Finally. It’s Friday. If you’re looking for a way to occupy your time as you wait for the weekend start, you might find these items interesting:

Airline Stuff

Free First Class Upgrades for UK AAdvantage members

Destination David posted this offer in the milepoint forums about “a complimentary one-way upgrade to First Class when you purchase a round trip Business Class ticket on a transatlantic flight”.

Go here to learn more

Royal Bank of Canada AAdvantage Bonus offer

If you live in Canada then here’s an offer that you might find interesting: 30% Bonus from October 5, 2011 through November 30, 2011 when you redeem RBC Rewards Points for AAdvantage Miles.

Go here for details

American Airlines Pilots Retiring
Last month an unusually large number of pilots took early retirement, causing American to cut back their schedule. Dallas Morning News reporter, Terry Maxon, speculates that there may be more retirements ahead. From his post at the Airline Biz Blog:

We had 111 American Airlines pilots who retired at the end of August. There may be a bunch more retiring at the end of September, which is Friday.

One senior Boeing 777 pilot told me this week that he expects this month’s retirements to be twice last month’s 111 departures. Everybody he’s flown with in recent days seems to be retiring, he said. A worker at his layover hotel said there were retirement parties every night for pilots who were working their last international trip.

Go here to read more

American Airlines and Preferred Seats
You probably already know this, but American recently introduced Preferred Seats. Janice Hough at Consumer Traveler speculates in her article “Is American Airlines moving towards charging for all advance seat assignments?”.

Now with the “Preferred Seating,” all front-of-the-plane aisle and window seats, except exit rows, will be available for anyone willing to pony up the extra charge for them…Those of us who are suspicious of the airlines see a growing similarity to Americans’ “oneworld” partner, British Airways.

Not sure that I agree with her conclusion, I think that if American was going to start charging for advance seat assignment, that they would have done it when they introduced Preferred Seating. Still though, I never thought about the fact that American might move to align their fees with British Airway’s and her suggestion doesn’t seem impossible.

Go here to read more.

Admirals Club relocates Philadelphia Admirals Club

The Philadelphia Admirals Club is moving and will co-locate to the British Airways Galleries Lounge on September 29, 2011, further strengthening the joint business relationship between the two carriers.

Go here to read more.

American Airlines and Charlie’s Angels
Don’t be surprised if Charlie’s Angels is your favorite show. Charisse Jones over at USA TODAY writes in her article “Index Weighs Consumer Attachment to Brands” about a recent research study that measures the emotional attachment that consumers have for particular brands and television programs:

What do American Airlines and the new fall television show Charlie’s Angels have in common? Apparently, a large number of consumers who love them both.

Turns out that in addition to having frequent flyer miles that they can’t use, people loyal to Delta are strongly attached to the CBS program Unforgettable.

Go here to read more.

Other Stuff.

Win Lifetime Service from Gogo Inflight Internet
While social security may not be around in 40 years, you can still plan for retirement by reducing your future inflight wifi expenses and winning “lifetime wifi in the Gogo Land on Top of Things Sweepstakes:

Grand Prize: A $10,000 VISA gift card, good wherever VISA is accepted and free Gogo inflight WiFi Service for life, up to 40 years (“Service”). Service awarded in the form of a $10,000 check (in addition to the $10,000 gift card), which represents the approximate present value of purchasing unlimited monthly Gogo passes for 40 years at current prices. (Approximate Retail Value: $20,000)

Go here to enter.

Is English Spoken More Slowly than Other Languages?
If you’ve ever traveled to a non English speaking country you may have noticed that the native language sounds much “faster” than English. The bookofjoe is one of my favorite blogs and it was there that I read this exert from Jeffrey Kluger’s September 8, 2011 article in Time Magazine:

It’s an almost universal truth that any language you don’t understand sounds like it’s being spoken at 200 m.p.h. — a storm of alien syllables almost impossible to tease apart. That, we tell ourselves, is simply because the words make no sense to us. Surely our spoken English sounds just as fast to a native speaker of Urdu. And yet it’s equally true that some languages seem to zip by faster than others.

