Since I just need 2 segments to remain Gold with Delta I figure I’m dumb to not do a segment run. I know that Delta will often bump up people who are close miles-wise, but I don’t think that’s the same for segments so I’m not taking any chances.

I’ve also fulfilled all my familial obligations for Christmas so I figure what better day than a day when most other people don’t want to fly.  I’m sure I could have found a cheaper flight, but since I know BWI is typically very cheap from CLT and it was pricing out cheaper than some other destinations I was trying I managed to get a r/t to BWI for $265.  I’ll get 4 segments out of it so I’m good to go.

I still need over 8,000 miles with Star Alliance to stay at my current tier of Premier Executive which is becoming Gold whatever on the new United but I just can’t justify spending much more money on mileage runs with a looming home purchase.  Maybe if I can find  a 9,000 mile run for less than $300, but I doubt it so I’ll just acquiesce to dropping a tier.

Since 2007 I’ve been able to maintain Premier Executive on United and Gold Medallion on Delta, but this year I had initially avoided any west coast clients and opted for more local clients.  I also had a few clients with odd restrictions leading me to drive hours and fly Southwest instead of my usual carriers.

Ultimately I find myself with 9 segments (or 17,000 miles) remaining to requalify for Gold on Delta with 3 pending being credited and 4 upcoming next week leaving just 2 total…definitely something I can swing out of pocket.  Since I’m so far off mileage-wise that is why I chose the extra 2 months for the Sky Club.

United, on the other hand, has me needing 12,354 EQM or 18.5 EQS.  I’m picking up 4 EQS/4,000EQM this week, but that leaves me with 8,000+ EQM.

Since I currently have a contract pending on a house with several months before the short-sale will close I can’t pick up any credit cards for the EQM bonus, plus I just got the JP Morgan card from Chase so I need to wait a bit before applying with them again anyway, but my lender told me they don’t want me to open any new lines before closing so I will hang tight until that’s all settled.

I guess I need to play around with a few routings.  I did a 7,000 mile run last year so 8,000 isn’t too bad, but I just have to decide what matters more: money for unexpected purchases with this house or maintaining 1P.  I’m leaning towards 1P, but if I can get 8,000 EQM under $300 I won’t object!

I did manage to maintain my Hilton Diamond status and Marriott Silver status so hotels are fine, but qualifying by miles instead of segments is much easier so I’m suffering this year.

So, Saturday was supposed to be the beginning of my long awaited vacation.  I used my United miles to book a Business class star alliance award ticket CLT-EWR-FRA-PRG.

CLT-EWR was US Airways and everything else was Lufthansa.

CLT-EWR was delayed 1.5 hours due to mechanical issues meaning I would miss my EWR-FRA flight.  I called US Airways and they said my ticket was under airport control.  I deplaned and went to the gate and they brushed me off to special services.  The special services guy screwed up my ticket in such a way that after 3 calls to United, 2 calls to US Airways, talking to a supervisor at Lufthansa and a US lounge agent no one could figure out how to get my business class ticket back into business.  The United phone agents were all excellent.  The US phone agent quickly brushed me off saying economy is all I deserve.  The US lounge agent was excellent, but at that point I really just wanted to get to Europe so I kept the Lufthansa CLT-MUC-PRG flights in economy.

US Airways claimed that when they push a ticket to another carrier for mechanical reasons they can only send it as economy.

The economy seats on Lufthansa are not comfortable for international travel, but at least they do have seat back entertainment systems.

Now I’ve lost a day of vacation and no one can prove that my return wasn’t messed up as well. US and Lufthansa list it as economy as well, while United says they still control that ticket and it is indeed still business…

Needless to say I will be requesting miles back.

During my hiatus from blogging a couple weeks ago United introduced the ability to book Lufthansa reward tickets online.  Before that I wanted to go to Prague, but I was spending too much time messing around on ANA’s website.  I would find some flights, but then you have to deal with making sure United’s agents can see the same routings.  Sure, ANA had cleaner itineraries (I can technically go US CLT-FRA or LH CLT-MUC and then LH to PRG) while United’s itineraries were all 3 legs each way, but I was able to book in Business (first for domestics) for the whole itinerary for 105,000 miles.  I was also able to get the dates I wanted on the first try!  That is impossible with Delta miles which is why I value United miles much more.

Transparency and no phone booking fee prevailed today. If anyone would like to join me in Prague check out the Prague DO thread on Flyertalk.  I’ll be there now!

I was booking flights to PDX in F using my United Mileage Plus miles.  I switched over to Star Alliance awards since United wasn’t showing availability at the saver level.  I was looking over the flights and made sure to choose flights that were booking in F, but 1 of the legs (PDX-ORD) of course was booking in economy, but that itinerary was ultimately the best.

…after I finished booking the tickets it asks if I wanted to pay $600 to move to F on that 1 leg.  I couldn’t tell if that would be $600 for both tickets, or for each.  Still on principle I couldn’t do that.

To all you experts out there, if XF becomes available on that leg can I call and move up, or am we relegated to my exit row?

Here’s a link to the segment.

It pretty much states that airlines are bidding maintenance to the lowest bidder and that company may employ people who have no clue what they are doing, how to read English, and have no background check.  Apparently all airplane parts are supposed to be traceable but at least one company installs parts without the proper paperwork and tracking numbers.

The airlines say that they are in the business of flying passengers, not maintaining aircraft.  To them it makes more sense to outsource and that may be true in many instances.  Someone who knows how to maintain a Boeing 757 I’m assuming could maintain the plane regardless of the operating carrier.  The problem is when the company solely looks at the bottom line.  That is an issue in any industry, it’s not unique to airlines.  I’m surprised airlines would put their name on something that could be unsafe.  The whole point of outsourcing should be competition. If an airline has doubts about the quality of the company they are using, they should find another company.  It doesn’t appear that there is any shortage of vendors.

I tend to prefer free market solutions and I think outsourced maintenance can be the same, if not better than in-house maintenance.  The key is keeping up with the vendors and changing if needed.  I’m sure many of the options cost less than in-house operations so it’s not likely that they would pay more with anyone except the lowest bidder.

If you claim to be in the business of transporting passengers, it is in your best interest to make sure they get to point B.  Shoddy maintenance can cost more in the long run.

According to threads on Flyertalk next year the United Red Carpet Clubs and Continental President Clubs will rebrand as United Clubs.

I don’t know why President couldn’t stay in the name, but since the brand colors are blue and gold and CO has blue carpets for elites it doesn’t make much sense to keep the name Red Carpet Club.

At least Delta spiced it up with the word Sky.

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

Available on qualifying flights. Mobile check-in is currently available for any United- or United Express-operated flight within the U.S., Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands. Mobile boarding documents are currently available for customers on flights departing select airports on United-and United Express-operated itineraries within the United States, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Visit united.com/mobileservices for more information.

1. Offer valid for members using mobile check-in and flying between November 9, 2010 and December 31, 2010.
2. Offer may be earned a maximum of one time per member.
3. Registration is required at www.united.com/offer/mpda30.

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…

Rhapsody in Blue has been added to the video.

http://www.youtube.com/user/ContinentalAirlines#p/u/0/jdI7kA2YqTw

It starts with an intro from Jeff Smisek and shows a plane with the new livery.  After that it switches gears to Continental.  It doesn’t try to go for attractiveness like many other official or unofficial safety videos, it is still a professional and to-the-point video.  Sorry to let down anyone hoping for a United-lina to offer them the same viewing pleasure as Deltalina.