I’m planning on doing a trip report of some sort, I’m just back in the US from a jaunt to Asia in First Class on Cathay Pacific (Toronto – Hong Kong – Manila – Hong Kong – London) with a return to North America on British Airways in First Class. I had the Presidential Suite at the Intercontinental Manila, and suites on Mactan Island and in Macau, plus lunch at the Fat Duck Restaurant outside London. Certainly plenty of stories to share. But since I’m just back to the States today, and need to oh I dunno work all week (and I won’t be back in the air for about 11 days..) the trip report will have to wait. I’m not promising anything at all for specific delivery dates. I have to do my taxes…
Midwest Airlines and Delta Break Up
According to the Delta website, the Delta – Midwest Airlines partnership “[t]erminates June 7, 2010.” I haven’t found any press release, or mention of this on the Midwest Airlines website. But naturally there is a thread on Flyertalk. Midwest partners in addition to Delta were KLM, Frontier (as they’re jointly owned by Republic), and Amtrak. Delta’s departure, as poor as their award availability is, leaves a real hole. And redeeming on Midwest isn’t great either, the program even still has blackout dates. In the past the airline has had several frequent flyer relationships, including American, Virgin Atlantic, and Scandinavian. But those days appear gone. While the program wasn’t all that appealing in the first place to me, I’d probably just credit Midwest miles to Frontier at this point. At least they partner with Airtran! Any…
Time to Register for Hyatt’s Faster Free Nights (Err.. “The Big Wlecome Back”)
A few days ago I outlined Hyatt’s outstanding “Big Welcome Back” two stays earns a free night at any Hyatt worldwide promotion. The registration page is now live. Register.
2 Days Left to Enter to Win a Free Trip (Air Hotel Meals) to Australia’s Gold Coast
You can enter the contest here at View from the Wing by leaving a tip in this thread. Pearls of Travel Wisdom has written an extensive FAQ on the BoardingArea/American Express Gold Coast trip giveaway. The list of 20 participating BoardingArea.com blogs are here, you can enter once at each blog.
Will This Blog Get You Into Trouble with the SEC?
A reader points me to a story that apparently the Securities and Exchange Commission figured out that frequent flyer miles are code for insider trading, at least in the case of Igor Poteroba and Aleksey Koval. Among the means of communication used to illegally tip and trade on the inside information were coded e-mail messages that referred to securities and money as “frequent flyer miles” and “potatoes.” .. Poteroba: Keep me posted as to how * * * [m]any frequent flier miles you’ve got this far and how many you plan to get by Friday[.] Will be in Boston tomorrow[.] Plans for a trip look fine so far[.] Worst case we can get a refund by Monday, hopefully we do not[.] Koval: As I mentioned, I just got into this frequent flyer program. I got…
Which Airlines Honor Mistake Fares?
Scott McCartney‘s excellent Middle Seat column covers the final resolution to the British Airways India mistake fare ($40 + taxes/fees for full fare coach). BA lost a small claims case, and settled another. The Department of Transportation has said that airlines should at least ‘make consumers whole’ if they cancel tickets, covering costs that consumers have incurred as a result of the mistake fare. Most useful in the piece is the analysis of who has a policy to honor mistake fares: UAL Corp.’s United Airlines, Continental Airlines Inc., Southwest Airlines Co., JetBlue Airways Corp. and Singapore Airlines all say their policy is to not cancel tickets even when a mistake is discovered, no matter how large the error. “That is the right thing to do,” says United spokeswoman Robin Urbanski. In 2007, United honored a…
Behind the Scenes of the No Fly List
Via Bruce Schneier, this piece does a good job explaining the process that names go through in getting on the list, and distinguishing between the various watch lists, selectee list, and no fly list. Schneier catches this bit of stupidity from the article: If a person on the no-fly list dies, his name could stay on the list so that the government can catch anyone trying to assume his identity. … and adds: But since a terrorist might assume anyone’s identity, by the same logic we should put everyone on the no-fly list.
Twitter Giveaway: 2 Free Hyatt Place Hotel Nights and 2 Months’ Personal Assistant Services from TaskUs.com
I recently gave away two Hyatt Place hotel nights and two months’ personal assistant services each to two lucky readers of this blog. I admit, these giveaways take up time and attention, especially while I’m on the road. And there are more coming, I mentioned that I’ll be giving away a high-end laptop bag shortly. And of course there’s the American Express Premier Rewards Gold Card-Boarding Area Australia Gold Coast trip giveaway which you can enter here, it includes airfare and hotel and meals, plus cash and cash equivalents to cover taxes on the prize. So this blog has definitely been inundated with reader giveaways of late. And in between international first class cabins, beach resorts, and the like (trip report of some sort likely coming), I’ve still managed to let y’all know about Hyatt’s…
Please Enter to Win the Australia Gold Coast, My Contest Entry Thread is Lonely
BoardingArea is running a giveaway of a trip for 2 to Australia’s Gold Coast — airfare, 7 nights hotel, and meals. You can enter here. Each of the Boarding Area blogs offers a chance to win, the list of participating blogs is here. Honestly, I was late to the party, flying on the other side of the world when we were allowed to post this. So I currently have fewer entries on my blog than Lucky has on his. But I want to win! I want to show that my blog’s readers are the best, the strongest, and most deserving of the prize. So I want us to have the most entries — so do me a favor? Enter to win! I appreciate it. 🙂
Hyatt’s Faster Free Nights Promo is Back!
At least that’s what I’ll always call it. Last year it was “The Big Welcome” promotion, and now it’s “The Big Welcome Back.” No matter, the crux of it is still the same: every two stays earns a free night for use anywhere in the world. Of course, you have the option of taking 5000 Hyatt Gold Passport points instead, and you can bank those, whereas the free nights must be used by August 31 (historically Hyatt has offered to extend the validity of these nights, especially for their Diamond members, but this is by no means guaranteed). The short time in which to use the free nights means some will actually prefer points. But in general the free night is a much better option, claimed at a top tier porperty that usually requires 18,000…