Spanish blows the doors off French; Japanese leaves German in the dust — or at least that’s how they sound. But how could that be? The dialogue in movies translated from English to Spanish doesn’t whiz by in half the original time after all, which is what it should if the same lines were being spoken at double time. Similarly, Spanish films don’t take four hours to unspool when they’re translated into French. Somewhere among all the languages must be a great equalizer that keeps us conveying information at the same rate even if the speed limits vary from tongue to tongue.

Go here to read the Time article.

Some Tech Stuff.

AAdvantageGeek Cornerstone Strategy
Here’s something that’s kind of interesting…..Like a great number of sites, I use Google Analytics on my blog to provides some basic stats about visitors, such as most read articles, sources of traffic (links or search engines), web browser types, what you’re wearing (just kidding), and some other information. Google Analytics doesn’t provide personally identifying information but one of the things it does report is the number of visitors from a particular location. I was looking at the stats and out of curiosity decided to see which states have the most readers. Here are the top 10:

1. California
2. New York
3. Texas
4. Illinois
5. Florida
6. Massachusetts
7. Virginia
8. Pennsylvania
9. District of Columbia
10. North Carolina

I thought it was interesting (though I shouldn’t be surprised) that these states pretty much confirm the results you might expect to see as a result of American’s Cornerstone Strategy that focuses their service to and from the markets of New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas/Fort Worth and Miami. Not sure that you can read much into these numbers, but thought you might find it interesting too.

Round the World Trip Comparison Tool
Boarding Area’s own Wandering Aramean has a really cool tool to help you compare the prices of the various RTW fares available from the big 3 airline alliances.
Go here to check it out.

Airport Geek Airport Code iPhone Game
Here’s a little iPhone App that test your knowledge of U.S. IATA airport codes. I thought I’d do better than I did, but my highest score is 760 points. Which is embarrassing when you consider that the highest score, wich belongs to tsaardvark, is 1,520 points. In my defense, I’l like to say that there are some pretty obscure airports listed. I guess I haven’t spent enough time traveling on American Eagle.
Go here for more details.

Off topic: This is why I use a Mac
I’ve spent the better part of my life looking for two things: a putting game and a perfect email client. While I’m still looking for the perfect putter to help my game, I think I may have found the perfect email client with Sparrow. It’s just this incredibly clean, simple, easy to use software that does exactly what it should and nothing more. A sort of anti-Outlook approach to email. It’s only available for Mac and it’s usually priced at $10, but Cult of Mac has launched a new deal hub and they’re selling it for $6.

Anyway, if you’re a Mac user go here to take a look at Sparrow. You can find the Cult of Mac discount offer here.

Have a great weekend!

Here’s a new double miles offer for travel between New York JFK and a few Caribbean destinations:

Award: Double Miles
Bonus Code: NYCRD
Dates: Travel between September 29, 2011 and November 15, 2011.

Offer: Earn double AAdvantage miles every time you fly our nonstop service between New York (JFK) and Santiago or Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; Port-au-Prince, Haiti or San Juan, Puerto Rico between September 29, 2011, and November 15, 2011.

Registration required before you travel using bonus code NYCRD. Go here to register and here for terms and conditions.

American continues to upgrade their product. A few weeks ago they introduced new amenity kits and now they’re introducing new dining options. Unlike previous improvements, even the folks at the back of the plane will benefit.

American Airlines Collaborates With Chef Richard Sandoval And Chef Marcus Samuelsson To Enhance Inflight Dining Program

Chefs Join American’s Culinary Team to Design Inflight Menus Products and Services

American Airlines is collaborating with Chef Richard Sandoval and Chef Marcus Samuelsson to its inflight dining program as part of the airline’s ongoing effort to enhance and differentiate the onboard travel experience.

On Oct. 1, American will begin offering signature menu items designed by Chef Sandoval onboard flights between the U.S. and Europe, Asia and Latin America in American’s premium class cabins. Also beginning Oct. 1, American will debut the New American Table menu featuring original creations by Marcus Samuelsson. Chef Samuelson’s offerings will be available for purchase on domestic flights more than two hours in length as part of the main cabin dining program.

