GoRemy (whose Arlington Rap is an all-time favorite of mine, but then I live in Arlington) brings us The TSA Pokey Pokey.
When is Travel Insurance a Good Idea?
In most cases, travel insurance makes little sense. You want to insure against large losses, incurring which would be catastrophic. You don’t want to buy insurance against small losses, against those you ‘self-insure.’ And small losses are rarely worth the cost to recover, remember that a covered event doesn’t just generate a check, you have to navigate the bureaucracy of the insurer in order to obtain payment, which at the very least is going to involve filling out paperwork and waiting. Travel insurers offer the policies because they’re profitable. Travel websites and travel agents sell them because they’re profitable to them, in fact commissions can exceed 40%. Further, most of the benefits of travel insurance are relatively modest, it may not make snese to buy a policy on the chance you need to spend up…
What Exciting New Platinum Benefits are Coming to Starwood Preferred Guest?
Barbara De Lollis reports on her conversation with Westin’s new brand chief and asks about elite recognition. “We’re working closely with SPG to figure out how not only to deliver SPG awards, but a branded award as part of that,” Brian Povinelli, the newly named brand chief for the 179-location chain told me the other day. “Mid-year 2011, we expect to roll out some new platinum amenities and preferred member amenities that will be more in a brand voice,” he says. Now, Starwood definitely needs to improve their elite offerings. What was once a market leader has seen competitors catch up and even surpass them, while Starwood’s elite offerings have remained fairly constant for years. Starwood Platinums do get good space available upgrades, best available room at checkin up to and including standard suites. Marriott…
Changes So Far and Open Questions in the United-Continental Merger
In what I believe is the last story at the Chicago Tribune for Julie Johnsson, one of the really good aviation reporters (she’s changing industries and headed to Bloomberg), she covers the United-Continental rebranding and changing boarding procedures: United has moved to Continental’s boarding by row (back to front) rather than by zone (where window gets zone 2, middle 3, aisle 4). It’s the little things that frequent flyers notice and that mess with their routines. Though I argue that most of the non-aesthetic changes happening as part of the merger have been quite positive, in contrast to how I felt about Delta-Northwest. “It’s pretty jarring to see the globe on the tail. I do think there would have been a massive mutiny if they got rid of ‘ Rhapsody in Blue.’ For me, (the…
The craziest mileage earning schemes and where you should focus your points earning
In a story about Flyertalk and Milepoint.com frequent flyer communities, Greg Lindsay regales of many great mileage accumulation schemes in the May/June issue of Executive Traveler. Now, every frequent flyer story should begin… Steve Belkin was in trouble with the law. It was 2001, and agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration wanted to know why he’d hired 20 Thai farmers to fly four times a day, every day, for six weeks straight between the cities of Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, only 80 miles apart in the infamous Golden Triangle, a hotbed for heroin smuggling. Sufficiently scared, Belkin showed them his spreadsheet—it was all part of a plan, he explained, to earn five million frequent-flier miles. For only $8 per round trip, his employees were racking up miles he then processed legally through Air…
Over 225 Have Signed up for the Chicago Frequent Flyer Seminar October 29-30
Rick Ingersoll emails to let me know that 225 people have registered for the Chicago frequent flyer seminar that’s being held October 29 and 30 at the Holiday Inn Elk Grove Village (same location as last year, where the entire hotel was dedicated to the event for the weekend). The host hotel is completely sold out, but rooms are still available at the overflow hotel, the Holiday Inn and Suites O’Hare/Rosemont. Full details are in this discussion thread on Milepoint and registration is here. The event is sponsored by AwardWallet, Electric Wombats, ExpertFlyer, Milepoint, and ITASoftware. Costs are $75 per person which includes lunch on Saturday and Sunday. I’ll be giving a talk on frequent flyer award booking, hHow to identify the best value uses of your points, find award seats, and navigate the call…
Trying Out the OTHER Andaz in New York, Wall Street
My regular hotel in New York has become the Andaz 5th Avenue but this past weekend I stayed at the Andaz Wall Street for the first time, in part because I’ve really wanted to try it out to experience the difference since so many Diamond members rave about it, and in part because the 5th Avenue property was pricing quite high and I didn’t want to burn the requisite points for that room. The Wall Street Andaz is frequently favored because they treat Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond members well with room upgrades. At the 5th Avenue Andaz I’ve been fortunate to either be in an XL King View room or using a confirmed suite upgrade, many members report that the 5th Avenue property is fairly tight-fisted with upgrades but that the Wall Street property is…
Milepoint.com Offering $25 Towards Your Microlending at Kiva.org
Several Milepoint.com members got together and decided that as a group they wanted to get involved in microlending through Kiva.org. Kiva is a site that lets people lend directly to individuals in developing nations who are looking for funds to start businesses, to expand, to use funds for expenses that will allow them to continue to work productively, and effectively improve their lives. Kiva lets members ‘join teams’ and work together on their loans, encouraging each other and even competing with other teams to do the most to improve the lives of the people who are benefiting from the site. The Milepoint team is already one of the world’s most active and fastest growing. As a frequent flyer community it makes sense to get involved in the betterment of the local communities we visit in…
EU Considering an End to Passport Free Travel Regime
Via Marginal Revolution, a somewhat sensationalist account of European moves to end the Schengen passport-free travel regime. I believe that this would be a reversal of one of the truly great accomplishments of the past 50 years. European nations moved to reverse decades of unfettered travel across the continent when a majority of EU governments agreed the need to reinstate national passport controls amid fears of a flood of immigrants fleeing the upheaval in north Africa. In a serious blow to one of the cornerstones of a united, integrated Europe, EU interior ministers embarked on a radical revision of the passport-free travel regime known as the Schengen system to allow the 26 participating governments to restore border controls. … The policy shift was pushed by France and Italy, who have been feuding and panicking in…
Overwater Bungalows and the Best Value Aspirational Properties
Yesterday CNN.com ran a piece on overwater bungalows that led off with my stay at Bora Bora Nui, then a Starwood property and the newest on Bora Bora and now a Hilton property and one of the very best award redemption values out there. (A basic-level room redemption won’t get you the overwater bungalow but will get you a suite-size bungalow, and plenty of people get status upgrades or buy ups to overwater. Plus I’d expect Hilton’s new premium room redemption offerings to spread here and allow for overwater redemptions, though those are likely to be a less great value.) For many, Bora Bora represents the utmost in aspirational redemptions. The story’s author told me that Bora Bora Nui is now her screensaver. And indeed, it was absolutely stunning. As regular readers of this blog…
