Alaska Airlines offers $50 companion tickets once a year with their co-branded Visa ($99 companion ticket with the business Visa). This is probably the best companion ticket out there — it’s good on any fare, from cheapest in the market to first class, there are no blackout dates or other restrictions, and the companion ticket counts as the same booking class as the paid ticket. Earns miles, eligible for upgrades, etc. USAirways offers $99 companion tickets once a year with their co-branded Visa. There are a few restrictions (such as minimum ticket price of the paid ticket, advance purchase requirements, even a few blackout dates) but in general it’s quite usable, and the companion ticket earns miles. In fact I used one for travel last weekend. American’s Mastercard offers a companion ticket as well, but…
About Gary Leff
An Alternative to 100% Screening for Airport Workers
It isn’t often you hear someone making an argument against requiring all airport workers to pass through security screening, but Bob Poole offers one that makes enough sense to merit reposting: At most airports, the secure area begins just behind the ticket counter, and agents go back and forth between secure and non-secure areas a dozen or more times a day. At smaller airports, the same people who work the ticket counters often do double-duty as gate agents, and may even load and unload baggage. To be meaningful, the 100% screening policy would have to screen these people every time they went back into the secure area, all day long. And what about mechanics and carpenters and electricians, bringing tools to work? None of those tools could get through passenger checkpoints, but people can’t work…
United Glitch? Award Travel to Hawaii for 25,000 miles coach and 45,000 miles first class
Mar
10
2007
Normal pricing is 35,000 miles for coach and 75,000 miles for first. But this Flyertalk thread is discussing how these awards are pricing out like regular domestic flights. Get ’em while you can!
Choice Privileges Member-Get-Member Bonus
Choice Privileges, the frequest guest program of a variety of low-end hotels (sometimes Comfort Inn is just the only decent place in some towns, but I’ll still pass on EconoLodge) has a member referral program — new members referred by an existing member get 500 bonus points on their first stay, and the existing member gets 500 points as well. Thanks for Free Frequent Flyer Miles for the pointer, and if you’d like a referral for the bonus points just email me.
Encounter at LAX Closing
Encounter, the space age restaurant at Los Angeles International Airport that some mistake for an air traffic control tower, is being closed for at least six months for structural repairs.The food isn’t great, but it’s better than most of what you’ll get at the airport and it’s a fun visit. Bummer.
USAirways Quietly Devalues Award Chart
Mar
08
2007
USAirways seems to have updated their award chart with no notice whatsoever. The first item I’ve noticed is that flights between North America and “South and Central Asia” now run 80,000 miles for coach/120,000 for business/160,000 for first class — up from 60/90/120 thousand respectively.This really is a disappointment. I know that USAirways has had a much maligned program, and things have generally changed for the worse since America West took over things. But I was just starting to collect USAirways miles again over the past few months, racking up about 90,000. And now that doesn’t buy my favorite award any longer. Update: This was discussed briefly earlier in the week on Flyertalk. It surprises me that there’s less attention being paid to it than I would have expected. One summary of the changes to…
Car Rental Upgrades, Good or Bad?
Mark Ashley doesn’t like car upgrades. He usually gets a bigger car than he wants, burns more gas, and bigger isn’t always better anyway. Back when I was a run of the mill “Preferred Select” elite member with Avis, I expected to get a one car class upgrade on each rental. Sometimes I’d just book one class below what I wanted to get. The rule, of course, with any travel — air, hotel, or car — is always to confirm the minimum that you’ll actually be happy receiving.More than upgrades, I enjoy service … I like that my status now with Avis yields a ride back to the airport in the car I drove up in, no transferring bags and waiting on a bus or dropping off other passengers. And I do love my car…
Germans, Elites, and ‘the Rules’
I just love this story. Lufthansa Senator member sees the first class checkin has a long time, wants to use the empty business class line. They’re told ‘no way’ — a benefit of Senator status is that they use the First Class lines. Period. They’re not allowed to use the business class lines. Lufthansa can just be… that way. Those of you who’ve ever tried to access a Lufthansa lounge know what I mean. Your boarding pass displays your status, which entitles you to the lounge…. but the rules say you must present your membership card. No card, no entry. Rules.
Starwood’s Not the Only One…
Mar
08
2007
Starwood’s significant devaluation got plenty of attention, but Marriott quietly made significant adjustments to its own hotel categories to much less fanfare. It’s been discovered, and is being discussed on Flyertalk. The summary:Changes in MR redemption were effective March 2, 2007. 14 hotels went down one category level, 535 went up one category level. And one member’s calculation of the impact of the change:Some quick calculations….approximately 20% of Marriott Rewards properties were impacted and the change is reported to be a 1 category increase. On a 1 night stay, that is an increase of about 33% across the categories. So it appears to be an overall devaluation of about 6-7% (33% x 20%). I can live with this as it is in-line with overall inflation in hotel room rates, unlike the ridiculous almost 20% devaluation…
Alitalia Bonus for First, Fifth, and Seventh Flights
Alitalia is offering some significant bonuses: 2,000 bonus points after your first flight within 3 months of enrollment. 3,000 bonus points after your fifth flight segment by December 15, 2007. 5,000 bonus points after your seventh flight segment by December 15, 2007. Partner flights count towards the bonus. Now I’m much more tempted to credit my upcoming Alitalia flights to the MilleMiglia program, and continue to top off the account by crediting Skyteam flights there. I’ll need to decide before leaving for my Toronto-Larnaca trip later this month.
