Puddle of Mudd lead singer Wes Scantlin was arrested after riding a baggage carousel in Denver into the secure area of the airport. [TSA] told him to get off, and he refused. They didn’t arrest him immediately; they warned him: ‘Hey, if you don’t get off the luggage rack, we’re going to arrest you.’ He refused to get off, so they arrested him…. After his ride on the baggage carousel in Denver, Scantlin was taken to a downtown Denver jail, while Daniels and his staff tried to figure out a way to bail him out so that he could perform that night. “He wasn’t supposed to get out until Tuesday because he had warrants in four other states,” says Daniels. “So they had to clear each warrant to make sure they weren’t extraditable. And they…
The World’s Worst Business Class, Free Lounge Access, and Kurt Cobain’s Credit Card
News and notes from around the interweb: Kurt Cobain’s credit card is up for auction (HT: Doctor of Credit) How bad is Kuwait Airways business class? Many people don’t realize they fly New York – London. And they’re cheap. (HT: Point Me to the Plane) Don’t get burned using flint. Some suggestions and cautions for folks using this service to generate credit card spend. PointHacks suggests a New Zealand post office box you can sign up for online as a way to leverage the Qantas offer of a status match for New Zealand residents (which would get you free American Airlines lounge access, including on domestic itineraries). Chase is closing 300 branches. That will make it harder to get credit card offers that are available only in-branch. Greek carriers gain open access to 3 Russian…
In 2 Weeks Starwood Will Introduce New Benefit Choices for Platinum Elites. Here’s What They Are.
Last month I broke the news that Starwood would be introducing choices for Platinum members in lieu of ‘Suite Night Awards’ for those members who prefer a different rewards upon reaching 50 nights. I speculated that those new choices would include bonus points and award redemption discounts. But Starwood’s Senior Vice President for SPG and Digital Chris Holdren let me know that those weren’t the direction they were going. So last week I had the chance to talk to Chris about what the new choices are going to be for Platinum members who spend at least 50 nights a year with Starwood. What Are Suite Night Awards? For the past 3 years Starwood has offered (10) ‘Suite Night Awards’ — an opportunity to confirm an upgrade up to 5 nights prior to arrival, rather than…
New Starwood-Uber Partnership: Earn Starpoints for Uber Rides!
Starwood is bringing out a new global partnership with Uber that allows members to link their Starwood and Uber accounts and earn Starpoints for the Uber rides they take (last name and email addresses on both accounts must match). Starwood adds Uber to its stable of points-earning partners which includes Crossover Rewards (Delta), Your World Rewards (Emirates), and Caesars. Sadly the Uber partnership doesn’t come with upgrades or elite qualfying benefits. But it means more points and without taking anything away from members so positive all around. All members earn at least 1 Starpoint per dollar spent on Uber. If you’re staying with Starwood when you Uber you’ll earn based on your program tier: 2 points for general members, 3 for Golds and Platinums, 4 for 75 night Platinums and above. Unlike some of the…
Delta’s Response to Charging Elites More Miles for Awards
Earlier I reported that Delta appears to be charging more miles for elites booking economy awards than general members. Logged in elites would see a one-way flight for 17,500 miles that general members would see priced at 12,500 miles. Delta spokesman Anthony Black emails, I Saw your note on the award price issue. We are currently investigating and working to resolve the issue. I’ll let you know what we find. It sounds as though this is not intentional, and should not be an ongoing issue. That doesn’t mean Delta won’t adopt variable award pricing in the future, and that the formula for such pricing won’t be opaque. But it doesn’t seem as though they intend to charge elite members logged into their accounts more miles for the same awards that general (non-elite) members can get…
Delta Currently Charging Elite Members Extra Miles to Book Award Tickets That Everyone Else Can Get for Less
Update: See Delta’s response. Last week Delta ‘tuned up’ the SkyMiles technology and I wondered if I was being paranoid to believe that was more likely than not bad for members. This week we’re learning that Delta — whether by glitch or by design — seems to be charging their own elite members more miles for economy awards than they are general members. Delta used to give extra award availability at the lowest pricing to their elite members. They eliminated that benefit last month. In order to check for the ‘extra availability’ online, there’s a button the search page for the member to indicate they’re one of the passengers. Elites saying so seem to be getting higher prices for economy awards than general members. Flyertalk member hnewman posted these screen shots. There’s plenty of 12,500…
Why Airlines Should Improve Their Coffee
Coffee fuels business travel, and most providers don’t understand that. Have you ever actually tried to drink the coffee on a US domestic airline? American’s new Airbus A321T flying between New York JFK and Los Angeles and San Francisco has a cappuccino machine in first class. I have only flown business class on this plane, though, so I’ve not had a decent cup of coffee on a US airline’s plane. Cathay Pacific makes a decent cappuccino but the airline won’t serve hot drinks when the seat belt sign is on. A little turbulence on approach to Hong Kong after a long overnight flight and having no access to coffee is another form of coffee fail. Delta got a lot of mileage out of its announced change to Starbucks this month. I wasn’t especially impressed. United…
Save Big Miles on United Partner Awards, How to Survive a Plane Crash, and Amex’s Future in Jeopardy?
News and notes from around the interweb: Ask the Captain: Surviving an Emergency Evacuation. And Here’s How to Survive a Plane Crash. Last chance for United’s partner award pricing glitch that became an official sale. It ‘expires’ February 28 (if they’ve managed to fix it, and if the mistake doesn’t come back… again). These seem like they may be seats (or some variant thereof) that American could put into their 757s flying transatlantic. We should know soon enough.. “American Express’s whole credit-card business will have to be reinvented” My take is different.
American’s Business ExtrAA Getting New Earning and Redemption Options
What is American Airlines Business ExtrAA? I’ve written in the past about earning points two, three, four, and even five ways at a time when booking travel — earning your miles for the flight, for the credit card spend, for going through an online shopping portal to make the booking, and by attaching a small business rewards account to the reservation as well. An airline’s small business program lets you accrue points in that business program account in addition to miles in the traveler’s frequent flyer account. What’s more, you can earn points this way both for yourself when you travel and also in your business program account when other people travel and include your business account number. I’ve made good use of American’s Business ExtrAA program, especially for low point value redemptions like gifting…
The DOT Guts its Post-Purchase Price Increase Prohibition to Help United Out of a Jam
Two weeks ago flights originating in the UK were pricing in Danish Kroner at a price that’s pennies on the dollar what they normally run. You could fly from the UK to pretty much anywhere in the world in business or first class at price hovering around $100 or less. This wasn’t a United-specific glitch, but United.com was the most common place to buy these tickets. United voided these tickets. Thousands of Consumers Complained to the Department of Transportation The Department of Transportation received thousands of complaints, apparently, and they’ve now ruled on whether United violated their rule against post-purchase price increase, which forbids cancelling tickets after purchase. And as I wrote that I expected, they’ve sided with United. While the DOT promulgated a rule requiring airlines to honor tickets that have been purchased regardless…
