Haven’t been over to the Freepay (aka Gratis Networks) sites in awhile, as they haven’t introduced anything new and I’ve gotten just about every electronic item they offer. But I checked it all out this morning and there’s what looks to be a new easy offer: a free four-week Stamps.com trial which you can cancel at no cost, and credit for the offer should post to your account in a few days. My kind of offer! Though I’ve received all the iPods (the original, shuffle, photo, nano) and the Mac Mini, the desktop computer, the xbox, the TV, the camera, and the handbag, I still have three to complete: Free laptops Free PS3 $300 SuperCertificate (from giftcertificates.com) I’m going to use the Stamps.com offer on the PS3 because I’m closest to completing that one.
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Cutting Edge Government Travel Technology at DoD
When I need to book travel online, I may go to an airline or hotel website or to Orbitz, Expedia, or Travelocity. A small business can go to one of the major online travel retailers and have them set up a special portal customized to the business, implementing the company’s own travel policy. Depending on the volume of travel it may be free or a small setup fee may be involved. Employees of the company then book travel through the dedicated site. Government generally approaches this ‘problem’ by working with GAO-approved vendors. The Department of Defense, though, goes its own way. They’ve spent almost $500 million over the past 8 years on their own online booking system. And it doesn’t work. Among its many problems, the system doesn’t properly display flight and fare information, causes…
Dissing the Donald on Travel
Hotel Chatter fires Donald Trump as its travel agent. The Donald apparently has a travel site (who knew?) called GoTrump.com. GoTrump.com is all about “The Art of the Travel Deal. ” Online travel is a huge business – an $80 billion business. That is why negotiating to get the best rate matters. There are plenty of other sites out there, but only GoTrump.com gets the best deals. And on the site, Trump offers his recommendations for best hotels. Hotel Chatter’s criticisms are twofold — that it’s unlikely Trump has even been to some of the properties he recommends, and that the suggestions are boring and unimaginative: Considering that there are about 53 cities listed, we doubt that Trump has been to all these hotels but there’s a good chance he may have. We’ll give him…
Huge Bonus for Flying to Wichita
Okay, no need for the jokes. They’re too obvious. But if you’re actually flying to Wichita anyway, there can’t possibly be a better way than Airtran’s Buy One Get One program. Through February 28 every roundtrip to Wichita earns enough credits for a free roundtrip ticket. You have to sign up for Airtran’s “A2B” business program to be eligible for the promotion.
Expedia’s Best Price Guarantee
The CEO of Kayak.com calls Expedia’s best price guarantee for airfare “laughable.” Of course he’d say that, he’s a competitor, but the fine print is a doozy — it doesn’t count Expedia’s booking fee (so an airline’s site offering the same fare will be cheaper) and it doesn’t count airlines that Expedia doesn’t sell (so it doesn’t matter that Southwest and JetBlue offer it for less). And since Expedia only selectively honored the $3 room nights at the Tokyo and Osaka Hilton properties, we know that some rates are too good on Expedia…
The rest of the world just doesn’t understand
Suzanne Marta of the Dallas Morning News takes a clearly tongue-in-cheek look at American Airlines service cuts. While there are bigger cutbacks that have been made, she focuses on the ice cream sundaes which American stopped offering made-to-order in international business class.The piece cites some cutbacks but then offers up American’s spin:Last year, American changed the hot towels it gives elite passengers from cloth to paper. Earlier this month, business-class lunch service changed from a four-course feast to lighter fare. A spokeswoman said it’s the carrier’s first menu overhaul in seven years for domestic transcontinental flights. The changes are meant to better reflect how people eat during the midday meal. After complaints the made-to-order sundae will come back on dinner flights but remain pre-made for lunch. Marta concludes: The changes don’t apply to travelers in…
A couple of blogs
Leigh Witchel has a new ongoing series on finding the best mileage awards. So far he’s written about credit cards and also mileage programs with awards based on distance. The latter key takeaway is one of my favorites, the neat benefit of Cathay Pacific Asia Miles — awards in business class under 5000 miles are only 60,000 points. So flights on British Airways from the East Coast of the US to most destinations in Europe qualify. Similar flights would cost 100,000 British Airways miles. Separately, the new Gratis Air Blog is posting daily airfare deals, some of which are pretty good.
Elite numbers at Air Canada
A Flyertalker reports that Depending on the number of Aeroplan Status Miles collected over the year, a member can reach Air Canada Prestige, Elite or Super Elite status. To make Super Elite status a customer has to fly 100,000 miles a year. There are 9,000 Super Elite 68,000 Elite and 57,000 Prestige customers. These numbers are usually proprietary and so are interesting to learn. There’s some discussion there of how they compare to past figures, given changes in the travel industry and changes in qualifying requirements. I’ll save analysis of this for another day, but thought I’d pass along the figures.
QuickBook Improves Best Rate Guarantee
From Meg Mueller’s hotel blog, QuickBook has extended its best rate guarantee to allow you to find a better price within 72 hours of booking rather than the industry standard 24 hours. Internet booking site Quikbook just upped the ante in the stakes of “why book here” on the Web. The company has extended its “best-rate guarantee” to 72 hours after booking. Most hotel sites and online booking agents (Orbitz, Hotels.com, etc..) offer a refund or matching price if you find a lower rate on the same room at the same hotel, but that offer generally expires after just 24 hours. Quikbook also has one of the better cancellation policies on the Web, charging nothing if it’s a “pay when you get there” hotel. For pre-paid reservations, cancellation fees run just $10 for changes made…
Crazy New York Hotel Prices, Part 763212487
Joe Sharkey’s column today is on mid-market hotels and the absurd prices they go for in Manhattan. This subject is simply a gold mine that keeps on giving to journalists. Most of the country is shocked at what a hotel night goes for in New York, after all. But what to do? People from out of town sometimes ask me in tones of desperation where they can find a hotel for less than $150 a night. “You could try the Jersey side of the Holland Tunnel,” I joke. Please don’t actually follow this advice, because the cheap motels on that bank of the river are not particularly known for restful activities such as sleep. I dropped Joe a note about the Jersey City Hyatt which frequently goes for $179 at Hyatt.com and can be had…
