Columnist Christopher Elliott has been trashing miles and points, and also business travelers. As he describes it on twitter, @garyleff just a quiet morning back home, comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable. Tell that to reader Cheryl W. who emails, I have been an avid reader of your blog for about a year and I was fanagaling (yiddish) frequent flier points to work to my advantage before I read your blog. I wanted to thank you for continuously writing about frequent fliers. I was shocked and amused to read about what Christopher Elliott was writing. Though I am aware your blog is targeted to business travelers, as a person with a low income I have put your informative blog to better personal use. I am a teacher and my husband is currently unemployed. We…
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Hertz Weekend Rentals for Under $5+tax Per Day Through End of Year
Here’s how it works: Hertz has weekend rates from $14.95 (plus taxes) per day. These rates seem to work in combination with at least some CDP numbers (discount codes) such as AAA rates. This step won’t save very much for most if booking a $15 rate, so can be skippable. Coupon code 176396 takes off $10 per day (up to $40 per rental). This coupon is valid through December 31. (HT: Calvin) Hertz has discount codes (“CDP”) which can sometimes be combined with coupons (“PC”). This doesn’t have to be used with a cheap weekend rate to be useful. The key points here are that there’s a $10 off per day coupon code which works through end of year and which seems to also work in conjunction with discount (CDP) codes.
TV Coverage for the Star MegaDO
Television’s The List covers the recent Star MegaDO frequent flyer trip in a two-minute segment:
British Airways Visa 100,000 Point Signup Bonus is Back
The British Airways Visa 100,000 mile signup bonus offer is back, and in a similar format (and with similar spending thresholds) as was offered in the spring. 50,000 points after $1000 spend within 3 months 25,000 more points after $10,000 spend within a year 25,000 more points after the second $10,000 spend within a year I don’t like Avios. That’s because I prefer using miles for premium cabin long haul international travel — precisely what has become exceptionally expensive under this program. For instance you’ll spend twice as many Avios points flying to South Africa in first class as you will points in United’s program. Avios are quite good for short-haul non-stop economy awards. That’s not how I like to use my miles. (You can avoid exorbitant fuel surcharges imposed by the program by flying…
American’s Creditors Who Don’t Have a Say Want to Toss at Least One Member of the Airline’s Board. And Hope That Means a Pilots Contract.
A group of bondholders at American Airlines who do not have a seat on the creditors committee in the airline’s bankruptcy say they want a new Board of Directors if the airline emerges as a standalone entity. A letter detailing their position was posted on the airline’s pilots union website, presumably to help convince the pilots to vote for a new labor agreement that’s been put forward. The idea being that even if they want to spite current management, don’t worry about it, forces are at work to remove management. Doesn’t seem like especially strong forces to me, but whatever brings labor peace at the airline I suppose. The bondholders’ letter says, “This letter provides APA with the benefit of a written commitment by the ad hoc group stating it will not agree to a…
United is Combining Computer Systems — Again.
United is combining computer systems again, and this time the legacy United system wins! UnitedCargo.com will combine both United and former Continental flights onto one system on December 1. United Cargo will transition all our customer accounts and cargo capacity onto the legacy United system effective December 1. And this actually matters to you, even if you don’t ship things with United Cargo (which most readers of this blog certainly do not). Airline cargo websites often display different and more accurate flight status information, the United website was especially good for this. In the event of irregular operations, the airline might tell you the passenger that the cause is weather-related (and thus you’re owed very little consideration) but the United Cargo site would actually cite a specific operational reason for the delay. Having that information…
United Sues Complaint Website Untied.com
The Chicago Tribune reports that United is suing Jeremy Cooperstock who owns the customer complaint website Untied.com for trademark infringement. The lawsuit is in Canadian court (Cooperstock lives in Canada) and I don’t know the first thing about Canada’s intellectual property laws. So I won’t express an opinion on the legal merits of the case. I first stumbled upon the website in a trade publication in the late 1990s, though I imagine there are folks who simply misspell United and wind up there. Certainly looking at some of the complaints logged on the site it appears as though some people think they are writing to United (and the site did set things up to facilitate that). The site was redesigned in April (a month after the United.com website was made to look like Continental.com re-designed).…
New Bath Amenities Finally Coming to Hyatt: KenetMD Just Days Away
Last year I wrote that Hyatt had selected KenetMD to replace Portico’s White Ginger as its standard bath amenities. I then followed up that breaking the news was premature, it was the likely choice but Hyatt was still doing testing before final sign off. And these things, apparently, move slowly. Because it took 16 months. Now the Wall Street Journal‘s Scott McCartney writes that the changeover will take place on Saturday (although no doubt some hotels will continue to burn through existing stock after that). On Saturday, the company will change to new brands of bathroom products tested on women for its properties world-wide. Hyatt Regency Hotels in North America, for instance, will carry KenetMD Skin Care products instead of the Portico products they use now. This revelation was part of a larger piece on…
Albany Deputy Sheriff Sticks Up for the Right to Film at Security Checkpoints
Jonathan B. passes along a video of two people passing out flyers this past Friday about TSA opt out procedures. The Albany airport authority tries to shut down them and stops their filming. And the officer at the scene refuses to help. When the airport authority is told by the police that the activists are within their rights, the tact changes to insistence that a permit is required along with $1 million in insurance, and then that the upstairs portion of the terminal is being closed except for ticketed passengers only. I’m not sure what was accomplished here, except perhaps that the Albany airport may have been reminded that filming is permitted at the checkpoint, or at least that it is not against TSA policy to film there (as long as the screening process isn’t…
Bits ‘n Pieces for November 28, 2012
News and notes from around the interweb: Are Christopher Elliott’s rants about miles and points sexist? Some frequent flyer programs allow ‘family pooling’ of miles, this is a feature offered by some European and Asian programs and is especially common in the Middle East. It turns out that Delta offers something similar for Asia Pacific members only, and they charge for it. Japan Airlines is now serving KFC in coach and premium economy on several long haul routes. Miles for joining a gym: 1500 Virgin America points for joining Crunch in New York, Los Angeles, or San Francisco. 20 Free Points and Double Points Through February 28 with Enterprise Rent-a-Car.
