My friend David sent me an email today about how to bypass the temperature controls on a hotel thermostat, which seems pretty useful:

The “VIP override” procedure I was able to get out of the maintenance personnel is as follows. I recall it was for an Inncom thermostat, it did work.

- While holding down “display”
- Press “off”, then
- Press “Up” arrow
- Release “display” button

This enters the VIP mode which turns off the motion sensor, and allows a lower range of the thermostat so you can get the room really cold.

For a long time now I’ve been meaning to test out whether young passengers are treated any differently in premium cabins, especially when they don’t “dress up.” I hear horror stories all the time from others that have awful experiences, from being told that they’re not allowed to use a “premium” check-in line, to being belittled by fellow passengers during boarding. I typically wear khakis and at least a polo when I fly, and surprisingly enough I’ve never had any sort of “situation” while flying. The only time I had an issue was while ticketing something once, where I came straight from class and as I got in the first class line the agent said “wrong line, buddy.”

Given that I had a mileage run this past weekend including five segments in premium cabins, I decided to give it a try. In all honesty it was a spur of the moment decision. I only booked this trip last Wednesday, and decided I would do this at 6AM on Saturday as I was getting ready to head to the airport. I simply wore sweats, sneakers, and a t-shirt. I should also preface this by saying that my sample size is way too small to draw any conclusions, and I could definitely have been much more obnoxious to get more reactions, like lining up on the red carpet 30 minutes before boarding.

On my way to the airport on Saturday I thought about what I was really expecting. I didn’t think I’d get any different treatment from FA’s, but at the same time I figured I might get some comments on the “red carpet,” be it from gate agents or fellow passengers.

Before I get into specifics about the individual flights, my “red carpet” experience was consistent. I always tried to stay in the middle of the “pack” of premium passengers boarding, and purposely kept my boarding pass in my pocket. Boarding was so fast paced that no passenger made a comment, but at the same time I could notice passengers inching closer to me and sort of standing next to me as we proceeded to the red carpet, as opposed to behind me. There was definitely a slight noticeable difference. To do a more fair test I should have probably lined up on the red carpet in advance, flown a larger aircraft where the premium boarding takes longer, or kept my boarding pass in my pocket longer, and even have to search for it (only for a second or two) as I came up to the jet bridge. All that being said, none of the gate agents said anything or even blinked an eye as far as I could tell.

Now a bit about the flights: I did notice a slight difference in service on my first flight, IAD-DEN, by which the FA seemed to treat the other passengers with more respect, although in very minor ways. For example, she would respond with “you’re welcome” when other passengers said “thanks,” but not to me. Of course it could just be chance attributed to other factors, but I noticed a minor difference.

DEN-SFO couldn’t have been any better. It was an ex-Shuttle 737, and the purser was the most enthusiastic I’ve ever had, and couldn’t have provided more consistently excellent service. If anything this guy was over attentive. I felt like I was on Singapore Airlines for a few minutes. He addressed each passenger by name (even though there were no meal orders to be taken), and was constantly refilling drinks. If anything he was too enthusiastic. For example, he started serving the meals as soon as we hit 18,000 feet, and by that I mean the meals were literally on our trays by the time the double chime sounded. I asked him if I could wait just ten minutes, since I needed to get something out of the overhead first (namely my camera). His response couldn’t have been more apologetic and enthusiastic, as if it was somehow his fault for not reading my mind. OK, this is turning more into a service report than anything else, but I just needed to share.

SFO-SEA was once again top notch. This was a 757, and right before the flight it showed only eight seats taken in first, while all 24 were full when the door closed. It was obvious that 2/3 of the cabin were non-revs, and everyone received great service. Actually, not dressing up probably helped me in this case, since it clearly identified me as a revenue passenger. First class on this flight looked like pictures I see of travel in the 1960′s, where everyone dressed up to fly. Of course in this case it was because they had to, and not because they wanted to!

SEA-ORD was once again top notch. We had a senior SEA-based purser that was awesome. I slept take-off to touchdown, but he was extremely nice for the two minutes I talked to him.

ORD-EWR also had excellent service. I felt bad for one of the FA’s, that was explaining to one of her colleagues that she got up at 1:30AM to get to the airport, since she lives three hours away by car and commutes. While it’s her choice, I really feel bad when I hear stories like that. All of the FA’s were top notch, and one of the FA’s even thanked me for my “support.”

So I think it’s safe to say that I experienced very little “discrimination” on my trip, but again it’s such a small sample size that I wasn’t expecting to have any conclusive evidence. I was however expecting a few “you don’t belong here” comments, but I was pleased to see that society (at least for this trip) has gotten beyond that.

Not that it has anything to do with this experiment, but I had one of the most annoying pursers ever on IAD-TPA. It seems to be a new trend that some FA’s “threaten” passengers with a late departure if they don’t hurry up boarding and stowing their carry-on bags. Don’t get me wrong, the service wasn’t awful, but the purser just had very condescending announcements. Not surprisingly she also made it clear that “flight attendants are primarily here for your safety.” Go figure!

