The government is keeping a Santa Clause joke classified. (Link via David Rowell.)
Cool. More Free Kindling for the Barbecue
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Free 500 United Miles
Earn 500 United miles just for entering for a chance to win a trip to the US Open.
USAirways Food for Sale Goes Systemwide
USAirways on-board food sales goes systemwide today. Food will be for sale in coach on most flights over 700 miles and the menus will rotate mid-month. First Class passengers, in most cases, will just get the buy-on-board meals free. Hopefully the implementation will be better than the test-stages on most carriers have been — both in terms of food quality and sales process. One stumbling block for travelers so far has been receipts. On United’s test, the meals came with a pre-printed receipt that didn’t include a date or any other form of verification — insufficient for many corporate accounting departments to provide a reimbursement.
Help Hilton Improve Your Sleep at its Hotels
Hilton is conducting a travel/sleep study and awarding HHonors points and entries to win free hotel stays for participants. They could save alot in research costs, though, and just buy some Westin heavenly beds…
Can I Get a Grant to Study My Own Website?
Dr Claudio Piga, a lecturer in industrial economics at the University of Nottingham, has received a grant to study how passengers can get cheap flights from low-cost airlines. And to think, this website was set up without a research grant!
Watch Southern California Arrivals and Departures
Realtime flight tracking is now available for John Wayne airport in Orange County.
More about Hooters Air
The Washington Post ran a puff piece, “Leave it to Cleavage,” earlier this week. It’s economic sociology — one writer’s experience flying the airline, noting the lack of passengers contrasted with the high hopes, giving a feel for flying that notes the trivia contests and the shame in telling others who you’re flying. But the piece doesn’t mention load factors or any other macro data — so it isn’t nearly as informative as it could be. Still, not having flown the airline, I read the piece with interest.
United discount
Use this link for 5% off your next united.com book. (This link should work too.)
Can I save money by letting you leave my room dirty?
Hotels are increasingly tacking on fees to their published rates. Most travelers already know about high phone charges and resort fees as well as fees for the in-room safe and the morning newspaper. But an extra charge for housekeeping? One frequent traveler commented that if a hotel was going to charge extra for housekeeping services, they were going to be sure to get their money’s worth! The best practice is to print out your room rate confirmation and bring it with you to the hotel. If the charge isn’t disclosed on your confirmation, you should be able to get it taken off the bill at check-out… or at least successfully dispute the charge with your credit card company.
