Earn Hundreds of Thousands of Miles for Real Estate

by Gary Leff

Jan 16 2016

Miles for real estate transactions used to be a pretty big thing. When I bought a condo in 2006 I earned six figures in United miles for being referred to a realtor. Basically they were rebating a bit more than half their commission in the form of United miles.

People usually think that meant I had to work with whatever real estate agent was assigned to me. That’s not the case at all. Instead, I simply needed to work with the brokerage firm I was referred to. I didn’t think much of the first agent I got, so I had the brokerage manager re-assign me to someone far sharper.

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Man Uses Boarding Pass Implanted in His Hand at Security, Lounge, and Gate

by Gary Leff

Jan 16 2016

I hate paper, so don’t love paper boarding passes – whether printing them at home or queuing up at the airport. Since I mostly fly American Airlines domestically I use their mobile app. One catch though is that I always pull up my boarding passes when I check in for a flight, even my connecting pass, in case I don’t have great connectivity (or there’s some other glitch) when I go to board my flight. The app saves the boarding pass so I can use it even if I can’t update it.

I don’t usually download apps for carriers I fly less frequently though, so I’m stuck with paper since I don’t want to clutter my phone. It’s never occurred to me to inject an NFC chip into my hand…

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How to Fix an Award Ticket that Your Airline Screws Up

by Gary Leff

Jan 16 2016

Reader Susan contacted me about a problem with an award ticket she had booked. She had business class awards flying Denver – Los Angeles – Honolulu – Sydney with travel to Honolulu on American connecting to Qantas.

She tried to rebook onto Qantas San Francisco – Sydney which was showing available. The agent changed her reservation and queued the award tickets for re-issue. When the tickets didn’t get issued, she called and learned that her reservation was cancelled.

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Flight Attendants Trained to Report Asian American Women to the Police Because See Something, Say Something

by Gary Leff

Jan 15 2016

Earlier in the week I wrote that the Department of Homeland Security wants hotel desk clerks to snitch on guests as possible sex traffickers based on a set of behavior that could match that of plenty of guests.

It turns out that they want flight attendants to do this also, and so a married couple was detained at New York JFK because the crew thought they fit the ‘profile’.

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Hurry: Great Qantas Business Class Award Space San Francisco – Sydney with American Miles

by Gary Leff

Jan 14 2016

Qantas has started flying San Francisco – Sydney now that American has picked up a Los Angeles – Sydney flight as a part of the joint venture between the two airlines.

And Qantas has now released business class award space on the route for two passengers in February, March, and Apri. You won’t see the space on American’s website, however…

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How (Not) to Make Airplanes Safer

by Gary Leff

Jan 14 2016

Here’s a video on Facebook that’s gotten more than 10 million views since yesterday. (HT: Rob R.) It mocks up a concept that’s supposed to enhance aircraft safety.

There’s a breakaway cabin that can be detached from the rest of the plane when the aircraft is going down. Presumably the pilot would emergency-eject the passengers (I guess the captain goes down with the ship), who ostensibly float to safety while the rest of the aircraft goes down in a ball of mess.

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