View from the Wing

Change in T&C for free electronics

by Gary Leff on March 11, 2006

Mar 11 2006

Freepay, aka Gratis Networks (the free iPod folks), has made a really annoying unilateral change to their terms and conditions. First, you’ll have only 90 days start to finish to complete their requirements. Second, you now have to place your orders by mail instead of electronically and there are deadlines for doing so. Apparently this was announced March 1 and everyone with existing accounts therefore has until the end of May to finish their existing free electronics offers. Here’s the note sent out to all accounts: Important Change to Terms & Conditions With a start date of March 1, 2006 – users of FreePay websites have 90 days to complete all offer requirements. Upon completion of all offer requirements, existing users will need to print a “Redemption Form” that must be filled out in its…

Fun Ball

by Gary Leff on March 10, 2006

Starwood’s marketing gurus — and their consultants, presumably — have run amok. Someone needs to get back control of White Plains. They’re rolling out a partnership between W Hotels and Victoria’s Secret, as though the opportunity to buy naughty nighties from the minibar is going to enhance the experience of cool or make customers want to choose the hotel. (The pickup scene in the hotel lobby bar is another matter, indeed.) Sponsor the Victoria’s Secret fashion show. Fine. Offer experiential rewards at the event for redeeming lots of Starwood points. Fine. And if you want to include lingerie next to the condoms, W baseball cap, and Jim Bean on the minibar price list I guess that works (though I doubt one size fits all!). Perhaps even include a list of lingerie in the room services…

1000 Bonus American Per Night at Hyatt

by Gary Leff on March 9, 2006

Mar 09 2006

In addition to Hyatt’s offer of 1000 Cathay Pacific AsiaMiles per night, they’re also putting the choice of 1000 American Airlines points per night on offer as well from March 15 through June 30.

Others rate the best domestic first class experience

by Gary Leff on March 9, 2006

CNN Money runs a Fortune piece on the best domestic first class cabins. Their take is similar to mine. United takes top overall nods. They sum up Northwest nicely:Two words: Avoid DC-9s. On those old planes, you only get 34 inches of pitch (JetBlue offers the same in coach). Not that the rest of the fleet is much better — the maximum you’ll find is likely a measly 36 inches.

It pays to be a procrastinator

by Gary Leff on March 8, 2006

Mar 08 2006

Last month I reported that American Airlines was offering 2500 miles for test driving a Lincoln. (250 miles also on offer for watching a video about Lincoln.) Now they’ve upped the offer to 5000 miles for a test drive (and 50,000 miles for purchase, along with the original 250 miles for watching the video). I’ll finally get off my duff and go for a test drive this weekend! The new 5000 mile offer does say that it was targeted, though I have no idea if there’s actually a way for them to check who got this in their American Airlines eSummary. You might just use the old 2500 mile offer, but I’m going to use the new one.

Amtrak Transfer Bonus

by Gary Leff on March 7, 2006

Amtrak is offering 500 bonus points when you transfer 5000 or more points into your Guest Rewards account from one of their partners by March 31. While Amtrak hardly offers a great program, it’s a reasonable place to move Continental miles for sure. Log in to your Amtrak Guest Rewards account and then register using promo code 30806.

Rate Glitch Update: Holiday Inn Phuket

by Gary Leff on March 7, 2006

Last month I reported on a rate glitch at the Holiday Inn Phuket — THB0.01 per night from May through October — and the rate was available for more or less a full day. No one has been cancelled that I’m aware of, whether they booked at the Priority Club website, Travelocity, or elsewhere. The hotel did say at first that there was an error that they couldn’t honor, though they didn’t cancel reservations. Now, as reported by several Flyertalkers, the hotel has explicitly acknowledged that they will be honoring this “once-in a lifetime, special room rate.”

Fact Checking the Starwood Blog

by Gary Leff on March 6, 2006

The new Starwood Blog seems to be getting its footing, with some improved content, and it hasn’t been officially launched yet. I’m hoping that my early criticisms are overcome. In the meantime I noticed that they’re detailing the new Westin Arlington Gateway (which I reported on last week). But they don’t quite have their facts right: In addition to the reliably comfortable and spacious Westin rooms and appointments (with available in-room WiFi) Rooms at this brand new construction do not offer wireless internet. Their high-speed access is wired (and $14.95 at that). Wireless is available in the public spaces, though.

New Coca Cola Loyalty Program

by Gary Leff on March 3, 2006

Coca Cola has launched MyCokeRewards.com. Collecting points starts out with their 20 oz bottles but will spread across their product line. Delta and Hilton are redemption partners, and so far it looks like about 950 cokes gets you enough miles for a free domestic flight. Lounge passes are even an option. So far the financials don’t seem to work out to make it worth buying Coke just for the miles (unlike the recent Airtan/Wendy’s promo). But it’s enough to get me to buy Coke over a competitor that isn’t offering points. My bet is it won’t be long until we see redemption codes for sale on eBay…

Starwood’s New Blog

by Gary Leff on March 2, 2006

Starwood has launched a blog called The Lobby. So far it’s only marginally better than the lame attempt from Priority Club, but it’s a start. Entries are mostly quick puff featurettes on properties and things to do in cities centered around Starwood properties; think paragraph-long versions of airline inflight magazines. Now, they’d be really onto something if they provided real special rates (not just faux specials that are more expensive than standard rates), ‘behind the scenes looks’ into new hotel construction or a ‘Day in the Life of a Starwood General Manager’. In other words, they could sponsor real Starwood employees to really blog. Until that happens I’ll probably check into this one occasionally, I can’t help myself, even if I wish for more…