Reader William writes: My father has been banking American Express miles for the last 15 years. To date he has accumulated 1.3 Million AMEX miles. By the time he retires, in about two years, he thinks he will have nearly 2 Million miles. He uses his card for major purchases at his firm. His plan is to use the miles to fly and vacation with after he retires. I am worried that keeping your miles in one place – especially that many – might mean he could also lose them all at once. For example if AMEX drops a FF partner he would like to fly or a hotel chain he wants to stay at – he would then be out of luck. Should he start moving them into certain programs or just leave them…
Instant Airline Elite
Two recent Flyertalk threads discuss how to get elite status on KLM and on Continental without jumping through any special hoops (you know, like actually flying).
Greater hotel pricing transparency
Last month I complained about hotels tacking undisclosed fees onto their published rates.Word now follows that both Marriott and Starwood are providing total room pricing to the Worldspan system and plan to do the same with other distribution networks soon.View from the Wing gets results: post hoc ergo proctor hoc!
More Dissecting the United corpus
Following on last month’s Denver Post autopsy of United, the Chicago Tribune has its own series. Part one and part two are available. Parts three and four will be published on Tuesday and Wednesday. Now we just need to wait for the San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco hub), Washington Post (Washington Dulles hub), and Los Angeles Times (LA hub) to have their say.
Celebrate
Today is Bastille Day which commemmorates the storming of the Bastille and the overthrow of the French monarchy. Consider a picnic which includes French wine. Personally, I am going to mark the occasion by reading about wines that I cannot afford on a regular basis — Chateua Y’quem, the world’s finest white wine and the greatest wine I’ve ever tasted; and three of the five “first growths” of Bordeaux: Chateau Margaux Chateau Latour Chataeu Haut-Brion Update: Samizdata dissents with a different take on Bastille Day.
Getting an award ticket to Hawaii
View from the Wing reader Tim writes: I’m writing you from Iraq! I’m an Air Force member serving here, but will be returning (Thank God) to the good old USA soon! I read your web as often – as I can get to computer. You really out do yourself with all the info! I have question for you, I have 122,000. miles with Northwest, and am looking to go to Hawaii on those miles with my girlfriend. I’m trying to go first class, and would like to know which airlines I should take. IS northwest’s first class better then say Delta or Continental? And who has the best flight times over to Hawaii!? I’m just looking for a nice long vacation, and staying in paradise, compared to this place will do my soul a world…
Pay us More to Buy from Us
Orbitz has increased its booking fee from $5 to $6.
Long distance, credit card combo bonus
America West is offering 15,000 miles for signing up for both Spring long distance and an America West credit card. (Link via Gary Steiger.)
Securing upgrades on difficult international routes
A reader asked for some general advice in securing upgrades on international flights. Here are my off the top of the head suggestions. I’d love it if you’d add your own thoughts to the comments section. Be as flexible as possible. Look over a variety of days if you can. Confirmed seats at booking are the goal. Be as creative as possible in routings. Check every possible connection. Know what those connections are because agents won’t necessarily look at them all without your asking about them specifically. Consolidate your flying a bit so that you have top tier status on a carrier. I like having miles on lots of airlines… but having the highest level elite status will help you clear those waitlists. (You can earn miles on lots of airlines by giving your partner…
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