While I’m away on vacation, I’m reposting some of your favorite content based on visits to the blog.  Today, I offer my best advice to travelers…..  don’t yell.

This may be a lengthy post. Let me begin by apologizing in advance if I sound lecturous, or as if I don’t understand the frustration of modern air travel. Trust me, I get it. Remember, I don’t work for an airline anymore!

But I have to ask you again. Did you really have to yell? I’m talking about a disturbing trend I’ve witnessed at the airport. It’s the tendency of passengers (and one or two airline employees) to basically lose their natural minds in public when things don’t go their way.

Travel is no doubt frustrating when things go south. Weather, air traffic control, aircraft maintenance, etc., etc., can interfere with your life. Missing little Johnny’s birthday because the plane is late or not operating at all is simply not a good scene. But these things do happen, always have, and always will. All too often of late, the result of the receipt of bad news is a expletive laced verbal tirade directed at the nearest airline employee about how much they suck, their employer sucks and how the traveler will have the employee’s job, etc.

Now…stop and imagine with me for a second. You are driving down the road, your car stalls, and you are parked beside the road with your dead car. Roadside assistance shows up equipped with the tools need to get you moving down the road again. Do you yell at roadside assistance? I don’t think so! Then why do so many travelers yell at the one airline employee who has the tools they need to get them moving down the “skyways” again?

Stop the yelling! When things go wrong, the one person you want to be nice to is the agent who holds the keys to the kingdom of getting you rebooked on another flight. Keep that in mind, have a backup plan to suggest to the agent if you can, and most of all…be nice. Trust me, speaking from some experience on the subject, two things your average frontline airline employee dreads the most are a delayed flight or a cancelled flight.

Believe me, I know there are some really bad apples out their in the barrel of airline employees. And I know that they can sometimes take a normally meek traveler to the madman zone just by opening their mouth. But they are fortunately the exception, and not the rule. If you happen to run into one of those bad apples, do yourselves and the folks who travel after you (and probably this person’s fellow employees) a favor and let the airline know. While one complaint won’t generate any real action, a chain of complaints that demonstrates a real trend in bad customer service will certainly get the attention of airline managers.

I know it’s hard to do, but keep your cool out there. Getting mad won’t get you home any quicker. So, I’ll ask you again…. did you really have to yell?

I’m enjoying a wonderful European vacation this week, including a cruise aboard Celebrity Equinox.  While I’m away, I’m reposting some of your favorite content based on visits to the blog.  Today, I remind readers why airline mileage cards can be worth carrying.

This article, on Smartmoney.com, entitled “Why Airline Cards Aren’t Worth It” prompts a few words from me on the topic.  Many readers already know that I use a handful of rewards credit cards to top off my mileage and hotel accounts from time to time, and recommend others do the same on one condition…..that they pay their bills in full and on time every month without exception.  Refresh your memory on my thoughts by reading my April 2009 post on the topic.

The article focuses on airline cards, and cites annual fees and difficulty in redeeming miles among several reasons not to bother with these types of credit cards.  Granted, these cards typically carry an annual fee, but that is a small price to pay for sometimes sizable signup bonuses.  And many, waive the annual fee during the first year.  For example, the Citibank Platinum Select AAdvantage World MasterCard offers 25,000 miles if you spend $750 dollars within 4 months of acquiring the card.  There’s no annual fee during the first year, and an $85 dollar per year fee thereafter.    Not a bad deal if you’re going to spend that $750 dollars anyway.  While I don’t necessarily condone “flipping” these cards, a number of people have done it, with no damage to their credit standing.  Flipping is the practice of opening an account just to get the miles, then canceling the account at some point in the future before applying for the same kind of account again and getting another set of bonus miles.  If you want more information on the topic, pay a visit to flyertalk.com and search for information.

Maybe I’m the luckiest guy on the planet, but I have never had a big problem redeeming miles.  I use them for upgrades on paid domestic flights and have “purchased” a few premium class tickets domestically with miles.  I will soon embark on my first quest for premium class international travel.  That’s not to say that I’ve never had to be flexible with my dates and times, but to make a blanket statement like you must almost always book 330 days out to have a prayer of snagging a seat as this article implies is simply not 100 percent accurate.