It’s time for a reader photo. Thanks to 21H21J for sending in this one.

Correct Answer: Istanbul, Turkey (Kamondo Steps)
Winner: FortFun

If you’d like your photo featured, please email it to me at onemileatatime@hotmail.com, along with the correct answer.

Through the end of the year the JW Marriott Grosvenor House (Category 7) is available for 30,000 points per night, with nightly point requirements decreasing the longer you stay (for example, a seven night stay is a mere 130,000 points). Since Marriott has created a new hotel category (Category 8), this hotel will be 40,000 points per night in the new year, plus there’ll no longer be discounts on longer stays, other than one free night for every three award nights.

This is a real bargain for one of London’s top hotels, and added to the favorable exchange rate at the moment (1GBP=1.50USD), it’s something worth considering. If only Virgin Atlantic had Upper Class award availability for the date I need (leaving Christmas night from JFK-LHR), I’d be there in a heartbeat….

This weekend I had five segments in domestic premium cabins, one being a lunch flight in business class, three being “snack” flights, and one being a Business1 flight from ORD-EWR. As most of you probably know, domestic business class meal service has been reinstated (somewhat) after a brief hiatus, while Business1 (flights from Chicago to major business destinations on the east coast and in the midwest) routes have recently been “enhanced” to include cold meals only.

My first flight was IAD-DEN in business class on a 767. I was pleased to see that hot nuts were back, along with linens. While some people might not care much about nuts, they’re my favorite part of any United flight.

The choices for lunch were a roast beef sandwich or a shrimp salad; I went with the shrimp salad. It was different than the usual “chef salad,” but instead consisted mostly of greens, cashews, tomatoes, and shrimp. As usual it came with bread (which was cold and should be banned by the TSA on account of being a potential weapon), but soup was missing, which would usually be served with this option in domestic first. The cookie was different than usual, and instead of being warm it was really chewy. I preferred it, actually.

While this wasn’t a transcon, I can definitely live with this “compromise,” at least for this route, and would choose business class on a three cabin over domestic first on a two cabin aircraft. By the way, despite the fact that I upgraded from coach to business, I was offered a paid upgrade to first at check-in for $325. Of course I declined, but it was interesting nonetheless.

My next flight was DEN-SFO, which was a “snack” flight on an ex-Shuttle 737. This means that they don’t have ovens or normal galleys, so the snack was restricted to a “picnic box” with cheese, meat, fruit, and crackers. Instead of the usual Walkers cookies, there was something I’ve never seen before, a small packaged brownie for dessert.

My next flight was SFO-SEA, which had the mini-snack, consisting of grapes as well as two wedges of cheese with one package of crackers. While this snack is basically insulting, this route didn’t have any snack up until about a year ago, so I really can’t complain.

Next was the redeye, which was once again a fruit and cheese plate. Maybe I’m in the minority, but I don’t like consuming five pounds of cheese before I’m about to sleep. I wish they’d go with a small salad or something light instead, but I’m dreaming out loud here, since the last thing United wants to do is improve onboard offerings, it seems.

Next came the Business1 flight, which was recently “enhanced.” Until recently one could get an omelet on this flight, but that’s no longer the case. Instead they offer a tiny fruit plate and a tasteless pastry.

Long story short United serves way too much cheese domestically, in my opinion. They also have some of the mildest, most tasteless cheese out there. I’m no foodie, but it would be nice if they improved the quality and decreased the quantity a bit.

By the way, this is the first time in years I took pictures while flying domestically, and damn it felt weird!

I’ve received several emails recently regarding the price of travel at the moment. While all signs point towards cheap airfare (a weak economy, lower load factors, etc.), the airlines haven’t quite given in yet. I figured I’d share some thoughts about where the travel industry is and also where I think it’s headed from the consumer’s point of view. The weak economy can be great for those of us looking for travel bargains and maximizing our miles/points, so here are just a few predictions of what I think we’ll see.

Let’s start with the hotel industry. Obviously they’re suffering with low occupancy rates, especially luxury hotels. Many business people that used to stay at Ritz Carlton hotels are now staying at InterContinental hotels, and it continues down the chain. Hotels are trying not to directly lower the nightly rates, but at the same time are making some special offers. I bet we’ll see promotions from the likes of Ritz Carlton, Four Seasons, etc., be it a “buy two nights and get one free” promo (as Four Seasons is offering right now), or them throwing in some freebies (free internet, breakfast, etc.). For those of us that love points, we’ll probably see some great promotions in the various loyalty programs, be it in the form of bonus points or more easily attainable status. They all want to keep a relatively consistent client base, and with less and less elites (as I’m sure we’ll see this coming year), they’ll have to do something to encourage loyalty. Along with that I would expect moderate price drops in nightly rates, but nothing too extreme. Lower occupancy will likely also lead to more availability for point redemptions, and along those lines maybe even some specials for redeeming points at discounted rates, like Priority Club does with PointBreaks. If the rooms are going to be empty anyway, they might as well encourage people to burn their points.

