Okay, not a smackdown but a compare and contrast. USA Today ran a story today on Flyertalk versus Milepoint. It’s going to be pretty inside baseball for some, but they seem to come down on the side that if you’re an expert the deep reservoir of content on Flyertalk is hard to beat but if you’re not already steeped in the community the place can be daunting. Randy Petersen gives a nod to Flyetalk’s content, while Internet Brands acknowledges the challenges that the site faces in being accessible to new members. The piece offers a nod to Milepoint‘s technology platform, and its welcoming nature for new members. Of course both have value, and it’s always great to see these communities cross into the mainstream via USA Today and other popular media. I’m participating mostly in…
Free Marriott Courtyard Nights Giveaway to Celebrate Their Redesigned Lobbies
Marriott Courtyard is rolling out new re-designed lobbies to appeal especially to business travelers, and they reached out to me to see if I’d be willing to share it with my readers. The offer? I could give away 2 free nights at any Marriott Courtyard in the Continental U.S., and they’d give me free nights for myself as well. As regular visitors to View from the Wing know, when I get offers like these my first question is, “Do you mind if I just give away those nights to my readers as well?” And the answer is almost universally yes. I’ll wind up checking out the new lobbies in the normal course of my travels, I don’t need the free nights, I much enjoy giving them away to readers instead. So that’s the offer —…
50% Bonus on Buying bmi Diamond Club Miles This Week Only
British Midland is offering a 50% bonus on puchased miles this week only, through December 11. bmi miles are especially valuable and leveragable because of their attractive cash and points award chart (though they do add fuel surcharges to awards, cash and points really stretches the points, e.g. one-way business class from the US to Germany is 18,750 miles plus ~ $165 cash co-pay and then of course taxes and fuel surcharges – you could buy the miles for one-way business class cash and points for $268, or $433 cash outlay plus taxes and fees which are not insubstantial). You can buy up to 24,000 miles per account per year. Since they offer family accounts, though, you can link up to 8 accounts and combine miles as needed for redemptions. I wouldn’t be bulking up…
Cathay Pacific Business Class, Bangkok – Hong Kong and Marriott SkyCity Hong Kong: “Burn Avios, Burn” Cathay Pacific First Class and Amazing Conrad Suites
Index: Planning the trip US Airways Shuttle to New York and the Sheraton JFK Cathay Pacific First Class, New York – Hong Kong The Pier Lounge and Cathay Pacific Business Class, Hong Kong – Bangkok Conrad Bangkok Deluxe Suite Bangkok Airways Business Class, Bangkok – Koh Samui Conrad Koh Samui, 2 Bedroom Ocean Pool Villa Conrad Koh Samui, Resort Bangkok Airways Business Class, Koh Samui – Bangkok Cathay Pacific Business Class, Bangkok – Hong Kong and Marriott SkyCity Hong Kong Cathay Pacific First Class Hong Kong – Chicago United Airlines Back Home Having bid our complimentary Bangkok Flight Services escort (thanks, Bangkok Airways!) adieu at the transfer desk, we walked around the corner to the Cathay Pacific “First and Business Class lounge.” We were originally supposed to be first class passengers on our flight to…
Earn Up to 18,250 United/Continental Miles Per Year for Social Media Airport Checkins
It’s not even added to the list of programs you can earn with yet, but United Mileage Plus and Continental Onepass have been added to TopGuest, the website that allows you to earn miles and points for check-ins via FourSquare and Facebook. Connect with Facebook or Foursquare and you’ll get 50 reward miles each time you share your location at or near select United® and Continental® airports. Plus, you’ll receive special offers within minutes for nearby airport retailers, car rental agencies and restaurants. Eligible airports are here. Some of the offers they’ll send to you earn miles via Thanks Again and require a Thanks Again account. They’ll also send you Rewards Network dining offers, which of course require being signed up for a free dining program account to earn miles. With a Washington National checkin,…