Here’s a look at some of the new domestic first/business class menu items:

Chef Sandoval’s signature halibut entrée

Chef Sandoval’s lemongrass marinated chicken

Here’s a look at some of the new food for purchase items:

Chef Samuelsson’s signature breakfast biscuit

Chef Samuelsson’s turkey & chutney sandwich

And here’s a look a the new menu:

American Airlines Menu Page One

American Airlines Menu Page Two

I’m a fan of American’s premium class dining product (except for the 3 meat sandwich, the idea of which kind of weirds me out – but that’s a personal issue:-) and I think that they do a great job feeding the minority of folks that get to ride up front.

It’s good to see an improvement than benefits the majority of their customers that ride in the back of the plane. I would however like to see a better snack selection in coach. I’ve been lucky this year (despite dropping to AAdvantage Gold) to have most of my upgrades clear. But on those occasions when it didn’t happen, it seemed that there wasn’t much of a snack selection on those flights except for salty potato chips, nuts, a cheese & cracker mix and the cookie (which actually isn’t very good and proves that it is possible to make a bad chocolate chip cookie). I’d like to see American offer some of the healthier snack items that they sell on California flights on some of their other routes.

Anyway, enough of my whining. Go here to read the chef bios and here for more details.

If you’re looking for an alternative to the Citibank AAdvantage Debit Card, see my post about banking with UFB Direct.

(Update: Even Megan McArdle, the senior editor for The Atlantic, is unhappy that Citibank is discontinuing the AAdvantage Debit card. And while people aren’t taking to the streets over the issue, someone decided to start a Facebook page in an effort to save the card.)

New Federal Reserve regulations take effect October 1 limiting the fees that banks charge retailers for processing debit card transactions. As a result, Citibank has decided to discontinue the AAdvantage debit card:

After December 9, 2011, Citibank will no longer offer the Citibank AAdvantage debit card rewards program. Here are some other important things you need to know:

• You will retain the American Airlines AAdvantage miles you’ve already earned, provided that once every 18 months you: (i) redeem AAdvantage miles; (ii) earn them on Amerian Airlines, American Eagle, or the AmericanConnection carrier; or (iii) earn AAdvantage miles with an AAdvantage participant.

• In November, you will be sent a new debit card to replace your existing Citbank AAdvantage debit card. However, this will not impact the debit rewards you earn through December 8, 2011. Your debit card number and PIN will not change

• Customer who paid the Citibank AAdvantage debit card rewareds program annual fee will receive a prorated credit to the checking account in December based on when the fee was paid.

I use both my Citibank AAdvantage debit card and my Citi AAdvantage credit card to earn miles. While I can still earn miles with my credit card, I like also having a mileage earning mechanism associated with my checking account, so I’m disappointed to see it going away.

So now it looks like the only option for earning miles with your checking account is to open an account with Bank Direct. I’ve been planning to open a Bank Direct account to take advantage (no pun intended) of their 21,000 bonus AA miles offer, but just haven’t had the time to do it yet, so now I’ve got another incentive to make the move.

Here’s an American Airlines sweepstakes that’s open to residents within 75 miles of the new Dallas Cowboys stadium in Irving, TX:

Hey Cowboys fans! American Airlines is giving you a chance to win a trip for 2 to watch the Dallas Cowboys play in New York! Enter the AA Get in the Game Sweepstakes for your chance to win:

• 100,000 AAdvantage Miles to be used towards a flight to New York
• Transportation to/from the airport and game
• 3-night hotel stay
• 2 game tickets to watch the Cowboys plan in New York on 1/1/12
• A $500 gift card

According to the sweepstakes terms and conditions:

Sweepstakes open to individuals who are at least 18 years of age or older as of September 14, 2011 legally residing within a seventy-five (75) mile radius of Cowboys Stadium, 1 Legends Way, Arlington, TX 76011

The approximate retail value of the prize is $4,030 and the winner pays all taxes. Go here to enter.

A Message From Maya Leibman, President of the AAdvantage Loyalty Program

Here’s a funny little video updating AAdvantage Gold, Platinum and Executive Platinum members about some recent news items like the new Citi Executive AAdvantage credit card, Dynamic Air awards for those with elite status, Elite Rewards, Preferred Plus seats, Million Miler program.

