The ultimate upgrade is the one you get for free. Here’s how to ask for and get a free upgrade from an airline when you aren’t entitled to one. And I’ll explain when the technique will — and won’t — work. At hotels, elite status is just the entree and excuse, how you ask and act can matter a lot. So here’s how to ask for and get hotel upgrades. The airlines though are much more structured. Most upgrades are sorted by algorithm. There are glitches in how the systems work, and sometimes you can jump the queue ::cough:: ::United:: ::US Airways:: ::cough:: but even then upgrades are going to be awarded almost all of the time to those customers with frequent flyer elite status based solely on upgrade priority and in the case of…
How to Make Sure Your Free Upgrades Clear on Domestic Flights
This morning I’m going to talk about domestic upgrades — how to improve your chances of getting them, how to guarantee you can get upgraded to first class for free. International Upgrades are Different — and Harder International upgrades are tough to get and not nearly as good a value as they used to be. One exception is upgrading from premium economy to business class with Virgin Atlantic or British Airways, where there are no cash co-pays and the mileage increment is cheap. But in general award tickets are a better value than paid travel with upgrades, and a better strategy to pursue for folks that are either chasing elite status or having the underlying ticket purchased by someone else (work reimbursable). So international upgrades are different. What Upgrades are ‘Domestic’ and ‘Free’? By ‘domestic’…
Was the Dad Who Left His Son in the Hot Car Manufacturing Spend?
I wrote a post about how strange and creepy it was to me, seeing a horrible tragedy on the news and then reading that one of the things the police have learned is that the man facing charges for the death of a child had been strategizing to rack up frequent flyer miles. And I shared other glimpses of broader exposure to the hobby that the world gets, both in the broader media and that I’ve seen personally. Clearly it touched a nerve, because the story itself is a horrifying one, and it’s just not possible for most people to reflect on something small as they reflect on something shocking. Since it wasn’t my intention to offend, just to share something personal (I should know better than to do that on the internet), I’ve gone…
Here’s a Fireworks Display Worth Going to Prison For
Drones can be used to target and kill Americans (and also ‘other’ people, because ‘Merica.). Drones can also be used to deliver tacos. And they can be used to take amazing video of fireworks displays. This went up on Youtube a couple of months ago, it wasn’t from last night’s fireworks. But it’s gotten a ton of play over the past 36 hours. The video was taken using a DJI Phantom 2 drone and filmed with a GoPro Hero 3 camera. Here’s a professor arguing that the drone filming fireworks was illegal. I’d contend, however, that juries ought to nullify based on ‘coolness.’ You can join the 40,000+ people who see these deals and analysis every day — sign up to receive posts by email (just one e-mail per day) or subscribe to the RSS…
Earn Miles for Free Insurance Quotes
Whether it’s kickbacks for online shopping, or taking a slice back from your own real estate transactions, where there’s money involved there’s usually someone willing to pay to attract the transaction, just like payment for order flow in stock market transactions. And when your transaction has value to someone else, you want to either get a discount or a rebate for it. Whomever is taking value from your transaction, where there’s a competitive marketplace, will probably compete for the business. When talking about hundreds of thousands of miles for real estate I flagged that you can get discounts on commissions from brokers, or rebates, including in the form of miles. Growing up my family did move several times, and each time when a deal was close to done I remember insisting that the broker make…
How to Earn Hundreds of Thousands of Miles Through Real Estate
One feature of the economy I’ve never understood is the huge transaction costs associated with real estate. Real estate agents are, for the most part, able to hold commission. Six percent on a sale, split between broker for buyer and seller, is standard. During tough times when nothing is moving a seller may offer an extra percentage point to the buyer’s broker as an extra inducement to show the property. (No matter what your broker tells you they aren’t working for you, they are working for a sale.) Nonetheless at the edges of real estate there are rebate offers. There are brokers who will charge you only 1% if you’re the seller, but of course you’re advised to offer the full commission to the buyer’s agent for fear that they won’t encourage their clients to…
American’s International Upgrades Getting More User Friendly?
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about American closing an international upgrade loophole. American AAdvantage gives out 8 confirmed upgrades per year valid on any American flight (both domestic and international) to their 100,000 mile ‘Executive Platinum’ members. They also give out these certificates at million-mile thresholds. The rules of the certificates are that they have to be used to travel by the expiration date on the certificate. But it wasn’t actually enforced that way. If you had any certificates that would be valid into the future, you could use your earlier expiring upgrades, because the system was set up to pull the closest-to-expire upgrade certificate first. This meant that it was possible to use systemwide upgrade certificates for travel beyond their expiration date, stated rules notwithstanding. A system update, though, meant that the…
The Luggage You’re About to See Invading Airports Should Scare You
This frightens me. LuggagePros.com will sell you personalized luggage. Choose a 20″ or 24″ bag, add images, a background, and text. Here are examples: I could see someone plastering on the side: I Paid My Airline $35 And All I Got Was This Stupid Bag. LuggagePros does offer cash back through three of the major shopping portals… (HT: Joe Brancatelli) You can join the 40,000+ people who see these deals and analysis every day — sign up to receive posts by email (just one e-mail per day) or subscribe to the RSS feed. It’s free. You can also follow me on Twitter for the latest deals. Don’t miss out!
Court Smacks Down Holiday Inn Express, Timetable for India Travel Without Visa, and How to Organize Your Credit Cards
Frequent travel news of note: Malaysia Airlines — struggling even before the disappearance of MH370 — is being considered for a restructuring and privatization. I’ve certainly seen cutbacks at the Kuala Lumpur first class lounge though they do have my favorite inflight satay. An airline ticket out of Venezuela is like Gold. At first flights were just currency arbitrage but now there are far fewer international flights. Holiday Inn Express can’t claim breakfast is free anymore in the U.K. since you have to pay for a room – which isn’t free – to get breakfast. There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch, either. First Friday is a great day to stack those big dining for miles bonuses. How to Organize When You Have Too Many Credit Cards. India is looking at December for…
How Are You Spending Your 4th of July?
A very US-centric post but then more than 90% of my readers visit this site from the U.S. Are you traveling this Fourth of July weekend? Does the weekend carry any special significance for you? I’m home, and fortunate in the DC area to have impressive fireworks to watch and more importantly a rooftop on my building that has a straight shot out to the fireworks. We’ll have friends over for the evening, as we did last year. I love three day weekends. I don’t always like to travel on three day weekends. Everyone else is traveling, and leisure fares go up. But it’s a nice respite — if only to catch up on work because the demands from everyone else subside. I’m not sure how many of us actually connect to the underlying meaning…
