One of the hot topics under discussion is the idea of an ebola travel ban, stopping anyone ‘from West Africa’ from entering the United States. I’ve seen lots of discussion of this in my Facebook feed, including a couple of links to a Whitehouse.gov petition with over 35,000 signatures. Have the FAA ban all incoming and outgoing flights to ebola-stricken countries until the ebola outbreak is contained While there are certainly capabilities to limit entry into the United States…
