This past weekend I blogged about a $200 off coupon at Travelocity for air and hotel vacation packages of at least three days. You could book the hotel in a separate city from the air travel meaning that there were amazing deals to be had. Some folks found hotels in South or Central Asia that were about $10 a night, yielding $170 off airfare using the coupon. The deal had been around for several weeks and was in its last days when it became publicly known. The terms and conditions said: The promotional code (the Promo Code) for $200 is valid between 12:01 a.m. Central Time on July 2, 2012 and 11:59 p.m. Central Time on August 4, 2012 (the Promotion Period) or until it reaches the redemption limit of 3,500 redemptions. Your use of…
ASIA
Search Results for "ASIA".
Excellent Hunan Chinese in Northern Virginia
I’ve been known to go off in search of great dumplings and dim sum when I travel (even here in the States). And living in the DC area I’m blessed with some generally very good Asian foods. My favorite Thai in the area remains Elephant Jumps. You can’t go wrong with anything Vietnamese in the Eden Center. But most of the Chinese seems to taste the same, there are decent carryout places that fill a niche (I’m not sure what niche, exactly, but a niche) but very few Chinese places that reach the heights of the Thai and Vietnamese restaurants in the area. For good Sichuan there’s China Star. And when I lost power at the beginning of the month and stayed out at the Hyatt Fair Lakes I discovered some really good Hunan —…
$200 off at Travelocity Air+Hotel, No Minimum Spend
Reader D.B points me to a Canadian Poker forum that’s discussing a Travelocity promotion code which allows you to take $200 off of an air and hotel package of 3 nights or more, with no minimum spending, valid for travel through December 31. The value proposition here is that you can book a really cheap flight that you don’t bother taking, and have a discount on your hotel stay. Or you book a really really cheap hotel somewhere in the world, and get a nice air discount. The code is NFB2012 and it must be used by August 4th, although it will end earlier once it has been used 3500 times. You can find some particularly cheap hotels in Southeast and in Central Asia. When doing an do advance search. then click that you prefer…
Redeeming Award Tickets on Virgin Atlantic Without Fuel Surcharges
Hawaiian Airlines offers a really frustrating frequent flyer program. Their airline partner redemptions can be really expensive (e.g. Korean Airlines business class between the U.S. and Korea runs 200,000 miles roundtrip — and doesn’t allow connections to other destinations in Asia). They are restrictive — you cannot combine partners on an award ticket, you cannot have a stopover on an award ticket, and you cannot even book an ‘open jaw’ flying into one city and back from another. Talking to Hawaiian Airlines agents can be a frustrating experience. They’re on par with Delta agents, they simply don’t know the ins and outs of their program. One must frequently hang up, call back to get what you’re after. And their call center hours are even quite limited, on the East Coast of the U.S. I have…
United Offers a 20% Discount on International Upgrades — And I’m Not the Least Bit Excited
Summer, especially for European travel, is all about the coach cabin. Planes fly full. But business travel dries up, which means paid business travel dries up. As coach tickets get more expensive, business class prices fall, the spread is much smaller than usual. United is looking to goose some extra revenue from their business class cabin during the lull in premium traffic by offering a 20% discount on both the mileage cost and the cash co-pay for upgrades requested online by July 28 for travel between July 24 and August 12. The discount applies to travel between the Continental U.S. plus Alaska as well as Canada and Europe, Japan, North Asia, Middle East, Central/Southern Africa or Southern South America. Interestingly the discount does not apply to South Asia. Take a discounted coach fare to Europe…
The Best and Worst Features of American Airlines
Now that I’ve flown enough to re-qualify for American’s Executive Platinum status for next year, I figure I’m in a position to express an opinion on my biggest likes and dislikes about the airline and its AAdvantage frequent flyer program. There Are a Few of My Favorite Things: Gogo inflight internet. Delta has this too, and with even somewhat better fleet penetration. But compared to United and US Airways it’s incredible. Inflight internet has changed my life. I’d unplug on the flight and be desperately behind when I landed, with urgent messages to answer and calls to return. My flight time is now much more productive time. It’s why even the laggard carriers are getting on board with internet — not because usage fees will cover the costs of installation, but because it’s so crucial…
When You Purchase a United Award Ticket, That Doesn’t Mean You Actually HAVE a Ticket
(And this rule applies even when the ticket is being issued at the full, correct mileage cost…!) I booked an award for a co-worker the other day that involved Qatar Airways. As I noted recently, it’s become increasingly difficult to use United miles to book awards on Qatar even though the partnership (which is ending) allows making bookings through September 14. Availability shows up on the website. But over the phone agents seem not to be able to find award space most of the time, and when pressed insist that Qatar is no longer a partner. That means you almost always have to book Qatar space on the website. But the website sometimes spits up when trying to make perfectly valid bookings. In this case I was looking for DC – Doha, Doha – Colombo,…
Bits ‘n Pieces for July 18, 2012
A survey of news and offers for the morning: A Skywest pilot, wanted for murder, tried to steal a regional jet to escape authorities. He creashed it on the ground instead. (HT: Seacarl on Milepoint.) bmi’s partnership with Virgin Atlantic ends August 31. It was a foregone conclusion that you would no longer be able to earn and redeem between these two airlines once British Airways acquired bmi. Wyndham Rewards is offering quadruple miles or points beginning with your second stay booked between July 17 and September 13 , 2012 and completed by September 20. The promotion is valid for up to four stays (stays numbered 2 through 5) and up to 3 rooms per stay. Registration required. Wandering Aramean flags that Alaska Airlines is offering 15 minutes of free Gogo inflight internet on all…
United Won’t Honor the 4 Mile Award Tickets to/through Hong Kong
I had posted originally that I didn’t think United would honor this, that it was a long shot, and that for all of the armchair lawyering about tickets being issued and DOT regulations that it at least wasn’t obvious to me that it was a slam dunk. And indeed, it wasn’t. United’s official word is that people can either pay the proper mileage price of the awards or cancel without penalty. Hi Everyone, over the weekend, we discovered a united.com programming error that allowed customers to obtain Mileage Plus travel awards to and from Hong Kong for as little as four miles roundtrip per person, substantially below published levels, which we disclose to customers. We have since corrected the error and will be in contact with customers who have tickets issued at the incorrect award…
“Do Not Call” the Airline or Hotel During a Mistake Fare, and Is There Strength in Numbers or Best to Keep a Deal Quiet?
Right after I posted an explanation of why there are very few airfare mistakes these days, we get two in a row — first tons of premium cabin award space available on Singapore Airlines (which looks like it’s being honored without any difficulty) and second United MileagePlus awards that touch Hong Kong for 4 miles (it’s too early to say for sure what will happen, though apparently at least two people have already flown on the deal). Both of these examples are consistent with my explanation — that ‘fat finger’ discounts where a zero or two are most commonly left off of a paid airfare are mostly a thing of the past. The system that airlines load their international fares into now contains a warning screen that flags fares that look too low. So it’s…
