I made it home late tonight, but in my mailbox was the thing that all those that fly wait for, my elite credentials for 2012. I’m a 1 million miler AAdvantage Gold elite, and while I think the value of elite status at the lower tier is declining overall, I can’t deny that I still appreciate my Gold status with American. Early boarding, First Class check in (or Business Class when there are separate biz and FC counters) waived baggage fees, and an not so unrespectable upgrade rate either, all things considered. Nothing like waiting until the last minute, but hey…my elite card for 2012 got here in time.

You might remember my blogging about my own experiences with US Trial Preferred membership as well as those of my good friend from North Carolina. I get lots of questions about the program, and the number one question I receive is “If I buy Silver, but fly enough to earn Gold or Platinum, will they give me that status?” There’s plenty of evidence on the message boards that the answer to that question is yes. Now I have some real evidence as my friend wrote me this morning just to say “Gold Preferred.” He hit the qualifying miles late last week, and his new status posted overnight.

I believe this isn’t just a fluke, but is the way they want the program to work. It can make sense to buy the Trial Gold program if you have a lot of international travel coming up just for the Star Gold status alone. But if you are looking at just domestic flights, and know you’ll fly enough to hit the higher status levels, suck it up as a Silver for a bit and earn your advanced status by flying (and save a couple hundred bucks too). Hey, maybe it will make you appreciate that higher status just a little more.

It was with great disappointment that I read the following email from AwardWallet:

“We regret to inform you that we will be discontinuing support for the AwardWallet browser extension on February 25, 2012. This means that you will no longer be able to track your American Airlines related information (balance, status, etc.) on AwardWallet.com.

 We have been forced to take this action by American Airlines’ stance toward AwardWallet. We created the browser extension in order to address American Airlines’ concern that AwardWallet was collecting customers’ mileage data. We believe the extension addressed this concern because it simply collected your mileage data and stored it locally on your computer. American Airlines, however, objects to the extension. It’s position appears to be that AwardWallet is prohibited from providing any software tool that facilitates the ability to track the customer’s American Airlines’ mileage information. We think this is unfortunate….. ”

As I’m sure you’ve gathered from reading the blog, I am a fan of American Airlines in general, and the AAdvantage program in particular. This is a disappointing development in a saga that I’m not sure any of us truly understand. I LOVE AwardWallet, and I will continue to use it, with or without AAdvantage. That said, it is truly mesmerizing to me that the oldest frequent flier program in the business can’t find a way to work with what is arguably the most popular program to manage mileage accounts out there. Seriously AA, can’t we all just get along? AwardWallet and the handful of others similar to it are the way the world is headed. Don’t get left behind.

Reader S writes:

Hey MJ, I’ve been following your blog for a few years and want to thank you for the content and I wanted to ask you, the Cruise Expert, a question as I’ve only taken one cruise before in my life.

I’m in the process of making travel arrangements for my in-laws (yes, I deserve an award to fly to Sicily for a vacation and subsequent cruise on the Royal Caribbean Navigator of the Seas around the eastern Mediterranean.  Anyway, my question is about booking cruises, specifically Royal Caribbean cruises, and what site/method you normally choose in order to find the best price. Do you have any suggestions? Thanks! 

MJ Responds:

Hello. Thanks for reading, and your email. There is no best way to book a cruise. In the past, I’ve booked cruises on my own direct with the cruise line. However, since about 2008, I’ve been working with a local travel agent I like. I don’t necessarily need an agent to help me book a cruise…especially a basic Bahamas or Caribbean run, but I like working with our agent, so we use her exclusively. Not to mention, it helps them begin to know your likes and dislikes. We took a big trip to Europe in 2010 which included an 11-night cruise of the Med. Our travel agent arranged a private tour of the ancient city of Ephesus for us and our friends, a total of 6 people. We had our own guide and our own transportation.

I have not personally utilized any of the online travel agencies for cruises, but I understand cruise411.com and crucon.com have been useful to many people. With most of the big lines, the price is the same whether booking with an agent or directly with the cruise line. What you may sometimes find is an agent (either online or traditional) that might offer a booking incentive for using them that effectively lowers the cost of the cruise, but you’ll have to hunt for them. Basically, there is no right or wrong way to do it. Just go with what you are most comfortable with. Feel free to email anytime with questions.

If you haven’t taken Darren’s advice recently posted on his Frequently Flying blog, it’s time to do so. If you have a United or Continental booking for travel after March 1, I recommend printing your receipt and itinerary now. I know United says the conversion is coming around March 3rd, but better safe than sorry. I have a United.com booked award flight on United and a Continental.com booked award on Lufthansa for flights in October and November. I have printed my receipts and itineraries and have also made a note of my Lufthansa confirmation codes. I’m probably being anal, but I’d be less than honest if I said I wasn’t just a tiny bit concerned that my award space is going to get messed up in the conversion. Get to printing!

