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Tips, Tricks, and Travel with Lucky

Off to Malta tomorrow!

As the title says, I’ll be heading to Malta tomorrow for about a week, and I’m pretty excited. I’m traveling with my brother, and we’re both on award tickets in Lufthansa First.

Since my brother lives in NY and I’m meeting up with him there, we’ll be flying EWR-FRA-MLA on LH, and I’ll be flying TPA-ORD-EWR on UA in order to meet him there.

TPA-ORD is already Y2, so I’m thinking there may be a bump opportunity there. The only problem is that I have to make it to EWR eventually, and the most logical alternative is TPA-IAD-EWR, although that’s all Ted and United Express, and the connection in IAD is short. On my current itinerary I have first class ORD-EWR and can spend about two hours at the International First Lounge in Chicago. Still, a bump seems worth it….

On the big plus side, Lufthansa flight is showing as “F9,” meaning they’re willing to sell at least nine more first class the seats. The last time I flew LH in F on a 747 first was totally packed and service was slow. Simply put it felt more like business class than first class. That being said, the time before there were only three of us in first, and the service was top notch. I’m hoping it’s pretty empty….

I’ll be adding frequent updates and should be able to make this trip report pretty “live” since our room comes with free internet. Speaking of which, we’ll be staying at the InterContinental Malta and also have a quick overnight layover at the InterContinental Frankfurt on the way back. Expect full reports on those properties.

As View from the Wing reports:

Delta is offering 1000 bonus miles for online roundtrip ticket purchases through December 31st provided payment is made with an American Express card. The bonus can be earned up to 25 times and registration is required.

These crazy mileage offers never stop coming at DL!

My Channel 9 tides turn, but really for the better?

So on this last mileage run I had Channel 9 available for all five segments. That’s the first trip this year where Channel 9 was on the whole way, so I was pleasantly surprised. I would have thought that with the ALPA lawsuit Channel 9 would be even more rare, but I guess not, or maybe I was just lucky.

Well, it’s not all that bright and dandy. Usually I associate a pro-Channel 9 captain with someone that makes good announcements and at least pretends to care about the passengers, but on two of these flights the captains sunk to new lows.

In my experience when pilots make announcements they ALWAYS, and I mean ALWAYS say something along the lines of “sit back, relax, and enjoy the flight” when the seatbelt sign goes off, and “Thanks for flying United” when they make their pre-arrival announcement. Obviously not those exact terms, but something to acknowledge that we’ve chosen to fly United and to make us feel comfortable. Even the most frustrated, non-Channel 9 captains do that, in my experience.

I had the displeasure of having the same pilots DEN-SEA-DEN. We were delayed over an hour out of DEN, and I could see the flight deck door open. I even saw the captain on his laptop showing the person in the jumpseat pictures. Not once did he ever come up with the idea of updating passengers on the status of the flight, which was pathetic, considering that it was within UA’s control.

Anyway, I’ve never heard in-flight announcements as short-tempered as this guy’s. Heck, it’s difficult to make an announcement without making some nice comment. His announcement was somewhere along the lines of “the seatbelt sign is off, you may move about. We should get into Seattle at around XYZ. I’ll update you as we get closer.” Very similar announcement prior to landing.

Sadly I had him roundtrip, but he wasn’t the only one. On another one of the flights it was the same story, yet Channel 9 was on.

This really makes me wonder, why? Did the captains not know Channel 9 was on? Didn’t they want to make the flight worse for most passengers ny turning off Channel 9? Or do they just not realize how rude they sounded?

I have no clue, I’m puzzled!

Thoughts?

New American co-pays starting October 1

As TravelingBetter reports, AA is adding $50 co-pays to upgrade awards in the following regions:

-Within the continental U.S. / Canada
-Within and between the continental U.S. / Canada / Mexico / The Caribbean
-Between North America and Central America

There’s also an increase of co-pays to $350 for upgrade awards from North America to Europe, Asia, S. America, and India.

Interesting…
 

Some quotes from UA employees over the past couple of days

I’ve had quite the array of UA employees during this mileage run, and had some interesting quotes, from funny to sad. Here are just a few (some are paraphrased):

  • A person with my seniority at American or Continental would make $11 per flight hour more. I know that for a fact, I saw the contract with my own eyes, we’re the lowest paid by a ton.
  • Man, these Premiers think they’re all that, they can’t even wait in line for five minutes.
  • Ladies and gentlemen, we know that most of you probably have the safety video memorized by now, but please pretend to pay attention. You never know if the person next to you has never flown before, has self-respect, or is perhaps an FAA inspector.
  • I fly full fare on other airlines all the time and United is the only one that does more than one drink run on domestic flights, even water or coffee. I know that for a fact.
  • &%$* Glenn Tilton and management.
  • We hope you’ve enjoyed flying with us as much as we’ve enjoyed taking you and your money for a ride.
  • I had a car accident on my way to work, but I was too scared I’d lose my job so instead of going to a doctor here I am.
  • This delay was my fault, I have guests coming over tonight at 7.
  • If you don’t like the snack I can serve you a seven course meal, consisting of a variety of snack mix…. it just takes a little bit of imagination.
  • You want a skykit for that?
  • We all hate working here, this place sucks.
  • Glenn Tilton sucks, he’s also getting rid of free upgrades for all of our Million Milers, 1K’s and Global Services. I work Sydney flights all the time and everyone is full fare, shame on Glenn!
  • They’re retiring the Ted planes, not reconfiguring them.
  • United has never had a good management team.

