“The Octomom”, whom some would say has had more than her allotted 15 minutes of fame, had a kerfuffle with a TV actress on Friday evening while flying back from New York to Los Angeles. The actress spoke up at the unruliness of Nadya Suleman’s kids during a delay prior to takeoff, wound up exiting the aircraft, and presumably the actresses’ spokespeople are the ones who contacted TMZ to meet the flight on arrival in Los Angeles. I cannot even fathom eight two year olds in business class on a transcon. Thank goodness I wasn’t on that flight. It could have been a publicity stunt staged by Malaysian to drum up support for their ‘no kids in first class’ policy. Alright, that’s probably a long shot. What is the Octomom doing flying business class, when…
Celebrating Tom Stuker’s 10 Million Flown Miles on United
Lots of stories the last several days like this one leading up to a true milestone for frequent flyers, Tom Stuker’s flight yesterday from Los Angeles to Chicago where he flew his 10 millionth mile on United. The comparisons to George Clooney in Up in the Air are everywhere, but Clooney was earning his miles from all sources (and in the book, which I read on a transcon flight in 2001 and which bore no relationship whatsoever to the movie, he was only after 1 million miles). I’ve earned that many myself. But Stuker’s 10 million are actual flight miles, logged with a single airline over the past 30 years. His first 5 million miles took 20 years, his second 5 million took only 10 years (so he was averaging 500,000 flight miles a year…
Should I Bother Collecting Miles on this Flight?
I’ve long advocated, nay, begged people to sign up for frequent flyer programs even when they don’t fly very much or when they’re flying a carrier that they don’t normally travel with. I tell them that they might eventually get something from the simple act of joining and submitting their account number, if not right away then it’ll eventually accumulate. Goodness knows I don’t stay with Marriott often but surprisingly enough registering for their current stay twice get a free night promo meant that I received a free night, which I’ve already redeemed for an upcoming stay… … on a trip where I find myself questioning the very lesson of “always claim the miles.” I need to buy a flight from Bangkok to Koh Samui. Sure, I could fly Thai Airways and earn miles on…
Chicago Car Rentals for $62 a Week
AutoSlash points to a deal from Advantage, rental cars in Chicago from $62 per week all-in, from July 24 through the end of August. As they note, a 28-day rental is only $250, so less than many lease payments without the ongoing obligation. Book here. Once you get results to come up you can change the search to your preferred dates and preferred Chicago-area airport. (HT: Milepoint.) Update: The deal is also available in Louisville.
Why I Continue to Use Expedia (and Other Third Party Booking Services)
In light of my recent four hour ordeal getting Expedia to fix a ticket that their ‘elite’ agent screwed up during re-issue, I thought it would be worth explaining why (and when) I continue using third party booking services like Expedia and Orbitz. First, cash rebates. Sites like Big Crumbs will give me a cash rebate for my Expedia purchases, regardless of the airline I’m ticketing. They used to offer 1% but are now offering a flat $3.20, great for cheap itineraries and less rewarding for expensive ones, but multiplied out by tons of itineraries especially ones I book for family and friends, it adds up. Second, Expedia’s own rewards program adds an additional 1% to 2% rebate for use on Expedia-booked travel. The more points you redeem at one time, the more they’re worth.…
How Do You Use a Concierge?
USA Today ran a piece on hotel concierges, the upshot is that they’re extremely useful but that some travelers don’t take full advantage of their services because they’re intimidated or unfamiliar with them. On the whole that hasn’t been quite my experience, I’m neither unfamiliar nor intimidated and yet I find most concierges to be of limited usefulness. There are truly connected concierges, on rare occasion I had heard of the lead concierge at the Hotel Arts Barcelona getting guests into El Bulli when there was a same-day cancellation. But on the whole, I’ve rarely found concierges who could get me in somewhere that I couldn’t get into on my own. I do use concierges for simple restaurant reservations outside of the United States, I find that their English is better than I’ll find at…
Another TSA Employee Arrested
“A Few Bad Apples” Police have arrested a Transportation Security Administration employee who stole about $50,000 worth of electronics from travelers’ luggage at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. Nelson Santiago, 30, of Hollywood, was arrested after an employee with Continental Airlines saw him slip an I-Pad computer out of a suitcase and into his pants on Monday, said Dani Moschella, spokeswoman for Broward Sheriff’s Office. Every time these stories come out, whether for thefts or child porn, we’re told that the rest of TSA’s employees are great, they’re all thoroughly ‘screened’, and that there are just a few bad apples.. (HT: Alan)
US Airways 50% Bonus on Sharing Miles
In June (and many months previous) US Airways offered a 100% bonus on purchased miles. This month, through July 31, US Airways is offering a 50% bonus on transferring miles from one account to another. The maximum bonus under the offer is 25,000 miles. They’ve offered a 100% bonus on shared miles in the past, so I won’t be jumping on this 50% bonus without a specific award to top off for. But I do appreciate the bonuses, the best bonus offer is the one that’s running at the time you need one for an award. So certainly one for the arsenal if you’re putting something together during July. You just need to know someone with a few miles you can have, or have family members whose accounts you can raid.
Milepoint is Giving Away Two Tickets for the Star Mega DO (Plus Free Hotel Nights)
Randy Petersen posted today that he is going to give away two tickets for the the Star Mega DO trip: a flight charter experience that begins with executives from United and Hyatt in Chicago, tours the Bombardier factory in Montreal, and offers a chance at United’s flight simulators in Denver. Past Mega DOs have been written up in the Wall Street Journal and Conde Nast Traveler (and elsewhere), and last year’s pillow fight went viral, here’s the Today Show clip. Randy is even covering the hotel nights at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare, Hyatt Regency Montreal and Grand Hyatt Denver — and flights to and from the charter. Two seats, two ways to win. The Milepoint thread “Fly With Friends: Win Free Tickets for the Star Mega DO” will move to a new location each day.…
Expedia Screws Up Re-issuing a Ticket … and Makes it Right!
Sometimes I agree with Christopher Elliott, sometimes I don’t. In his travel troubleshooter columns I think he often sides with travelers against traveler companies when the travelers themselves are at fault for their predicament but undoubtedly he does a great service for folks who get caught up in a frustrating bureaucracy. Last week I decided to play Christopher Elliott. I was contacted by a traveler who was mid-trip, on flights he had booked through Expedia. I often prefer to book my hotels at least directly with a hotel chain, only a few hotel programs will honor elite benefits on bookings made through third party websites (Eg Hyatt, Marriott) and most will not award points and stay credits on such stays. But airfare — at least on a simple trip when changes aren’t involved — is…
