You can get free wifi (on American Airlines planes that are equipped) using promo code AAWiFi80208A2 through September 6.
View from the Wing Goes Home
Home, for me, means the Westin Diplomat. It’s not the single most modern property, the single best service, the most intimate. But as an all around hotel experience it delivers, consistently. And no other property delivers as good a value in terms of elite status recognition. Sometimes the property is very busy, but a combination of off-season and the economy means poolside chairs were much easier to come by (people do save chairs starting around 8am). Alternatively they offer pay cabanas and ‘beach cabanas’ which are covered chairs on the beach. Some folks don’t like to pay, but when there’s a shortage I do appreciate having the options. This is not a small, intimate property. But when ensconced in a suite, and visiting the club lounge frequently, it actually feels as though it is. There…
Morning air travel chuckles
Via Chris, 7 True Stories That Prove The Airlines Hate You. When I reached number one, I couldn’t stop laughing at the graphic of the United Airlines assasin. While we’re at it, via Lucky and several other sources, you can’t bring a whip on a plane, apparently because you might “attack one of the flight attendants and whip her/him into such a state of excitement that s/he’ll beg to help .. hijack the plane?”
I Can’t Get No Respect!
Invesp Consulting lists me as only the #65 travel blog in their list of top 150, largely it appears because they’re leaving out half my stats such as RSS feed subscribers. I’d easily be in the top 15 in daily unique readership, and top 10 in RSS readership, if they’d only bother listing me… at least they know I’m one of the top 20 most linked to!
Global Traveller Interviews Lucky
The Global Traveller interviews lucky from the One Mile at a Time blog. Nothing earthshattering, but basic good advice on the Tumi T-Tech bag, being nice, Aeroplan, and the order in which you should build miles in one account versus diversifying.
The Sorry State of US Airways Domestic First Class
I had come across a very cheap first class fare and made a trip down to Florida (I purchased the tickets at $256 all-in, by the time I posted the deal it was $309, still a value). Of course, the fare was on US Airways. Now, I understand their desire to cut costs in all dimensions. Their stock symbol is LCC after all! And their current market valuation is not just lower than other mainline carriers, it is actually substantially lower than niche players like Hawaiian Airlines. True enough, this is an airline with problems. But the low levels of service provided by their flight attendants on this trip can’t really be justified by cost cutting, the airline is paying the flight attendants the same amount whether they service passengers or sit in the galley…
Continental-Alaska Partnership Ends October 24
Continental has long been a partner with Alaska Airlines, along with most Skyteam and oneworld carriers. Their partnership wasn’t as tight as Northwest’s and Delta’s, flights between the partners did not earn elite qualifying miles. Alaska’s model has been to partner with basically everyone who wasn’t partnering with United, the carrier’s primary competition (other than Southwest) up and down the West Coast of the U.S. And since Continental is leaving Skyteam and partnering up with Star Alliance and United, the Continental-Alaska partnership is coming to an end. The last day is October 24, 2009. Of course, within a few days of that Continental flying will be able to be credited to United (or any Star Alliance program) and vice versa.
Minor notes…
Bernie Madoff’s American Express Business Platinum statements are online. He didn’t have a Black Card, but he earned plenty of Membership Rewards points… This Flyertalk thread notes that promo code 552KR is currently good for saving 5% on United ticket purchases. LastMinuteTravel is giving away a vacation to Facebook and Twitter followers to briefly describe how terrible their summer plans are. But you have have a better shot at winning British Airways’ giveaway. Randy Petersen says that so far they only have as many entries as there are prizes.
New Upgrd Podcast
The new Upgrd Podcast is up, and I’m again participating. Listen for the discussion of Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan, joining the Alaska Board Room as a cheaper alternative to Delta lounge membership, the ins-and-outs of their upgrades, as well as items in the news.
100% Bonus on Purchasing Miles from US Airways
Through August 15, US Airways is offering a 100% bonus on purchased miles. The cost is 2.5 cents per mile plus a $30 processing fee. Purchasing 50,000 miles costs $1280 and yields 100,000 miles — a cost of $0.0128 cents per mile. I do not recommend warehousing US Airways miles, they’re doing all they can at the moment to goose cashflow because they’re the most financially vulnerable major carrier. Assuming things improve for them, I expect future changes to their award chart given how generous they’re being at the moment — 50% bonus on transferred hotel points, double miles on shopping, and now double miles on straight purchases. At the same time, if you’re looking to top off for an international premium class Star Alliance award, now’s a pretty good time to do that. Even…