No surprises in the video, but I have to confess that I’m officially a fan of Maya Leibman.

Last year she was named President of the AAdvantage Program, and since then she and the AAdvantage team have been really busy trying to connect with AAdvantage members with innovative efforts such as:

Creating an AAdvantage Facebook page
Using Twitter to communication with AAdvantage members
Creating a presence on the milepoint frequent flyer forum
Participating in a live, online chat with milepoint members
Introducing promotions such as the 30 Days of AAdvantage anniversary

I tried to remain skeptical and to maintain some of the cynicism that’s been forged by time spent standing in airport security lines and in the frequent flyer forums, but I have to give her and the AAdvantage team credit for increasing the level of engagement with AAdvantage members, even when it’s been to communicate with members about possible changes that might not be well received.

For example, back in the summer when speculation was at a peak about possible upcoming changes to the (then undocumented) Million Miler program, she addressed the issue head-on in her online chat with milepoint members, acknowledging that changes were being considered, gently reminding everyone that American had to weigh program benefits with the overall need to meet profit goals, and that if there was to be a change to the Million Miler program, she promised to fully explain any change well in advance of them taking effect. And she was true to her word.

And it’s not just the better communication, it’s the improvements to the program: in this last year the AAdvantage team has introduced some new benefits, like Dynamic Air for elite status member, offering all members the option to redeem their miles for hotels and car rentals, and giving members a chance to earn some free miles just for “Liking” the AAdvantage Facebook page or watching an American Airlines commercial. 

Not to malign the previous AAdvantage presidents, but I don’t recall any of their names nor do I recall them doing much in the way of trying to connect with AAdvantage members, and none of them were as likable a spokesperson as Maya.  

I didn’t want to become just a Maya fAAnboy.  In the finest Oklahoma political tradition, I had hoped to hold out for a secret, under the table, million AAdvantage Mile payoff, or an envelope stuffed with system wide upgrades;-)  But, I’m afraid I’ve been won over by a funny video, some creative promotions, and real efforts to add improvement to the AAdvantage program;-)

In other AAdvantage/American Airlines/oneworld News:

The Wondering Aramean has an interesting post about the merger between South American airlines LAN and TAM how it may benefit the oneworld alliance.

I Missed the Memo – Admirals Club Rolling Out Free Wi-Fi for All (?) from Marshall Jackson: I noticed the free wifi the other day at the Washington D.C. Admirals Club but didn’t realize that soon all of the clubs will offer free wifi. Nice!

Here’s a new Facebook contest from American Airlines that promotes their new fall advertising campaign by giving you a chance to win 200,000 AAdvantage Miles and a year of free wifi by watching their new commercials and answering a few questions:

Commercial Scavenger Hunt
Our new commercials are all about highlighting the ways you can be yourself, nonstop while traveling with us. Play our commercial scavenger hunt for a chance to win 200,000 AAdvantage miles and Inflight Wifi for a year!

To play, just visit facebook.com/aa and click “MORE” from the left navigation menu, from there you can select the “Commercial Scavenger Hunt” link and “Like” the contest to get started.  Even if you don’t win, you’ll receive 100 AAdvantage Miles just for playing.

You’ll actually have to listen to the commercials in order to answer the questions, so if you’re at the office you might want to wait till your colleagues aren’t around.

Here’s a look at the new commercial “After School”:

The winner pays taxes and according to the terms and conditions the approximate retail value is $4,380.  Here are a few more details

AMERICAN AIRLINES COMMERCIAL SCAVENGER HUNT SWEEPSTAKES RULES

1. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR CLAIM PRIZE.

