Wandering Aramean reports that Southwest is going to start enforcing the expiration dates on their drink chits. This may seem minor to some (most?) but I have to say, I have a stash of these old drink coupon books and despite having expiration dates on the coupons it’s always been nice that Southwest would take them. I could give them away to colleagues stuck on a Southwest flight, or offer up a bunch to buy a round for the plane. It was just so very Southwest that these coupons would always be taken, no questions asked. But no longer. Southwest has had a VERY lenient policy regarding drink coupons over the years. Most notably was that, although there was an expiration date printed on the coupons, they were always accepted. As of Sunday, August 1,…
Do Kate Hanni and “Flyers Rights” Manipulate Their Data?
Travel Weekly has published a pretty damning hit piece on Kate Hanni, the airline passenger ‘consumer advocate’ of Flyers Rights with hair-brained schemes that seem to make passengers worse off and who seems as inclined towards publicity for its own sake as, say, Chuck Schumer. It’s a rambling piece with a whole lot of irrelevant detail and meaningless facts dropped as innuendo. Still, there’s a good bit in there that helps paint a picture of FlyersRights.org as a confused shop and Kate Hanni in particular as erratic and untrustworthy. There are allegations that she’s misled Congress, especially about the size of her ‘membership’ which appears to be anyone who signed an online petition, and the number of calls her organization receives. Her group hasn’t ever filed a tax return, and seems very lackadaisical in handling…
My Very First Call from a Frequent Flyer Program’s Auditing Department
I was walking into a meeting when my cell phone rang. It was someone in the auditing department at US Airawys. “This is XXXX from US Airways. I see you have an upcoming trip with [my wife]. Are you still planning on taking that trip?” “Umm, which trip is that?” I do have more than one upcoming itinerary, so really didn’t know what she was talking about. “Departing on XXXXX.” Oh, my India trip! Now I was scared, I’m being called by an auditor about an award redemption. And I thought she might do something unpleasant. Like cancel my award. “Yes, of course. What seems to be the matter?” “Well, you don’t have enough miles in the account for that.” “The miles were taken out of my wife’s and my accounts separately for this. And…
Air Berlin to Join Oneworld
Just announced, details to come in their news conference tomorrow, but Air Berlin will be joining oneworld. These integrations usually take 18 to 24 months, so don’t go out redeeming those American Airlines miles for Air Berlin flights between Miami and Europe and on to Egypt and Male just yet! But it’s an interesting expansion, not one I would have predicted. First, with British Airways and Iberia and Hungarian oneworld is relatively well-positioned with European-based airlines. Second, because oneworld has tended to focus on premium carriers like Cathay Pacific, Qantas, and even British Airways. So a ‘discount carrier’ breaks the mold a bit. Air Berlin is apparently the six-largest airline in Europe, and they reach Africa, Asia, and North and South America. They fly mostly all-coach products but their Airbus A330s do offer business class,…
ANA Introduces Draft Beer Onboard
Combine Japanese focus on technology with a commitment to service and what do you get? All Nippon Airways began offering draft beer on Japanese domestic flights on July 20. Draft beer couldn’t be served before because fluctuating air pressure created too much foam, according to Japan Probe. Supposedly, new beer keg technology was developed to remedy the issue. They’re selling the beer in coach, limited quantities are onboard, and the article doesn’t mention availability in premium cabins. But this alone makes me want to take a Japanese domestic flight with ANA.
Extreme Concierge Requests: Roasted Tarantulas, Pig Eyes, and Handcuffs
The Ottawa Citizen describes some of the ‘crazy’ concierge requests that Fairmont hotel properties have received (and fulfilled) in a story supposedly based on a leaked “internal Fairmont Hotels document obtained by Postmedia News.” I always love these sorts of stories, reported straight-faced as inside scoop when clearly a hotel chain is providing a list in hopes of getting free publicity for what kind of great service they provide and the lengths that they will go for guests. It’s brilliant marketing I suppose, but a bit cheeky for a news reporter to suggest cloak and dagger stuff in getting the real goods on a hotel’s concierge offerings. Granted, asking for help securing pig eyes and requesting that the concierge sub in for you on a blind date make for pretty funny stories. At The Plaza…
ITA Software Introduces iPhone Airfare Shopping App
I can’t test this because I’m not an iPhone guy, and a Blackberry version is still in the works, but still seemed worth passing along. Built on QPX™, ITA’s airfare pricing and shopping engine, OnTheFly offers the same advanced, powerful comparison shopping features used by many travel companies and by ITA’s Matrix airfare search application at http://matrix.itasoftware.com. OnTheFly enables users to easily shop for optimal airfares for any itinerary in the world and provides comprehensive choices to tailor the search and shopping experience. It’s even free from the iPhone app store.
50 Priority Club Poins Per Day: Drive Up to One of Their Hotels and Drive Away
Samir passes along a tip reported by Barbara DeLollis that Priority Club is partnering with TopGuest and will provide 50 Priority Club points every time a guest ‘checks in’ at a Priority Club hotel property (eg Holiday Inn, Intercontinental, Crowne Plaza). You don’t actually have to stay at the hotel, checking in in this sense means showing up and registering your location. You can drive into the parking lot and leave. MilesQuest thinks this “certainly is worthwhile to sign up for the program and download an app like FourSquare to take advantage.” I’m not so sure. I value a Priority Club point at about 3/5ths of a penny apiece, although some redemptions can leverage points much more effectively than that like the occasional PointBreaks redemption of 5000 points for a free Intercontinental night. But with…
Randy Petersen Takes to YouTube to Recommend Your Next Bag
Randy Petersen has taken to YouTube to explain his endorsement of the Lands End Flighwise bags. I’m more of a rollaboard kinda guy, I like my Briggs & Riley 20″ but for more value-oriented quality the Travelpro Crew 7 is a good bag at more like $125 instead of the $279-ish that the Briggs & Riley usually goes for. And for my laptop, I’m still in love with the Tom Bihn Checkpoint Flyer. Randy says in the video that he’s never found a bag with a strap he liked before the Lands End one, but I really do have to recommend Tom Bihn’s absolute shoulder strap — not cheap at $30 but the most comfortable thing I’ve ever carried a bag with. Still, these Lands End bags aren’t expensive, less than the TravelPro Crew series,…
$10 Per Night Discount on Priceline Bookings
Priceline is offering a $10 per room per night discount (“bonus cash”) valid on bids for 2 to 5 nights. The booking needs to be made by July 27 on 3-star, 3.5-star, or 4-star hotels for travel through June, 2011. Just visit the bonus site and enter code IMISSU and Priceline will deposit the coupon into your account. One coupon per e-mail address/account. (Hat tip to Flyertalk’s CalItalian.)
