Mark Ashley doesn’t like car upgrades. He usually gets a bigger car than he wants, burns more gas, and bigger isn’t always better anyway. Back when I was a run of the mill “Preferred Select” elite member with Avis, I expected to get a one car class upgrade on each rental. Sometimes I’d just book one class below what I wanted to get. The rule, of course, with any travel — air, hotel, or car — is always to confirm the minimum that you’ll actually be happy receiving.More than upgrades, I enjoy service … I like that my status now with Avis yields a ride back to the airport in the car I drove up in, no transferring bags and waiting on a bus or dropping off other passengers. And I do love my car…

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I just love this story. Lufthansa Senator member sees the first class checkin has a long time, wants to use the empty business class line. They’re told ‘no way’ — a benefit of Senator status is that they use the First Class lines. Period. They’re not allowed to use the business class lines. Lufthansa can just be… that way. Those of you who’ve ever tried to access a Lufthansa lounge know what I mean. Your boarding pass displays your status, which entitles you to the lounge…. but the rules say you must present your membership card. No card, no entry. Rules.

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Alitalia is offering some significant bonuses: 2,000 bonus points after your first flight within 3 months of enrollment. 3,000 bonus points after your fifth flight segment by December 15, 2007. 5,000 bonus points after your seventh flight segment by December 15, 2007. Partner flights count towards the bonus. Now I’m much more tempted to credit my upcoming Alitalia flights to the MilleMiglia program, and continue to top off the account by crediting Skyteam flights there. I’ll need to decide before leaving for my Toronto-Larnaca trip later this month.

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I know I’m tempting fate flying USAirways this weekend, with the impending reservation system changeover from Sabre to Shares. I’m even flying back home tomorrow morning. Hope it goes smoothly. My travel rituals include collecting articles and documents to review in a folder that goes with me on my way to the airport, and I cruise through it in the lounge or when I board the plane. If it’s an evening flight I know I have to attack the folder right away, as the night wears on I may get too tired to read. Last night’s simple flight down to Ft. Lauderdale was delayed about an hour by a crew scheduling snafu, so I had a bit of extra time — and I made it past my work and on to pleasure reading (if you…

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Mark Ashley writes about rental car companies’ hard sells for collision damage waiver, the extra “insurance” (it isn’t insurance, it’s a payment so they don’t pursue you in case of physical damage to their vehicle) that drives commissions with many of the lower-end rental agencies. Here he discusses Advantage, my own experience is that the pushiest sales agents are with Enterprise. I’ve gotten stories like “What’s your deductible? You know that if there’s damage to the car you have to pay the deductible, in cash, when you return the vehicle. That’s California law.” It’s interesting that these rental car agents are such experts in law. Ashley points to the claim that credit cards which offer insurance won’t cover ‘loss of use.’ That’s the charge rental companies tack-on to make you pay rental charges on the…

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The polls in Upgrade Travel blog‘s Trevvie Awards for best travel blogs are now open. Voting is here and opening through the evening of February 28. While I don’t expect to finsih particularly well, I am nominated in the category of BEST INFORMATIVE/PRACTICAL TRAVEL BLOG. So vote for me if you wish. Or not. But you can discover some new blogs you may not have been aware of in the process either way.

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