The TSA agent who went to jail for stealing a CNN camera and selling it on eBay (after first simply going on paid leave) is now out and talking about the TSA culture that permitted and even encouraged such behavior. He explains he only got caught because he forgot to remove some of the CNN stickers before the sale. “It was very commonplace, very,” said Pythias Brown, a former TSA officer at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey who admits he stole more than $800,000 worth of items from luggage and security checkpoints over a four-year period. “It was very convenient to steal,” he said. ..Brown is one of almost 400 TSA officers who have been fired for stealing from passengers in the past decade. According to the TSA, 381 TSA officers have been…
Qatar Expected to Join oneworld Alliance
There’s been lots of speculation of a Middle East carrier joining the oneworld alliance. Etihad is a frequent flyer partner of American, and owns a stake in oneworld carrier Air Berlin Qatar’s relationship with United has been terminated, and there’s been some public comment by British Airways’ Chairman about the desirability of a tie-up with Qatar Emirates has a new strong relationship with oneworld airline Qantas, though at the expense of the Qantas relationship with British Airways and even Cathay Pacific, my own sense was that Emirates was the least likely to get closer to oneworld overall The speculation has intensified in the past weeks, and now it’s being predicted that Qatar will join oneworld in an announcement slated for October 8. Oneworld will hold an event announcing a “significant membership development” on 8 October,…
Credit Card Purchase Protection Pays to Fix My Samsung S3’s Cracked Screen
Some of you will remember that I cracked the screen of my new Samsung Galaxy S3 phone a month ago, when the phone was just two months old. I was walking along the sidewalk, it slipped out of my hands, and hit the pavement glass-first. Since then I got case for the phone… but that’s not the subject of this post. It gave me an opportunity to test out a purchase protection claim for the very first time., so it was a great learning experience. Ancillary Benefits on Credit Cards, Do You Know All the Benefits Your Cards Have? Talking to folks around my office most don’t realize that there are all sorts of benefits that come with their premium credit cards, such as: Premium travel benefits, such as Visa Signature Hotels Travel accident insurance,…
Bits ‘n Pieces for September 28, 2012
News and notables from around the interweb: Hyatt Gold Passport clarifies its Diamond member breakfast benefit. In a good way. Up to 4 guests registered to the member’s room get free full breakfast in the restaurant when there’s no club lounge or the lounge is closed. It’s the most robust breakfast benefit of any hotel loyalty program. Mommy Points highlights the NFL Extra Points card – $400 after $1000 in spend. In many ways not enough to get me excited about a credit card signup bonus but it’s from Barclays, so that helps mix things up a mix from the usual Chase, American Express, and Citibank offerings. I still like the US Airways Mastercard and the Travelocity American Express from Barclays better, however. Aeroplan is offering 500 bonus miles for flights on Air Canada booked…
Mistake Fare – One Way First Class Originating in Myanmar is Back!
Some months ago there was a major mistake fare where you could fly first or business class direct cheap as long as your trip started in Yangon, Myanmar. Sounds crazy to many, but frequent flyers from all over the world have been descending upon that country to start trips. Now – crazy thing that it is – someone has pointed out on Milepoint that the fare is back. It appears to you fly between Yangon (RGN) and cities in Eastern Canada for under $600. Here’s business class on ANA from Yangon to Tokyo and then continuing on in Swiss first class to Zurich and then JFK, with American (economy) up to Montreal. One could of course just get off in New York, or without checked bags in Zurich if one preferred. Getting the Yangon –…
Buying United Miles at Under 1.4 Cents Apiece
MileCollector emails that the shopping portal site MyPoints.com is offering 150 points per dollar on purchases at OpenSky. Earlier I wrote a post, half-finished, and hit publish instead of ‘save draft’. So some may have seen this in their RSS feed. I abandoned the post for a brief time, though, when I started reading about the Open Sky rewards program and saw some folks over at Slickdeals being told that they would receive Open Sky rewards points rather than Mypoints. But the bulk of folks in that thread seem to be confirming and confident that it is indeed Mypoints that they’re earning. Here’s the value proposition: 10,100 Mypoints convert to 5,000 United miles So $67.34 in purchases buys 5000 United miles, for a cost of $0.01346 per mile. You can spend up to $500 with…
25,000 American Miles for DirecTV Subscription
Through December 5, DirecTV is offering 25,000 American AAdvantage miles for new customers. Customers who have been with DirecTV within the past 24 months are ineligible. Miles are awarded 6-8 weeks after passing 60 days of service. They advertise packages from “$34.99/mo. for 12 months after rebate” and packages generally entail a 24 month commitment. Interestingly, no credit card is required in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. State laws are weird sometimes.
Bits ‘n Pieces for September 27, 2012
News and notes from around the interweb: United is offer a 40% discount on purchased miles — again — through October 31. They offered it in September and August and April. I’m not a buyer given the price of a bit over 2.2 cents and that I have a large United balance, but it’s a good way to top off towards a specific award. (HT: Lucky) Global Entry — which expedites immigration, and can also be used to get TSA PreCheck — is being offered to Loews Platinum elite members. It’s also offered to United Platinums and 1Ks. And American Express Platinum reimburses the fee as well. Cranky Flier realizes that what the TSA does is security theater, not security. An interview with Ed French of Marriott Rewards. Correctly I think he notes that the…
Up to 15,000 Bonus Virgin Miles for Hilton Stays
One of the things I miss most about british midland, with its acquisition by British Airways, is that it was my go-to program to credit Hilton stays to. Hilton offers ‘double dip’ and on cheap short stays “points and fixed miles” was my favorite earning option. I’d receive 1000 bmi miles per night up to three nights per stay. And that’s in addition to Hilton points. Most of my Hilton stays are short, and a one-night Hilton stay will still earn 1000 Virgin miles. Plus I usually credit my one-day Avis rentals to Virgin for 1000 miles as well, so that becomes my go-to strategy. Virgin Atlantic’s miles aren’t the greatest, the fuel surcharges are high, but at 1000 miles per rental day and per one-night Hilton stay they do rack up pretty quickly. So…
Finally Back at the Andaz 5th Avenue
This was only maybe my sixth stay of the year at the Andaz 5th Avenue. I’ve been trying out a variety of hotels this year in New York — sometimes due to location (like the Conrad New York when I was attending an event there, or the Renaissance Newark for the Freddie Awards), sometimes due to getting simply too good a deal to pass up (the couple of times I stayed at the Andaz Wall Street), and sometimes because the 5th Avenue Andaz was full and I don’t have deep enough pockets to cover a Diamond guaranteed availability stay (so I took refuge at the Grand Hyatt and the Parker Meridien). Every time I stay in New York and it’s not at the Andaz 5th Avenue, I’m disappointed. It’s not the single best hotel in…
