I’m not overly interested in the deal for myself since I was in the Bahamas over New Year’s and the Carribean isn’t my favorite, but it’s a great deal nonetheless. I first saw it a week ago at Frugal Travel Guy and now there’s a Flyertalk thread. The deal is this: book an Expedia vacation package to the Bahamas with a minimum four night stay using coupon code BAH400 for up to $400 off. Coupon is valid through May 10, 2010, for travel completed by December 22, 2010. March 19, 2010 through April 10, 2010 are blacked-out. Make sure you uncheck the ground transportation box (on the 3rd page of the booking process). There are packages from Ft. Lauderdale to Freeport, hotel and air, that price out at $0 with this coupon. From DC I’m…
Upgrd 57: LOT o’ Mail
Listen to me (and the rest of the crew..) on the new Upgrd podcast. We discussed: Damian joins us to discuss his very recent experience in LOT business class Standby on United Airlines US Airways open to merger – anyone want an airline? United Airlines finalizes 787 order Program options for Qantas travellers International Star Alliance partners and domestic USA lounge access and Ben’s additional prediction of the possible demise of DEQM
Finding Help Booking Travel and Managing Irregular Operations
My wife often wonders how the average traveler gets by. She sees me on the phone with airlines for long periods of time during irregular operations or booking awards. She sees the difficulties that I face, and I do it a lot. She sees the mistakes that agents make. And the battles I wage, banging my head against a wall in between. (She’s a saint for putting up with it!) And she wonders, if I have such a hard time, how do ‘regular folks’ get by on their own? And of course it didn’t used to be that way… I don’t tend to romanticize travel agents. In my experience, both before the rise of online bookings and after, most of them were terrible. That rather mirrors my experience in most other industries, actually. But good…
Anxiously Awaiting With Bated Breath
The US Airways Holiday Shopping Promo ‘up to 250% bonus miles’ should be posting today. I’d imagine no later than 3pm in Tempe, Arizona. There are many, many of us waiting with baited breath for millions of miles to pour in. UPDATE: Miles have posted!! There are many happy mileage millionaires today…!
BWI Airports Authority Begins Enforcing Licensing Requirements for Ground Transportation: is there really a benefit?
Last week, 17 drivers were arrested or cited by police for picking up passengers at BWI airport without the required permit. At least three drivers, including Creecy, told The Capital they were handcuffed in front of longtime customers and kept in a police holding cell at the airport for eight hours overnight Tuesday. The arrests and citations were issued during an authority police initiative to “enforce the policies and regulations regarding the standards of transportation services providers are required to adhere,” said Cpl. Robert Thibodeau, an authority police spokesman. “Our job is to protect the customers who are using those services,” Thibodeau said. Operators claimed they didn’t even know the permits were still required. “My business has been around for 15 years,” Overmier said. “We used to have to have a permit to operate (at…
Best. Laptop Bag. Ever.
Back in January I blegged for help to select a new laptop bag. My ancient one was finally coming apart at the seams, and I was sad to see it go. It had been the ideal bag for me, and I have very particular preferences. I got good feedback on the post. I also got a note from the Tom Bihn luggage folks, asking me whether I’d like to give some of their stuff a spin. They first suggested their carryons, but since I had a specific need for a laptop bag they sent me a couple at no charge: the Checkpoint Flyer and the Empire Builder. (I kept the Checkpoint Flyer, and made a charitable donation equal to its purchase price.) I haven’t given the Empire Builder a spin yet, on first inspection it’s…
5000 bmi Mile Bonus for Wyndham Rewards Stays Extended through March 31
The 5000 bmi mile bonus for one-night stays at Wyndham Rewards properties has been extended through March 31. The bonus can be earned a maximum of 4 times, doesn’t require registration, just choose bmi miles as your earning preference and provide your Diamond Club number. I guess I’ll be scouring the area for a cheap Knights Inn or HoJo’s that I can check in and out of four times this month for 20,000 miles… And remember that bmi now has family accounts, so just credit 4 stays to each family member’s account and pool them. Details here. (HT: TM Travel World.)
Successfully Booking Star Alliance Awards Podcast
Tonight I’ll be recording another podcast with the folks at Upgrd.com. It’ll be a few days before it’s live, but in the meantime you can check out the most recent installment in the series on Star Alliance awards and how to successfully book them.
Starwood Preferred Guest’s Stealth Devaluation
Starwood Lurker confirmed the rumor today that Starwood Preferred Guest would not be making large-scale changes to the categories of its hotels for 2010. Each year Starwood has re-categorized hotels based on their average daily room rates. Those categories determine the number of points required for a free night. When rates go down, point requirements go down. When rates go up, the points price becomes more expensive as well. That’s the value proposition that Starwood has always followed, more or less, since the inception of the program. Then the hotel industry hit the worst revenue year it had ever seen. RevPAR decreased a whopping 17.3% in the first 11 months of 2009 as hotel chains lowered prices. This tops the 1.3% decline in revenue per available room that occurred from Jan. to Nov. 2008. Rates…
Three Priority Club Partner Transactions Earns 6000 Bonus Points
Dracs pointed me to a new Priority Club multipartner bonus. The offer is up to 6000 bonus points: 1000 for the first partner, 2000 for the second partner, and 3000 for the third partner activity. Register and complete eligible activity by March 31. All activity has to post to your account by June 15, and points should post in the second half of June. I just transferred 2 American Airlines points into 1 Priority Club point at Points.com for my first partner. I might transfer the minimum amount from American Express Membership Rewards or Diners Club and do one shopping transaction in order to hit my three partners. The last partner bonus offer was up to 4 partners and 10,000 miles, so this one isn’t as lucrative. Priority Club had a real problem correctly distinguishing…