That said, I’ve found some programs to have better availability than others.  Sometimes much better.  And that’s why I continue to stick with American Airlines and the AAdvantage program.  I’ve found AAdvantage to offer the best availablity of all the traditional mileage schemes so I continue to focus my mileage accumulation with that program.  Your experience may be different, and that’s great for you.  No matter which program you choose, don’t ignore the additional accumulation opportunities that mileage cards offer.

This week I’m enjoying a fabulous European vacation, including a cruise aboard Celebrity Equinox.  To fill in the blanks between vacation posts, I’m reposting some of the most widely read content from MJ on Travel.  Today, it’s time to take another look at the airlines’ appetite for “ancillary revenue.”

I’m rarely in unanimous agreement with Chris Elliott’s take on the airlines.  That said, I think his piece on the airlines’ hunt for ancillary revenue is close to spot on.  Except at the end where the word “re-regulation” appears, which is a bandwagon I’m never gonna board.

I don’t mind paying extra for something that truly is a value-added service.  Like Elliott, I think that many of the new buy on board food options and internet meet this threshold.  I’m also a fan of Southwest’s Early Bird Checkin product.  Heck, I don’t even mind the pillow/blanket packages, and certainly not the confirmed flight change fee American recently rolled out.

On the other hand, I know you’ve heard me preach on the sin of paying a fee for the first checked bag.  I’m sorry, but one bag is an inherent part of travel and I continue to believe that JetBlue’s policy of including one checked bag as part of the fare is the right one for not just JetBlue, but the entire airline industry.  The other airlines, except Southwest (2 bags for free), obviously do not agree with my opinion.  And don’t even get me started on charging a fee to purchase a ticket from a person, which I maintain is the silliest idea in the history of mankind.  Even worse than the first checked bag fee.

In summary, I remain unopposed to the concept of unbundling in principal as long as the service that is now being “charged for” can legitimately be considered a “plus up” to the travel experience.  Unfortunately, far too many airlines have fallen all over themselves in charging for any and everything they can think of in an attempt to return to profitability.  And for those airlines, I have a question: How’s that workin’ out for ya’?

I may be trouncing about Europe right now, but you’re still the greatest!

Right now, I’m enjoying a fabulous European vacation, including a cruise aboard Celebrity Equinox.  While I’m away, I’m reposting some of your favorite content based on the number of visits to the blog.  Today, in honor of the joy of traveling with elite status, I thought you’d enjoy reviewing ways to top off your Delta MQM balance.  This post received a ton of hits, so here ya’ go again.

As I wrote earlier, I’m going to offer some insight into the subjects that are most interesting to those who arrive at MJ on Travel through a search engine. This weekend, I’ll be writing on the three most common search terms starting with the subject of Medallion Qualification Miles (MQM’s) in Delta Air Lines SkyMiles program.

This subject has rocketed to the top of reader curiosity recently. This is more than likely a result of the rapidly approaching year end when SkyMiles members are looking to top off their accounts and ensure that they earn, maintain or achieve the next level of SkyMiles Medallion elite status. I know this is a concern of mine as I will be dropping from Silver Medallion this year, and I’m none too pleased about it. But I’m hoping for a better year next year. At least I have AAdvantage Platinum to soften the blow, but I’d rather have elite status on both of my airlines, not just one.

In any event, there are some things you can do (besides fly more) in the remaining weeks of 2008 to top off your MQM’s and fly in style next year, or get a headstart on your MQM balance for next year. If you’re really in need of some MQM’s, I recommend that you consider obtaining one of the SkyMiles credit card options from American Express that offer MQM’s as a benefit. You’ll get the biggest boost from the Delta Reserve Card from American Express. This card comes with a hefty annual fee ($450), but you’ll also get 10,000 MQM’s after your first purchase using the card. Trust me, that’s money well spent if those 10,000 MQM’s mean the difference between Medallion status or unwashed mass status. The card offers other benefits, including Crown Room Club access which can almost justify the fee.

