Inane security procedures aren’t exclusive to the U.S. And it’s just so 2002. The Winter Olympics were in Salt Lake City. The ceasefire began in Sri Lanka. Queen Elizabeth passed away. Robert Hanssen was sentenced to life in prison for selling secrets to the Soviets. Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas died. And the Department of Homeland Security was created. Thai Airways is trialing going with all plastic flatware on its Bangkok – Los Angeles route. Chatree Pongsak, director of THAI’s flight operations safety department, said the change had been made out of concern for passenger safety. He said the stainless steel cutlery could be used as a weapon in a terrorist attack or to commit a crime on board. The airline’s Company Safety Committee (CSC) is considering phasing out the metallic cutlery on all of the…
Free Hotel Nights in Asia, Hijacking a Plane With Chocolate, and the Most Disappointing Destinations (Bits ‘n Pieces for April 20, 2014)
News and notes from around the interweb: More bad news for US Airways on Twitter. Getting the most value for your money at Chipotle despite rising prices there. Get a $56 hotel credit, enough for a free room in Asia. The IHG Rewards Club 50% off award sale for certain hotels in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean is now live. A Cathay Pacific passenger tried to hijack a plane with a toblerone bar. It didn’t work, because that’s just chocolate. The passenger then returned to his seat when asked to do so. (HT: Loyalty Lobby) The passenger’s head was wrapped in two economy class blankets, leaving only his eyes visible, and he wore another blanket on his back like a cape. In one hand was a large Toblerone chocolate bar that Manselius was “grasping…
Elephant Jumps Thai is Cooking at a Whole Different Level, You Should Go Now
Friday night my boss emailed me, “You must go and get his sour bamboo shoot curry, and the fermented fish curry, possibly the best dishes yet…! (not available every day, though)” He didn’t have a subject line, didn’t mention the restaurant, he didn’t have to because it was obvious. I was planning to go to Elephant Jumps for lunch on Saturday anyway. Tyler Cowen’s Ethnic Dining Guide has an updated review: This place has improved so much I feel it deserves another review. It was already one of the best places on this list, nowadays it is probably the very best place. It has consistently original and authentic Thai food which is refined and improved on a regular basis. …If you are ever upset that I am not writing more restaurant reviews, the answer is…
Who Does the Overhead Space Belong To?
Yesterday I wrote Tips to Avoid Gate Checking Your bag. Some of those tips were controversial. This, especially, drew fire: Once on the plane, take any space you can find don’t wait until you get all the way to your seat if you’re in the back of the cabin. You might get glares, but there may be room in the first class bins and that carries the added benefit of your not having to schlep the bag all the way to the back and also that it’s already near the front of the plane when you’re ready to disembark. Here’s what Gary Steiger wrote: I hate it when I just make it into my business or class seat when connecting from another flight, only to find that the overhead bins are full from cattle class…
Free and Instant Starwood Status
Starwood Preferred Guest’s top status level is Platinum. You can earn Platinum status with 25 stays, with 50 nights, or with $100,000 in meeting spend in a year. The folks at SPG were brilliant when they added benefits two years ago that required staying additional nights to earn those benefits. 50 night Platinums get suite upgrade awards 75 night Platinums earn more points and get 24 hour check-in/out on a space-available basis 100 night Platinums get a dedicated concierge. They didn’t create a ‘level’ above Platinum, and in the process didn’t alienate their 25 stay members as much as they might otherwise have. Below Platinum is Gold which requires 10 stays or 25 nights in a year and gets you a 50% bonus on points earned, guaranteed 4pm late checkout (except at resorts and convention…
Video of a Man Walking Backwards Through Tokyo, Played in Reverse
For your Saturday evening tripping wanderlust. This is the video of a guy who walked around Tokyo backwards.. only is shown in reverse. Of course, walking through Tokyo will always bring up Lost in Translation which – for me – is all about How the Jesus and Mary Chain Influence My Hotel Choices. Not quite the Munich Airport ‘lip dub’ but still more than a bit surreal. 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!
Tips To Avoid Gate Checking Your Bag and a Scary Video of What Happens When You Do
This video of Air Canada baggage handlers tossing gate checked bags was uploaded on Thursday. It was taken before a flight from Toronto to Vancouver. Air Canada is investigating. “The gate check, unfortunately, turned into a gate toss,” Stewart said. The video runs a little over a minute and shows a baggage handler dropping items from the top of a movable staircase into a bin, which a second handler then moves into a nearby vehicle. I never want to have to gate check bags. I also hate to board first. I don’t want to spend 20 minutes on the plane more than necessary, especially in a coach seat. I’d rather work a few more minutes in the lounge or spend the time picking up a bottle of water or snack near the gate. The key…
Monday is the Last Day to Buy IHG Rewards Club Points at Up to 100% Bonus
IHG Rewards Club is offering a targeted purchased points bonus (the bonus amount varies by member) on a sliding scale (the more points you buy the lower the price per point). When you go to the purchase page you have to identify yourself in order to determine the bonus you’re going to be offered. Does this look familiar, like what US Airways Dividend Miles does sometimes – both the targeting, and the occasionally varying of bonus amounts? Interestingly the IHG Rewards Club manager is himself late of Dividend Miles. I’m only offered a 25% bonus, however most reports are of people being offered 100% (and even people who were earlier offered 25% now seeing the 100% offer). Here’s IHG’s points pricing: You may purchase points in 1,000 increments: 1,000 – 10,000 points for $13.50 per…
How to Use Bluebird in a Post-Vanilla Reload World
You can no longer buy Vanilla Reload cards with a credit card at CVS. That was the simple way to load Bluebird. Buy the Vanilla Reloads with a credit card, put the funds on Bluebird, transfer the funds back to your bank account. It was the lazy way to earn miles with a single trip to the store, with the rest of the work done at the computer, sitting on your couch. Vanilla Reload cards cost $3.95 per $500. But you can still accomplish the same thing, with the same $1000 per day load limit, with two store trips and a cost of $4.95 per $500. Buy a $500 OneVanilla Prepaid Visa for $4.95. CVS still lets you pay for these with a credit card (you can also substitute a $200 PIN-enabled card from an…
Citibank Hilton 50,000 Point Offer: New Link Found, Alive Until May 31
While the link that I had for Citibank’s 50,000 point bonus for the Hilton Visa Signature card expired yesterday, reader Phil emails to let me know that there’s another link that will not expire until May 31. It can be found at the top (in the Wiki) of this Flyertalk.com post. One person on the thread reports that Citibank initially didn’t have an indication that they were entitled not just to 50,000 points after spending $1,000 in the first four months but also to a $50 statement credit after you spend $50 or more on your first hotel stay within the Hilton HHonors Portfolio during the first six months of cardmembership. Although it appears that’s gotten straightened out. For the folks in the comments yesterday disappointed because the link I had for this offer was…
