Last week Delta was having equipment problems and had to swap out planes which delayed my flight and caused me to miss my connection.  Weather caused all other viable flights to my destination to fill up meaning I had to wait a day or fly into another airport.  I managed to rattle off close airports (it took a few) and eventually found a seat to get me where I needed to go.  I figured I would just take a cab the remainder of the way, but this airport had no cabs waiting and the shuttle service was not answering their phone.  I managed to snag the last rental car available.  Apparently someone named Michael Jackson hadn’t shown up for his car so I got it.

Now since the reason why I missed my flight was an aircraft swap it was considered within Delta’s control.  I faxed supporting documentation to Delta and I will be reimbursed for the rental car fee.  If you have a weather delay usually the case is different since no one can control the weather.

The other tip in this is to always know if there are other viable options.  I got rebooked in the Sky Club, but even the agents there may not have perfect US geography.  I was able to state 3 different airports within 90 miles of my destination and thanks to that the agent was able to find me a flight.

If you need assistance from Delta but don’t want to tweet them and are already on an indefinite hold consider their new page on facebook.

http://on.fb.me/fqVe4e

Big news! Today we’re proud to announce the launch of Delta Assist in Facebook. We love your feedback and wanted to provide you, our community, with a safe and confidential way to get Delta support and share your feedback. You can access Delta Assist in Facebook via our new, dedicated Delta Assist tab. We look forward to hearing from you!

I haven’t had the opportunity to explore this as much as I would like since I’m out of cell data coverage and the Wifi at this hotel is horrible.

Some features: You enter your sky miles number and it accesses your itineraries.
It displays sky miles number, status, and mile balance.
It searches for flight schedules and flight status.  Flight status includes flight amenities for first and coach.

The most interesting feature is the parking locator.  It allows you to take a picture of your parking spot and set a GPS marker to assist in finding your car.  You can even e-mail it to yourself with email accounts you’ve added.  I’m sure there are most likely stand-alone apps that do the same thing, but I thought it was a good bonus feature for a flight app.

This adds Delta to the ranks of Southwest, Continental, and American Airlines that already have android apps.  Now it’s time for US Airways.

Go search the market for Delta and you should see the official Delta app.  I’m one of the first 50 to download it apparently.

Full report tomorrow.

For many out there you may only visit a Sky Club 5 times a year so this isn’t a bad deal…especially if you don’t get a discount through status for an annual membership.

Shop this holiday offer and enjoy all the perks of Delta Sky Club™ for less. For the next few weeks, until December 31, 2010, you can purchase five One-Day passes for $99.00. That’s a 60% savings of over $150.00.

Good for one year, these passes make excellent holiday gifts for family, friends and co-workers—even yourself. It’s a great way to enjoy everything our 50 global lounges have to offer, including exceptional amenities in stylish, comfortable surroundings:

* Fully-stocked bars with complimentary beer, wine and cocktails on the house
* A variety of tasty snacks, served all day
* Free Wi-Fi so you can holiday shop, surf, check email or watch a movie
* Personalized flight assistance for all your needs
* Private restrooms (and showers in some locations)
* Wireless printers, fax machines and other productivity tools
* Current newspapers and magazines

This is one gift everyone will love (even if you get it last minute). To purchase, visit any Delta Sky Club location by December 31, 2010, and mention this offer.

I know I’m a little late for cyber monday, but before you shop online this holiday season make sure you check your frequent flyer program for their shopping web portal to earn extra miles.  These are also good for programs where you just need some activity to retain your points.  Not every store is in every portal so you might want to check all your programs before just going directly to the site.

Airlines

Alaskan: Mileage Plan Shopping (http://mileageplanshopping.com)
jetBlue: Shop True (https://trueblue.jetblue.com/group/trueblue/shoptrue)
Continental: Shop OnePass (http://www.continental.com/CMS/en-US/marketing/custcomm/promotions/Pages/onlineretailpartners.aspx)
Delta: SkyMiles Shopping (http://www.skymilesshopping.com)
Frontier: EarlyReturns Mall (http://www.skymall.com/frontiermall/)
Airtran: a+ Rewards Mall (http://www.airtran.com/mall)
Spirit: Free Spirit Mall (http://mall.spiritair.com/)
United: Mileage Plus Shopping (http://www.mileageplusshopping.com)
US: Dividend Miles Shopping Mall (http://www.skymall.com/usairwaysmilesmall/homepage.htm)
Virgin America: The Red Store (http://www.the-red-store.com/)