OK, I know there were some other good ones, but I forgot them for now. I’ll add them to the bottom of the list as I remember them…

First Emirates A380 trip report?

It appears as if we have our first airborne trip report of the Emirates A380, at least as far as I know. While it doesn’t have the “wow” factor that SQ had at first, it’s nice to see the bird in a different configuration, and I sure as heck wouldn’t mind flying up front on that!

(hat tip to reader Nadia)

Quick mileage run update

Long story short my redeye last night was cancelled due to crew, I was put up at the Doubletree in Denver overnight, and I’ll be flying back home via IAD today. Sadly no bump, but I did get a good night of sleep.

Pretty uneventful travel otherwise. Sadly no bumps, but I got a skykit on one of the flights and the crews have generally been good, so I’m pleased.

Answering a few reader questions….

Reader Gray asked the following questions in my recent post about how I find the time/resources to travel, so I’ll do my best to answer them here. Since Gray is a UA flyer and many of the questions relate specifically to UA, I’ll make all of these answers UA-specific.

Maybe, Ben, something about methods/ethics of the ever-elusive (for some folks) cheapening of travel based on a mileage run? I know you’ve mentioned vouchers and skykits a few times, and, I have a pretty good idea as to how these work, but, maybe a post on the different types of vouchers, which can be redeemable for travel, and which are as good as cash?

The only real “cheapening of travel” comes in the form of either vouchers, skykits, or customer service “goodwill.” Skykits are pretty straightforward; you can earn a variety of goodies from them (miles, 500’ers, e-certs). As for vouchers, you have type A (typically customer service vouchers, which can be used to pay for air fare but not taxes), and then you have type B vouchers (typically from bumps, they’re as good as cash and can even be used to pay taxes on tickets). Typically neither voucher type is combinable, except you can combine a type A and type B voucher, but only one of each. In addition there are e-certs, which range from percentage off to a fixed dollar amount.

I think what you’re getting at though is my comment that a mileage run during summer basically being more valuable than a mileage run during other times. While summer flights aren’t inherently oversold, operations are lean, meaning you don’t have a plane or two sitting around like you otherwise might have at a hub. Therefore when the trouble hits, be it a mechanical, crew, or weather (which is extremely frequent), it gets pretty nasty in the summer. Add that to high loads and we’re looking at fun mileage running.

As I mentioned, on my last two mileage runs (which cost me a combined total of $300, give or take), I earned a total of three free tickets and $600 in vouchers, not to mention all of the other goodies that come with mileage runs. Not saying that’s average, but that’s the kind of stuff that’s semi-frequent during summer but rare otherwise. That’s why I’m willing to do a mileage run during summer for slightly less miles and under much more uncomfortable circumstances (every second person on the plane seems to be a toddler), knowing that the potential is there.

Moreover, I’d be interested in learned the best way to secure the best possible compensation during denied boarding (both VDB and IDB), and the best items for which to attempt to seek compensation.

This is a toughie. Sometimes I find myself wondering how far I should push things, and it has really gotten to the point where I play everything by ear. On one hand I want to get whatever I can, but at the same time agents are as overworked and stressed out as ever, so I don’t want to push them over the edge.

My general strategy when volunteering is first to get myself added to the VDB list before getting to the gate by another agent, usually at check-in or in the RCC. I then suggest getting to the gate about 30 minutes before boarding, which sucks on one hand but is your best bet. While most agents process DB’s either with or after boarding, I recently had an agent that processed DB’s 30 minutes before boarding. I almost had a heart attack when they had enough volunteers before I got there, although in the end I still got the bump. You’re better safe than sorry, if you’re a bump junkie like me.

So anyway, back to your question. When I get to the gate I’ll go up to the agent when they don’t look too busy and explain that I’m on the DB list and just inquire about how it’s looking. The most important thing is to ask with a smile and without applying any pressure to them. If they say they might need you, just say that you’ll stick around the counter (“I’ll be sitting right over there should you need me) and won’t board the plane when boarding is called, and that they should keep you updated. Being nice to the agent is a big first step to securing the compensation you want.

