As I posted yesterday, United is ending 500-mile upgrade certificates and going to unlimited complimentary upgrades. This change on its own is on the whole good for 1K (100,000 mile) flyers. They won’t have limited free upgrades, having to pick and choose which domestic flights to use them on. It’s not good for lower-tiered elites, who will now have to compete against 100,000-mile flyers (and Global Services members) on every flight. Unsurprisingly, though, this change comes along with some other tweaking which is not good. As speculated yesterday, confirmed regional upgrades go away. Currently 1K members get up to 8 of these a year (promotions aside) and they’re good for confirming a domestic (including Hawaii) upgrade at time of booking from any fare. While there are no more 500 mile upgrades to worry about, there…
About Gary Leff
AwardWallet: Ask And Ye Shall Receive – Additional Programs Supported
Over the weekend I reviewed what I consider the 3 best services for tracking your miles and points: Miletracker, Mileage Manage, and Award Wallet. I noted the limitation of Award Wallet that: They support most of the major programs, to be sure, but they still need to add several — I can’t check my ANA or Mexicana balance with Award Wallet yet, and I can’t check Diners Club Well it appears that they’ve already added All Nippon Airways along with several others — China Airlines, Virgin Blue, Polynesian Blue, Pacific Blue, V Australia, Turkish Airlines, and Aeromexico. I also pointed out to them by email a glitch where they weren’t always showing an expiration date for Alaska Airlines. They let me know they’ve fixed that as well. I could still use Mexicana and Diners Club…
If Hotels Were Like Aid Agencies
Following Jonathan Rauch’s If Air Travel Worked Like Health Care, NYU’s Bill Easterly offers If Hotels Were Aid Agencies… Me: Hello, I have a reservation for this evening, for a non-smoking room with one double bed. Hotel: Yes, the Hotel Reconstruction and Development Bank has approved an Overnight Accomodation and Poverty Reduction (OAPR) grant for this purpose. Me: So can I have my room please? Hotel: The OAPR committed the room, but in order for the room to be disbursed you have to present an Overnight Accomodation and Poverty Reduction plan, to be approved by our board. Here is the OAPR Preparation Guidelines and Best Practices Sourcebook (hands over thousand page document). (hours later) Me: Thanks for approving my OAPR plan, now can I have my key? Hotel: The OAPR is a collaborative effort involving…
Double Points on Virgin America
Register, book by October 18, and travel by December 15 for double Virgin America Elevate points.
United to Move to Unlimited Complimentary Elite Domestic Upgrades Second Quarter of 2010
Lucky beat me to the punch. United, under the signature of Robert Sahadevan who is Vice President for Mileage Plus, announced on Flyertalk that they will be moving to ‘unlimited complimentary domestic upgrades for elites’ beginning in the second quarter of next year. United, along with American, has retained the 500-mile upgrade system where flying earns domestic upgrade certificates that can be redeemed for future travel. Since you had to fly 10,000 miles on United or United Express to earn 2,000 miles worth of upgrades, many heavily domestic flying elites found themselves either purchasing more 500-mile upgrades or sitting in coach some portion of the time. American offers unlimited complimentary upgrades to their 100,000 mile flyers. United will now offer them to all elites, joining the majority of the industry. This will mean several things.…
20% Discount on United Domestic and Canada Coach Awards
Through October 19, for travel between January 10 and April 30, 2010, United is offering roundtrip awards in the U.S. and between the U.S. and Canada for just 20,000 miles instead of the usual 25,000. The offer applies to flights on United and United Express only, no partners, and the award must be booked online. April 1, 2, and 5 are blacked out for this discount. A pretty sure sign that the airline is seeing light bookings for the start of next year, at least after the busy leisure travel holiday season ends.
Recurring Bad Advice on How to Secure an Upgrade
TripBase offers upgrade advice from Jonathan Marks, a global investment banker and frequent flier has an envious track record of bagging flight upgrades. He’s agreed to share his secrets, helping us to reach that first class cabin! There are a million of these silly upgrade articles out there, why am I bothering to comment on this one? Because I got pitched the post, they wanted me to link to it. I was going to ignore it but I htought I would take stab number 72 at putting the silliness to bed. As usual there’s a kernal of truth, but on the whole the advice is msileading at best. Ah the elusive flight upgrade. Everyone wants one but noone knows how. Read on for my upgrade secrets, guaranteed to improve your chances of flying like a…
Travel Bloggers Offering Travel Services
The Washington Times today carries a piece on travel services offered by bloggers. The piece highlights two: my award booking service and CrankyFlier‘s Cranky Concierge. For $30 (for a domestic itinerary), Brett Snyder will search for the best fares and offer you advice on booking the best onboard product, monitor your flight and assist during irregular operations, and provide any necessary post-trip followup. Basically he’ll act as a really good travel agent and then some, and at a reasonable price. Brett’s services aren’t aimed at me but at his price point I think they’d be great for a regular business traveler without a travel department for instance. Now, my services are more expensive than Brett’s as the Times piece notes. But I think the article conflates what we’re offering a bit. My services are rather…
What Should I Post On My Blog, Versus On Twitter?
Do you prefer to read the blog, grab the RSS feed of the blog, or follow me on Twitter? And what do you think I ought to be writing on my blog, versus on twitter? As I mentioned last month, I’ve been ‘tweeting’ (and even getting a bit of recognition for it!). Thus far Twitter gets a feed of my blog posts, so it’s a decent way to keep up on the deals and advice I offer here. And I post some minor deals and thoughts that don’t seem to ‘rise to the level’ of a blog post. For example I just tweeted a US Airways magazine sweepstakes for Bose Quiet Comfort 15 headphones. If it was a free set for everyone who signs up, I’d have blogged it, but… Since I’m just figuring out…
Hilton 25% Discount Through the End of the Year
The Hilton 25% discount for Visa Signature cardholders has been extended through December 31. Back in June I posted the following offer: First they ask you to authenticate with the first 8 digits of a Visa signature or Visa infinite card, and then they take you to a booking page. The 25% discount is off of the Best Available Rate rate plan, which of course may not be the best available rate. Still, on a few random tests it appeared to be the lowest price room – lower than advance purchase rates and this rate is cancellable per the reservation’s cancellation deadline and not prepaid. The rules do require payment at the hotel to be made with a qualifying Visa card, though that’s like a “your mileage may vary” requirement. Glad to see it’s still…
