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.
Uncategorized
Category Archives for Uncategorized.
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.
Undercover TSA Screener
I know I’m tempting fate flying USAirways this weekend, with the impending reservation system changeover from Sabre to Shares. I’m even flying back home tomorrow morning. Hope it goes smoothly. My travel rituals include collecting articles and documents to review in a folder that goes with me on my way to the airport, and I cruise through it in the lounge or when I board the plane. If it’s an evening flight I know I have to attack the folder right away, as the night wears on I may get too tired to read. Last night’s simple flight down to Ft. Lauderdale was delayed about an hour by a crew scheduling snafu, so I had a bit of extra time — and I made it past my work and on to pleasure reading (if you…
More on Credit Card Rental Car Insurance Coverage
Mark Ashley writes about rental car companies’ hard sells for collision damage waiver, the extra “insurance” (it isn’t insurance, it’s a payment so they don’t pursue you in case of physical damage to their vehicle) that drives commissions with many of the lower-end rental agencies. Here he discusses Advantage, my own experience is that the pushiest sales agents are with Enterprise. I’ve gotten stories like “What’s your deductible? You know that if there’s damage to the car you have to pay the deductible, in cash, when you return the vehicle. That’s California law.” It’s interesting that these rental car agents are such experts in law. Ashley points to the claim that credit cards which offer insurance won’t cover ‘loss of use.’ That’s the charge rental companies tack-on to make you pay rental charges on the…
Nominated for the Trevvies
The polls in Upgrade Travel blog‘s Trevvie Awards for best travel blogs are now open. Voting is here and opening through the evening of February 28. While I don’t expect to finsih particularly well, I am nominated in the category of BEST INFORMATIVE/PRACTICAL TRAVEL BLOG. So vote for me if you wish. Or not. But you can discover some new blogs you may not have been aware of in the process either way.
Hotel Key Cards and Personal Data
Kitty Bean Yancey addresses the myth that hotel keycards irresponsibly contain personal information, that you should never leave them behind. This has never been on my list of worries. I deal with giving my credit card information to low-paid clerks all the time. My personal information is available to a tremendous number of data center customer service reps. And there’s no such thing as privacy anymore, in any case. The real key is how you deal with situations — checking your own financial information on a regular basis, disputing inaccurate charges, etc. But the hotel key card thing, it just isn’t so.
Southwest Founding President and CEO Lamar Muse Passes Away
On Sunday I mentioned the ongoing effort to have Southwest Airlines honor its founding President and CEO at the end of his life. Lamar Muse passed away peacefully at 10:32pm last night. Please indulge me by allowing me to quote extensively from an autobiographical sketch: Muse was the co-founder and first President and CEO of Southwest Airlines, a role he served from 1970 to 1978. A true market innovator, he created the business model for an intrastate low-cost air carrier and, seven years before the deregulation of the airline industry, he changed the playbook for an industry that was long regulated to the benefit of large carriers who could control competition and operate on a cost-plus basis — with the cooperation of the federal government. He proved it was possible for a low-cost, no-frills provider…
Travel Blog Awards
The Upgrade: Travel Better blog is hosting travel blog awards, “the Travvies.” Categories are:– Best Travel Blog – Best Destination Blog – Best Informative/Practical Travel Blog – Best Group-Written Travel Blog – Best Single-Author Travel Blog – Best Photography on a Travel Blog Nominations are open until “8am, Chicago time, Monday, February 12.”Handing out awards is a great way to generate traffic and links to your site, so kudos on the excellent marketing over on that blog! 🙂
Pushing for a Room at Checkin
Sometimes room upgrades require a little push at check-in. It would be nice if it wasn’t necessary, but sometimes it is. And sometimes, even though you’ve been upgraded, you can improve that upgrade — even beyond what you’re entitled to under the guidelines of the hotel chain’s loyalty program. Last month I completed my tour of disfavored Westin hotels (my earlier post on the Westin St. Maarten Dawn Beach is here). I visited the Westin Rio Mar — generally disfavored because, though there are plenty of suites and it’s an oceanfront resort, the property needs some real renovation work and the beach is hardly the best in Puerto Rico. (In general, the ‘mega resort’ experience on Puerto Rico is superior at El Conquistador.) Still, I was in the area and wanted to see for myself,…
Subscribing to my RSS feed
I haven’t mentioned this in ages, but probably the best way to check up on this site is by subscribing to its RSS feed: http://blogs.flyertalk.com/viewwing/index.xml Or just click here.
