(This is a Continuation of “Trip Report – A Private Jet Experience: Alone in First Class on ANA and Thai, Plus Singapore First, a Suite, a Villa, and Some Incredible Food Porn”) After departing the JetQuay terminal, our driver took us to the hotel. He took a moment to call them and let the property know we were on the way. I sort of expected that would mean they would know who we were as we walked into the property, but that wasn’t the case. On arrival I walked into the hotel lobby. The entrance is to a small area with a bell desk and check-in desks, a rather unimpressive area. Off to the right you’ll find the full lobby of the hotel which is far nicer. It was after 2am and I was looking…
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JetQuay Planeside Pickup in Singapore
(This is a Continuation of “Trip Report – A Private Jet Experience: Alone in First Class on ANA and Thai, Plus Singapore First, a Suite, a Villa, and Some Incredible Food Porn”) My wife’s parents are taking a cruise next month in Asia, and they begin their trip in Singapore. They’re not seasoned international travelers and I’ve wanted everything to go as smoothly for them as possible. I have them booked in Cathay Pacific First Class to Singapore via Hong Kong using Alaska Airlines miles, and decided to have them picked up and taken to their hotel, the Intercontinental Singapore. I chose the Intercontinental because the best bang for buck for someone without status, at least when I booked for them, was the Intercontinental friends and family rate for a club level room. Now, if…
Singapore Airlines First Class, Tokyo – Singapore
(This is a Continuation of “Trip Report – A Private Jet Experience: Alone in First Class on ANA and Thai, Plus Singapore First, a Suite, a Villa, and Some Incredible Food Porn”) Last weekend I began a trip report on my recent mileage redemption vacation to South Asia. Here’s my flight to Chicago, and the greatest airport hotel I’ve ever stayed in, the Intercontinental O’Hare. And here’s my flight in All Nippon First Class where we were the only ones in the forward cabin. After landing in Tokyo we headed over to the ANA “Suites Lounge” nearest to the Singapore gate. First it was through transit security, where we were asked to show boarding passes for our onward flight. I was happy to have printed my Singapore boarding pass at the Intercontinental O’Hare before departing…
BankDirect Mileage Earning Program Changes and Improved Signup Bonus
I’m a big fan of BankDirect, I’ve written about it in the past such as here, they’ve hosted my primary checking account since July 2003. I’ve found the customer service excellent and the value proposition compelling. I get 100 American Airlines miles for every thousand dollars of average balance each month, which in a low interest rate environment is a pretty good rate of return (and unlike Citibank, they don’t 1099 the miles). As long as I keep an average balance of $2500 in the account I’m avoiding fees. They reimburse my out-of-network ATM fees and give me postage-paid envelopes for mailing in deposits. Yesterday I received a letter explaining changes to their program. They’re capping mileage earning for some very large depositors (hint: it won’t affect me at all!) and they’re upping their new…
Earn 18 US Airways Miles Per Dollar for Travel Purchases
Booking Buddy is a participant in the US Airways Skymall portal and they are offering 18 miles per dollar spent. Not sure how I missed this a couple of weeks back, other than that I was in the air enroute back from Asia when it was posted on Milepoint. A $500 ticket is worth 9000 US Airways miles. As Keri pointed out to me, a W (systemwide upgrade-eligible) fare on United to Sydney for $1300 will get you enough miles for a free domestic coach ticket. BookingBuddy is a free service designed to help travelers search all their favorite travel websites with fewer clicks and in less time. And restrictions? There aren’t any: Restrictions There are no restrictions at this time. The site offers air, hotel, and car reservations. It’s hard to imagine earning 18…
Marriott Comes Forward with List of Hotels Changing Award Categories on March 8
I gave Marriott a very hard time over the weekend for announcing that hundreds of properties would be going up in rewards category, requiring more points, on March 8 — but not telling us which ones. Loyalty Traveler reports that Marriott has made good and announced which properties will be moving up (and which will be moving down). He’s got the full list. Making these details available less than a week before the price changes doesn’t really satisfy me, but it’s still huge progress, in the recent past Marriott hasn’t announced which hotels would change categories in advance at all. Let’s hope they keep this precedent, and provide more notice going forward as well.
Free Award Wallet Premium for New Registrants
I’ve reviewed the various mileage management tools in the past, mentioned my favorites here on this blog and in various media, and the one that I use is Award Wallet. Now, there are certainly others on the scene, the folks at Mileage Manager have a tool that helps you find award seats for redemption and will keep checking the websites of your programs to let you know when seats open up. And Using Miles is a new service that I’ve heard good things about and may have promise, but I really haven’t fully vetted yet. But as I say, I’ve been happiest to date with Award Wallet. They have a free service that tracks the balances on all of your accounts, and their coverage across programs is really extensive even including the rental car and…
Bits and Pieces for March 2
Some things to be aware of: Diners Club is offering a 50% bonus on transfers to British Airways through May 2. (HT: lucky) I usually like to keep my points flexible and don’t get tempted by transfer offers. But with all of the transfer partners that have left the Club Rewards program over the years, I haven’t redeemed Diners Club points in probably four years. They do have some oddball partners that could be useful in the future, but I may still go in for this one — especially since through end of March I can pair it with the 40% bonus for transferring Amex points to British Airways. American Express Centurion (Black Card) members now receive Delta Platinum status rather than just Gold. This is effective as of yesterday and should already show up…
Chicago Seminar DO Scheduled for October 29-30
Last October I gave three talks at the Chicago Seminar DO (see here and here), a weekend-long event with talks on mileage running, getting the most of hotel and rental car programs, and my own talks on booking frequent flyer awards, benefits of the Star Alliance and easiest ways to qualify towards elite status, and taking best advantage of mistake deals. I’ll be speaking again at the next one, which has now been scheduled for October 29-30. Last year about 500 people attended, and they completely sold out the host hotel and had two overflow hotels. The event hotel will again be the Holiday Inn Elk Grove Village, bookable here. I’m told this link is the only way to secure a reservation for the nights of the event, that the hotel is completely blcoked for…
Voting Has Launched for the 2011 Frequent Traveler Awards
Voting has begun for the Frequent Traveler Awards, and will be open for the month of March. The Frequent Traveler Awards fill an important niche. Instead of awards bestowed by a group of self-appointed experts, the Frequent Traveler Awards represent the collective judgment of the traveling public. Instead of an award for best airline product or nicest resort hotel, the Frequent Traveler Awards represent the best in loyalty programs. When voting ends on March 31, real travelers will have spoken. Last year nearly one million frequent travelers participated in the voting. And on April 28 at Citi Field in New York we’ll all know which programs are the best. (Last year’s award ceremony was an amazing night.) There are a handful of changes to this year’s balloting. The Frequent Traveler Awards are divided into (3)…