Hotels:

Hilton:(http://www.hiltonhhonorsearningsmall.com)
Marriott:(https://mrewards.shopmyway.com/?src=MRMALL)
Priority Club:(https://pcrshopping.dbgloyalty.com/)
Hyatt:apparently isn’t one.  Please correct in comments if there is
Best Western:(https://goldcrownclub.bestwestern.com/offers/retailpartners.asp)
Starwood:Couldn’t find a starwood either

Cash:

Also, since cash is king consider a cash rebate site such as Mr. Rebates or Fat Wallet

Contribute to great Atlanta-based organizations and earn up to 15,000 MQMs.

‘Tis the season of giving, so we want to reward your generosity.

Donate at least $250 between December 1 and December 15, 2010, to one or more of the following organizations — AID Atlanta, the Grady Health Foundation or the Washington, DC Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project — and you’ll receive Medallion® Qualification Miles (MQMs) in your 2010 balance that will apply toward your 2011 Medallion status. Contribute to each charity and earn:
2,500 MQMs for a donation between $250 and $499
-or-
5,000 MQMs for a donation of $500 or more
Better yet, earn up to 15,000 MQMs if you donate $500 or more to each of the three charities.

Your contribution will support one of these great organizations:
AID Atlanta aims to reduce new HIV infections and improve the quality of life of its members and the Atlanta community by breaking barriers and building community ….https://www.aidatlanta.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=522
Grady Health Foundation supports Grady Memorial Hospital and is dedicated to improving the quality of healthcare services for metro Atlanta’s indigent, uninsured and critical care patients…..https://give.gradyhealthfoundation.o…e.aspx?pid=272
Washington, DC Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project will honor this Atlantan’s contributions to world peace through non-violent social change…..https://secure.mlkmemorial.org/site/…MK0PwE6LHLZPME
No enrollment is required, but be sure to enter your SkyMiles number when you submit your donation via the charity’s website.

I just barely requalified for Gold, but I think I might still take full advantage of this to get a good start on next year with roll over

HT: Tomphot on Flyertalk

Last year they “sponsored” free wifi in many airports across the US (I put sponsored in quotes since many of those airports already provided free wifi so to me it was no different).

This year they are sponsoring it on the plane which always requires a fee or a pass.

More Info

Hat tip to Lucky

As we are entering the last 2 months of the year it is crunch time for status.  I have Premier Executive in the bag for United and need 20,000 more miles to 1K.  I am 4,000 miles short of requalifying for Gold on Delta.  This means it’s time for a mileage run since most of my travel for the year is over.

Now to figure out where to go…

I fly Delta a lot and take advantage of their promos, but redeeming sky miles for airfare requires a PhD in patience and determination.  The last time  I used Sky Miles it was to get 2 tickets from ATL-DUB in coach for 90,000/ticket.  Since I really only take 1 international vacation per year and I travel enough for work to get oodles of miles on various carriers I decided to see what the SkyMiles Marketplace had.

from Amazon.com

DH wants a mac mini to replace his computer that was stolen in the breakin, but the only program I’m in that allows those for points is Citi’s Thank You Points.  I don’t keep too many TYPs on hand so I didn’t have the 115,000 it requires nor does TYP allow redemption for Amazon gift cards anymore (SPG is the only program I have seen that still has them).  Since we are changing from satellite back to cable we can finally easily use more than 1 TV so that is what I looked for.  Delta had many HDTVs in their marketplace.  I decided to pretty much deplete my balance and get the biggest TV I could afford.  Why?  Well because sometimes you just have more points than money.  Skymiles have little value to me compared to United miles so I will not use United miles to buy an iMac.  Using Skymiles to purchase a TV is fine with me.

I used ~236,000 miles for a TV that retails for $1000.  This isn’t really a great redemption, but when my choices are to sit on my pile of sky miles and grow it 250,000 per year or actually get something I chose actually get something.

My point is that it isn’t about always getting the most CPM, but about using miles for something that is worthwhile for *YOU*.