If you can get by on fewer MQM’s, the SkyMiles Platinum Card from American Express is a good, not to mention more economical option with an annual fee of $150 dollars. With your first purchase you will receive 20,000 bonus SkyMiles, 5,000 of which are MQM’s. This is an excellent deal if your close to your next Medallion threshold. Both cards offer various mileage bonuses and benefits, the details of which you can review on the American Express website at the links provided.

There are other opportunities to pad your MQM balance from time to time. Delta is currently running a double triple MQM promotion on its northeast shuttle routes. Registration is required, and you can do so by clicking here. (Updated for the current promo running through 8/31/10.)

Delta runs similar promotions from time to time. If any readers are aware of other opportunities to increase your MQM balances aside from flying, please comment and share them with others. I hope this information is helpful in your quest for SkyMiles Medallion status.

I’m enjoying a fabulous European vacation including a cruise aboard Celebrity Equinox right now.  While I’m away I hope you’ll enjoy reading some of your favorite content based on visits to the blog.  Today, in honor of the joy of travel, I write about the benefits of having an airline lounge membership.

I’m often asked how I feel about the various airport clubs operated by the airlines. I’m a very strong believer in joining the club of the airline you fly most. Dependent upon your elite status, membership ranges from $300 to $500 dollars per year, and many airlines offer the option of using frequent flyer miles to pay for your membership.

In my experience, the club fee usually pays for itself on the one day that you find yourself delayed, canceled, re-routed and generally messed up by whatever weather and mechanical issues can be thrown at you. Rather than join the mile long queue for the harried 2 agents assigned to somehow service 250 inconvenienced customers, you are in the relatively quiet surroundings of the airline’s lounge, and likely being assisted by some of the airline’s more talented agents.

I’ll give you an example. Recently, Lady Astrojets and I were traveling to Nashville from our home airport at Reagan National (DCA) just outside Washington, DC. I had signed up to receive flight notification text messages from the airline, in this case American. I received a text message just prior to leaving the office for the airport that our flight was over 1 hour late. By the time we arrived at security, that delay had grown to 2 hours. As I had checked us both in online, and we only had carry-on luggage, we skipped the ticket counter mess, cleared security and headed straight for the Admirals Club. I inquired about the status of our flight, and the very helpful agent went to work with his computer. I then learned that our aircraft was sitting in Boston, where the ramp was closed due to thunderstorms. Rather than say too bad, our agent asked for both our boarding passes. Within 1 minute, we were both rebooked to a non delayed flight on another airline. The agent asked us to have a seat in the lounge, he’d be right back. While we were enjoying a glass of wine in the lounge, the agent reappeared with our new boarding passes on the other airline. You better believe I wrote American to share this good story!

Do you think I would’ve gotten that kind of service at the ticket counter? No way! They don’t have the time since they have to deal with the 249 other customers! The $300 dollar annual fee works out to $25 per month. Worth every penny if you fly once per month or more if you ask me!

So…I wholeheartedly recommend that you join the lounge of the airline you fly most. And back that up with a membership in Priority Pass. Priority Pass offers memberships as low as approximately $100 dollars per year with a $24 27 dollar per visit fee. That’s an excellent deal when you’re in an airport that doesn’t have a lounge that you belong to. They offer unlimited visit packages for a higher annual fee as well. An airline lounge membership is one investment in yourself that I think you won’t regret.

I’m enjoying a fabulous European vacation including a cruise aboard Celebrity Equinox right now.  While I’m away I hope you’ll enjoy reading some of your favorite content based on visits to the blog.  Today, in honor of the joy of travel, I write about the benefits of the American Express Platinum Card, and why I truly don’t leave home without it.

In my third installment on the most popular search terms that bring readers to this blog, I’d like to discuss the American Express Platinum Card. Particularly, I’d like to write about why this card can still be a good deal for the frequent traveler, even though American Express recently dropped the domestic 2 for 1 companion travel benefit.

