Last week I suggested that the FAA’s claims of massive pain for travelers as a result of the sequester was political grandstanding and thoroughly unnecessary. It wasn’t my position that cuts would be costless to them, but that they were contorting themselves to come up with the most painful way possible to account for those cuts. And that there were at least plausible alternatives. Lots of commenters argued that I must simply not understand the sequester, that the money has to be taken proportionally from each program / project / activity. I pointed out that these things are not at all defined in the statute, and it was still up to the Administration then to choose what that would mean for implementation. Even so it still seemed extremely odd that the FAA could come up…
Bits ‘n Pieces for February 27, 2013
News and notes from around the interweb: Abu Dhabi criminal court enforces price floor for overweight baggage. Hint: Don’t try the $20 trick at UAE hotels, either. (HT: sobore on Milepoint) Earlier in the month Delta and Starwood announced reciprocal elite benefits and the ability to earn points in each others’ programs — in addition to traditional points earning — for elite members doing business with the other travel company. You can now link your Starwood and Delta accounts either on the Delta website or on Starwood’s. (HT: Loyalty Lobby) Lucky runs into Justin Ross Lee at the airport. I met him at the first Frequent Traveler University, but he wasn’t sitting in the lounge in his bathrobe, or stealing bottles of first class champagne to pour for the coach cabin (while claiming to be…
25,000 American Airlines Miles for New DirecTV Signup
I last saw this offer back in the fall, so it’s one that’s run semi-regularly, this time with even slightly lower promotional pricing. The offer runs through the end of April and requires a 24 month contract for an ‘Entertainment’ package (which starts at $30+tax per month for the first year and goes up from there) or a more expensive offering. It’s available to new customers only and oddly enough no credit card is required in Massachusetts or Pennsylvania. Not necessarily great strictly as a low-cost mileage purchase deal, but pretty good if you’re in the market for television service. I use DirecTV, much prefer it over my previous provider Comcast, though should probably look at Verizon’s Fios service (which I already use for home internet).
Which Hotel Program is Most Rewarding for Free Nights? (The Results Will Surprise You)
Amidst all the talk of hotel loyalty program devaluation and skyrocketing costs of free nights, I thought it would be useful to run some numbers to see how the programs actually compare in terms of rewards per dollar spent at their properties. So I ran some numbers for the base programs. I wanted to see what kind of return per dollar spent you get in the form of free nights from each of the chains. What hotel program offers a free night after the least amount of spending? What hotel program will let you redeem a free night in a big city after the smallest investment? What hotel program will let you access its most expensive, most aspirational hotels for the least amount of spending? I decided to have a look at the basic programs…
Bits ‘n Pieces for February 25, 2013
News and notes from around the interweb: The man who sued Continental Airlines for refusing to accept cash for inflight sales lost. (HT: uggboy on Milepoint) Removing hard inquiries from your credit report. ‘Bumpage’ isn’t as easy as it used to be. Hilton HHonors changed its terms and conditions with no notice to say that elite benefits don’t apply to things that hotels charge resort fees for. That way elites can’t argue that since they get those things free they shouldn’t be on the hook for resort fees. When resort fees shouldn’t be charged anyway, since they’re really just a hidden part of the room rate. Poor form to take away elite benefits on resort stays to extract resort fees from them, and poor form to make changes buried in the terms and conditions of…
The Top 10 Things I’ll Miss About US Airways Dividend Miles After the Merger With American
Assuming that the merger between American and US Airways is actually consummated, we know that the combined entity will be called American Airlines and will be based the Dallas Fort Worth area. The frequent flyer program will be AAdvantage and the airline will be a part of the oneworld alliance (US Airways is currently a member of Star). On the merger announcement day, Doug Parker explained that he learned a lesson when integrating US Airways with America West — it’s better to take the IT architecture of the bigger airline, rather than migrating the larger data set into the software platform of the smaller carrier. He thought that lesson was applied well when Delta and Northwest merged. And he was presumably too kind to say it, but the disastrous effects of ignoring that lesson played…
Hyatt’s New Toiletries Across Brands and Regions
I love hotel bath amenities, just as I love airline pajamas and taking cooking classes while on vacation and recreating those recipes in my own kitchen. It’s a part of bringing the road back home and connecting with travel and brands on an emotional level. So I probably have a bit too much of a fascination when hotels change up their toiletries, the ones I don’t like I really don’t like probably way more than is justified, and the ones I do like I buy myself and use when I’m not on the road. I miss Molten Brown at Westins, I’ve gone through phases where I like L’Occitane. And I’ve long detested Portico White Ginger, I’ve been following the saga of when Hyatt would replace it and was ecstatic when they finally did (and proud…
How to Get Tickets to the Sold Out Frequent Traveler University
On Thursday I posted about the schedule for the upcoming Frequent Traveler University in Northern Virginia, April 26-28, and noted that the event would sell out shortly. And indeed it did, tickets have sold out. We now expect 650 people at the event, the largest gathering of frequent flyers ever that I’m aware of. And – I think – a really fantastic program to boot. For folks that have been waiting, haven’t purchased tickets, and would still like to attend all is not lost however. While tickets for the event are non-refundable, they are transferable. (There’s no administrative charge for this.) And surely there are some folks that have purchased tickets and won’t be able to use them. Already we’re seeing activity in the Milepoint thread about the Frequent Traveler University event where folks who…
Hyatt Will Begin to Tell You About All the Free Stuff You Can Have
Hyatt announced some service changes globally and across all brands. They highlight the intensive customer research, especially regarding womens’ needs, and are making changes to housekeeping, amenities, food offerings, and having items available on hand that guests may need. For housekeeping they’re introducing “communications cards” for housekeeping staff to confirm the room is cleaned, and to offer a mechanism for guest feedback. On business trips I tend to stay for one night or two, so if I need anything addressed feedback would need to be instant and not wait for a comment card. (I don’t do the consultant ‘Monday-to-Thursday’ thing.) But it’s a soft approach that likely makes it easier for some guests to ask for what they want, since they are being asked for the feedback. I’m not sure that being told a room…
Is the FAA Talking Themselves into Inconveniencing Travelers as Part of the Budget Showdown?
Lots of stories out about how the impending budget sequester will lead to delays in travel mostly as a result of furloughs to air traffic controllers. Here are the cuts that the FAA says it will make if the sequester goes into effect. In a letter to trade groups, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and FAA administrator Michael Huerta outlined these steps that DOT will take to save $600 million from March 1, the date the sequestration would take effect, to Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year: – “Furlough the vast majority of the FAA’s nearly 47,000 employees” by about one day per pay period. – “Eliminate midnight shifts in over 60 towers across the country.” – “Close over 100 air traffic control towers at airports with fewer than 150,000 flight operations or 10,000…
