Just got an email from United to remind me about this promo, now that the rules are fully out there. First of all, for those of you not familiar with the promotion, here are the details. I think this is one heck of a cool promotion, and there are some serious prizes at stake here! This can be especially rewarding for someone just starting a consulting gig who hardly flew last year, but I’m predicting the year-over-year EQM’s required to win are a lot lower than most of us expect. We’re talking 50 winning teams here, which is a lot. Let’s also keep in mind that finding a group of four that are all traveling more than the year before can be very difficult, so unless you can network with others that have similar travel patterns (via FlyerTalk or whatever), it’ll be hard to be too extreme. I’m predicting 400,000 EQM’s year-over-year for the whole team in order to win at the very most, which isn’t a lot for such a huge prize.

Unfortunately for me, I’m not worthy of participating in this promotion:

This year-over-year themed contest is open only to Mileage Plus members are legal residents of the fifty (50) United States or the District of Columbia as of January 1, 2008, and who are 21 years or older as of January 23, 2009.

Of course being the natural skeptic that I am, not to mention the fact that every contest I’ve ever seen that doesn’t include alcohol has had 18 as the minimum age, I decided to email United. Here’s a portion of the response:

Your concerns regarding the terms and conditions of the “Elite Team Competition” contest are appreciated.  United’s Mileage Plus department designs marketing programs and promotions to best meet the needs of all participants.  You address the age requirement of being 21 years old.  This is a matter of consistency due to the existence of a sweepstakes reward through the choice program.  The same age of 21 is used for both the team contest and sweepstakes promotion, per the advice of United’s Legal department.  Also the 21 year age limit is used so that a winner of a sweepstakes and/or contest is legally responsible for any taxes that may be owed for the reward/prize.  We are not able to make expectations to the terms and conditions as such.  Your understanding is appreciated.

Now I’m no lawyer, but huh? Since when does one have to be 21 to be responsible for taxes? Long story short I’m disappointed in United on this particular front because everyone else seems to have no problem doing promos that are 18+, but ultimately I’ll accept it and move on. I could go for it and ultimately lie, but since I may want to eventually get into the industry and some people at WHQ know me, that might not be the best idea. And of course, how could I forget the most important part, the moral implications of lying.;)

 I would still love some clarification, though for anyone in the know ont his kind of stuff. Does UA have a point here, or is this just poorly researched on their part?

While this wont make any of us better travelers, I found it to be interesting. My brother emailed me a link to a short film that Ritz Carlton made, titled “The Delay,” with two more short films being released in the next few months. I would check it out before reading the rest of this.

My initial reaction to this was “HUH?” I understand Ritz Carlton is very upscale and is all for providing great service, but it seems a bit odd to me to call a guest and lie to them in order to get them downstairs, even if it’s for something the guest may potentially enjoy. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the film (although it could have been a little more exciting), but I really don’t know what Ritz Carlton was thinking when they made it. Maybe I’m not their target audience, but rather people that do nothing but nibble on caviar and sip Dom get it? Who knows…

OK, speaking of travel videos, I feel compelled to share a few, for those that are having a bit of a slow day. Here are a few that I really like:
Where the hell is Matt?
Where the hell was Matt?
British Airways and Pam Ann
Mad TV United Airlines Spoof
American Airlines from Boston to Paris
Series of Air Tran Ads (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (Stupid prank call turned funny)
InterContinental Ads (1) (2) (3) (Hotel Video)
And I saved the best for last. For those that love exploring different cities/cultures as much as I do, nothing beats the promotional videos for each hotel that InterContinental recently released. I think I’ve seen all of them at least a dozen times, so if you want to get a general feel for a city, this is the place to go!

With mergers potentially on the horizon (or in the case of DL/NW, very likely), I started asking myself if now is the right time to request a status match. Airlines typically match status, often only upto the middle tier, once in a lifetime, meant mostly for people that switch loyalty. Since I’m still young I haven’t used a match yet, mainly because I’ve been very happy with United and have a hard time flying anyone else, but the potential mergers really got me thinking today.

Let’s theoretically say that the Delta/Northwest merger happens soon. Let’s say that I request a status match with Northwest today and they grant me Gold status based on being a 1K with United. Obviously my status will be good with the “new” airline, whatever fancy title it may get in the transition. The question I’m asking myself, though, is whether or not this would count as my once in a lifetime status match with the “new” Delta if it was done before the merger? Similarly, what happens if I get a status match with Delta before they become the “new” Delta? Wouldn’t the new airline have a slightly modified program and therefore they would give me another chance in the future?

My guess is yes, you could match now and again later on with a potentially merged airline. Of course it’s just total speculation, but for those that have been considering a match for a while, I think now’s the perfect time.

I posted yesterday about the new partnership between United and Westin, initially including pillows and blankets from the “Heavenly Bed” collection on Premium Service flights, which I would assume will be rolled out on international flights within a few months. Yahoo had an article today which took the concept one step further, now including a special Westin inspired area in the Red Carpet Clubs:

Also, as part of this partnership, select United Red Carpet Clubs in New York (JFK), Los Angeles and San Francisco will debut custom-designed Westin Renewal Lounges later this year: private areas outfitted with luxurious touches from Westin to create a calming oasis where travelers can relax before or after their flight.