First things first, the Amex Platinum Card is going to cost you $450 dollars per year. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s talk about why this card is worth the money. For me, the number one benefit of this card is airline lounge access on the day of travel. This benefit offers the cardholder and up to two guests access to the lounges of American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines when you present your Platinum card, a government issued I.D. and a boarding pass for travel on the airline’s lounge you are trying to enter. In other words, if you want to enter an American Admirals Club, you need an American Airlines boarding pass for travel that day. If you’ve read the blog before, you know that I highly recommend that frequent travelers join the lounge program of the airline they fly most. For me, that’s American and Delta. If I were to join the lounge of both airlines, I would be out over $700 dollars in annual fees. With the Amex Platinum card, I have access to both lounges for the price of the card’s annual fee. That’s a good deal for me.

Another benefit of the card is the Fine Hotels and Resorts (FHR) program. FHR offers exclusive benefits including room upgrades, free breakfasts, and individual amenities that are unique to each hotel. To receive FHR benefits, you must book your hotel through Platinum Travel Service (PTS), a full-service travel agency available to Amex Platinum cardholders. I have used this benefit a few times with decent results. PTS can provide the full range of services you would expect from a travel agent, however I admittedly use my own local agent when I am booking a trip that I feel requires the use of agent services. Therefore, I cannot comment on the usefulness of PTS as your regular travel agent.

While Amex has discontinued the domestic 2 for 1 travel program, the international program remains in place. When booking a qualifying first or business class ticket, you are eligible for a complimentary ticket in the same class of service for a companion. There are no limits on the number of times you can utilize this benefit as there were in the now discontinued domestic 2 for 1 program. Other benefits I’ve found useful are elite level privileges in several car rental company programs including Hertz and Avis. Additionally, Amex Platinum cardholders are eligible for Gold membership in the Starwood Preferred Guest program.

There are a number of other benefits, including those that are fairly standard across most American Express Cards. I’ve only scratched the surface with this post. You can review full details about the Platinum Card by clicking here.

I have had nothing but overwhelmingly positive experiences with American Express dating back to my very first card in 1989 while in college. However, I have to write briefly about some of the news items surrounding American Express. There have been widespread reports of American Express reducing the charging ability of customers that appear to be “good customers” based upon charging habits or charging items in areas that American Express has modeled to be higher risk. Just this week, a thread appeared on FlyerTalk indicating that American Express was imposing spending limits on many cardholders with “no pre-set limit” cards like the Platinum Card. I can’t comment beyond what I’ve written as I have not experienced any of these problems, and have my fingers crossed that I won’t. For what it’s worth, I am blessed with employment that is about as stable as one can find in this country and an above average income. Furthermore, I rarely carry balances on my other credit cards, and have a history of on-time payments with a credit score close to 800. That said, it appears from some of the press reports and internet postings that cardholders with similar circumstances have had their charging ability curtailed. You’ll have to do your own research and formulate your own opinions. I’ve found a terrific source of information on the subject of credit at creditmattersblog.com. Check it out. In the meantime, keep reading. I hope this information is helpful.

I’m vacationing at Disney this week, and following that with a short Royal Caribbean cruise to the Bahamas with 24 of my closest friends to celebrate my 40th birthday.  I’m blogging this week, but filling in the spaces left by my vacation with some of my most visited content.  I hope you’ll enjoy this Best of MJ on Travel post about airline clubs and why they can be worth the investment.

I’m often asked how I feel about the various airport clubs operated by the airlines. I’m a very strong believer in joining the club of the airline you fly most. Dependent upon your elite status, membership ranges from $300 to $500 dollars per year, and many airlines offer the option of using frequent flyer miles to pay for your membership.

In my experience, the club fee usually pays for itself on the one day that you find yourself delayed, cancelled, re-routed and generally messed up by whatever weather and mechanical issues can be thrown at you. Rather than join the mile long queue for the harried 2 agents assigned to somehow service 250 inconvenienced customers, you are in the relatively quiet surroundings of the airline’s lounge, and likely being assisted by some of the airline’s more talented agents.

