Last month I harkened back to my childhood and asked – about airplane blankets – what’s grosser than gross? Now I ask, which of these is worse? Feet on an American Airlines Domestic First Class Bulkhead Or Feet on the Wall of an Etihad First Class Suite? How Do You Feel About Bare Feet on a Plane? 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!
Always Print Your Travel Itinerary (All-Electronic Isn’t)
There are many times it helps to have a printed e-ticket itinerary, and even a printed boarding pass. An itinerary can be helpful: Getting into the airport Many airports in Asia — such as Bali, Male and Manila — will have security checking for itineraries on the way into the terminal. Showing your onward travel plans at immigration. You may need to demonstrate you have an onward ticket when being admitted into a country, or for that matter when transiting. Transi security will often need to see either a boarding pass or itinerary. Interlining bags across multiple itineraries. If you are traveling on separate tickets and checking bags, and want the airline you’re checking in with to interline those bags to the next airline in your journey, they’ll be much more willing to do so…
Unsuck Washington Dulles, Fire Jeff Smisek, and 900 Free Alitalia Miles (Bits ‘n Pieces for May 1, 2014)
News and notes from around the interweb: Washington Dulles is a very bad airport. You reach the airport and you’re nowhere near the actual airport. There’s a taxi monopoly that’s terrible for the environment — one cab takes you, and returns empty while another drives there empty to pick up passengers. And now they’re harassing Uber drivers (and not just UberX, either). If nothing else, DC-based flyers really need a hash tag. Last week I said that it’s time for United’s Board to look for new management instead of new customers. The largest local chapter of United’s pilots union agrees. And in the airline industry a pilots union can effectively oust a CEO (as we’ve seen in the past at both United and American). 900 free Alitalia miles for signing up for a car rental…
Here’s How to Ask for — and Get — an Upgrade
I asked readers to share what’s on their mind and not surprisingly one of the questions was about getting upgraded. I’ve shared all of this advice before, but it seemed useful to pull it together and repeat it because it’s not just a reader question it’s one of the most common questions in travel. Airline upgrades are almost exclusively done by formula, with little discretion allowed to gate or check-in counter agents. The only time there may be wiggle room is when a flight is oversold, and while elite frequent flyers may get preference for moving up to a premium cabin, the most important priority is getting a flight out on time. Other than these “operational upgrades” though, upgrades are going to be based on published criteria – not who is nicest, who dresses best,…
How to Get the Seats You Want on Your Next Flight
I asked readers to share what’s on their mind and one reader mentioned being unable to sit with her husband on a recent trip, and wanted to know how to make that work on future travels. Now, it can be really hard to get seats together on flights — flights are full, airlines are charging for many of their coach seats (calling them premium when they’re not really different than other seats — perhaps just not in the back or not middles). During the holidays it gets even harder with more families traveling so trying to sit together (compared to solo business travelers). For most passengers, your ticket doesn’t come with a ‘seat’. Obviously that isn’t literally true, since safety rules require all passengers to be seated. But there’s a limited number of seats on…
12 Great Ways to Save Money on Rental Cars
Airlines and hotels get most of the ink in travel and in terms of getting the best deal. But I rent cars. A lot. I’ve earned status with rental car chains, as well as Her list, my comments. Now, here’s the most important tip to improve your car rental experience. But here’s how you can save money renting cars: Rent off-brand. Fox, Payless, and others will often have lower rates than Avis and Hertz. The question is whether the lower rate is worth the extra hassle, and that’s a personal tradeoff. The lesser known brands may be off-airport in several cities, so more of a hassle to get to the car. (Although off-airport may be a savings in itself, see below.) They don’t all have the streamlined checkout and checkin processes that you can at…
AirTran A+ Rewards Program Ends November 1
Southwest Airlines acquired AirTran and has taken its sweet time in folding the two airlines and two frequent flyer programs into one. But we now have a definitive date. You can already transfer AirTran credits and Southwest Rapid Rewards points back and forth. AirTran accounts will be closed on November 1. You’ll be able to set up permanent linking later in the year so that points from AirTran will transfer smoothly (at 1 credit -> 1200 points, and half credits become 600 points) when the transition happens. If you have an AirTran account and not a Southwest one (or they can’t find your Southwest account), they’ll create a Rapid Rewards account for you. You’ll be better off creating and linking your own accounts later in the year, however, since there’s no risk in winding up…
Porn Stars Shut Down for Credit Card Perk Abuse, and the Future of PreCheck and Inflight Internet (Bits ‘n Pieces for April 29, 2014)
News and notes from around the interweb: Scott Mayerowitz reports that TSA PreCheck is now being rolled out with international airlines. AT&T plans to offer inflight internet service. Competition is a good thing. If you don’t want your credit card account closed down, stay out of the porn industry. Total speculation: Chase employees aren’t watching films to identify banking clients. Instead, perhaps accounts receiving funds from specific high risk businesses are being deemed high-risk by extension. Always interesting when “goodwill adjustment’ bonus points show up in an account when you haven’t made any sort of complaint. It’s like Christmas in April! Seattle’s KOMO tv news runs a piece with me on overweight carry on bags. It will be interesting, with more than than just Spirit, to see if carry on bag fees reduce how common…
ACT NOW: US Airways Award Tickets On British Airways Without Fuel Surcharges
Debating Whether or Not to Share This I struggled with whether to post this or not. Since US Airways joined oneworld a month ago there’s been a big opportunity. But I also suspected that once I posted it, the opportunity would disappear quickly. There’s always a balance. I want as many people as possible to benefit from a deal, but I also don’t want to overexpose something either. If I think something is sustainable I will post it. If I think that an opportunity will end from my shedding a light on it I won’t. I don’t always get the balance right, but I do my best. This deal was posted on a handful of minor blog sites, and I didn’t take the bait. But this morning I saw The Points Guy cover it. And…
Maximize Your Earning on a Short Hyatt Stay: Triple Miles for Summer With 8 Airlines
Hyatt is offering triple American AAdvantage miles beginning with your second stay between May 1 and August 31. Registration is required. See all 8 offers below. You cannot earn both Hyatt Gold Passport points and miles at the same time. However earning miles still allows you to earn stay and night credits towards elite status. Since it’s fixed-earning… 1500 miles instead of the usual 500.. this is a great deal for inexpensive stays (for instance, a $200 one-night stay) and not a very good deal for pricey stays (multi-night, and high room rate). Here are the 8 airline offers and their respective registration pages: Air France KLM Flying Blue American AAdvantage ANA Mileage Club British Airway Executive Club Japan Airlines Mileage Bank Jet Airways JetPrivilege Miles & More United MileagePlus The bonus can be earned…