This sounds interesting, and I’m very curious to see what their plan is. I doubt we’ll see showers or anything amazing, but probably something more like Air New Zealand has in their international lounge in AKL, with a few reclining, comfortable chairs. After all, space is VERY limited in the RCC’s at JFK, LAX, and SFO, and they are already overcrowded in their high density “configuration.”

This is an irrational rambling. OK, you’ve been warned!

So one of the two continents (the other being Antarctica) that I haven’t visited yet is South America. I figured I would give the standard trips to Asia and Europe a break in order to plan a trip to South America during my summer break, which is winter down there. Originally I had booked my dad and I on United to Buenos Aires to spend a few days there with an onward Air Canada connector flight to Santiago, once again returning via Buenos Aires to the US. For reasons outside of my control we had to cancel that itinerary (fortunately there are no change fees for 1K’s on awards, one of my favorite 1K benefits) and decided to use the 240K American Airlines miles my dad has stacked up for the trip, which actually worked out better since American has a superior in-flight product and schedule to South America.

Seems simple enough, right? Well, I wish! So I start looking at awards and find plenty of availability to Buenos Aires (EZE) on American. If there’s one thing American does well it’s releasing award seats on their own flights. I guess in a way it’s a good thing, but I had so many routing options that I really started to consider the pros and cons of each, something I wouldn’t usually have the opportunity to do.

One option was TPA-ORD-EZE, with TPA-ORD being a dinner flight on one of the delightfully aged Mad Dogs (MD80′s), and ORD-EZE being on a 767, which, while comfortable, has very narrow seats in Business (18.5″ inches, only slightly better than coach on other carriers) and isn’t as “fresh” as the 777. The good thing about this routing is that ORD-EZE has a block time of 11 hours, and since this is a redeye flight I actually thought of it as a good thing. It would give us plenty of time to eat dinner, get a good night’s rest, and then eat breakfast, getting into EZE refreshed and ready to explore.

The other option was TPA-MIA-EZE. In this case TPA-MIA is just a short hop, which would be followed by MIA-EZE, which is also a redeye, this time on a 777. That means that the seats are quite a bit wider and the aircraft is more “fresh,” but unfortunately the block time is only around 8.5 hours. As we all know that means closer to 7.5 hours in the air, and between dinner and sleep (forget about breakfast), that’s a lot shorter of a redeye than I’d like! So what would have otherwise been a case of “Look, I found a saver Business Class award, how awesome, let me book it!” has turned into something which I’ve spend a disproportionately large amount of time debating.

Unfortunately it doesn’t stop there. I then said to myself “Hmm, Business is 90K and First is 125K, why not go all the way?” While there’s plenty of award availability even for two passengers in First (only on MIA-EZE, the 777, since the 767 doesn’t have First), it would cost 250,000 miles, and right now we’re only sitting around 238,000. I immediately looked into options for getting 12,000 American miles cheaply and quickly. In general I’m a firm believer that First Class awards are the way to go when available, but at the same time I once again question myself. After all, American only charges 125,000 miles for First to Asia, a trip which can be two or three times as long as this one. Then I go back to where I started and once again asked myself “Is this even worth an award?”

As of now I’m leaning towards doing a Business award through ORD on the outbound (for the added sleep) and MIA on the return (to experience a different product), but we’ll see what happens. I’m open to any suggestions, be they via email or comments here. I’m sure I’m not the only one that finds myself in these situations which almost turn into chores…. or am I?

The “Travel Watch” section of the WSJ today had an interesting section regarding Westin bedding products making their way onto United flights:

Westin Takes Flight

This year, Westin Hotels & Resorts will start putting products from its Heavenly Bed line on United Airlines flights. Customers flying United business- and first-class routes between New York and California will receive oversize Heavenly Bed blankets and pillows “inspired by the iconic all-white, 10-layer” Heavenly Bed found in Westin hotels, according to a statement from the hotel company.

It seems pretty clear what United’s doing here. From the beginning of the international reconfiguration process I heard that United would be seeking a sponsor for pillows and blankets in order to keep the cost down. It seems like they will have the Westin products on the Premium Service routes to test them out, and probably in July will have them rolled out throughout the whole international network along with the other soft product improvements. You can’t beat Westin’s Heavenly Bed when it comes to bedding, so I’m quite excited, regardless of how much advertising they decide to plaster on the pillows and blankets!

