The Best Rate

Posted on January 22, 2013 by Chris

Until a few months ago, I would always religiously use hotel websites to book my stays, occasionally stopping by Expedia for quick comparison shopping.  In September, my glance at Expedia turned up a better rate for the Sheraton Kauai Resort than the rate I had already booked, so I did a Best Rate Guarantee with Starwood.

I now religiously check Kayak first, then weigh my options.  For instance, I’m going to Washington D.C. this weekend and need a hotel room for Saturday night.  If I venture over to Hyatt’s website, they have decent rates for some properties in the city center.

The Grand Hyatt usually hovers at a higher rate and I’ve certainly paid more for the Hyatt Regency in the past.  Ordinarily, this would be a great time to go book, but a detour to Kayak is in order.  For those with a particular brand affinity, whether due to status or personal preference, it’s a convienent search.

“$86 difference across 13 sites” sounds appealing.  Hyatt has a fairly straightforward best rate guarantee:  Call with a competing rate and if they validate it, they’ll beat it by 20%.

Starwood offers a choice of 2k points (as I did at LAX) or a 10% discount off the better rate (as I did in Kauai).  While calling is inconvieient, it does provide more immediate feedback (and reduces the likelihood that rates shift before they examine the claim).

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I Don’t Think I Like Change

Posted on January 18, 2013 by Chris

Change is bad.  It’s how you get New Coke, wilted tulips, and other sundry destroyed icons.  American announced their rebranding this morning:

It’s been compared to Air France and Cubana.

The livery has already been painted a 737.

FlightAware Photo
Photo Courtesy of FlightAware.com

The current livery had been in use for over 40 years with a Helvetica typeface.  What more could a traveler want?

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The Beginning of the End…

Posted on January 16, 2013 by Chris

I’ve acquired my status with American and United Airlines rather cheaply.  Last year, I spent about $4k with each airline to pick up 115-125k EQM on each.

An observant FlyerTalker caught a change (now removed) from Delta’s website today, enumerating the revenue component of Delta’s 2014 elite program, entitled “Medallion Qualification Dollars.”

Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQDs) – Coming Next Year

Beginning January 1, 2014, SkyMiles members residing in the United States (excluding Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands) will qualify for Medallion status based on an additional threshold – the member’s annual spending with Delta, which will be measured by Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQDs). Members must also meet the existing Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs) or Medallion Qualification Segments (MQSs) qualification criteria.
The threshold ranges from $2,500-$12,500 MQDs depending on Medallion level.

Alternatively, Delta SkyMiles Credit Cardmembers can be waived from the new Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQDs) requirement if they make at least $25,000 in Eligible Purchases within the calendar year.

Delta Points seems… enthusastic about the change.   View from the Wing emphasizes the saving grace in labeling this qualification MQD’s:  Promotional and bonus rates of MQD earning could easily take the sting  out of qualifying.

While I’m glad I do not fly Delta, AA and UA could easily adopt a similar set of qualification requirements.

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“I Need 4 Volunteers To Sit In First Class”

Posted on January 13, 2013 by Chris

Since moving to New York, I’ve flown to Los Angeles for Thanksgiving.  To save on airfare, I taken to flying on Thanksgiving morning itself.  While last year’s trip was an uneventful journey of domestic first class, this past year’s was more interesting.

To begin this story, I paid $159.80 for one-way coach ticket between New York and Los Angeles on UA927.  While the absence of complimentary upgrades on United’s p.s. service increases my odds of flying in the back of the plane, I booked the ticket figuring I’d get paid to fly (by being bumped) or get an operational upgrade.  With the flight completely sold out in coach for weeks leading up to the departure, the odds were good.

I made it to the airport and fought off fatigue (6:30AM departures are not my cup of tea!). In light of the holiday, the premium cabins were still on-sale, leaving me to go hat in hand for an op-up rather than a bump.  My inquiry as to “whether we’d need volunteers today” (to dance around asking about my upgrade chances explicitly) lead to a new boarding pass on the spot for 9B.

United 927
New York Kennedy (JFK) – Los Angeles (LAX)
Thursday, November 22nd, 2012
Depart:  6:30AM
Arrive: 9:37AM
Duration:  6 hours, 7 minutes
Aircraft: Boeing 757-222 (N525UA)
Seat: 16D (Economy) 9B (Business Class) 3C (First Class)

Ah.  Row 9.  The seats with just too much legroom.

