The FAA says that air travel will be convenient again in 2025. “All of this can be done by 2025. We want to develop a system that is absolutely seamless and efficient,” (FAA Administrator Marion) Blakey said. Sounds to me like it’s time to find a replacement for Zager and Evans at the top of our nation’s airline security apparatus…
Free webcam ‘n stuff
Circuit City has a webcam that’s free after rebate. But you have to go to a store to get it.And while you’re out of the house on the way to the electronics store, you might as well get a $9.99 oil change from Firestone and pick up a free Krispy Kreme donut.But what to read while munching on your donut and waiting for Firestone to finish your oil change? Well, there’s this free subscription to Golf Digest…
Hawaiian Island Hopping
Interisland Hawaii fares have gone up dramatically but mileage awards between the islands have not. Advantage: frequent flyer awards!
Starwood mailing airline elites with free gold status
Starwood is marketing to the mailing lists of several airline elite programs and offering those elite members Gold status. They have websites set up for the elite members of United, Northwest, American, and USAirways. The mailing contains a Starwood Gold card and interested members go to the aforementioned sites to activate their cards.
Ticketing rule changes
Keith Alexander provides a roundup of major carrier changes to their “use it or lose it” ticketing rule. Upshot: on all the majors except USAirways you can now apply the value of an unused ticket towards future travel, and you have a year in which to book that future ticket.On USAirways — which was the major carrier that introduced the older restrictive rules in the first place — you’re still hosed.The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) provides the nitty gritty details. Most of the carriers, for instance, require their passengers to call and cancel their original reservations in order to retain the value of their tickets. But Northwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines don’t. The airlines also track time differently. Northwest says the clock starts ticking on its yearlong grace period on the date of…
5,000 Bonus America West Miles
Northwest’s Fly Free Faster 3 is ending, and I got my easy 10,000 bonus miles. America West is starting the second go-round at its triple play promotion — but America West’s offer is not nearly as generous as Northwest’s: you have to book three roundtrips, have three car rentals or hotel stays credited to FlightFund, and have three additional partner transactions. That’s quite a bit for just 5,000 bonus miles. Although the title of the website that gives details says these are elite bonus miles, which is a plus, and they counted as elite miles the first time America West made this offer — but the terms and conditions of the offer don’t make it clear that the miles will actually count towards elite status. I’d like to see America West be clearer on this…
Got any extra room in your suitcase?
Ever stolen a hotel towel? Holiday Inn is offering a towel amnesty day.
More Bureaucratic Mission Creep at the Department of Homeland Security
Apparently the Department of Homeland Security still can’t find terrorism issues to address. So, on top of
Alaska’s 10 Million Mile Giveaway
Register for the Alaska Airlines 10 million mile giveaway. It’s explained here. You do have to fly Alaska Airlines to enter though. Well, except for the obligatory method of entering without purchase: By mail without purchase or obligation or without being a member of the Mileage Plan program and to receive two entries: on a 3″x5″ card, handprint your name, address, city, state, zip, e-mail address, daytime and evening phone numbers, and the words “Alaska Airlines 10-Million-Mile Giveaway” and mail in a # 10 envelope to, Alaska Airlines Giveaway, P.O. Box 4035, Grand Rapids, MN 55730-4035. All entries must be in a separate envelope and mailed separately. All mail entries must be postmarked by December 15, 2003, and received by December 22, 2003 to be eligible. Please note that you must indicate which daily drawing…
Bob Crandall: disingenuously smearing codesharing
Bob Crandall blasts codesharing in this morning’s New York Times (link via Julian Sanchez). He thinks the government ought to crack down. The piece contains numerous half-truths. He identifies 1983 as the start of INTERNATIONAL codesharing. But the practice of codesharing dates back to the 1930s when Western Airlines flew from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City, and United flew from Salt Lake City to the East Coast. Neither could fly coast to coast on their own because the government granted all route authorities back then. But Western, for its financial survival, was given permission to coordinate with United and they operated each others planes and shared crews. For 70 years codesharing has both been about the economics of leveraging large capital investments (planes) and about navigating regulatory waters. It still is! As Crandall observes,…
