More big news out today in frequent flyer-world: Expertflyer, a pay service I subscribe to, has been forced by Delta to stop displaying upgrade inventory on the site. An educated consumer is Skymiles’ worst customer. Some customers may again sign up for GoBank, an account with a robust bill pay feature that you can load with gift cards at Walmart. Hyatt has a targeted promotion out for up to 50,000 bonus points. I wasn’t targeted, lots of Diamond members I know were. More nights, more points – while 5 nights earns 5000 points, 20 nights through November 30 earns a total of 50,000. The bad news: I’d guess this won’t stack with — and thus could take the place of — a fall promotion. How much does a union drive up hotel costs? I’ve heard…
About Gary Leff
What’s the Busiest Airline Route in the World?
Thrillist has a piece today declaring the airline route that’s “the most popular/busiest in the world” Hong Kong – Taipei. At 4.9 million passengers last year. Wait just one second.. That didn’t sit right. That’s only about half the passengers as the route with the greatest passenger volume. And it took me a couple of minutes to figure out what’s going on here. The data being reported was for the busiest international routes by passenger volume. All of the many routes with more passengers are domestic ones. Here are the busiest international routes by passenger volume last year: And here are the busiest routes with most passengers, without excluding domestic flights. (Passenger count reported in thousands.) The latter data is showing 2012 passengers, and the chart with international routes only is passenger totals for 2013,…
International Travel: Power Converters and Adapters in Europe and the Rest of the World
I answered a question earlier today that I realize could be useful to others — it’s basic stuff for the seasoned international traveler, but worth sharing for the first-timer going abroad: power adapters and converters. A converter alters the power so that it matches the needs of your device. For instance, Europe runs on 220 volt electricity while the US is 110 volt. Most devices do not need a converter. Nearly all modern electronics are dual voltage meaning they work on both 110 and 220 volts. You do not need a converter just an adapter so you can plug them straight into the wall. This almost certainly true for your laptop and mobile phone. On the other hand hair devices (curling irons, flat irons, hair dryers) that aren’t dual voltage [and most aren’t] will need…
How Your Kids Can Help You Earn Miles… Once You Divorce
It’s said that, evolutionarily, engagement rings are diamonds because less expensive items would be given out by men much more frequently. Since they’re so expensive, most men can only give them out to a but one woman. And by handing over a large portion of one’s net worth, it serves as a hostage to ensure fidelity. On the contrary, I always thought that Diamonds were for buying online from Costco and returning in-store. Well it turns out that engagement, and marriage itself, has a back-end approach to mileage-earning if things don’t work out. And I don’t mean lawyers who take compensation in the form of gift cards purchased at office supply stores, or who take payment directly by credit card. Now I’ve done a lot of crazy things in my life to earn miles. I…
The Truth Behind UberX, Restrictions on Using American Miles to Hawaii, and an Illegal Drone Over Beijing
News and notes from around the interweb: 24 Hours as an UberX driver. Worth a read. Relatedly, UberX cuts prices by 10% in Dallas. The Ultimate Guide to Booking Award Tickets Using American AAdvantage Miles needs to be updated to reflect that American’s partner Hawaiian Airlines cannot be combined with other airlines on a single award “to/from Central, South America or Transatlantic”… same source also flags that Cathay Pacific awards cannot be changed within four hours of flight. New discount airline launches between the US and UK in October, with prices currently from $545 roundtrip. An illegal video of Beijing using a drone A private jet with no windows that boasts panoramic views. A riddle wrapped inside an enigma… Qantas has been making big changes due to big losses. Still, they’re expected to lose ~…
When Do Hotels Make Their Rooms Available On Points?
We know how it generally works for airlines. They make seats available as ‘saver’ awards when they don’t expect to sell those seats for cash. A year in advance they’ll have some idea what seats those might be, and may make some award seats available when the flights are loaded into the schedule. Very close to departure they’ll have a pretty good idea which seats that haven’t sold will go out empty, which is why the very last minute can be about the best time to book awards (but also a gamble, because sold out flights – which many are nowadays – won’t be bookable at saver award prices). Hotel programs generally work differently. The economics aren’t always the same but in general most now offer a room for points whenever the base or ‘standard’…
When It Makes Sense to Spend Your Miles for Magazine Subscriptions
Using miles for things other than travel has been an increasing trend, the loyalty programs have been offering several new options over the past few years — whether it’s redeeming miles for other travel like hotels and rental cars, or for LCD toasters. The idea is that miles are a general currency, they can be spent like money. Heavy travelers may not want more flights. And if there are limited award seats available getting members to spend miles on other things satisfies those members rather than frustrating them. But frequent flyer programs can buy saver awards (likely to go unsold, spoiling inventory) at a deep discount, a much deeper discount than they can buy toasters — especially since mileage programs aren’t usually the ones in the fulfillment business actually warehousing and shipping the toaster. So…
Here are Secrets Holiday Inn Express Tells Hotel Owners. Now You Know, Too.
Aug
17
2014
Hotel franchise manuals contain all sorts of interesting tidbits, from the specific details of brand standards (the experience they’re obligated to provide to you as a guest) to how they allocate rooms for reward nights. Back in December I shared juicy tidbits from Best Western’s document. Loyalty Lobby mentioned that the Holiday Inn Express franchise manual (from 2012) could be found online, unprotected. So I googled it. Here is the .pdf. It tells you everything from the maximum price to send a fax or for photocopies, that all Holiday Inn Express hotels must provide complimentary tooth brush, tooth paste, comb, and razor/shaving cream, and that the hotel’s computers must load McAfee protection software, among other items. Here are some of the things that I found interesting. Hotels are required to set aside at least 5%…
1000 Bonus American Miles for $200 Online Shopping Spend
Aug
17
2014
The American AAdvantage online shopping portal is offering 1000 bonus miles for spending $200 or more, cumulatively on purchases (all of your purchases can add up to $200 – it doesn’t have to be for a single item), through August 25. No registration required. In other words, make your online purchases by starting at the AAdvantage online mall and clicking on the retailers you’ll buy from at their site and you’ll pick up an extra 1000 miles on top of the miles you’d normally earn for doing so. The AAdvantage portal is run by Cartera commerce. I interviewed their President earlier this year, and tried to shed some light on how these online shopping portals – which offer you a rebate for the shopping you’ll do anyway – work. Meanwhile, the Hawaiian Airlines shopping portal…
Free Office Lounges Around the World With Internet and Coffee
Aug
17
2014
Regus has furnished offices all over the world. You can rent an office for a day, a week, whatever you need. They also have ‘business lounges’ which are open lounges in their offices, with wireless internet and coffee and tea. Some people like to use them, but I’ve never found it all that much more appealing than going to Starbucks or a similar venue. Even business lounges can be expensive to use, I suppose there are people who pay for it (you can even earn American Airlines miles if you do). But they’ve long given away free access to use their business lounges, which can’t cost them much to do. I have a ‘Gold’ membership from them, which I think was marketed to me in an email from American AAdvantage. Gold ‘sells for‘ $600 per…
