New TrueBlue members who join and credit their first roundtrip JetBlue flight by June 19, 2013 will receive 7500 bonus points. The offer is valid for new members only (not surprisingly), registration is required prior to ticket purchase (“Offer not valid for previously booked flights or changes to a previously-booked flight.”), and TrueBlue number must be entered at the time of purchase. Tickets purchased as awards or with travel certificates don’t count, either. The 7500 points are worth about $90 towards travel, which in some markets means a free one-way ticket. Sadly this new signup bonus seems to have appeared the day after the last day to book tickets and earn quadruple points, so the two offers aren’t stackable. (HT: The Flight Deal)
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Hyatt Extends 1000 Point Check-in Amenity Choice Worldwide
It’s been rumored quite a bit recently, with some reports that Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond members were being offered 1000 points as their check-in amenity in Asia and in Europe. But now it’s been officially announced. Dear MilePoint members, As a Diamond member you may have recently experienced something new with our Diamond welcome amenity. What’s new? At Park Hyatt®, Grand Hyatt®, Hyatt® Hyatt Regency® and Andaz® locations outside the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean, Diamond members now have a choice of welcome amenity. Diamond members can choose either a food and beverage amenity (locally inspired amenity at Andaz hotels) or 1,000 Hyatt Gold Passport® bonus points. What remains the same? At Park Hyatt, Grand Hyatt, Hyatt and Hyatt Regency locations in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean, Diamond members can continue to select a…
Special Ground Assistance at the Airport – for Famous People and Anyone With a Credit Card
Scott Mayerowitz runs an Associated Press story on airport VIP service. Now, with the masses clogging up special security and boarding lanes, true VIPs are saying: Get me away from this chaos. And the airlines are listening. .. airlines are focusing on easing the misery of airports for their highest-paying customers and giving them a truly elite experience. At a growing number of airports, special agents will meet these celebrities, high-powered executives and wealthy vacationers at the curb and will privately escort them from check-in to security to boarding. US carriers don’t rival the sorts of ground services provided by Lufthansa’s First Class Terminal, by Thai in Bangkok, or available for purchase in places like Singapore. Thai VIP services buggy Driving through Singapore Changi in a JetQuay buggy But they do offer it. American offers…
Flying Blue 50% Off Mileage Awards for May/June Travel Posted
Air France KLM’s Flying Blue program has posted details of its 50% off promo awards for travel in May and June which will be bookable starting April 29. You can book discounted awards for travel between specific cities in North America and all of Europe. (Promo awards also include travel between Europe and other regions of the world, but here I focus just on North America where most of my readers are — sorry folks reading in South America and Asia!) The only cities offering discounted business class are: Chicago to and from Europe via Amsterdam on KLM Montreal to and from Europe via Paris on Air France New York JFK to and from Europe via Madrid on Air Europa (twice-weekly service) These can be booked from the starting cities above to any destination in…
Great Deal on Noise Cancelling Headphones
Amazon’s Gold Box deal of the day has the SOUL by Ludacris SL300WB High Definition Noise Canceling Headphones for $99, marked down from $299. Gold Box Deal of the Day: Up to 65% Off Select SOUL Headphones These headphones deliver incredible sound with a stylish punch. The SL300WB features world class noise-canceling technology combined with advanced circuitry design for powerful sound quality. The SL150BW offers an advanced driver and circuitry design for clear bass, mids and highs. Offer good today only, April 11, 2013. These are well-regarded headphones that should offer similar performance to the much more expensive Bose QuietComforts which are the ‘frequent flyer standard’. And I imagine that at this price they’d also be re-sellable once the deal of the day ends, at a minimum for break-even but potentially even at a profit.…
Return to the Maldives: Kooddoo-Male-Abu Dhabi, Maldivian and Etihad Business Class
Trip Report Index: Introducing and Strategy New York JFK – Abu Dhabi, Etihad First Class Park Hyatt Dubai Touring the Burj al Arab Tea at the Burj al Arab Abu Dhabi – Male, Etihad Business Class Male – Kaadedhdhoo, Maldivian and Transfer to the Park Hyatt Park Hyatt Hadahaa Maldives Kooddoo-Male-Abu Dhabi, Maldivian and Etihad Business Class Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi – Dusseldorf – London, Etihad First Class and British Airways Club Europe London Heathrow – San Francisco, British Airways New First Class The hotel needed us out of our room at 2pm to arrange for new arriving guests Last year we kept our room until the very last minute with a mid-afternoon departure, but with the hotel at 100% occupancy that wasn’t possible for this trip. So they offered to move us…
American and US Airways Make Their Merger Case: What Will Change in a Combined Airline?
Tom Horton (CEO of American) and Doug Parker (CEO of US Airways) visited the New York Times to talk up the pending merger between the two airlines. The ensuing piece by Stephanie Rosenbloom lays out many of the issues and concerns flyers have about a combination of the two airlines, and offers a fairly nuanced, balanced, and dare I say reasonable take on what’s likely to happen. I’ll begin with the ending, a quote from yours truly summarizing what consumers can expect from the merger. “We have no reason to believe right now that there’s anything dire or scary in this,” Mr. Leff said of the merger. I explained that I preferred American as a standalone carrier because as a consumer and an elite member of their program, I like the premium focus that American…
Alaska Airlines Introduces One-Way Partner Awards on British Airways
Alaska Airlines began to introduce long-anticipated one-way awards on partners on March 20th. This was a huge development, because while Alaska Airlines is a hugely flexible program — partnering with many of the airlines in both Skyteam and oneworld — and thus a good place especially for the infrequent flyer to credit flights they take on American and on Delta (since those miles get pooled towards earning rewards faster), the program was also really limited because if you wanted to redeem on partners you couldn’t mix and match them. You had to fly the same partner both ways, and that’s not always available. You could not do American one way and British Airways the other to make an award work. The initial roll out of one-way partner awards was pretty limited — just American Airlines…
Front Desk Agents Who Hate Us Because We’re Beautiful (or Our Elite Status Cards Are)
The hardest part of any hotel elite program is ensuring consistent delivery of benefits at the check-in counter. The greatest failure point comes from relying on thousands of front desk agents being well-trained, well-motivated, and even relies on their not having a bad day. While most airline benefits are computerized, most hotel benefits rely on a person to deliver. Starwood has removed some of the human element with its Suite Night Upgrades for Platinums who stay 50 or more nights — 10 room nights a year where members can have an upgrade confirmed up to 5 days in advance, this is assigned by computer based on published room inventory, removing much of the discretion from the process. And Hyatt goes even farther, though the upgrades are requested and confirmed by humans it’s done in advance…
Return to the Maldives: Park Hyatt Hadahaa Maldives
Trip Report Index: Introducing and Strategy New York JFK – Abu Dhabi, Etihad First Class Park Hyatt Dubai Touring the Burj al Arab Tea at the Burj al Arab Abu Dhabi – Male, Etihad Business Class Male – Kaadedhdhoo, Maldivian and Transfer to the Park Hyatt Park Hyatt Hadahaa Maldives Kooddoo-Male-Abu Dhabi, Maldivian and Etihad Business Class Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi – Dusseldorf – London, Etihad First Class and British Airways Club Europe London Heathrow – San Francisco, British Airways New First Class I stayed at this hotel in 2012 and wrote a three part series on the property (here, here, and here). It’s the only resort I’ve been to that while I was leaving I was talking about wanting to return, and where I made plans to do so not long after…
