Yesterday I noted that I had never stayed in a La Quinta, but was willing to participate in their points program (for free points). Eli emails to take issue with my giving the chain short shrift: Actually, you’re missing out. When we had to cut costs last year, we decided to stick with La Quinta for almost all..travel for my center. And I don’t regret it. For business travel, in some ways, it’s BETTER than more upscale. For example, most rooms have six outlets right by the desk rather than the 1 or 2 you typically get at full service hotels. (I had to plug in my cell phone in the bathroom at the Waldorf Astoria.) In room standard amenities are almost an exact match for mid-priced business oriented hotels..plus a minifridge. Breakfast is also…
Tons of Priority Club Bonuses
As always the source for Priority Club bonuses is Priority Club Insider. And there are a bunch of new ones out there… Priority Club isn’t my favorite program because there isn’t much of an elite level, generally benefits aren’t required to be honored on award stays, and there’s no way to use points for a better than base-level room. But it can be lucrative for earning lots of bonuses, turning a few stays into plenty of points. Largely because they run targeted promotions that will often post for whomever registers for them. The key to Priority Club is to know the bonuses and register for most of them. They won’t all post, you never know which ones will and which won’t, and sometimes your luck is better than other times. But occasionally you hit the…
Weekend Travel Tips from the Radisson Blu Chicago
The Radisson Blu Chicago recently asked me to contribute some ‘expert travel tips’ for their “Tips for Weekend Getaways” — I wasn’t compensated for them, but I usually respond helpfully when asked for this sort of thing, sometimes travel providers offer something in return which is when I try to share those things as contests on the blog. There was no such contest here, but since I did pocket 55,000 bonus points from the end of year Club Carlson promotion celebrating the hotel brand coming to the US I had a bit of a soft spot for them. The tips are a bit basic for the median reader here, perhaps, but mine or tips from Rachel or Jessie will be useful. Just Another Points Traveler recently toured the hotel and provided an extensive report. I’m…
TSA Agent Arrested for Dealing Heroin Near Elementary School While Wearing Her Uniform
“A few bad apples” which of course should in no way impugn the hard work that thousands of TSA employees do to protect us, every day. And yet this somehow doesn’t surprise me at all.
Epic Rap Battles of History: Gary Leff Takes on The Points Guy at Frequent Traveler University
Here’s a list of battles by most casualties from Wikipieda. Then there was Joe Frazier vs. Muhammad Ali, “The Thrilla in Manila” And there’s my favorite epic rap battle of history, Abe Lincoln vs. Chuck Norris. On April 28, we put all of those to shame. The Frequent Traveler University schedule features Brian Kelly (a.k.a. The Points Guy pitted against me, in an epic showdown. Resolved: that Delta Skymiles Offer Superior Value. A Debate Between Brian Kelly (Affirmative) and Gary Leff (Negative) Will you be in attendance for this dramatic mileage battle? Will you be able to tell your grandchildren that You. Were. There.…? Who has the better position here? Who will win?
300 Free La Quinta Points
Via the Traveler’s Loophole, La Quinta Returns will give you 300 points for filling out a form, as a thank you for having read their newsletter. Now, I’ve never stayed at a La Quinta. (Perhaps by chance and perhaps because I once looked up the name in the Urban Dictionary — here’s a hint, definitely don’t do that.) But that’s never stopped me from participating in a loyalty program before, or even achieving status, I’m embarrassed to admit that I’ve never actually flown british midland even though I’m a Gold member of their Diamond Club program. And in this case, 300 points are 300 points.
Court Slaps Lufthansa for Making Award Chart Changes with Insufficient Notice
Thanks to the wonders of Google translation, this article in German provides an update on a court case against Lufthansa for changing their award chart without reasonable notice. A regional court in Cologne ruled for the plaintiff, Lufthansa was unreasonable in offering only a month’s notice of changes, though they would have been reasonable to offer four months’ advance warning of their new award chart. The Hamburg-based IT Professor Tobias Eggendorfer had accumulated in his account a total of 887 000 bonus miles. Early last year, changed the conditions from the Lufthansa so that in future an average of 15 to 20 percent more miles for the intercontinental flights in Redeeming should be required. The judge stressed that Lufthansa is generally entitled to change the terms and conditions for their bonus program because it constitutes…
Etiquette When Emailing Your Blog Author
Yesterday morning I posted about an interview with the retiring Bill Marriott, including his thoughts on the future of hotel rooms and on in-room porn. Now, I love reader email. But let’s adopt a good practice for when you reach out to me directly about a post, for advice, just to share your story, or because you’re bored and don’t feel like emailing your cat. When the urge strikes you to share your stories with me of watching in room porn? Don’t. That is all.
Maximizing Miles in the Maldives: Cathay First, Eating in Singapore, and a Park Hyatt Water Villa – Transfer to the Park Hyatt Hadahaa, Maldives
Introduction Positioning flights to San Francisco, Sheraton Fisherman’s Wharf, and Some Dim Sum for the Day Cathay’s New San Francisco Lounge Cathay Pacific First Class, San Francisco – Hong Kong The Wing and Cathay Pacific First Class, Hong Kong – Singapore A Grand Suite at the Grand Hyatt Singapore Eating in Singapore Dinner at Waku Ghin, Marina Bay Sands Singapore Airlines Business Class: Singapore – Male Transfer to the Park Hyatt Hadahaa, Maldives Park Hyatt Maldives – Part I Park Hyatt Maldives – Part II Park Hyatt Maldives – Part III Maldivian, Kaadehdhoo – Male Singapore Airlines Business Class, Male – Singapore Cathay Pacific Business Class, Singapore – Hong Kong Conrad Hong Kong Cathay Pacific First Class, Hong Kong – Chicago American’s Chicago Flagship Lounge and the Final Journey Home Once we cleared customs —…
50% Bonus on American Express transfers to British Airways Avios
It’s no secret that I’m not a fan of the changes made to the British Airways frequent flyer program back in November. I think the best way to explain it is that they’ve absolutely gutted the award chart, at least for anyone living outside of a oneworld hub city. And they’ve increased the prices of many, many of the best awards. What they’ve done is (1) priced each flight segment separately as its own award, you don’t get any connecting flights included in an award, and (2) priced longer travel more expensively than shorter travel. So flying Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong, which used to be a value or at least competitively priced under the British Airways program, is now super expensive. And flying beyond Hong Kong will make you choke. And of course British…