I settled in, read the breakfast menu, and began drifting off to sleep.

On our taxi out, the purser came back to the business class section with a simple pronouncement:  “I need 4 volunteers to sit in first class.”  The statement registered and I was moving forward, now to 3C.  With the plane steadily taxing to the runway, I was handed a new menu, which read as follows:

With the plane beginning to turn onto the runway, the purser came to my seat to take my order.  I chose the cereal, making my breakfast markedly similar to the one I had in p.s. Business Class in August.

The two course breakfast seemed better structured than the single-tray approach from August, but having not had a recent business class breakfast service, I could not determine whether this was one of the few distinctions of the first class product.

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The Westin Los Angeles Airport

Posted on January 10, 2013 by Chris

I fly on AA185, the late evening JFK-LAX flight, on a regular basis.   While the flight is conveniently timed for making it to the airport with plenty of time between work and the departure time, it unfortunately arrives after midnight (with scheduled arrivals closer to 1AM).

Recently, I adopted a new approach to getting to sleep quickly after arrival:  Stay near the airport.  With the help of Kayak, I was able to find a $80 rate at the Westin LAX when Starwood’s going rate was $100.  With SPG’s Best Rate Guarantee, I picked up the lower rate and 2k SPG points.

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Did I Spell the Airport Wrong…

Posted on January 10, 2013 by Chris

There are a few things you do not want to see when you go to rent a car.

This is one of them:

This should make things interesting.

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A 100k Membership Rewards Offer

Posted on January 8, 2013 by Chris

One Mile at a Time came across an Amex Platinium card offer for 100k membership rewards points after $3k of spending in 3 months.

I currently hold the card, as the airline fee waiver knocks effective fee down to an $250 per year, providing me discounted access to the American Airlines Admirals Club (normally $300-350/year for EXPs).

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My 2012 Mile and Point Earning and Burning

Posted on January 3, 2013 by Chris

In the tradition of last year, it’s time to summarize where I went and how I got there.  I flew about 217k miles in 2012, approximately 186k of which were revenue miles.  Across my revenue and award travel, all but 49k miles were in premium cabins.

I had several redemptions:

I earned points and miles from a variety of sources.

  • On United, I finished the year with about 115k EQM or about 230k redeemable miles by flying.  I retained United 1K.
  • On American, I finished the year with 124k EQM.  Thanks to a number of promotions, I picked up 280k redeemable miles.  I retained American Executive Platinum.
  • With SPG, I earned 40k points from hotel stays (17 stays/21 nights) and credit card spending.  I retained Gold and missed Platinium.
  • With Hyatt, I earned 30k points from hotel stays (12 stays/13 nights).  I failed to retain Diamond.
  • By paying my rent with my credit card, I completed my spending requirements for the 100k British Airways credit card offer, earning an additional 25k points in the process.
  • I picked up 40k US Airways Dividend Miles with the US Airways Mastercard.

My total spend on flights occurring in 2012 (inclusive of OneWorldMegaDo) was $8231.15 (down from last year’s $8798.76), offset further by a gain of $1.1k in unspent United travel vouchers.  I spent $4532.77 (up from last year’s $2703.62) on hotels (41 stays and 54 nights) and $2144.72 (up from last year’s $1727.10) on rental cars (inclusive of insurance, but not gasoline, for 25 rentals, 46 rental days).

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Another Devaluation

Posted on November 24, 2012 by Chris

I’ve been focusing on Starbucks elite status this year. As a Gold elite, their lastest fast-track to status (for purchasing a Verismo system) is another devaluation to their program:

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Amtrak 30% Bonus on Purchased Points

Posted on November 21, 2012 by Chris

Amtrak is offering a 30% bonus on purchased points from now until December 31st.  This brings the cost of 650 points, bought in increments of 500 plus bonus, to $13.75, or 2.12 cents per point.

While Amtrak adjusted the prices for its awards upwards in April, Northeast Regional coach awards still run a mere 4k points (or about $84.62 under this sale) and offer last-seat availability.  A last minute revenue ticket can easily run more:

While booking with Avios is another good-value for short haul flights, capacity-controlled award inventory can be problematic:

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