Alaska Airlines used to be the easiest upgrade in the United States, thinking back seven or so years ago. Back then upgrades came out of revenue inventory and cost only 5000 frequent flyer miles each way, confirmed at booking. Then they introduced U (capacity controlled upgrade) inventory, if memory serves around 2002. MVP Gold (top tier elite) members could confirm upgrades at the time of booking from any fare, provided U space was available. MVP’s (first tier elite) could do so on full fare tickets. The plus was that no miles were required. Of course any capacity controls are a bigger takeaway than whatever is offered in exchange. And this was the beginning of a gradual devaluation in upgrade benefits. Admittedly, Alaska had little choice — they began flying cross-country and doing so with 737s…
Award Chart Deal for Business Class to Europe
Cathay Pacific used to offer the best award value for business class from the US East Coast to Europe. You could redeem 60,000 AsiaMiles for business class on partner British Airways using their distance-based award chart. Then in October they bumped the mileage requirement to 80,000. Still a definite value compared to BA’s own chart (which requires 100,000 miles to London and 120,000 for several cities beyond). But not the mind-blower it once was. Many a time I had folks transfer 50,000 Starwood points to Cathay Pacific to get the needed 60,000 AsiaMiles and redeem for BA business class. The especially nice thing about that deal is that I’ve found availability on British Airways from the US East Coast to be excellent. One Mile at a Time points out another great redemption value across the…
Free Best Western Platinum Status
Ripped from Frugal Travel Guy: A bank is giving away BW status with a new account, but it seems you can sign up without a banking relationship. Here is the info you’ll need: Go to www.gcciasia.com/scb Enter promo code: BWSCB2008 First 6 Digits of Card: 486419 You’ll get room upgrades, bonus points and the right to buy points at $10 per thousand Haven’t done this myself, so your mileage may vary.
Is Orbitz Providing Unbiased Information?
Upgrade: Travel Better details the way that Orbitz requires rental car companies to pay for site placement. Vanguard which owns National and Alamo wouldn’t pay a lump sum and higher commissions than their current contract required, so their results were given a lower priority than competing companies. Vanguard sued, but the suit was thrown out. Consumers need to understand that travel booking sites aren’t necessarily providing unbiased information. Beyond that I don’t have a problem with arrangements like this, even though I understand that consumers do assume that the booking engine is unbiased. Starwood defaults its rate display based on its ‘recommended’ rates. Expedia pushes its own ‘special rates’ (negotiated deals with a higher margin). This is hardly new ground. I recall that when American Airlines owned Sabre they privileged their own flights over those…
Snoop Dogg Allowed Back into U.K…. But Not BA’s First Class Lounge
Via Benet Wilson, Snoop Dogg will again be permitted into Britain. Wikipedia explains the history On April 26, 2006, Snoop Dogg and members of his entourage were arrested being turned away from British Airways’ first class lounge. Snoop and his party were not allowed to enter the lounge because some of the entourage were flying first class, other members of the party were flying economy class. After the group was escorted outside, they vandalized a duty-free shop by throwing whiskey bottles. Seven police officers were injured in the fracas. After a night in prison, Snoop Dogg and the other men were released on bail ..On May 15, the Home Office decided that Snoop Dogg should be denied entry to the UK for the foreseeable future due to the fracas at Heathrow as well as his…
A New SPG Small Business Amex Offer?
I received a marketing email this morning for the Starwood Preferred Guest small business American Express card. I’ve written about offers for it in the past, 10,000 points with first purchase and another 15,000 points for spending $15,000 on the card during the first six months (plus fee waived the first year). This morning’s email offered the usual 10,000 points with first purchase and 1,000 points for each additional card ordered for the account up to 5,000 points. So fewer total points, but no spending requirement for the extra bonus points. Planned on blogging it, as low spend readers might easily benefit. The link in the offer, though, didn’t mention the 5,000 points for additional cardholders — the link offered instead the usual offer of 10,000 points + 15,000 more based on spending in the…
New Delta iDine Bonus – Up to 5000 Miles
Via Free Frequent Flyer Miles, the new Delta iDine (Rewards Network/Dining for Miles) bonus is a pretty good one, registration required: Earn 1,000 bonus miles when you spend $50, plus 1,000 more miles for every additional $100 you spend cumulatively (including tax and tip) at participating restaurants between 4/28/08 and 6/30/08 – up to 5,000 bonus miles. That’ll make me switch my dines from the credit cards I have registered with United and American over to the one I have registered with the Delta program until I’ve spent $450 at participating restaurants.
The Phoenician: A Beautiful Property With Some Things To Learn About Starwood Preferred Guest
The Phoenician is a lovely property, and in short worth of both its Starwood “Luxury Collection” branding and its recent fifth diamond. The facilities are beautiful and well-maintained. The service is prompt and courteous. And, for a property of this caliber, I didn’t even find the food offerings to be especially overpriced. Not cheap, mind you, but not really more expensive than better Westin properties. If there was a short-coming, it was in this property’s understanding and recognition of Starwood Preferred Guest program benefits. My status didn’t appear to be properly reflected in my reservation, and I asked the hotel to correct that which they told me they did. In advance of my arrival, I received a concierge email that contained someone else’s reservation — but that showed my Starwood Preferred Guest number with the…
The Next Airline to Fold
Eos files for bankruptcy and ceases operations. Eos Airlines, an all-business-class carrier that flies between Kennedy International Airport and London, said that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and would cease operations by Monday. The airline, which was founded in 2005, is planning to operate its final flights between London’s Stansted airport and Kennedy on Sunday.
What Wines Onboard?
Silverjet has been promoting their in-flight wine expertise as part of projecting an overall luxurious inflight experience. The PR folks are sharing the following thoughts on wine. First, that the taste of wine onboard is influenced by the atmospheric pressure, low humidity and vibration of the cabin, all affecting how efficiently our taste buds work. This concluded that while [t]here has been very little scientific research into this area… we have found is that wines tend to ‘thin out’ in the air, with both tannins and acidity being accentuated. As a result, tart, angular wines make a bad choice, whereas ripe, fruit-driven wines tend to show much better. In practice this means that Passengers often demand quite classic wine styles on the ground, such as white Burgundies; red Bordeaux; lean, mineral Chablis; and structured Clarets. They…
