News and notes from around the interweb:
- American Express is out with their new campaign about being accepted at Sam’s Club. Take that, Costco!. They’ve got a $25 rebate on Sam’s Club memberships. Register your card, sign up for $45 or more in-store, and get $25 back. (HT: Joe Brancatelli)
- Claims about Pho (HT: Marginal Revolution)
From Pho Hoa, Pasteur, Ho Chi Minh City - MSC Cruises offering to match hotel status
- Leave a quick comment to enter to win a 3-night 3-bedroom luxury apartment stay in a great neighborhood of London! Since I’ve launched this giveaway over a holiday weekend I’m seeing far fewer entries than usual — better chance for you to win if you enter. And check out the auctions that are ending at Luxury Travel Diary, many of which go far cheaper than they should.
- American’s Tokyo Haneda service, which started selling earlier this month will be able to go forward. The DOT rejected Delta’s request to take the authority away from American as a result of what the DOT termed a ‘brief startup delay’. They further said that if American failed to launch service by March 27 (American plans service starting February 11), the authority would go to Hawaiian Airlines and not to Delta. As we used to say when I was a kid, burn..
- Chase apparently sent an email to Fairmont Visa cardholders about new card benefits but it may have been a mistake?
- We may get to find out “What Would Oscar Do?” at United soon enough. He visited with airline workers at United’s operations center on Thanksgiving. The CEO is expected to return from medical leave during the first quarter of 2016.
Gary – I’ll bid on the 5 nights for 8 in a lux villa in Bali. I could take my extended family and burn all the points and miles I have that will soon be worth much less on all three alliances.
As someone who grew up in Hanoi, the hometown of Pho, some claims in the article are correct, but to call pho in DC better than what’s served in Vietnam is a blasphemy. The person either has never had good pho in Hanoi,, or plainly knows nothing about a good bowl of pho. While I agree that there may be more meats available in a bowl of pho in the US, the flavor of the meat is entirely different, and the soup here lacks depth. The pho restaurants in the north always have secret ingredients in the broth, that any attempts to make it at home won’t yield the same flavor. Despite that, I prefer my own pho I make for myself at home than what’s served in US restaurants. I in fact consider them three separate dishes. I can never get enough TRUE pho back home.
Had Pho in DC, Saigon AND Hanoi this year. DC came in a DISTANT third.