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,…
$39 monitor
Office Depot has the AOC Envision 7ELR 17″ CRT Monitor for $129 minus $20 coupon ($20 off $100 code 48265349 [Exp 9/13]) minus $70 rebate(expires 8/31) makes $39 with free shipping.
Porn Star for California Governor
Between Arnold, Gary Coleman, and Arianna, there’s a tough choice in California.But View from the Wing is ready to endorse a candidate: Mary Carey for Governor.Her platform: 1. Legalize gay marriage in California. 2. Tax breast implants. 3. Make lap dances a tax deductible business expense. 4. If I’m elected Governor, I will wire the Governor’s Mansion with live web cams in every room. 5. I will create a “Porn for Pistols” program to take handguns off the streets. 6. As Governor, I will recruit fellow performers from the adult video industry as ambassadors of good will. 7. I will coordinate the state’s unemployment and jury systems, so that anyone who applies for unemployment will instantly be called for jury duty. 8. I will fight the federal government’s attempts to harass the adult video industry.…
Next in line?
United follows suit: cancel your flight before the departure date can apply the unused ticket as a credit towards a future booking (minus change fee).
Inexpensive Carryon Bag
The Home Shopping Network has a carryon bag for $15. Search for item 842-778 (in the upper left hand corner, quicksearch box). You’ll see the “Simply Go Genuine Leather Upright Carry-On Bag” for $21.85 – $15 off $20 coupon (coupon code 848402 valid for new customers) plus $7.95 shipping = $14.80 including shipping.
