bmi Diamond Club is increasing the cost of first class award redemptions by 25% effective May 1. First Class award flights Miles only Miles plus Cash Current x 2 Miles x2 Cash x2 From 1 May 2009 x 2.5 Miles x2.5 Cash x2.5 In addition to charging 2.5 times the miles (instead of double) for first class compared to coach, whether for an all-miles or a cash and points award, they are also imposing a 10,000 mile surcharge each way for Lufthansa First Class. It’s not 100% clear whether this applies to both all-miles itineraries or to cash and points itineraries as well. If the latter that would actually be an improvement, because currently cash and points awards cannot include Lufthansa First Class. My assumption is that there’s too much availability in Lufthansa first, the it’s…
About Gary Leff
Westin Maui
I was recently at the Westin Maui, which is a lovely property but hardly for me. I knew exactly what to expect and the hotel absolutely lived up to expectations. It’s a large upscale (though not luxury) property on the beach in Maui. In general I’m not a fan of 700-plus room resorts. Of course, the island of Maui itself is quite beautiful. The Westin Maui is a factory. It’s a lovely physical property right on the beach, with a network of several pools. Despite taking up much geography with their pools, on a busy weekend there are never enough lounge chairs. Guests arrive down at the pool area at 8am or so, put out their towels and maybe a book, and then depart for the better part of the day. The hotel has a…
I’m Getting Sick and Tired of United’s Approach to Transcon Upgrades
There are 18 open first class seats on the seatmap of a mid-day 757 (the flight shows F9). It’s within the 1K upgrade window. It’s within the Premier Executive upgrade window. There were no upgrade seats available before the 1K window, and there still aren’t. Do they really expect to sell possibly 75% of the cabin in the next 3 days? Sometime around August of last year United just about stopped making advance upgrade inventory available on its flighs between Washington-Dulles and California. There’s the occasional flight with a solo upgrade seat, the occasional redeye with more than one, but advance upgrades on transcons seem to be a thing of the past to and from DC. Connecting flights, e.g. Dulles or National to the West Coast via Chicago or Denver, are much more confirmable in…
Free Choice Hotels Gold Status
Choice Privileges is offering complimentary gold status just for signing up, plus 500 bonus Delta miles with your first stay. Gold is their first tier of elite status, usually obtained after 10 nights in a calendar year, and isn’t particularly rich in offers (though it’s easier to redeem Choice award nights as a Gold). I’m not particularly keen on staying at Choice properties most of the time, my own personal preference, but a hat tip to the lovely partner hotel redemptions that they offer.
The End of the Meaningful Best Rate Guarantee
Wyndham’s generous best rate guarantee, offering a free hotel night when you find a lower price for one of their properties on a competitor website, is ending March 31. Apparently beginning April 1 they will only give you a 10% discount. Goodbye meaningful best rate guarantee. I wasn’t a big Days Inn and Ramada free night guy myself, but I know that many benefited greatly from this program. Now their offer is pretty toothless, more or less on par with competitor chain offerings (some of which are a little richer, offering choice of points instead of a discount – useful when staying on someone else’s dime).
Dulles and Reagan National Propose a Tax on Hotel Shuttles
Upgrade: Travel Better has the story on my local airport authority run amok. They don’t like consumers choosing airport hotel ‘park and fly’ rates, they lose revenue, and so they’re going to require the hotels to pay to pick up and drop off passengers at the airport. The authority will hold two public hearings next month on a proposal to adopt, “with the full force and effect of law,” a requirement that area hotels pay a $2.50 fee every time a hotel shuttle picks up passengers at Ronald Reagan National or Washington Dulles International airports. The reason for the fee: “In effect, by offering competitive off-airport parking and providing courtesy service to the airport’s primary curbs, local hotels are diverting a portion of revenue that would otherwise be received by the Airports Authority through either…
1000 Northwest Miles for Shopping Through Their Portal
Northwest Worldperks is offering (registration required) 1000 miles for shopping through their portal if you haven’t done so in the past 3 years. Any single purchase made through March 31 should qualify, so either make a purchase through them that would have otherwise been made or find yourself a truly inexpensive ($1ish) item, or buy a gift card with free shipping for something you’ll spend on later. Purchases from FTD, Teleflora’s Flower Club, 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Bose, Sealy, 1-800WINE.COM and Vinesse do not count towards the bonus. If you aren’t sure whether you’re eligible because you don’t know whether you’ve made a purchase through the Northwest mileage mall during the past three years, don’t worry. Northwest knows — if you aren’t eligible for the promotion it won’t let you register. So go ahead with the registration, you’ll…
Starwood Cash & Points Availability Search Glitch
Starwood Preferred Guest’s website gets a lot of criticism, including from me. I’m frequently frustrated that it won’t display all reservations, especially if the reservation involves an upgraded room or if the hotel has touched or modified the reservation in some way. Detail on points posted to your account is limited as well, my own biggest frustration being that any given Platinum 500 point amenity doesn’t ever appear linked to a property so it’s difficult to track down missing point or to tell Starwood if a particular set of points are missing from a given stay. That said, the website is much improved. I like their hotel search function that shows availability on a single screen for lowest cash price, award availability, and availability for cash and points. (I do wish SPG50 rate plan availability…
No More Miles for Amex Travelers Checks
Frugal Travel Guy reports that effective April 2, American Express travelers checks will no longer earn miles. May she rest in peace.
Mistake Rate Stay at the Hilton Barbados
Back at the beginning of March, Hilton.com had several Carribean and South American properties pricing out at full rate for New Year’s Eve but then at $0 for all nights booked thereafter. It was a glitch, and one that folks at Hilton apparently didn’t realize existed for at least a couple of months. Not long after booking the rates corrected on the Hilton website, with the $0 rates being replaced by the originally-intended full prices. The deal was flagged for me by a co-worker, and I made the commitment not to share it broadly such as posting it on my blog or on Flyertalk. He was taking the trip for his anniversary and I didn’t want to jeopardize the deal. Two and a half months after booking the Hilton Barbados (among other possible properties were…