Bangkok Airways Business Class, Koh Samui – Bangkok: “Burn Avios, Burn” Cathay Pacific First Class and Amazing Conrad Suites
Index: Planning the trip US Airways Shuttle to New York and the Sheraton JFK Cathay Pacific First Class, New York – Hong Kong The Pier Lounge and Cathay Pacific Business Class, Hong Kong – Bangkok Conrad Bangkok Deluxe Suite Bangkok Airways Business Class, Bangkok – Koh Samui Conrad Koh Samui, 2 Bedroom Ocean Pool Villa Conrad Koh Samui, Resort Bangkok Airways Business Class, Koh Samui – Bangkok Cathay Pacific Business Class, Bangkok – Hong Kong and Marriott SkyCity Hong Kong Cathay Pacific First Class Hong Kong – Chicago United Airlines Back Home I called the hotel for checkout, and a representative came to our villa to handle it in-room. There was a golf cart for us and one for our bags, and we were swiftly taken to the entrance of the resort. We had reserved…
Conrad Koh Samui, Resort: “Burn Avios, Burn” Cathay Pacific First Class and Amazing Conrad Suites
Index: Planning the trip US Airways Shuttle to New York and the Sheraton JFK Cathay Pacific First Class, New York – Hong Kong The Pier Lounge and Cathay Pacific Business Class, Hong Kong – Bangkok Conrad Bangkok Deluxe Suite Bangkok Airways Business Class, Bangkok – Koh Samui Conrad Koh Samui, 2 Bedroom Ocean Pool Villa Conrad Koh Samui, Resort Bangkok Airways Business Class, Koh Samui – Bangkok Cathay Pacific Business Class, Bangkok – Hong Kong and Marriott SkyCity Hong Kong Cathay Pacific First Class Hong Kong – Chicago United Airlines Back Home In my last post I focused exclusively on my room at the Conrad Koh Samui. The room deserved its own post because it was special in its own right, and also because the focus of a stay at this property is very much…
Booking Glitch Allows You to Book Aeroplan Awards for Fewer Miles
Turning the mike over to Matthew: There is a pricing glitch going on right now at Aeroplan where business class awards are pricing at the economy class level and first class awards are pricing at the business class level.For a look at the Aeroplan award chart, click here. Of course that means there are some sweet deals right now to be had. A mini RTW trip in first class for 125K miles or a trip from North America to New Zealand via Europe for 80K miles in business class are just two examples. The Aeroplan folks are smart and I expect this deal to be gone in a few hours, but for now the booking floodgates are wide open on Aeroplan’s website and even apparently at their call centers, where the computers are also pricing…
Three Giveaway Opportunities for Free Seats (and Hotel Nights!) on the Sold Out oneworld MegaDO
Randy Petersen is giving away a seat on the oneworld MegaDO charter, complete with hotels and whatnot. I’ve offered more extensive discussions of the MegaDO here and here, but Randy offers the following: With stops in Dallas, Seattle and Los Angeles there are sure to be several amazing events along the way. I don’t want to say too much, as the hosts like to keep a few surprises up their sleeves, but I don’t think I’ll be giving anything away when I tell you the itinerary includes: Informal get togethers with the executives of American Airlines providing an inside look at this airline, as well as executives from Hyatt Hotels, Qantas Airlines and more. Boeing Factory and Boeing Museum of Flight tours with access to areas and events never experienced in any prior MegaDO event.…
We’re (tied for) Number One!
I don’t check such things often, but @LoyaltyTraveler tweets that Ben and I are currently tied for the number one most influential travel blog on Technocrati. I really don’t know what this means, my sense is it has to do with other blogs measured as influential linking to this blog. And certainly these rankings change all the time. But it’s still sort of fun to see, so thanks to Loyalty Traveler for the heads up (and congratulations for being listed at #8!). Congratulations as well to Gadling at number 4, the Points Guy at number 5, and Online Travel Review at number 6! Ironically by linking to these good folks via this blog post, I bet I’m pushing them up in the rankings and will cause myself to drop out of the #1 spot…