As far as the airlines go, if you’re a bit flexible, definitely hold off on booking a trip, especially if going internationally. The airlines are suffering even more than the hotels, and unlike the past year, the struggle for the airlines will be keeping the load factors up as opposed to increasing yields. Of course they’d like to increase fares, but they have no basis on which to do that, considering the lower demand and lower price of oil. I would also expect plenty of great airline promotions next year, be it in the form of bonus redeemable miles or bonus elite qualifying miles. For those planning a trip to Europe in the off season, I would expect massive price drops after Thanksgiving and beyond. The fact is that we see fares in the $400-500 range every year to Europe, so it’s just a matter of being patient.

Furthermore, as an American, traveling internationally is becoming more affordable again. The USD is starting to regain some strength against both the Euro and the Pound, so I might start looking east again for travel.

Long story short, if you’re interested in traveling next year, I’m betting it’ll be a great year for bargains, both in terms of prices and loyalty programs. Of course these are just my thoughts and I might be totally off, but it just seems to make sense.

Through the end of November, new members of HotelClub.com can receive $50 off a hotel booking just for signing up. The reservation must be made by the end of November, but can be for a subsequent date.

This can be a great deal, especially for a shorter stay. HotelClub.com typically prices out the same as Orbitz, so you can pay close to nothing for a decent hotel this way. For what it’s worth I’ve had great experiences with HotelClub.com in the past, and have even used them without this promo.

Hat tip to The Best Rate Guarantee Blog for this.

One of the things I love about flying commercially is the fact that people from all walks of life get in a metal tube and are stuck together for hours at a time. Like it or not, it’s a melting pot of people from all walks of life and all parts of the world. I’ve had the opportunity to meet plenty of interesting people while flying, from mailmen to CEO’s of large corporations to 747 captains, and people from all parts of the world, from Singapore to Sioux Falls.

That being said, I’ll generally not start a conversation with my seatmate. I will however say hello and smile as I sit down, but that’s the extent of it. It’s not because I’m anti-social or don’t want to talk to them, but rather because I respect that they might not want to talk to me. I understand they might have just come from the other side of the world or might just be having a crappy day, and the last thing I’d want to do is force them into a conversation.

So when a conversation starts on a flight, it’s typically my seatmate initiating it, which seems to happen quite often. What ticks me off, though, is when a seatmate will start talking and doesn’t recognize the signs of me not being interested. While I’m interested in talking most of the time, and have even spent some transpacs talking almost nonstop to my seatmate (and I’d like to think the interest was mutual), there are some flights where I’d just prefer to sleep or relax, and it amazes me when people can’t read the signs. For example, just last week:

Seatmate: “Hi, how are you?”
Me: “Fine, thanks.”
Seatmate: “I just came back from a business trip in Washington and am heading back home to Seattle. I was gone for eight days and can’t wait to go back home. Where are you from?”
Me: “I’m from Tampa”
Seatmate: “Where are you headed?”
Me: “San Francisco.”
Seatmate: “Oh, how long are you staying there for?”
Me: “Not very long, just a quick trip.”
Seatmate: “So what do you do for a living?”

From there it went on and on. Maybe I’m off base, but is it that hard to read the signs of a disinterested seatmate? In this case I felt as if I was being questioned by an air marshal, minus the attitude, based on my level of interest.

Am I that far off base? Is there an easier way to say “I’m really not interested in talking,” without being rude?

While we’re at it, on the other end of things I do find it hilarious how quickly people open up on airplanes and tell you stuff that’s just plain unnecessary. Just recently, for example, a passenger told me within 30 seconds of sitting down that he had the flu, and this flight had no empty seats. Jeez, thanks! Just a few months ago I was sitting next to a mother, that within a few minutes of starting a conversation with me, decided to tell me that her daughter is a complete $&^% (I’ll keep it G-rated, so why don’t we just say “loose”), and that her boyfriend doesn’t really care about her but only wants to ____ her. Oh, best of all, her daughter was only 15.

Some people, I tell ya, and that’s only the tip of the iceberg….

Since there are so many great reader photos, let’s go with one of those today. Thanks to Eric for sending in this one.

Correct Answer: Seattle, Washington (Gasworks Park)
Winner: Mike

If you’d like your photo featured, please email it to me at onemileatatime@hotmail.com, along with the correct answer.

While it seems to be targeted, many have reported success registering for a double stay promotion by calling Hyatt with the promo code qqpd08. Hyatt really is going all out this year, with multiple double stay promotions as well as their awesome Faster Free Nights promotion.