I appear in another edition of the weekly Upgrd Podcast. This time it’s listener questions: Is the standby option (via a different routing) some sort of 1K only perk? Which hotel program is best for someone residing in Canada that might not be eligible for US based credit card pomotions? What to do with United SWUs? Where to post miles after crossing 100,000 elite qualifying miles?
About Gary Leff
United Starnet Blocking Reaches New Levels of Absurdity
I realize it’s getting towards the end of a quarter. United is probably afraid of overspending its award redemption budget. So they’re massively blocking awards being offered by their Star Alliance partner airlines. When searching for awards later in June and early July: Lufthansa to Frankfurt, via Dulles, Chicago, Newark, and JFK? They’re publishing award inventory all over the place, every other Star Alliance airline besides United can book them. But United? Blocked. All Nippon Airways intra-Asia flights, from Tokyo to Bangkok and to Taipei? Blocked. Thai Airways intra-Asia flights, from Bangkok to Hong Kong and to Tokyo? Blocked. On several days both ANA and Thai are offering business class award seats on each and every one of their flights between Bangkok and Narita. United won’t book a single one of them. They see only…
Asiana First Class, Seoul – Los Angeles
4:30 pm Seoul, South Korea (ICN) to Los Angeles, CA (LAX) Asiana Flight 202 First Class Seats 4E, 4F Duration: 11h Boeing 747 5,999 miles traveled The last time I flew Asiana first class, in July 2007, we were escorted onto the plane skipping the planeside security check. This time we were subjected to it, but it was certainly polite. On boarding a flight attendant offered to assist with our bags, and to put them in the closet, but I prefer them in the overhead for easier access during flight. The cabin was full 4/10 including the two of us, and we had had no difficulty securing the two seats together in the cabin. Others have had much greater difficulty, Asiana seems to block much of their assignable seat inventory for some reason (perhaps because…
A Great Morning to Book Transatlantic Flights
It’s all over Flyertalk (in the Mileage Run Deals forum) — Delta appears to be pricing out transatlantic itineraries without fuel surcharges. New York to Zurich comes out at less than $250 roundtrip, DC to Paris at under $400 — and this in some cases during hte summer travel season. Fares are available, it seems, through the end of the schedule. Just a heads up, this won’t last.
Back to Incheon and the Asiana First Class Lounge
We asked about late checkout from the W when we checked in – by which I mean 1pm (!) – and was told they would ‘have to see’ because they were quite full. I didn’t push, and didn’t ask again, I just took late checkout and certainly they knew I was doing so as we had reserved a hotel car for 1pm. I suppose it’s possible that the hotel had become a designated conference property listed in advance with SPG for the dates in question, and I didn’t specifically rule out that possibility, but it was sufficiently unlikely that I wasn’t worried about it. We had the same driver for our return to the airport as for our pickup. He never spoke to us on the drive to the hotel, and didn’t speak to us…
5000 Delta miles for 2-day Avis Rental
Avis is offering 5000 Delta miles on car rentals of two days or more through July 31. You need to use coupon code MUAA088 and select earning Delta miles and provide your Delta frequent flyer number. The bonus can be earned up to five times.
30% Bonus on Amex Transfers to Delta
Delta is offering a 30% bonus on transfers from American Express Membership Rewards through July 31. Registration (prior to making the transfer) is required. While transfers from American Express to Delta are, in my experience, instantaneous the bonus won’t post instantly. These offers used to take several weeks before the bonus would show up, but the terms and conditions of this offer say the bonus will post in a week.
Priority Club Introduces Cash & Points Awards
Just noticed this today, Priority Club appears to be offering “Cash and Points” redemption options. When searching for an award, there’s a choice of buttons — Points Only, Points + $30, and Points +$60. Each $30 cash increment reduces the required points by 5000. Put another way, when redeeming for an award you can buy points in blocks of 5000 for 6/10ths of a cent. That’s roughly what I value points at to begin with, but it’s a nice option to leverage your points. There does appear to be the start of a Flyertalk thread on the subject, but so far it’s not done much more than notice the option is out there.
A Redemption Option I’d Like to See More Of
Chase, which issues the United Visa, is sponsoring a redemption option. 5000 miles per person buys you a 5-course dinner with wine and conversation with the chef. A Night at Aureole Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, Las Vegas Thursday, July 30, 2009, 7:00 p.m. Your unique dining event includes: * Wine reception with passed hors d’oeuvre * Five-course dinner prepared by Chef Charlie Palmer, one of the most highly regarded chefs in America today * Wine pairings from the prestigious Sonoma County winery – Papapietro Perry * Tableside discussion of the menu and pairings from Chef Palmer and Winemaker Ben Papapietro This special evening is available to select Mileage Plus Visa cardmembers for just 5,000 miles per person. As of this writing there are 37 seats left. I have no problem flying for a meal.…
W Seoul Walker Hill
Hotel: W Seoul – Walkerhill 21 Gwangjang Dong, Gwangjin Gu Seoul 143 708 Korea Phone: (82)(2) 465 2222 Fax: (82)(2) 450 4989 Cash & Points Rate There wasn’t much traffic out of Incheon and I was hopeful, but I was leaving the airport around 6pm on a Friday and that couldn’t possibly yield a quick trip. On the other hand, I was heading into Seoul and not out, I thought perhaps that would help. And indeed it did, the traffic in the other direction was worse, but while the freeway was pretty clear for the first part of the trip once we crossed the river we were pretty much in a standstill. In all, the drive took about 100 minutes. Someone was immediately available to assist with our bags, and I walked up to the…
