And other useful tidbits in the new Upgrd podcast. No starnet blocking, a likely expensive award chart (naturally, from the people who brought you the 285,000 mile first class award on Wantas – up from 135,000 a year ago), first class awards will be offered, they recognize the problems in partnering with United but not offering real international upgrades and yet unusable upgrade certificates aren’t helpful, and much much more.
General
Category Archives for General.
Funny emails of the day
First, I think the economy may be picking up, at least travel vendors have hiked their spending on PR consulting firms, I received five pitches today. My favorite? “Would you like a travel source? Let me know if you need some amazing deals to write about.” Umm… if you have some amazing deals, maybe pitch those to me? But don’t promise me amazing deals and tell me about United’s latest “fare sale.” My second favorite? Bank of America wants travelers to know you can do banking from your phone to – get this – check their balance to see whether they can afford to spend one more day in paradise. Great, haven’t banks felt enough heat for encouraging irresponsible financial management lately? “Gee, honey, let me check our bank balance on my phone. Wow, I…
Delta Shuttle 2500 Mile Each Way Bonus
Through July 26, Delta is offering 2500 miles each way (no roundtrip required) on the Delta Shuttle between DC, New York, and Boston. Registration is required, and all standard paid fare classes qualify (even L, U, and T fares). That’s 5000 bonus miles roundtrip, and I’m seeing weekend fares under $150. Since it’s “per segment” a shuttle flight in conjunction with a longer itinerary should count, at least that’s my read, so (especially if you live in a shuttle market) you may want to add connections onto your larger Delta itineraries to include shuttle flights. Sadly, for those with Northwest elite status, you’ll need to credit to a Delta Skymiles account in order to earn this bonus.
American AAdvantage Mileage Earning to Cease on Air Tahiti Nui
A minor note for most, to be sure, but after November 1 it will no longer be possible to earn American miles flying Air Tahiti Nui. I don’t know the backstory here. For years Air Tahiti Nui was a redemption-only partner of American. Then they added Northwest as a redemption partner, there was talk of linking up with Delta for redemptions, and they began offering mileage accrual with American as well. Now the notice says that redemption will conitnue, but no more accrual. Of course, it will still be possible to accrue miles in Air Tahiti Nui’s program. But they don’t really have too many partners, most people flying Air Tahiti Nui will only do so once (roundtrip). For those who can build up a decent stash of their miles, though, upgrades are pretty easy…
50% Bonus on Hotel Points Transfers to US Airways
Via One Mile at a Time, US Airways is offering a 50% bonus on hotel and rental car activities through July 31. Hotel points transfers are included in the offer, too, and registration is required. This is pretty exciting for Starwood points transfers — for example, 60,000 Starwood points normally transfer to 75,000 US Airways miles (since they give you 5000 bonus miles for each 20,000 points transferred). With this promo the same 60,000 Starwood points yields 112,500 US Airways miles. Make the transfer 65,000 Starwood and you wind up with 120,000 US Airways miles — enough for a first class Star Alliance award from North America to North Asia. For example, you could fly ANA first class from Chicago to Tokyo, connect on to Shanghai, and then fly Asiana first class Shanghai to Seoul…
Feel Sorry for Me
For the first time in a year (and even then, that was the first time in 7 years..) my cross-country upgrade didn’t clear and I flew in coach. And it was Delta coach, it makes me realize just how much those extra 3 inches of legroom on United matter, though even that’s not pleasant because width is just as important. I had an aching neck since much earlier in the morning, and boy coach didn’t help. It was a 757, no onboard internet. And live TV is boring because, well, most TV is boring. Though if HBO’s Big Love or Entourage showed new-ish episodes I might’ve paid the $2. Instead I happily had downloaded the latest Upgd Podcast, so that helped kill half an hour. Fortunately my return upgrade cleared, I don’t think I can…
Credit Card Legislation and the Effect on Rewards Cards
By request (thanks Colleen), my predictions on what new credit card legislation will mean for earning miles and points. It seems a rather odd time for Congress to be pushing legislation to reign in “excesses” of the credit card industry, certainly the narrative isn’t that banks are taking advantage of poor people and earning too much profit. (If that were the case, they wouldn’t be on the TARP dole.) Certainly there are industry practices which strike many as ‘egregious’ with respect to changing fee and terms and conditions that customers may not understand. At the same time much of the alarmism is misplaced. It’s been a common refrain that if we take revenue away from the credit card companies in one dimension, they’re going to have to make up for it in others — spelling…
Common Bangkok Scam
Frugal Travel Guy experiences a common, annoying scam in Bangkok. He shows up at a tourist site, is told by a local that “it’s closed” and is offered an inexpensive tour that winds up at a jewelry shop. Relatively harmless as far as scams go, but can easily ruin a day of sightseeing. It’s one reason that, in an inexpensive destination, I like to hire a guide for the day on my first visit to a city. I’m basically paying one tout to fight off all the others for me, and give me a more seamless experience…
Service Cuts at Intercontinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, and Related Brands
It’s tough times for the hotel industry, and unsurprisingly hotel brands are looking to cut back on expenses. Intercontinental Hotels Group has announced a series of changes delaying large expenses for their hotels (.pdf) and also lowering service and amenity standards (.pdf) for their varous brands. On the capital expense front, they’re delaying the date by which all hotels have to have flat screen TVs, and the date by which Crowne Plazas have to have more comfortable banquet chairs. They’re also pushing back the requirement for Holiday Inns to purchase new beds. On the service expense front, all brands can skip leaving newspapers at each room door and make them available in lobbies instead. Crowne Plazas won’t be required to have bellmen, can reduce restaurant hours and room service hours (eliminating lunch service), can offer…
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…
