View from the Wing

Dishonesty at GlobalPass

by Gary Leff on July 24, 2005

Jul 24 2005

InsideFlyer interviews the President of GlobalPass who tries to explain the gutting of their program. The most offensive piece has been taking existing mileage holders and requiring them to earn additional points in order to use miles already in their accounts. The new program offers points for booking travel through their portal, which may even be more expensive than competitors, and then for each new point earned one can use an existing point.The explanation is that the program needs frequency from their members, people got too good a deal in the past, and the old model of awards they promised wasn’t good for the company so they shouldn’t have to live up to those promises.Not at all surprising, but also a good reminder that this has never been a trustworthy program. GlobalPass is not a…

A new wrinkle in the debate over daylight savings

by Gary Leff on July 23, 2005

Jul 23 2005

Airlines oppose the move to extend daylight savings time to March and November because if the rest of the world doesn’t go along the timing of their flights will be out of sync with limited landing slots in foreign airports. One estimate I’ve seen is that this will cost US airlines more than $170 million per year, though I presume the figure is somewhat self-serving and likely lower in reality. Perhaps the cost argument isn’t the only place to focus. Tyler Cowen asks whether daylight savings time is dangerous, because the moving the clock forward is equivalent to imposing a mild case of jetlag on the whole country. Some data suggests that automobile accidents go up after the change to clocks, although the data is far from conclusive (Tyler observes a lack of data on…

Multilevel Marketing for Credit Card Rewards

by Gary Leff on July 23, 2005

Jul 23 2005

Colloquy reports on a new program in the United Arab Emirates where cutomers receive a 1% rebate on their spending and a 1% rebate on the spending of everyone they refer for the credit card. I haven’t seen anything like this in the U.S. (though there are certainly one-time referral bonuses for getting someone to sign up for a card) but I certainly expect to.

Be careful whom you trust

by Gary Leff on July 22, 2005

Jul 22 2005

USA Today reports on bloggers on the payroll of government tourist bureaus. Blogs tend to criticize other blogs, and many blogs permit comments (my current technical difficulties notwithstanding) so the blog’s culture of critique should limit the harm from this. Blog content should stand on its own, regardless of funding. But be aware of potential shading, influenced by financing of blogs. This isn’t new, surprising, or all that different from traditional travel writers whose perspectives may be colored by the advertisers at their publications or the free trips and upgrades handed out by travel providers. It’s always worthwhile using a skeptical eye towards travel writers. I want to know, though, how to get my hands on some of this money — then you could hermaneut my own writing all you want!

Travel and weirdos

by Gary Leff on July 22, 2005

Jul 22 2005

Tyler Cowen wonders whether airplanes make weird people seem less weird. More broadly, travel brings different types of people together and that kind of mixing tears down frames of reference that allow people to judge others weird. If his hypothesis is correct, he then wonders Does this mean that weird men are more likely to have foreign wives?

Cheap Vegas Hotel Night

by Gary Leff on July 20, 2005

Mandalay Bay hotel is available on Orbitz for $20 the night of August 29th. It’s a prepaid Summer of Fun rate which should include a $25 dining credit and 50% off passes to the spa. No other night appears to have this same rate, and the deal won’t last long.

Wedding Crashers

by Gary Leff on July 20, 2005

Jul 20 2005

Last night I saw Wedding Crashers. I don’t usually comment on movies here, but the opening scene features Dwight Yoakam and Rebecca DeMornay fighting over Yoakam’s frequent flyer miles in their divorce settlement conference. This was a raunchy, funny movie. Senator John McCain with a very brief appearance in the film has been all over the media, getting asked why he’s in this kind of movie when he spends his time railing against Hollywood for producing just this kind of product? The answer, which he won’t give, is that he’s a cynical politician who exploits anti-Hollywood sentiment but frankly enjoys these movies. Maybe McCain is a Straussian after all. While funny and creative, the opening of the film was absolutely brilliant taking the main characters through a series of different ethnic weddings each one funnier…

Free stuff, courtesy of the Flyertalk S.P.A.M. forum

by Gary Leff on July 18, 2005

128mb memory card, free after rebate. Anticavity fluoride mouthwash, free sample. Biz laundry boost, free sample.

The End of eBay Anything Points

by Gary Leff on July 18, 2005

Jul 18 2005

eBay Anything Points is being phased out. eBay is discontinuing a 2-year-old incentive program for sellers and partners in the United States, the company announced on Monday. eBay Anything Points, which operates like a “frequent flyer” program to stimulate customer loyalty, will be phased out by Feb. 28, the company said. Points earned under the program will be honored through August 2006. …eBay will prevent sellers from offering the incentive points on new listings starting Aug. 15. eBay said it would, on Sept. 30, remove remaining points from listings still offering them. The Anything Points program on eBay Canada will continue. This is very disappointing news for me. Other than signing up for some free trial offers a year ago, I only used this on my Priceline bids. But the value proposition was compelling —…

Wynn Las Vegas Doesn’t Appear to Live up to Expectations

by Gary Leff on July 17, 2005

Jul 17 2005

The travel section in today’s New York Times carries a review of Wynn Las Vegas… as though the property didn’t get enough press when it was opening. This $2.7 billion hotel seems far from offering a flawless experience, and most folks seem disappointed. TripAdvisor reviews are decidedly mixed. I haven’t stayed there yet. Now, no 2700 room property can possibly be a luxury hotel. Personal service seems impossible. Complexes are sprawling. Wait times will occasionally seem interminable, no matter how well the property is designed, when unusually large cohorts of guests decide to make us of the same thing at once (pool, elevators, checkin/checkout). I have nothing against large resorts per se. I have an upcoming stay booked at the Westin Diplomat, and I enjoyed a trip to Wyndham’s El Conquistador in San Juan last…