I’ll give you an example. Recently, Lady Astrojets and I were traveling to Nashville from our home airport at Reagan National (DCA) just outside Washington, DC. I had signed up to receive flight notification text messages from the airline, in this case American. I received a text message just prior to leaving the office for the airport that our flight was over 1 hour late. By the time we arrived at security, that delay had grown to 2 hours. As I had checked us both in online, and we only had carry-on luggage, we skipped the ticket counter mess, cleared security and headed straight for the Admirals Club. I inquired about the status of our flight, and the very helpful agent went to work with his computer. I then learned that our aircraft was sitting in Boston, where the ramp was closed due to thunderstorms. Rather than say too bad, our agent asked for both our boarding passes. Within 1 minute, we were both rebooked to a non delayed flight on another airline. The agent asked us to have a seat in the lounge, he’d be right back. While we were enjoying a glass of wine in the lounge, the agent reappeared with our new boarding passes on the other airline. You better believe I wrote American to share this good story!

Do you think I would’ve gotten that kind of service at the ticket counter? No way! They don’t have the time since they have to deal with the 249 other customers! The $300 dollar annual fee works out to $25 per month. Worth every penny if you fly once per month or more if you ask me!

So…I wholeheartedly recommend that you join the lounge of the airline you fly most. And back that up with a membership in Priority Pass. Priority Pass offers memberships as low as approximately $100 dollars per year with a $24 27 dollar per visit fee. That’s an excellent deal when you’re in an airport that doesn’t have a lounge that you belong to. They offer unlimited visit packages for a higher annual fee as well. An airline lounge membership is one investment in yourself that I think you won’t regret.

I’m enjoying a Disney vacation this week followed by a short cruise with 24 of my closest friends to celebrate my 40th birthday.  I’ll try to blog a bit while I’m away, but to fill in the spaces, I hope you enjoy this Best of MJ on Travel post detailing the reasons why Royal Caribbean is my cruise line of choice.

In the second installment of posts about the top three search subjects here at MJ On Travel, I’d like to talk about the subject of cruising on Royal Caribbean. It should be no secret that I like to cruise. Since my first cruise in early 2004, Deandra and I have taken several more cruises, averaging a little over two per year. Royal Caribbean is our cruise line of choice, and in this post I’ll talk about a few reasons why.

Cruising is a fantastic value for your vacation dollar. Frankly, I think they’re an unbeatable value, and yes, I know your average all-inclusive resort covers your bar bill, unlike most cruises. One thing tilts the value meter in favor of cruising in my opinion, and that’s the fact that you are visiting several exciting new foreign locales in one trip, and only unpacking once. Try that at Sandals.

First off, I’ll admit here, that we have only cruised with Royal Caribbean and Celebrity (which is owned by Royal Caribbean). It’s not that we are afraid of new things, and truth be told, we’d love to try someone else, and will at some point. But until then, Royal Caribbean does a fantastic job of offering just enough incentive to its repeat customers to keep them (and us) coming back.

Crown & Anchor

Their past customer club, the Crown & Anchor Society offers a number of enticing benefits to encourage repeat business. You are eligible to join after completion of your first cruise, and the program work in some ways like elite qualification in a frequent flyer program. You start at the Gold Level and from there rise to Platinum, Diamond and Diamond Plus based on the number of cruise credits you earn. You earn one credit for each cruise, with the ability to earn an additional credit for certain cabin categories (suites) and for cruises of 12 nights or longer.

Some of the benefits include onboard discount booklets for use in venues as varied as the onboard gift shops to match play discounts in the casino. The higher your level in the Crown & Anchor program, the better the deals to be found in the booklet. As Crown & Anchor Diamond members we receive, among other things, priority check-in and access to the Concierge Lounge on ships that have them. The Concierge Lounge is one of our favorite benefits. Continental breakfast is served in the mornings and snacks and complimentary alcholic beverages are served in the evening hours. Additionally, the Concierge can assist you in making reservations at specialty restaurants on board, and generally help you with anything you need while on board without having to stand in line at the Guest Services desk. On the largest ships, the Concierge Lounge is exclusively for the use of suite guests and a separate Diamond Club lounge is availabe for Diamond and Diamond Plus Crown & Anchor members. You can review summaries of the benefits provided for each level here.