2. TO ENTER. Between 04:01 p.m. Eastern Time (“ET”) time on September 21, 2011 and 11:59 p.m. ET time on October 21, 2011 (“Promotional Period”), complete an official entry form online in the manner listed below. All entries must be received by 11:59 p.m. ET time on October 21, 2011. The entry process shall not be complete until the Entrant goes to www.facebook.com/aa and click on the Commercial Scavenger Hunt tab and correctly answer the three (3) trivia questions for minimum of two (2) of the three (3) new airline commercials (nine (9) question available, required to answer six (6) questions correctly). Commercials will be available for review for all questions. Commercial 1, After School, will be released on September 21, 2011, Commercial 2, Scuba, will be released on September 28, 2011, and Commercial 3, Producer, will be released on October 5, 2011. Once submitted, all entries become the exclusive property of American Airlines, Inc. (“American Airlines” or “Sponsor”) and will not be acknowledged nor will they be returned. Limit two (2) entries per person. The first entry a person may receive is for correctly completing the questions for a minimum of two commercials (total six (6) questions). A second entry may be acquired by sharing the promotion with friends on Facebook, via the automatic pop-up share option generated by Facebook.

All Participants who answer questions pertaining to the commercials will receive one hundred (100) American Airlines AAdvantage miles.

3. ELIGIBILITY. Sweepstakes open to individuals legally residing in the forty-eight (48) contiguous United States, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico who are 18 years of age or older at the time of entry. Employees and agents of Sponsor, Administrator, Gogo, Facebook and each of their parents and affiliates, agencies, distributors, wholesalers, retailers, and members of such employees’ and agents’ immediate families and individuals living in the same household with such employees, are not eligible to enter or win Sweepstakes. Void where prohibited or otherwise restricted by law.

4. PRIZE DETAILS. One (1) Grand Prize Winner will receive: (i) 200,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles and (ii) One (1) Inflight Wifi Annual Pass from Gogo.

Goto facebook.com/aa to play.  Good luck!

Usually when you rent a car from Budget you’ll earn 50 AAdvantage Miles per day, but through December 31, 2011 you’ll earn twice that with this offer:

• Earn even more American Airlines AAdvantage miles every time you rent with Budget!
• Now through December 31, 2011, AAdvantage members can earn double the AAdvantage miles on rentals of 1 or more days.
• Offer valid on all car groups at participating Budget airport locations in the U.S. and Canada.
• Use coupon #MUAZ015 and provide your AAdvantage number at the time of reservation or at the rental counter to earn your AAdvantage bonus miles. Double AAdvantage miles are calculated by multiplying your AAdvantage base miles by two for every day you rent with Budget.

Budget is also offering a 20% discount on qualifying rentals when you use promo code BCD U305500.

The best thing about this offer is the 1 day minimum rental required in order to qualify for this bonus.  Unless you’re renting for more than 20 days or have a corporate travel department the requires you to rent with Budget, the  25% discount and 2,000 Bonus AAdvantage Miles offer from Avis is probably a better deal.

To sign up for this Budget offer or to read the complete terms and conditions, go here.

I just finished up some back to back travel, so Tuesday morning I signed in at AA.com to see if the AAdvantage Miles had posted to my account (they did) and out of habit I clicked the “My Reservations” tab and found this:

You do not have any current reservations.

It’s been awhile since I was without a reservation. I’ve got some more travel coming up but I haven’t firmed up dates yet. So for now I “do not have any current reservations” and it feels a little weird.

I don’t like to be away from home for an extended period of time, but I enjoy the frequent 2-4 day trip. I’ve only been home for just two days, but with not having any firm travel plans, I can completely relate to Marshall Jackson being excited by an upcoming business trip.

I feel a little silly confessing this, but I think I just like having a trip to look forward to, even if it’s weeks away. As geeky as this may seem, I like tracking my reservations to see if there’s been a change in equipment, a better seat has become available, or (I’m a little embarrassed to admit) to check the seat map and try to discern whether or not my upgrade will clear.

Does anyone else do this?  Not sure if I need a reservation or a life.

Anyway, it is good to be home and I’ve managed to get caught up on some reading. Here’s a midweek roundup of some of the items I’ve read that I thought you might find interesting.

American Airlines and AAdvantage News

I found this in the milepoint forums: Inside Flyer is asking members to Rate American AAdvantage.
I’d probably give AAdvantage a B+.  So far, some good comments including one that echos my biggest complaint, the inability to book partner awards at AA.com.  I’m not the only one.  In fact, Maya Leibman, the President of the AAdvantage program, was asked about this during her live chat on milepoint. This was her answer:

I’m really glad we got this question. This is a priority for us and one that we’re working on now. I don’t want to get into “how the sausage is made,” but it is my hope to have this available by the end of the year.

