Seriously. The 62-year-old Ogletree, you see, was headed to Las Vegas on December 30 when he stopped at a pizza place in the Houston airport. Upon departing the food court in Terminal C, Ogletree somehow forgot to take his “expensive black leather coat,” an XL Polo model (with a fashionable plaid lining) worth $800. Not surprisingly, the coat subsequently disappeared. Now Ogletree is threatening to sue the City of Houston, Continental Airlines, and the food court’s management company for failing to have “collected the coat, kept it in a secure place and held it for a reasonable time” until he was able to reunite with the garment. These prospective defendants, Ogletree reasoned, “breached their duty” in connection with how they “manage lost and found items for which they are responsible.” He wants $800 not to…
Award Booking Successes and Frustrations
Grey Roberge details his experiences booking a Star Alliance first class award through Aeroplan. Regular readers of my blog know that I’m a big fan of the Aeroplan program, and in particular their first class award from the US to South Asia (as far south as Singapore) for 120,000 miles — which allows you to transit the Atlantic or Pacific (or one ocean each direction) and to stopover twice in addition to your destination. And I rather like Aeroplan agents, I have found them on the whole to be quite friendly. It’s a Canadian thing. The one thing I don’t like is that they do not permit award holds. Instant ticketing only. Now, you can make changes to an itinerary after ticketing for CAD$90. And as long as you’re three weeks out from travel, you…
“Together We Fly Delta” Team Bonus Mile Promotion
Frugal Travel Guy outlines the Delta Team competition for bonus miles. Find a team captain with an address in Michigan, Minnesota, Tennessee or Washington state. Additional team members can reside anywhere. And up to 4 people can participate as a team. Then the total Delta miles flown by the team through May 31 May 15 on tickets paid for with an American Express card determines the number of bonus miles earned by each member of the team. 2500 total miles flown = 1500 bonus miles per person 5000 total miles flown = 3000 bonus miles per person 15000 total miles flown = 9000 bonus miles per person 20000 total miles flown = 15000 bonus miles per person 25000 total miles flown = 20000 bonus miles per person Registration required by April 15th.
Hilton Point Stretcher Awards Are Back! (Sort of…)
Hilton Point Stretchers — which more or less disappeared last year — are back. Point Stretchers offer 40% off of standard redemption pricing, though historically some participating hotels would offer only a smattering of dates… like two weeks for the whole year. But it’s still worth checking and the website to do so is up. Though currently the only hotel they’re displaying availability for is the Hilton Garden Inn Allentown West — and then only for March 26 – 28 and April 30. Fortunately the ‘real’ list is a little bit longer, and Flyertalkers are building it by hand. For instance, the Hinckley HIlton is available March 2 – May 30.
Hilton’s Very Modest Second Quarter Promo is Coming
I saw the news yesterday and didn’t bother writing about it. Some details of Hilton’s second quarter promotion are out, and they really aren’t all that exciting. Hilton’s first quarter promo was a free night every four stays or 10 nights. When Hyatt runs these sorts of promos, it’s a free night every two stays — far more generous. Fly Gracefully and TM Travel World note that the new offer will be a free night every 10 nights, or double points. Registration and fine print to come, but geez, c’mon. If you’re gonna run a promo, run a promo. It’s better than no promo (by a little bit) so I guess we’ll take it. But c’mon, Hilton, generate some excitement!
4 Nights in the Bahamas, Hotel and Air, From $0 (Yes, That’s Zero)
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…