Already blogged about by MommyPoints, but I wanted to talk about it anyway! Registration for this year’s Frequent Traveler University in the New York area is now open for April 27-29. The event will be held at the Sheraton Meadowlands not far from Newark Airport (EWR). I’m looking forward to attending and learning a lot from super-bloggers Gary Leff, The Points Guy, and others. Hope to see you there! Here’s a summary of the event based on what I’ve read:

• Friday night – A complimentary cocktail party sponsored by Milepoint.com. (Yes, I’ll be there! )

• Saturday –  Learn from the best in the business, including Randy Petersen and blogger Gary Leff as well as The Points Guy, Brian Kelly.

• On Sunday, interact with the largest frequent flyer and hotel programs in the world, including Mileage Plus, AAdvantage, SPG and Hyatt Gold Passport. (Really looking forward to this!)

• The introduction of the best credit card learning program “Credit Card Lions Den.”  The credit card programs will present their most popular cards in front of everyone, then watch the worlds biggest experts on travel credit cards bloggers critique the credit cards and make the right recommendation for you! On the panel you will find Brian Kelly (The Points Guy) Gary Leff (View From the Wing) and Randy Petersen. (Awesome!!!!)

I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to attend! Last year’s FT University was awesome, and I’ve been looking forward to another. You can keep up with the latest in this Milepoint thread which contains a link to the registration page as well as hotel booking information. Looking forward to seeing you there!

Yesterday’s post on my positive experiences with US Airways really generated a lot of interest. Every word I said is what I feel, and it’s obvious that the topic has some traction with a lot of people based on my analytics data. That said, there are a few things that I would change about US if I could. Given the amount of readership my blurb about US Airways got, I thought that a little constructive criticism and ideas for improvement of the US Airways product might be fun to talk about. I’m going to keep it simple and speak to the 3 things I wish US Airways would change that I think would make for a better airline product.

Item # 1: One-way awards from Dividend Miles

I am unapologetically in love (ok, that’s a bit much, but you get the drift) with one-way awards. For me, the flexibility offered by one-ways is just too much to pass up. You’ve already seen me blog about a good example. The possibility of flying into one city and out of another using my award miles is worth a lot. Yes, I realize American took away stopovers when they rolled out one-way AAdvantage awards, and yes, I think its lame…. but it’s a price that I am willing to pay. I really wish US Airways would implement one-way awards.

Item # 2: Inflight Wi-Fi

Reading the paper, I am led to think that I must be the only person in the world who routinely uses inflight wi-fi. Talking to people I know that fly, I can’t help but conclude that I’m not an outlier. I really wish US Airways would offer inflight wi-fi on aircraft other than the A321s. Inflight power would be nice, even if only offered in premium cabins, but wi-fi, I would really appreciate.

Item # 3: Take slightly better care of some aircraft interiors

My flights aboard US Airways have been pleasant, and on time. The crews have been good, and the people on the ground have been nice too. Heck, I don’t even mind the plastic cups in First Class on short flights. The planes have been mostly clean too. So what do I mean by take better care of the interiors? Take a flight in First Class on a US aircraft that’s a little older than 2 or 3 years, especially some of the old US east Airbii products with old style seats. It’s not all that unusual to see chunks of plastic missing in certain spots. The seats aren’t necessarily uncomfortable, but sometimes the pitch is tight. The recently delivered A321 First Class seats are a model for what the rest of the fleet should look like…. ALL THE TIME.

So, those are my three. What improvements would you like to see from US Airways and Dividend Miles?

This card will be going away very soon. This might be a great opportunity to pad your soon to be combined MileagePlus/OnePass balance. Don’t miss out. You can apply for the card here (Note – Link removed by MJ). I did several months ago, and it’s a good part of the reason Mrs MJ on Travel and I are flying to Rome in First Class this fall. (Disclosure: I will receive a commission if you apply for and are approved through the link provided. Not necessary that you apply here, especially if you have a better bonus offer, but always appreciated.)

Be warned, you apparently can’t take a bonus from both the Continental card and the United card. The United card currently has a better bonus and will likely be better for you. This is very much a YMMV situation, and in fact, I have removed the links to the application page, and as best I can tell, no one applied for the card from here. Many people are eligible for a 60,000 mile MileagePlus Explorer card. You can check for eligibility by logging into your MileagePlus account.

I’ve had an odd little relationship with US Airways for a long time. I never quite forgave the airline then called US Air for buying the best airline ever, Piedmont. That would be the Piedmont Airlines, not that Piedmont Airlines, the DHC-8 operator. That said, the truth is that US Airways Dividend Miles is the mileage program which I have been a member of the longest with my date of joining going all the way back to the Piedmont Frequent Flyer Bonus Program in 1987. Yes, I was 17. Being from North Carolina, US Airways was quite easy for me to fly, and I have. Back in 2005 and 2006, I even rose to Chairman’s Preferred status, their top tier.

