Calculated Risk (one of my favorite blogs for financial crisis play-by-play) links to a summary of a PriceWaterhouseCoopers forecast for the hotel industry. PWC claims that drops in occupancy will be reminiscent of 2001, and a projected 2009 overall occupancy rate of 58.6% will be the lowest since 1971. They project a decrease in average daily room rates of 2.4 percent. Empty hotels mean better award availability, better chances for suite upgrades, and better pricing deals (combined with loyalty program bonus offers). It also means more hotels dumping more inventory through opaque channels. It also means expect delays in renovation, delays in new hotel openings, and delays in introduction of new amenities.
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Bellagio from $113/night
Bellagio is running buy 2, get 1 free combined with rates starting at $169. Two $169 nights and a free night averages $113/night. Vegas hotel occupancy is clearly hurting, but this is a great rate for Bellagio (which I reviewed here and explained how to score an upgrade with a cash tip at checkin).
Prince de Galles, Paris for 52 euros/night
Per this Flyertalk thread, the deal appears to only work for November 23-27, 2009. A great rate, presumably intended as 520 euros. Go to starwoodhotels.com and search for Paris, France. This hotel should appear as ‘from 52 euros’ .. Click through and if the rate doesn’t come right up, sort from low to high. The only thing that gets in the way for some folks is if they have a SET CODE in their profile (if you don’t know what one is you probably don’t). If the rate doesn’t come out, log out and try again. It’s an internet-only, prepaid rate. The rules permit you to cancel for a single night’s penalty of 52 euros. In practice they may not charge your card right away, I’m guessing they’ll be happy to let you cancel without…
Free TGI Fridays Food
TGI Fridays is offering buy one entree get one free through November 30th. Plus sign up for their loyalty program and get a free appetizer or dessert.
$50 Off Any Hotel Booking at HotelClub.com
Hotel Club is offering $50 towards a hotel booking for new members, valid through November 30th. Update: Just realized that One Mile at a Time has noted this promo as well. Update 2: In this Flyertalk thread, there are folks discussing getting the bonus multiple times by signing up for new accounts with different email addresses. That way a multi-night stay could be booked as several one-night stays, taking $50 off each night. Not sure how I personally feel about this approach. But I wouldn’t have a problem with a two night stay for two people where one person reserved the first night and the other person the second…
Amtrak Cracking Down on Segment Runners
Both people out there who do Amtrak Guest Rewards segment runs take note, Amtrak now imposes a 4-segment per day limit for earning 100 point minimums, additional segments earn 2 points per dollar.
Air Asia $0 Fare Sale (No Fuel Surcharges)
It’s clearly Flyertalk morning, because hat tip to Flyertalk Air Asia is offering a true $0+tax (no fuel surcharges) fare sale. Book by November 16 (which comes earlier over there than it does here in the U.S.) for travel between June 22 and October 24 — so lots of advance planning required — and you can fly just for the taxes. By way of example, here’s an availability chart for flights out of Kuala Lumpur and here’s a chart for flights in and out of Bangkok. Specific flights, with total price, booked by the person starting the Flyertalk thread were: Clark-Kuala Lumpur one-way: $7.08 all-in (airport tax payable at airport) Kuala Lumpur-Tawau (Borneo)-KL RT : $19.22 all-in (airport tax incl.) Kuala Lumpur-Bangkok one-way: $15.31 all-in (airport tax incl.) Bangkok-Jakarta-Bangkok RT: $33.89 all in (BKK airport…
Step-By-Step: How to Use the All Nippon Airways website to Find Award Flights on Star Alliance
In my post last month with extensive tips for successful award redemption I mentioned the All Nippon Airways frequent flyer program award search site as a useful tool for finding available Star Alliance award availability. There’s a helpful Flyertalk thread in the bmi Diamond Club forum that explains step-by-step what the aforementioned website does and how to use it. Thought it would be helpful to pass this along to those new at using the tool to help find their awards. As I noted in my award booking tips post, the ANA website does not offer access to Air China or Swiss award inventory (though I provide a work-around for online availability of Swiss awards). And I also note that what the ANA site shows is not a perfect match for what United will permit you…
Another step towards Neothwest-Delta integration — and severing ties with Continental
This Flyertalk thread cites an internal memo to Northwest flight attendants telling them to accept Delta drink chits, and no longer to accept Continental drink coupons. (Northwest’s coupons can also be used to purchase buy on board items, but they don’t take Delta coupons for that.) Effective immediately, Northwest Flight Attendants may begin accepting Delta’s amenity coupons on all Northwest flights. A sample of the Delta amenity coupon Have One on Us is pictured below. Please note that these coupons are about the size of a standard business card. The Delta coupons may be exchanged for one (1) alcoholic beverage or headset. Delta amenity coupons may not be exchanged for any buy on board food items. Delta amenity coupons should be included in the calculations under the deposit summary section of the FS-95 Sales Activity…
Delta American Express Card Loses Its Mileage-Earning Prowess
Regular readers of this blog know that I’m not a huge fan of the Delta Skymiles program, at least in terms of the value of a mile relative to a mile in many other programs. The Delta award chart is expensive, availability tends to be tight relative to Star Alliance nad oneworld carriers, and the program unfriendly (they’re getting rid of US and Canadian departure fuel surcharges but they still have a partner fee and won’t hold itineraries when booking by phone). Plus since I like international first class awards, the Delta program doesn’t match up well, though they still do permit Singapore Airlines first class redemptions — and though I haven’t tested it yet I believe they still charge very hefty fees on those (several hundred dollars but worth it). That said, I am…
