Took the US Airways Shuttle up to LaGuardia, and I had to lug a whole bunch of stuff along – actually wound up checking a bag. Now here’s the rub. With the new baggage fees, US Airways actually makes it difficult to credit miles to their program. My Dividend Miles number was in the reservation, and they couldn’t waive the baggage fees simply by my showing my Star Alliance Gold card. The agent insisted the elite number has to be in the reservation. “Ok, but I just thought I’d save US Airways the money buying miles from another program… I gave them another frequent flyer program, they waived the baggage fee, and then I changed the frequent flyer number back at the customer service counter by the gate (there was no time to visit the…
About Gary Leff
United Mileage Plus is Still Worth It.. Sort of
One Mile at a Time wonders whether Mileage Plus is ‘worth it’ anymore, with their much more expensive award charts (post-December 31) and extensive Starnet blocking of partner awards (just go try to book anything on Lufthansa most days). And he’s right to a certain extent, United has massively devalued their mileage. And most Star Alliance carriers offer more valuable currency. United’s award chart used to be favorable, but now is average at best. Air Canada’s is better, US Airways’ is better. And United frequently prevents you from booking awards with their partners, whereas the rest of Star Alliance carriers offer currencies without such restrictions. But that doesn’t mean there’s no more value there. It makes sense to credit flight miles to United to requalify for 1K (or until one requalifies). Because United 1K and…
AA.com 10% Discount for Bookings by Tomorrow
American is celebrating 10,000 Facebook fans by offering 10% off flights booked by May 17. In celebration of reaching 10,000 fans, we want to give you 10%* off your next flight. Just go to AA.com and type the code FCB10K in the box titled “promotion code” when you book a flight. The code is good for travel between May 15 and August 31, 2009, and you can even use it to take an extra 10% off the great sale fares we announced yesterday. But hurry – this offer is only good until May 17, 2009 Blackout dates are June 27-28, 2009 and July 2-6, 2009.
Register for a Free Mystery Bonus from United
So United says they’re going to give away a small bonus to everyone following them when they hit 10,000 followers on Twitter. My guess is it’s a 10% discount electronic certificate, or 100 or 250 miles. But who knows? You can sign up to follow them.. or not. Apparently all that is required to get the bonus is to register for it, which should work even if you don’t follow them on (or even are a member of) Twitter. But since they’ve still as of this writing got over 5000 followers to go, you might as well follow them so that I can get my bonus faster…
Podcast Discussing the Minutest Details of First Class Award Travel
I’m a guest on the new Upgrd.com Podcast, give it a listen.
Lufthansa First Class: Ho Chi Minh City to Bangkok
9:10 pm Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (SGN) to Bangkok, Thailand (BKK) Lufthansa Flight 773 First Class Seats 83H, 83K Duration: 1h 30m Boeing 747-400 461 miles traveled Since we had a late flight, I asked about 6pm checkout but was told that would incur a half-night’s charge. But they extended 5pm checkout complimentarily, and offered that we could enjoy the evening h’or douerves in the lounge rather than leaving for the airport straight away, but we we decided we’ve rather be off. We caught a cab to the airport and despite significant traffic (it took better than an hour) the cost was ~ US$8. We entered the terminal just as Lufthansa was about to open its counters, all of the staff were huddled in a meeting while passengers began to queue. It was rather…
In and Around Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City Tour: Based on a recommendation from Flyertalk I emailed Tony with Ann Tours to arrange a driver and guide for the day. A full day guide, driver, and vehicle including entrance fees where applicable was US$90, prepaid by credit card. We were picked up as planned at 10am in the lobby of the Sheraton, and packed most of the well-known city sights into the day. Specifically the Presidential palace, War Remnant museum, Notre Dame cathedral, Central post office, Emperor of Jade pagoda, the museum of alternative medicine,, a couple of markets, and had our lunch at a Pho restaurant down on Pasteur street. Very happy with the guide, and would use Ann Tours again (they have an office in Hanoi as well). Palace Post office: Market: Lunch time! In addition to…
Sheraton Saigon Hotel & Towers
Hotel: Sheraton Saigon Hotel & Towers 88 Dong Khoi Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam Phone: (84)(8) 827 2828 Fax: (84)(8) 827 2929 The hotel Mercedes pulled into the driveway, a porter hopped into action, and we walked into the hotel lobby. Didn’t get much of a feel for the lobby, though, because a hotel staff member intercepted us and asked me, “Are you mr. gleff?” She guided us directly to the right of the entrance to the bank of Towers elevators. She had our room keys in her hand and brought us to our suite to check in. All formalities were taken care of there, bags were promptly delivered, and she showed us the room and explained Towers benefits. Now, a quick word about how we wound up in a Towers suite…
American Express Membership Rewards Raises Points Transfer Fee
This Flyertalk thread points to an American Express Membership Rewards change that I had somehow missed — beginning September 1, the fee to transfer points from Membership Rewards to US airline frequent flyer programs will be going up. Amex currently charges $0.0005 per point to transfer to US carriers, and caps the fee at $75. This will go up to $0.0006 or $99 beginning September 1. For a 100,000 mile transfer the fee is $50, going up to $60, a 20% increase. They describe the fee as an ‘offset’ for the federal excise tax they pay when buying miles from US airlines. However, the fee isn’t a direct reimbursement of their actual costs, and it certainly isn’t mandated. It’s a charge they pass along to their customers. And similar programs, such as Starwood which allows…
Spanish Trains: More Expensive in English?
Upgrade: Travel Better discovers that the Spanish trains will sell you cheaper advance purchase tickets if you’re searching in Spanish, but not in English. That’s a great trip for the next time I’m in Spain, in the past I’ve seen online pricing and just went ahead and purchased at the station. I hadn’t realized better significantly advanced purchase fares were available. And with six years of Spanish under my belt, I ought to be able to muddle through an online shopping cart.