Somewhere right around that time, the airline’s operational situation took a turn for the worse. Couple that with all the drama from integrating US Airways and America West, the benefit reductions in Dividend Miles and just a general malaise that seemed to surrond the airline, I made it a point to never fly them unless absolutely necessary. In fact, I didn’t fly them for several years, and when I did, I credited the flights to my United Mileage Plus account.

Moving into the District of Columbia in late 2007, Reagan National Airport (DCA) really became an airport of choice, and Dulles became less convenient. As time has gone by, US Airways has seemed to make improvements in reliability, and their burgeoning flight schedule at DCA combined with the aforementioned improvements in reliability have made US Airways more attractive to me. Coinciding with last year’s Dividend Miles Grand Slam promotion, I signed up for their Trial Preferred program. This gave me a minimal level of elite status with which I could try to ease the transition back to US and Dividend Miles.

I took several flights, and a funny thing happened….I liked them. All of my flights last year were on time, the employees were polite if not gregarious, and the inflight experiences and comfort level were good to great, especially on their newer A321 aircraft. I had access to US Airways Clubs through my American Express Platinum Card, complete with its $200 dollar airline fee credit to cover things like inflight meals when flying coach. In short, my flights were quite comfortable, and my upgrade clearance rate has been better than 60 percent, not bad for a lowly Silver Preferred.

US Airways and Dividend Miles will be my Star Alliance airline and mileage program of choice in 2012. I can’t believe I just said that!

Disclaimer: If you apply for and receive the Amex Platinum Card through the link provided above, I will receive a commission.

Well, I received the email this past week that I knew was coming. What was that, you ask? It was the email from Starwood letting me know that I did not have enough stays or nights last year to retain my SPG Platinum status. My 18 or so months of Platinum status were great, and I’m going to miss being Platinum for sure. I’ve had some great suite upgrades, and other special treatment throughout my time as Platinum. I mean, who wouldn’t love a room like this?

Then you can read about my favorite sweet suite upgrade ever here.

After treatment like that, how could one let something like a demotion to SPG Gold happen? Well, I’m just not traveling as much this year, and it wasn’t worth it to me to do a few targeted “matress runs” to make sure I maintained the status. Believe me, I thought about it, but in the end I decided to just reflect upon my time as Platinum fondly, enjoy my upcoming year as a Gold (who will now get free internet…awesome!), and share the story about how valuable I think Starwood Preferred Guest continues to be even at a lower elite status level. SPG Platinum, I’ll miss you, but I know SPG will still be kind to me.

Leverage your stays at Starwood hotels by applying for the Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express. If you apply for and receive a card from Amex through this link, I will receive a commission.

Yes, you heard it straight from me. The self described frequent floater, avid cruiser, cruise junkie, cruise advocate, and promoter of the cruising lifestyle will admit that things don’t always go well. No, I’m not talking about the obvious….that being the tragic Costa Concordia accident. I’m talking about something a little more mundane. Ships, much like airplanes are extremely complicated mechanical contraptions that sometimes fail. Case in point, Royal Caribbean’s Enchantment of the Seas, scheduled to sail from Baltimore this past Saturday, February 18. You can read this thread on Cruise Critic (the Milepoint/Flyertalk of cruising) if you’re really interested in the details, but the short story is that Enchantment had a mechanical issue that impacted her propulsion system.

Even after reading the thread, I’m still not clear if it was an engine issue, a propeller issue, or something in between, but what I do know is that the ship could not sail as scheduled and actually spent the first night of her cruise tied up at the pier in Baltimore. In fact, Enchantment did not sail until the next day and I even caught a glimpse of her sailing down the Chesapeake Bay as my flight on Sunday descended towards Baltimore around 1pm. From what I can tell, the onboard services were not impacted by this issue so there was plenty of booze and dinner was still served on Saturday night as if nothing was wrong, it just happened while sitting in port. When the ship finally did set sail, it did so at reduced speed and some of the ports of call were deleted from the planned itinerary.

After an initial offer of onboard spending money to help make up for the problem, it is my understanding that Royal Caribbean will be refunding the price of the cruise for all passengers. I should be so lucky as to have been on this cruise!!! That’s easy for me to say as an experienced cruiser, but I’m certainly sympathetic to those on board who may be first timers, and really have no idea that sometimes things can go wrong with ships as they can with airplanes. Frankly, I think this offer is more than fair, but I have to wonder if the compensation offered for those impacted by this would have been as generous prior to the Costa Concordia accident. In any event, I think Royal Caribbean deserves a shout out for handling things they way they did. I wonder if there are some passengers onboard Enchantment right now who are feeling less charitable than me?