As we all know, there are potentially some mergers on the horizon, in particular between Delta and Northwest as well as between Continental and United, and maybe even beyond that. First I should say that I have only been flying frequently for a few years, so I lack the historical experience of some others that were flying years ago and experienced the mergers firsthand, so I’m far from an expert on this, but just adding my two (or probably less) cents. I simply don’t understand all of the doom and gloom among everyone, and here’s why:

• Why do people act as if the mergers are a done deal? Yes, it’s looking like DL/NW will merge, but nothing is certain between UA/CO. Call me an optimist or a pessimist, depending on your view, but I’m a firm believe of “it’s not over till it’s over.” If I had a dollar for every email/IM I have gotten over the past few weeks of people convinced the mergers were both done deals, I think I would quit school and retire.
• DL/NW seems like it would be a pretty mild merger. The airlines are very similar in terms of their mileage programs and onboard service (or lack thereof). They both only have two cabins, so it should be a pretty simple combination.
• CO/UA: Hah! I really like both carriers. Continental is a consistent airline that isn’t trying to be everything to everyone. They know their miles are hard to redeem, they know upgrades on transcons are rare, but they’re not trying to do anything about it because that’s how they like it. United, on the other hand, is the most consistently inconsistent airline. I love them for their mileage program (despite their Starnet blocking) and the fact that they are VERY generous, in terms of upgrades, compensation, and elite benefits. United and Continental together, though, would be a total disaster, in my opinion. United has three cabins, Continental has two cabins. United has Economy Plus, Continental doesn’t. United has generous international upgrades, Continental doesn’t. The list goes on and on and on. I’m convinced they would try to please everyone, but that’s simply not possible. I’m sure eventually they could get things sorted out, but the transition would be painful. Still, I’m not convinced it’s happening, so we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.
• I don’t think prices will go up due to a merger as much as some seem to think. We still have a bunch of low cost carriers and international competition, so that’s the least of my worries, at least if it’s only a merger or two and not more.
• What I’m most scared of is that low fares will start earning only 50% miles. Since low cost carriers don’t have good frequent flyer programs, that’s something they could probably get away with. Continental already has this policy for tickets not booked through them directly, so I’m sure a combined airline wouldn’t mind making it 50% all around for cheap fares, and I also think the new Delta would be glad to follow.

Again, I’m not convinced it’s happening, so it’s all theoretical for me.

My friend David emailed me yesterday about this, and while I knew about the program NWA has for this, I figured it was worth mentioning. Unfortunately it’s of no use to me since one must be 21 to join, but I figure that most of the people reading this blog are over 21:

Being an IAD terminal B fan, I decided to give the NWA WorldClub in Terminal B a try and bought a 60 day temp membership for $85. I was struck by how nice the lounge reps were. They welcomed me in, and asked me to go sit down and maybe get a drink while they processed my payment. They said they would find me later and bring my membership card. I noticed that two groups of people checked in while I was purchasing the membership and all held United tickets. It seems I was not the only RCC refugee in search of something better. It was REALLY nice not to have to fight over drink chits. Instead, they invited me nicely to help myself to the open bar. Soon after, they invited those in the lounge flying to AMS to enjoy special boarding for this flight directly from the lounge. The Food selection was pretty nice too with brownies, a good snack mix, fresh fruit, chocolate chip cookies, etc. It was just a much more pleasant experience by far than the RCC.

For those of us that have been following the rollout of United’s new premium cabins, we know it has been a long process with just one newly configured plane flying around for nearly three months now, mostly IAD-FRA-IAD and IAD-SFO-IAD. Originally United was going to reconfigure one of each aircraft type (767, 777, and 747) before beginning the second of any particular aircraft type, but due to some issues that process has been delayed a bit. Apparently there are some problems with the entertainment system, and also they might be looking into more storage options in Business Class, since the lack of storage seemed to be a common complaint among customers that tried the reconfigured 767.

Fortunately, we know United hasn’t aborted the program totally since we now have two 767′s flying in the new configuration, with a 747 to be out of the “shop” soon. Just a quick recommendation for those hoping to score the newly configured aircraft: Just because the seatmap shows as having the new cabins, or even if a phone agent at UA tells you it will be the new configuration, don’t bank on it! Back in early November IAD-ZRH showed the new seatmaps, and to my knowledge the newly configured plane hasn’t even flown that route yet. Right now IAD-FRA-IAD (UA916/917) shows as the new seats for April, so many people seem to be booking that. While I can’t be 100% certain, all of my sources have said other routes would be the first to receive it, with IAD-FRA-IAD not even being near the top of the list. So be careful, and don’t assume!

A friend sent me a link to a very interesting article about the Star Alliance, which I highly recommend checking out. I’ve always been impressed by organizations like the Star Alliance, since, despite only having 80 employees, have people from just about every corner of the globe. Oh, did I mention I’d love an internship here?;)

I found one part especially interesting, also something I had no clue about:

Although part of Mr. Albrecht’s job is to keep the Star members happy, disputes invariably break out — after all, these are businesses that do battle in a fiercely competitive industry.

Singapore Airlines, often ranked the best in the world in various surveys, is not shy to point out its superiority to most other Star carriers, particularly those in North America.

A year ago, soon after the alliance introduced a program that allows passengers to use their miles accrued on one carrier to upgrade flights on another, United suspended its participation, citing technical reasons.

Mr. Albrecht said that Singapore Airlines was unhappy with the rates United charged its customers for upgrades on Singapore flights. The dispute should be resolved soon, he added.