An insider’s view, passed along without comment: [S]ince most TSA supervisors are too daft to actually supervise, bending the rules is easy to do. Did you know you don’t need a high-school diploma or GED to work as a security screener? These are the same screeners that TSA chief John Pistole and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano refer to as a first-class first line of defense in the war on terror. These are the employees who could never keep a job in the private sector. I wouldn’t trust them to walk my dog. … Most TSA screeners know their job is a complete joke. Their goal is to use this as a stepping stone to another government agency. … Supervisors play absolutely no role in day-to-day functions except to tell you not to chew gum.…
About Gary Leff
Blogs as Thought Leaders: How the World is Thinking About 2013’s Hotel Program Devaluations
USA Today offers a recap of hotel points devaluations in 2013 and focusing specifically on the big changes at Marriott and Hilton (and the less drastic changes at Starwood, like increasing the price of cash and points awards while making those awards more available). Barbara DeLollis does a great job, and so the piece is pretty accurate communicating the changes and what they mean for travelers. What I found interesting is the way that blogs have turned into thought leaders. The piece leads with Wandering Aramean’s commentary. It closes with commentary by The Points Guy. And Hilton defends itself using my analysis (while DeLollis parries back with counter arguments drawn from my post as well). Hilton’s defense to increased point requirements are two-fold. First, the changes they’re making aren’t all bad. Hilton spokesman Scott Carman…
Bits ‘n Pieces for March 12, 2013
News and Notes from Around the Interweb: Up to 40% discount on purchased United miles for 3 days only. Do airline amenity kits matter? Don’t forget to earn miles for bikinis and lingerie. Travel Summary held a reader poll and awarded View from the Wing as best overall. Through March 22, American is running a Facebook spin-to-win game where they’re awarding chances at a million miles (you’ll pay taxes) or an annual Gogo inflight wireless pass. They’re also giving away prizes of single use passes and of 100 miles. Aeroplan: 750 bonus miles per segment between Canada and 10 US airports with bookings made by March 31 for Air Canada travel in April.
When to Take Advantage of 25% Off Purchased Starwood Points
Starwood is offering up to 25% off purchased and gifted Starpoints through April 30th. Save Up to 25% on Starpoints Now Through April 30, 2013 Top off your account for less! Buy Starpoints between March 11th and April 30th, 2013 and receive up to 25% off the regular price. The more you buy, the more you save! • Buy 500–6,500 Starpoints: SAVE 15% • Buy 7,000–12,500 Starpoints: SAVE 20% • Buy 13,000–20,000 Starpoints: SAVE 25% Now let’s do the math. 20,000 Starpoints still costs you $525. That’s 2.625 cents per point. Starwood points are worth a lot, and I’ll usually get at least 2 cents per point out of my hotel redemptions. But even for ‘topping off’ towards a hotel award this is dicey. Remember, you’ll get a better deal than buying Starpoints at 2.6…
Frequent Traveler University Hotel Booking Now Available
With the April Frequent Traveler University sold out and expected to be the largest gathering ever of frequent flyers with 650 people in attendance, last I announced the next event — Frequent Traveler University Tampa, September 27-29. (Tickets are available here, and includes the Friday evening cocktail reception and lunch on both Saturday and Sunday; the Frequent Traveler University website is here.) This event will be held at the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay. A hotel booking link is now available. The group room rate is $119 per night. You can find Milepoint.com discussion of the event here.
Bits ‘n Pieces for March 11, 2013
News and notes from around the interweb: Wells Fargo Prepaid Visa cards have been a useful way to generate spending for points and bonuses. Million Mile Secrets reports that starting May 1 you’ll only be able to use Wells Fargo credit and debit cards to fund them which undermines their usefulness. Aeroplan earn up to 25,000 miles for partner activity. Deceptive pricing: Delta begins offering international fares with no changes, no retained value for cancellation, and no advance seat assignments — without the same disclosure they offer for those fares on domestic routes. Club Carlson Gold status just for signing up
80% Bonus on Virgin America Purchased Miles
Virgin America Elevate is offering an 80% bonus on purchased miles through March 20. Here’s the Virgin America buy, gift, and transfer page. You have to be logged into your account to proceed. And then when you click on purchase miles you’ll see the offer: Don’t wait to travel in style. When you buy Elevate points by March 20, 2013 you’ll get 80% more points than you bargained for. Buy Elevate points in increments of 500 up to 20,000 points per calendar year. This is a better offer than I’ve seen before for Virgin America mileage purchases, and certainly better than January’s 50% bonus. With this offer you’re paying about 2.9 cents per mile, which sounds high but Virgin America’s currency is somewhat deflated compared to most mileage programs. Virgin America’s points are worth 2.2…
Earn 10,000 Miles for Free By Funding New Bank Account With a Credit Card
Years ago it used to be possible to open Citibank checking accounts and fund the initial deposit via credit card. The charge would post as a purchase and not a cash advance (as long as you didn’t use a Citibank credit card, ha!). And there was no limit to the deposit other than your credit limit. At the same I funded a new Citibank account with my United Visa with an initial deposit of $80,000. Three times. Then they told me they didn’t want me doing that anymore. 🙂 Lots of smaller banks still let you make the initial funding of a bank account that you open online using a credit card. And much of the time those charges will post as purchases, meaning they earn miles, rather than cash advances (which not only don’t…
I’ve Decided to Ban All of My Commenters for Two Days
Or at least BoardingArea is doing that. Well, not exactly. The site is migrating over to a new server starting at 4am Eastern on Friday morning. And during that time I won’t be able to post, and you won’t be able to comment. The good news is that the move is supposed to solve some of the technical problems that folks have experienced on and off the past few months. The bad news is that I will miss you all for the 48 hours or so that this process takes. (The site will be up, you can read all you like, but no new posts or comments from Friday morning through early Sunday.) Don’t worry though, because I’ll be back with a vengeance. And I know you will be too, at least judging from recent…
You Don’t Need to Buy Frequent Traveler University Tickets at Auction…
I think we’ve created a monster. The April Frequent Traveler University in the DC area is sold out, with 650 people expected to be in attendance. Since tickets are freely transferable, I mentioned yesterday seeing a scalping offer online of $200 for a ticket (!). Now I’m seeing something that I truly never thought I would see. A Frequent Traveler University ticket up for auction on eBay. That’s why we wanted to make details known about the September event. You may not be able to buy tickets to April’s FTU, the largest frequent flyer gathering to date. But it’s not your last change to join in one of these gatherings, meet great friends, exchange tips with frequent flyers, and hear from experts. September 27-29 at the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay will be your next chance!…