So hopefully, that will be fixed in the not too distant future.

oneworld News

JAL
JAL to Offer Internet Access Onboard International Flights Using Panasonic Avionic’s eXConnect Service from Summer 2012
From the press release:
(high-speed internet ) will first be installed on JAL’s fleet of Boeing 777s and introduced on routes between Japan and its gateways in Europe as well as in North America.

Finnair
Know quality when you see it? Care to travel the world for 7 weeks on behalf of oneworld member Finnair to “observe, evaluate, report on, and develop the flight and transfer experience as offered by Finnair and Helsinki Airport”?

Finnair and Helsinki Airport have commenced a search for seven Quality Hunters, to be given the task of traveling between Europe, Asia and the United States. The aim, with the help of these experts drawn from the public, will be to make Helsinki’s award-­‐winning flight connections even more convenient and efficient.

Go here to read more.

Travel News

Win a trip to London (I have to thank my brother for this tip)
Visit London is sponsoring a contest with the winner receiving a trip to London:
We’re offering you a once-in-a-lifetime trip to London.
Stay for five nights during the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations and enjoy the best limited edition experiences London has to offer.

British Airways discount
Even if you don’t win, you can still get a British Airways discount by registering with the Visit London site (FYI, if you’re already registered you can still get a discount by selecting the I have already registered on visitlondon.com checkbox:

Save up to $150 on flights to London
As a registered customer with Visit London we are pleased to offer you up to $150 off flights to London.

$150 discount on premium economy.
For a limited time book any round-trip ticket in World Traveller Plus (premium economy) from any US gateway to London and save $150 per person for travel through
March 31, 2011.

$75 discount on economy
For a limited time book any round-trip ticket in World Traveller (economy) from any US gateway to London and save $75 per person for travel through March 31, 2011

Go here to sign up or for more information.

Strange News + Travel News = Strange Travel News

From the New York Times via Jason Kottke at Kottke.org: The Most Bizarre Contraband Items Found at JFK.  Fake prescription medications, banned animals, animal parts, even Cow dung toothpaste.

And in other news

When The Frugal Travel Guy Rick Ingersoll isn’t writing about how to accumulate frequent flier miles and hotel points, he’s sharing stories about his travels and his family. I’ve been following him for so long that the names of his family members seem familiar so I was really happy to learn that he just became a Grandpa. Go here to see a photo of Rick and his grandson Carter. Congratulations to him and his whole family!

Speaking of favorite bloggers

Daraius Dubash is the man behind Million Mile Secrets. In just three short months he’s managed to build one of the most informative travel sites around by sharing great advice like his 2-Browser Trick To Earn 150,000 Free AAdvantage Miles. If you’re not already following him, you should, and now you can follow him on Twitter and get some of the same great travel tips.

I’m not as loyal to any one hotel program as I am to AAdvantage, so I do a little more shopping around when I make a hotel reservation. I usually look to find the most miles for my money and location is usually an important consideration for me.

I’m a big fan of Hilton Honors, Starwood Preferred Guest and try to concentrate my business with one of their brands, but from time to time when I can’t find a decent price or when I need to make a reservation at a smaller boutique property, I’ll use AA.com because I can earn 250 AAdvantage miles even if the property I’m staying at doesn’t partner with the AAdvantage program.

Through October 15, reservations made at AA.com will earn 500 AAdvantage Miles:

Book A Hotel And Reach Your Goal Faster
Earn double miles when you book your hotel on AA.com and get to your next vacation faster.

Simply book and complete your stay by October 15, 2011, and double your award, that’s 500 AAdvantage miles for every completed reservation.

With AA.com you get access to over 60,000 hotels and our Lowest Price Guarantee.

If you find a cheaper price anywhere on a hotel – we’ll match it!

This is a pretty good deal if you’re planning to stay with one of the AAdvantage hotel partners such as Comfort Inn, Clarion, La Quinta, or others that offer only 250 AA Miles per stay.

Go here for more information.