To some people it probably seems crazy to fly from Washington, DC to Barcelona for dinner. Somehow it doesn’t seem so crazy to me. And for foodies of the world, knowing that the dinner was at El Bulli probably means it doesn’t seem crazy at all. This will once again be a trip report in parts, so here’s the beginning. Pre-trip: Dinner Reservations and Flights In the fall of 2006 on a lark I shot off an email to El Bulli, asking them for a Friday or Saturday night dinner any time April through July. I thought I was being flexible, and that I was getting in at just the right time – about three days after their reservation book opened for the year. I knew that this was a well-regarded restaurant. All the rankings are subjective, controversial, and…
ASIA
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What a United-Continental Merger Would Mean for Their Frequent Flyer Programs
The New Jersey Star Ledger quotes me on the affect of a hypothetical United-Continental merger on frequent flyer. Frequent-flier customers of both airlines would not lose their miles because they would be combined into one program. However, Continental’s OnePass customers would benefit if United’s Mileage Plus is the surviving program, said Gary Leff, a loyalty rewards expert with Boardingarea.com, a travel website. “United’s rewards chart requires fewer miles than Continental does,” he said. “So, each Continental mile will go farther.” However, the combined airline might adopt Continental’s policy of charging for upgrades to business class on international flights, he said. I leave aside route effects and service levels on domestic flights. I’m just talking about loyalty programs here. Unquestionably, Continental OnePass members would be better off after a merger with United. The combined entity would…
Bali and Beijing Trip Report Wrapup
Here’s a guide to all of the posts from my recent trip to Bali and Beijing in Lufthansa First Class and Thai Airways First Class. Hope it’s been a useful and enjoyable read. Lufthansa First Class: Washington-Dulles to Frankfurt A Complimentary Day Room at Frankfurt: Kempinski Hotel Gravenbruch Frankfurt Lufthansa’s First Class Terminal in Frankfurt Lufthansa First Class, Frankfurt to Singapore Singapore Airlines Short-haul Business Class: Singapore – Denpasar (Bali) Intercontinental Bali Resort & Spa – Jimbaran Bay Bali – Central Mountain Tour Bali – Dinner at Mozaic Four Seasons Jimbaran Bay Balinese Cooking Class Thai Airways Business Class: Denpasar, Bali to Bangkok Bangkok Overnight at the Airport Novotel Thai Airways First Class, Bangkok to Beijing Westin Beijing Financial Street One Day to Tour Beijing Beijing’s New Teminal 3 Lufthansa First Class – Beijing to…
A Second Trip Through Lufthansa’s First Class Terminal in Frankfurt
Friday, March 28, 2008 The First Class Terminal is eminently walkable from the Sheraton, although it did involve being outside on a rather crisp morning. Back across the passenger bridge to Terminal 1, downstairs to the arrivals level, to the very end of Hall A and out by the hotel shuttle pickup we just continued walking against the direction of vehicle traffic and there was the First Class Terminal, lower level. We buzzed the entrance and someone came down to meet us and let us in. Back up the elevator and through ever-so-polite security, and now I’m ensconced in here a bit before 8am with a bloody mary in hand. Here’s a view outside the terminal, where staff were washing the cars: We arrived a full 5.5 hours before flight time, but figured it was…
Westin Beijing Financial Street
About 1h15m in traffic, the cab deposited us at the Westin for 118RMB. I had had a map to the hotel with the address in Chinese (which I had emailed the hotel for), but the dispatcher simply asked us our destination and communicated it to the driver and all was fine. Upstairs to the club lounge to checkin (since Platinums have access to the lounge, they can necessarily check in there). I had reserved the hotel on a cash and points award, US$60 + 4000 points a night. 500 point Plat amenity has already posted, along with points from two room service coffee orders, but no points for the cash portion of the rate – will have to followup. We were informed the hotel was full (and it certainly was, with a huge American tour…
Lufthansa’s First Class Terminal in Frankfurt
First Class Terminal For those who haven’t been, or might be visiting for the first time, the First Class Terminal is on the upper, departure level in a separate building, just west of Terminal 1. The building has a large “First Class Terminal” sign. There’s a pretty sharp turn-off, though, as you approach, which can be easy to miss. (It’s also walkable back from the Terminal 1 arrivals level where the hotel vans pickup and dropoff.) Our car pulled up and a personal assistant met us out front. She asked for our passports, and I handed them over along with our boarding passes. She asked about luggage to check and I noted that our bags were already checked. She took our bag tags in order to check on them. We were quickly through a perfectly…
Delta Will No Longer Hold Awards On Telephone Bookings
Mar
19
2008
Delta will no longer allow Skymiles members (at least those members in the U.S.) to hold awards over the phone. If you book by phone, you have to ticket immediately. And booking over the phone just became more limited, as non-elites can only make telephone award reservations between 8am and 10pm Eastern. Holding awards for 48 hours is still possible online. Awards on Delta as well as parter airlines Hawaiian, Alaska, Continental, and Northwest are bookable online.. sort of, sometimes, when the website works and prices out awards correctly. Of course, that means that awards on other partners like Air France, Aeroflot, and Korean cannot be held at all. This is a really annoying change. Finding awards can be challenging at times. Sometimes it takes humans because the online technology is lacking. You find flights…
This Just Encapsulates How Bad U.S. Domestic Lounges Are
A Flyertalker visits the United Red Carpet Club in Los Angeles and finds these as snacks: Well, at least there were snacks. Last time I went through there neither self-service coffee machine worked.
Why Delta’s Move Won’t Kill Off the Award Chart
A comment by Seth regarding Delta’s new pay with miles program encapsulates the real fear behind this program, that it represents a move towards the end of the ‘award chart’ in favor of fixed value redemptions (which means the end of valuable premium class travel for a small number of miles): [T]his is just going to embolden other carriers to shift the paradigm of the reward schemes to prevent the higher redemption values of long-haul premium cabin travel. If that sticks then the entirety of the miles game may just pack up and go home. I actually raised and dealt with this issue 21 months ago, in the context of United’s Choices program which predates Delta’s offering in this space. I contended it wouldn’t happen, and so far I’ve been right… but I was worried about…
Details of Delta’s Miles as Money Option for Redeeming Towards Airfare
Webflyer.com wrote up details of Delta’s new pay with miles feature. Skymiles members with a co-branded American Express card can now use their miles to pay directly for tickets rather than searching award availability. I haven’t previously mentioned that this was coming (I don’t think) mainly because it doesn’t merit much attention. As I expected, the best you’ll ever do by using miles as cash for a ticket is one cent per mile in value. Now, Delta miles aren’t generally worth much more than a cent, I use my United and American miles to redeem (with ease, relatively speaking) for premium cabin international awards. In recent years I’ve booked international first class tickets on tons of airlines including Qantas, Air Tahiti Nui, Asiana, United, Thai, ANA, and Lufthansa (not to mention business class on many…
