There’s a persistent myth that the best time to book an award ticket is instantly when an airline’s schedule opens — and that the time is 12:01am exactly 330 days prior to travel. But this isn’t quite right on two levels. Different airlines publish their schedules at different times Different airlines load award seats at different times — not necessarily when their schedule loads Airlines want to release those seats as (saver / low) awards that they don’t expect to sell for cash. They may load some award seats when the schedule opens but ~ 11 months out they only have a rough idea of what seats are going to go unsold. They may not add a single award seat on a given flight when the schedule opens. As time passes, as the date of…
About Gary Leff
I Don’t Like Airline Change Fees Either, But I’m Not a Buffoonish US Senator
The U.S. Senate is sometimes called the “world’s greatest deliberative body.” The Senate of the United States was formed on the example of the ancient Roman Senate. The name is derived from the senatus, Latin for council of elders In this grand tradition, Senator Chuck Schumer wants airlines to reverse their recent increases in change fees on non-refundable tickets. The New York Democrat said on Sunday that higher fees recently implemented by Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, American Airlines, and U.S. Airways make it difficult for families on budgets to travel, according to the Associated Press. The four carriers recently raised fees on ticket changes from $150 to $200 The distinguished Senator Schumer’s Wikipedia entry describes his political style, Schumer’s propensity for publicity is the subject of a running joke among many commentators. He has…
DC’s Taxi Commission Sends Me a Nastygram
In response to my post the other day on Washington DC’s taxi protection racket cracking down on Uber again, I got a nastygram from the DC Taxicab Commission’s public information officer. Her argument is essentially that they aren’t forcing Uber to go out of business here, since they could always just comply with the new rules. But nowhere has she or anyone else explained the consumer harm that supposedly follows from Uber being allowed to run its business (which is why the much more likely explanation is that the taxi commission is backing entrenched interests, as they’ve done before — with a string of federal convictions to show for it). It turns out, of course, that the DC taxi commission’s valiant efforts to protect consumers are occurring despite never having actually received a complaint from…
National Car Rental Giveaway: iPod Touch, iTunes Gift Card, Amex Gift Card, and More!
There are only two real game changing innovations in rental cars that I can think of in my lifetime. One is keeping your information on file so that you can be pre-assigned a car and take off by showing just your driver’s license. The other is picking your own car. Avis recently has been experimenting with the pick your own car concept in some locations. The pioneer in the space, of course, is National with its Emerald Aisle. I love National’s “Go Like a Pro” slogan because their Emerald Aisle concept, to me, is the perfect frequent business renter feature. But there are really only five major travel stories that resonate with the public, and one of them is “summer travel.” So I don’t blame National one bit for looking to catch a little bit…
Supreme Court to Hear Case of the Rabbi Who Sought Too Much Airline Compensation
A couple of years ago the story went ’round about Rabbi Binyomin Ginsberg, a Northwest Airlines Platinum elite who apparently complained too much and had his frequent flyer account shut down. He lost hundreds of thousands of miles (and his elite status) in the process. Ginsburg sued. His complaint was dismissed in federal district court on the basis that state law can’t be used to address airline price, route or service issues since those are pre-empted by the federal Airline Deregulation Act. A 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling disagreed, and now the Supreme Court will hear the issue. The Supreme Court’s docket is here. I admit I’m a bit surprised by the Supreme Court’s willingness to take this case, although I have not yet read the 9th Circuit’s decision (but I have read the…
The Marriott Elite Weekend Fast is Over! Gold and Platinum Breakfast Benefit Being Extended
A year ago I broke down the deficiencies in the Marriott Rewards elite program. Some of those have since been corrected, at least a little bit. Marriott Gold status comes after 50 nights, which is average for top tier status with other chains. Platinum takes a whopping 75 nights. One would expect superior or at least industry average benefits at that level. And yet late checkout is on request only, day of departure (rather than guaranteed). Resorts are excluded — but since it isn’t guaranteed, why exclude resorts? Other chains exclude resorts from their guarantee, but will generally oblige subject to availability which is all Marriott is offering anyway. Marriott’s breakfast benefit has also been weaker than the competition’s — free breakfast in the US and Canada has been guaranteed Monday – Friday only, with…
Bits ‘n Pieces for May 20, 2013
News and Notes from Around the Interweb: Back in October I explained how to get free Marriott silver status. It still works. Travelocity is offering $50 off a hotel booking of $150 or more when you download their mobile app. Anyone with a valid American Express card can get a free one-year membership to Shoprunner (or an extension of a free membership). That gets you free two-day shipping with a variety of merchants, and is generally stackable with mileage mall earning. (HT: Dan’s Deals) In March I wrote that American Express’ Bluebird 100 paper checks tied to your account for free. The last day to take advantage of this is Tuesday (tomorrow).
Why Didn’t You Hold the Plane for Me? Don’t You Know Who I Am!?!
Heels First Travel has a DYKWIA seatmate furious that the airline didn’t hold her connecting flight and muses on why an airline may choose to do so – or not to do so. It was something like “I showed up at the gate at 7:59 and they said the flight was supposed to leave at 7:55 and was already taxiing. I don’t know why they couldn’t have held the flight, it’s the same airline, they knew my flight was arriving late, I mean they even had new tickets printed for me. Now I can’t leave until 1:20PM. I’m never flying this airline again.” Airlines won’t generally hold an aircraft for a late arriving passenger. Holding a plane for 10 minutes may cause other passengers to misconnect on their next flight. Holding a plane means it…
Star MegaDO 5 Goes on Sale at 1pm Eastern
Earlier in the month I shared details of the upcoming Star MegaDO frequent flyer charter adventure. Join a couple hundred of your newest frequent flyer enthusiast friends, meeting with airline executives, getting behind the scenes tours, bringing home amazing souvenirs and memories, and earning bonus elite qualifying miles in the MileagePlus program along the way. These events sell out quickly in days or even minutes. So if you’re interested, pay attention. “North of the border to the desert to the sea” When? October 22nd-25th Partners: Air Canada, Marriott, Rimowa, Star Alliance, United Routing: Toronto – Tucson – San Francisco Touring: Rimowa factory, Air Canada, Aircraft Maintenance And Regeneration Center, plus a United Airlines Hanger Party Miles: 2500 – 15,000 elite qualifying miles with participating airline(s) depending on class of service The new MegaDO website is up and bookings for this…
$50 Rebate on 2-Night Weekend Stays at Priority Club Hotel Properties
Intercontinental Hotels Group (includes Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, etc) will be offering $50 rebates when staying 2 consecutive weekend nights and paying by Mastercard between May 31 and September 1. Registration will be required, but the website to register is not yet working. You can earn no more than one rebate per weekend, and no more than four total per household during the promotion period. And like last time, they make the process just cumbersome enough that I suspect the intentionally are hoping people don’t fulfill all of the steps necessary to get the rebate in order to lower their fulfillment costs. You actually have to mail documents in order to claim the rebate. You send them a copy of your registration confirmation and also your hotel folio with reservation number. As with all such…
