“What’s grosser than gross?” I’ve had the pleasure of watching a fellow first class passenger clip their toenails during dinner service.
But this is even worse. And so is this.
Uber and Lyft have left Austin since a ballot proposition that would have lifted an onerous pending City ordinance protecting taxi companies failed to pass.
I love competition, which is one reason I’ve favored Lyft of late (another is that there have been more drivers close by with Lyft than Uber for me lately). So I’m thrilled that at least four ridesharing companies are trying to pick up the business that Uber and Lyft left behind. And there are other companies out there, too.
There were four air marshals onboard a United flight from London Heathrow to Los Angeles and the flight’s captain smelled alcohol on one of them.
The air marshal was released because while he was violating marshal service policy (either by drinking within four hours of the flight or having alcohol in his system while on duty) he hadn’t actually broken UK law.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
Say that you’ve got free $35 in ride credits or $50 in Lyft credits but you find yourself in the city of Austin but Uber and Lyft are gone…
Fortunately here’s how you can still use Uber or Lyft in Austin.
There’s a promo code valid for $10 off one trip taken by May 31 and I had no problem adding it to my account.
Of course if you haven’t used Uber before you can get a free ride, different signup codes vary. Lately individual referral links have only been good for $15 while some companies have made deals with Uber for $20 referral links.
My referral link for Uber seems to be giving a bigger first-time rider credit than it used to, up to $25:
British Airways lets you use points to buy down the cost of a paid ticket. Normally points are worth a penny apiece towards airfare. Through May 17, for travel through September 30, you can do 50% better — buying down airfare at 1.5 cents per point.
This offer stacks with the AARP member discount (which knocks $400 off a premium cabin roundtrip).
Hotel’s promote booking through their websites instead of online travel agencies in a variety of ways. One is the new model of the ‘member discount for booking direct’ to convince you that they have the lowest prices on their own websites. Nonetheless, that often still isn’t true and I find lower prices through online travel agency websites all the time.
There’s another way hotels encourage you to book direct. And that’s that in a sell out condition, what kind of room do you think they’re going to assign to a cheap OTA booking? “Stop clicking around” … or else.
Last month I wrote about a reader who changed seats on a flight so a family could sit together — and they proceeded to sell his seat to another passenger for $100. Extra legroom seats come at a premium!
Last week I was waiting to board my flight from Dallas to DC and I was called up to the podium. I had an aisle seat in the third row of first class. Would I mind switching to the bulkhead? A husband and wife wanted to sit together.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