Innovative Ships

Admittedly, this is nothing but my opinion, but I believe that Royal Caribbean designs and builds some of the most beautiful and definitely the most innovative cruise ships at sea. If one look at the biggest cruise ship ever doesn’t convince you, I don’t know what will. Big may be beautiful, but we like the Radiance Class of ships best. These are beautiful ships designed with lots of glass, including glass elevators that face the sea. They are large enough to offer specialty restaurants, multiple amenities and more spacious staterooms, but are small enough to explore easily and are Royal Caribbean’s largest ships that are capable of transiting the Panama Canal. While our next cruise is on Liberty of the Seas, a Freedom Class ship and the world’s largest until Oasis sets sail, we love the slightly smaller but classy Radiance Class ships.

All of Royal Caribbean’s ships offer multiple activities such as rock climbing walls and fantastic workout facilities to keep you in shape while cruising. If you’re into spa visits, you won’t be disappointed on Royal Caribbean either.

Consistent Service

Royal Caribbean has a trademarked name for its service, they call it Gold Anchor Service (sm). I just call it consistently good. Royal Caribbean can experience service problems just like any other organization, and we have encountered some staff that are better than others. But we have always had reasonably good service, whether in the dining room, our stateroom, or bar. If you are expecting airline style customer service onboard your Royal Caribbean cruise, you are in for a pleasant surprise. Almost 100 percent of the time, every Royal Caribbean employee we have encountered has been eager to please and helpful. Our most recent cruise, honeymooning on Grandeur of the Seas, was probably the best collection of service experiences we’ve had onboard any Royal Caribbean ship. And I promise to post a full review of this cruise very soon.

These are just a few reasons why we choose Royal Caribbean above other cruise lines. Royal Caribbean has been a pretty consistent search term for readers of this blog recently. I hope this introduction is helpful. I’m going to post a few links to other helpful cruise information below:

Majesty of the Seas cruise review

Cruise Critic Royal Caribbean Message Board

Cruise Critic Homepage

New to cruising page on Royal Caribbean’s website

I’m enjoying a Disney vacation this week, which we’ll follow up with a short cruise to celebrate my 40th birthday with 26 of my closest friends.  I’ll try to blog a bit from Disney, but in the meantime, I hope you’ll enjoy this Best of MJ on Travel post on why airline mileage reward cards can still be a great deal.

This article, on Smartmoney.com, entitled “Why Airline Cards Aren’t Worth It” prompts a few words from me on the topic.  Many readers already know that I use a handful of rewards credit cards to top off my mileage and hotel accounts from time to time, and recommend others do the same on one condition…..that they pay their bills in full and on time every month without exception.  Refresh your memory on my thoughts by reading my April 2009 post on the topic.

The article focuses on airline cards, and cites annual fees and difficulty in redeeming miles among several reasons not to bother with these types of credit cards.  Granted, these cards typically carry an annual fee, but that is a small price to pay for sometimes sizable signup bonuses.  And many, waive the annual fee during the first year.  For example, the Citibank Platinum Select AAdvantage World MasterCard offers 25,000 miles if you spend $750 dollars within 4 months of acquiring the card.  There’s no annual fee during the first year, and an $85 dollar per year fee thereafter.    Not a bad deal if you’re going to spend that $750 dollars anyway.  While I don’t necessarily condone “flipping” these cards, a number of people have done it, with no damage to their credit standing.  Flipping is the practice of opening an account just to get the miles, then canceling the account at some point in the future before applying for the same kind of account again and getting another set of bonus miles.  If you want more information on the topic, pay a visit to flyertalk.com and search for information.

Maybe I’m the luckiest guy on the planet, but I have never had a big problem redeeming miles.  I use them for upgrades on paid domestic flights and have “purchased” a few premium class tickets domestically with miles.  I will soon embark on my first quest for premium class international travel.  That’s not to say that I’ve never had to be flexible with my dates and times, but to make a blanket statement like you must almost always book 330 days out to have a prayer of snagging a seat as this article implies is simply not 100 percent accurate.

That said, I’ve found some programs to have better availability than others.  Sometimes much better.  And that’s why I continue to stick with American Airlines and the AAdvantage program.  I’ve found AAdvantage to offer the best availablity of all the traditional mileage schemes so I continue to focus my mileage accumulation with that program.  Your experience may be different, and that’s great for you.  No matter which program you choose, don’t ignore the additional accumulation opportunities that mileage cards offer.