At that point it really all depends on the agent. Generally speaking I don’t negotiate compensation before departure, unless the GA is clearly not busy, which is rarely the case in an oversell situation, let alone during normal operations. I’ll just say “don’t worry about it, I’m in no rush, we can discuss it when the plane is gone.” Even if they say “your compensation will be a free ticket,” still acknowledge it and say that’s fine (even if you prefer travel credits). Then if they need you as a volunteer and are ready to process you just add a quick line like “I know you were busy earlier and didn’t want to bother you, but I’d really like if I could get XYZ.” I almost always get exactly what I ask for in cases like these, so I’d say that strategy works pretty well.

That’s more about how to do it, now let’s talk about what you want.

At UA agents can issue either travel credits or free tickets as compensation. If the delay is over an hour (regardless of when you actually get in), you’ll get a free ticket. On the other hand, you can also go for travel credits, at least in theory. For a delay of one to three hours it’s a $200 voucher, for three to six hours it’s a $400 voucher, and for over six hours it’s a $600 voucher. In general I would say that a free ticket is better than $200 of travel credits (assuming you don’t already have more free tickets than you can use), and I’d say in all other cases travel credits are a better deal.

You can also negotiate upgrades, but that really depends on the agent. Just ask nicely if there’s any way you could get an upgraded seat on the next flight, and you’d be surprised by how many agents will do it.

Lastly, you can negotiate for being rebooked in full Y. Lots of times I’ll have a slightly less desirable routing and will ask to be put in full Y for the miles I’m losing. Generally they’re happy to oblige, if they didn’t automatically do so already in the rebooking process.

Those are just a few thoughts off the top of my head…

Oh, as well, I’d be interested in a post about, and apologies if this is a bit confusing, the more “general” type ways to eke out the best premium classes and hotel rooms: is it miles? redeeming hotel points? undergoing various hotel challenges that allow you free room upgrades?

I think it’s pretty obvious with the airlines, especially US airlines. Their upgrade policies are as liberal as they get, so it’s easy to get premium cabins, be it with miles, confirmed upgrades, 500 mile upgrades, etc. Also, awards are the best way to secure premium seats on airlines that aren’t that generous with upgrades and/or that you have no affiliation with.

As for hotels, there are 100 different approaches. One popular option for getting Hilton points is transferring from AA. American has a transfer ratio of 1 mile:2 HH points, which is a great deal. To give you an idea, the most expensive Hilton/Conrad properties (category 6) are 40,000 points, so you’re essentially paying 20,000 miles for a free night. It certainly doesn’t have the cash value that premium airline awards have (like redeeming 120,000 miles for a $20,000 ticket), but at the same time most of us would never pay that so we have to factor in how we value premium flights/hotels.

As for hotel programs, there are many ways to earn status without too much effort. Hilton, for example, does a “fast track to Gold,” whereby you only need to have four stays in 90 days to earn Gold status, at least through the Hilton Racing promotion. Other programs have all kinds of great promotions like double stay credits, which are a good way to earn status quickly. Both Hyatt and SPG ran those earlier this year, and one could essentially reach their top tier for only 13 stays.

Another general trick to earning status quickly is to “mattress run.” No, I actually don’t consider pure mattress running to be a good deal, but if you’re one night short of status it can definitely be worth it. Also, let’s say you’re staying somewhere for three nights. Instead of staying at one hotel, switch properties every night so you earn more stay credits. Generally it’s a lot easier to earn status on stays rather than nights for those looking to earn status quickly.

Lastly, keep your eyes peeled for giveaways. Earlier in the year Marriott had a promotion whereby they gave away Gold status (which usually requires 50 nights), for nothing. It was meant for Flying Blue elites only (if I recall correctly), but there was nothing stopping anyone else from registering. Having instant status which is quite valuable for doing nothing is great, and without a doubt the simplest way.

Lastly, just my personal opinion (and others disagree), but I think the hotel programs aren’t nearly as rewarding as the airline programs. I can get a ticket for free which retails for $20,000, while the best I could do with the hotels is maybe an upgrade to an executive floor or very nice suite (which, on second thought, especially considering my recent experience in Bali, can be quite nice too).

Hope that answers your questions somewhat. :)

Delta to offer wifi domestically by 2009

Via The Flying Critic (who cites PC World):

GoGo will cost Delta flyers $9.95 on flights of three hours or less, and $12.95 for flights that are longer than three hours. Delta says it expects to begin to offer in-flight Wi-Fi early 2009.

This is pretty exciting news, although I’m not sure whether to be happy or sad about it. While I love being connected in general, one thing I love about flying is the fact that I’m totally disconnected and can’t be bothered by anyone from the “outside” world. Sadly that will go away as this expands, but at the same time we can become more productive (or for that matter unproductive).

The prices seem quite reasonable as well, in my opinion.

United double EQM’s start posting!

As I got off my flight just a few minutes ago I got a few texts from people saying that double EQM’s have starting posting from the United promotion. That’s good news, but not surprisingly ual.com’s mileage summary page isn’t working for me, so I’m stuck waiting. I calculated how many miles I should have earned from it, so I’m curious how that number matches up to what actually posts….