E-Bates does seem to be the best portal to use when making Priceline bids, it offers 3% cash back which doesn’t compare to the old eBay Anything Points program but is the best offer standing. And best part is that rebates post quickly. You don’t have to wait until the hotel stay to see the 3% in your account. A successful bid on Wednesday yielded a rebate in my account Thursday night. Plus if you sign up for eBates they’ll give you $5 added on to your first rebate credit.
Uncategorized
Category Archives for Uncategorized.
Mandarin Oriental the top Luxury Hotel Brand?
Via Hotel Chatter, eHotelier.com shares a new survey on luxury hotel brands which finds the Mandarin Oriental at the top. Fair enough, I’d rank them second behind the Peninsula chain, but not an unreasonable claim. Except while the survey included “Fairmont, Four Seasons, Inter-Continental, Leading Hotels, Le Meridien, Loews, Mandarin Oriental, Park Hyatt, Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, and W Hotels” it didn’t include Peninsula!
Kerry Skeen, Deflecting Blame Even at the End
Even after burning through over $100 million and announcing the airline’s closure, Independence Air CEO Kerry Skeen blames everything but himself for the airline’s failure. But Skeen, the airline’s unyielding chief executive, blamed its demise on a combination of troubles, including record high fuel prices and cutthroat competition from other airlines. He’s shocked that competitors would respond aggressively? Then he’s an idiot. And fuel was not to blame for the problems faced by Independence Air — if fuel had been free they’d have still been losing money. The business plan flawed: a high per-seat cost and low fares, high-frequencies to destinations that couldn’t support the capacity, and even an initial unwillingness to list the airline’s flights in computer reservation systems. And Skeen wouldn’t even take the life preservers that were thrown to him: Analysts say…
Tumi discount
Through January 31, Tumi — my preferred luggage vendor — is offering 40% off on discontinued items. Amazing sale, actually.
Mileage Pro Reviewed
Tony Mecia of the Charlotte Observer reviewed Mileage Pro yesterday. The whole world of miles and points makes Mecia’s head spin a bit. At a Christmas party last month, I joined a conversation between two friends — both frequent business travelers — who were commiserating about falling just a few nights short of qualifying for the highest level of Marriott’s elite traveler program. Each was trying to figure out how to requalify for Marriott Platinum, a program that showers perks such as room upgrades, free gifts and guaranteed rooms, even when the hotel is sold out. To qualify, travelers must stay 75 nights per year in a Marriott. They were strategizing on how to squeeze in just a few more hotel nights by the end of December to qualify. “Is it really worth it?” I…
The End of Independence Announced
Independence Air has announced that it will shut down on Thursday. Flight 1777 at 7:26pm from White Plains, NY to Washington Dulles is expected to be the last departure.
WestJet to Get its own Independent Frequent Flyer Program
I just noticed that the Air Canada Aeroplan forum has a subforum for WestJet “Passenger Perks” which is odd since WestJet doesn’t have it’s own frequent flyer program. WestJet participates in AirMiles. I assume Randy Petersen knows something about what’s coming down the pike, I look forward to seeing what the program offers!
ANA Offers Star Alliance Award Search Online
I have an Air Canada Aeroplan account with zero miles in it. I use it only for checking award availability — Air Canada lets you search awards on all of its Star Alliance partners. Then I claim the awards with United or USAirways miles. I just noticed that ANA now offers Star Alliance award searches (login required) and their tool, though a bit more complicated, also seems more powerful. I’ll be testing it today. A big thumbs up to both Air Canada and ANA for offering powerful award search tools online — as far as I can tell, well ahead of any other airlines in any global alliance.
Damaged Luggage: Handle at the airport or long distance?
In helping a customer get compensation for their checked artwork that was damaged in transit, Chris Elliott recommends dealing with baggage issues at the airport rather than going home and dealing with customer serviceI probably would have stood my ground at the baggage claim office, rather than waiting until I got home to file a complaint. Once you leave an airport and begin dealing with an airline’s customer service department, your chances of resolving a problem plummet. Supervisors are authorized to offer compensation, and I suspect that you might have gotten as good a deal from the baggage claim office as you did from getting me involved. It’s always better to deal face-to-face whenever possible, especially if a sufficiently empowered agent is on hand to assist. And it’s usually better to call an airport’s baggage…
Travel & Leisure Readers on Crack
I love ‘best of the best’ hotel lists, and this year’s Travel & Leisure‘s 500 best hotels around the world — as voted on by readers of the magazine — is no exception. (Hat tip HotelChatter.) This one, I love to hate. While there are lots of wonderful properties on the list, the rankings are truly bizarre. If you believe this list, there are more top luxury hotels in the United States than in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Carribean, Australia, New Zealand (and the rest of the South Pacific) combined. This has to be a function of the limited travel experience of T&L readers. Some of the stranger U.S. listings: The St. Regis isn’t the best hotel in Manhattan. And the Pierre isn’t better than the Ritz-Carlton Central Park, the Peninsula, and the Mandarin…
