The TSA wouldn’t allow a purse with a designs of guns on the side to be publicly viewable as a personal item when clearing the checkpoint at the Columbus, Ohio airport. ..TSA said it would “offend their travelers.” They made her put it in her carry on. ..She stood in the security line, but when she placed her purse on the conveyor belt, they stopped her. …“We are just going to ask you to keep your purse in your bag where it cannot be seen by other travelers. I know these are not ACTUAL guns, but they may offend some of the other people traveling.” I am not a lawyer let alone one specializing in free speech law. My initial impression, though, is that the Supreme Court’s Cohen v. California ruling would be clear on…
How to Get Cheap Custom Suits Made in Southeast Asia
I love getting custom-made suits done in Southeast Asia. I’ve done it multiple times in Thailand. Labor is cheap, skill level is high, and competition is intense. That translates into a great opportunity for consumers. But it isn’t the same opportunity that many think it is. Tailor shops will make clothes for you in whatever time you have. But if you don’t have 4-5 days you probably aren’t really getting custom-made. Suits aren’t being properly made for you in a day. Suits are cheap but they aren’t dirt cheap if you want quality. Don’t buy a suit with shirt and tie thrown in for $99. It’s going to be a $99 suit, and more or less wastes your time getting it and the opportunity foregone for something better. Expect to pay for quality — while…
Earn Double Points or Double Miles With Hilton HHonors: Which Should You Choose?
Last week Starwood announced their double and triple points promotion for May through July. (If you’re new to Starwood, sign up with free instant status.) Hilton is now out with their competing promo, Double Your HHonors. Hilton’s current promotion runs through April 30th. Like Starwood’s their new promotion runs May 1 through July 31. You have to choose between earning double points or double miles. And then you’ll want to have your ‘earning preference’ set accordingly. Of course, since Hilton killed points and fixed miles as an option, you are now either earning the standard 10 base points plus 5 points per dollar or the 10 base points and 1 mile per dollar. Under this promotion you can either earn a bonus equal to your base points earned (an extra 10 points per dollar) or…
How to Make Money While Loading Money onto Bluebird
Over the weekend I explained How to Use Bluebird in a Post-Vanilla World. It was a simple explanation of what card to buy, and how to put the funds onto your Bluebird, and then get the funds back into your bank account. No Vanilla Reloads required. It’s $1 more expensive than the Vanilla Reload approach was. But it requires more work since you need to go to Walmart to load the funds onto Bluebird, and there’s a $1000 per day limit so you have to go to Walmart each day you want to do it.. instead of sitting on your couch at home or desk at work. Lots of commenters — correctly — pointed out that the economics aren’t ideal for most (other than for Grant, at least). So here’s how you can do it…
The 2% Cash Rebate VISA, and What You Can Do With It…
I’ve written frequently about the Fidelity Investment Rewards American Express. It’s a no annual fee card that earns 2% back on all spending (that you deposit into a Fidelity investment account). There’s now even a $75 signup bonus after $500 spend within 60 days for the card. Over the weekend @TheMrPickles tweeted me that he prefers the Fidelity Investment Rewards Visa over the American Express. The Fidelity Visa is a no annual fee card that offers 2% cash back also — but only after spending $15,000 on the card in a year. Before that it’s just a 1.5% rebate card. That means you are giving up 0.5% on that first $15,000 spend ($75). The upside of course is that the card has greater acceptance as a Visa than it would as an American Express. I…
Thai Airways Discovers the Security Theatre Time Machine
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…
