Normally I’d just suggest “light a match,” but that’s not an option on a plane. A British Airways flight was forced to turn back to Heathrow leaving passengers stranded for 15 hours – because someone did “a smelly poo in the toilet”. The plane turned back just 30 minutes into the 7 hour flight to Dubai, and passengers had to wait 15 hours before continuing their journey. The decision was made because, apparently, the smell was just that unbearable. A British Airways spokesperson said, “We’re very sorry for the discomfort to our customers.” They did not say “We’re very sorry for the discomfort of one of our customers.” BA flies both 747s and 777s on the route. They have many bathrooms. I have a hard time even fathoming a situation that wouldn’t allow just shutting…
25% Off Etihad Redemptions!
Etihad Guest is offering 25% off saver award redemptions in any class of service. Book online only by March 20 for travel through December 31 using promo code REDM25. You may not already have Etihad Guest points. That’s fine, they are a Citi ThankYou Rewards transfer partner. The offer is for select destinations, but includes Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, and Washington Dulles (787!) – Abu Dhabi. Here’s DC – Abu Dhabi.
Here’s How to Automatically Reduce the Price of Your Hotel Reservations
DreamCheaper is like AutoSlash for hotels. It’s like what Yapta was supposed to be for airfares. It keeps checking the price of your hotel room, and helps you cancel and rebook when the price goes down. Yapta was all about getting you refunds when airfares dropped. Airlines used to do that, remember? They’d issue you a voucher (you’d likely be on the hook for a change fee if you wanted an actual refund). Airlines tightened up those policies and now it’s mostly just frustrating to learn that the price of a ticket you booked went down. AutoSlash will check your car rental prices and rebook, and I’ve had fantastic success with this. Originally you could book your initial reservation through AutoSlash, but the major car rental companies all stopped allowing AutoSlash to display their cars.…
What Does United Airlines Smell Like?
A big story in travel this week was United’s new boarding areas and process. There are prototypes at O’Hare gates B4, 8, and 10. United has changed passenger seating areas and gate-agent podiums, while adding standing work stations and boarding poles to bring more order to the boarding process. Here’s the part that really struck me, though: United plans to add blue lighting to the jet bridges — the walkways from the gate to the aircraft — and scent machines to create “positive transition moments.” “Just before you cross through the boarding door of the plane, you get a whiff of the signature United scent,” Walter said. Called Landing, the fragrance is an herbal, spalike smell, Walter said, that also will be in O’Hare’s United Club lounges. Westin’s ‘white tea’ scent has actually managed to…
500 Free Iberia Points for New Members — and Why You Really Do Want Them
Via Head for Points, when you register for an Iberia Plus account you’ll get 500 bonus points with your first transaction within 45 days of membership. I don’t see a reference to it on their website, but his commenters confirm that it’s noted in their welcome email. You want to open an Iberia Plus account: Because when an account has been open for 90 days and has had any activity you can transfer British Airways Avios over to Iberia Avios. Iberia doesn’t add significant fuel surcharges onto Iberia flight redemptions. So you save most of the cash cost you’d spend with British Airways points to book Iberia, by transferring your points to your Iberia account and booking the same flight. Iberia runs award discounts that can make transatlantic premium cabin flying quite cheap. (They often…
80% Bonus When You Buy Virgin America Points (Good for Partner Awards)
Virgin America is offering up to an 80% bonus on purchased miles. (You have to log in to see the details, though I produce them below.) I’ve seen them run this offer a couple of times before — though in the fall it was only for 8 hours. This time it’s valid through April 4. With this offer — at the 80% bonus level — you’re paying about 2.9 cents per mile, which sounds high but Virgin America’s currency is somewhat deflated compared to most mileage programs. Virgin America’s points are worth 2.2 cents apiece towards Virgin America travel, so it’s not a good deal to buy points and redeem them on Virgin America. But it can be a good deal to top off an account towards a specific award. For instance, 30,000 miles is…
Here’s Why American is Excited About Their New Boarding Music. (And It’s Really Pretty Good.)
In the fall American changed their boarding and arrival music. And since the new tunes are getting positive reaction they’re sharing the current and upcoming playlists. No doubt some of the excitement stems from seeing tweets from LA-based celebs who dig the new music.. the little things that help them in that fiercely competitive market where United, Delta, Southwest and even Alaska have a strong presence and no one can get more gate space to expand. Interestingly, they’re candid that they made the change because of customer complaints about the old music.
The Man Who Earned 19 Million Miles With a Single Purchase, and the Man Who Mailed Himself to Australia
News and notes from around the interweb: The Official Position of American’s Pilot Union: they don’t like their new uniforms. IHG is running a 30% off paid rates flash sale for Mexico for bookings through Sunday and stays through June 15. Emirates further restricting chauffeur service for premium cabin customers. Apparently Qantas codeshares no longer get car service. Man mailed himself to Australia Uber signup bonus of 2 free rides up to $15 each (versus the usual 1 ride up to $20). The guy who earned the most points ever in a single transaction has learned to use them (HT: Alan H.) What does it cost an airline to cancel a flight?
American and US Airways to Combine Programs Within 30 Days, Plus More Answers (Million Mile Status etc)
Following yesterday’s communication from the US Airways side that Dividend Miles would be folded into American AAdvantage in April, American is out today with more information. The programs will be combined ‘within 30 days’
Would You Help the Homeless You Meet in Mumbai or New York LaGuardia?
We already know that homeless live in Frankfurt airport. And they used to live at the Radisson JFK. Of course, actual homeless shelters are even on TripAdvisor. I’ll often do quite a bit of eating, trying a great variety, on my travels abroad. The goal there is to experience lots of things not to fill myself up. I won’t finish everything. That’s rather striking in, say, Mumbai where there are so many street kids. They’re out there because begging is effective, and the most effective children aren’t just persistent but visibly disabled. I don’t really want to give money, that probably doesn’t benefit the kids as much as their handlers (though they could well have a quota..) but I will certainly give leftovers. That way I figure they’re more likely to actually eat than if…
