OK, so on a Ted flight last week I observed one of the flight attendants remove the twisty thing (the word for it escapes me right now) at the top of a 12 oz. Coke can of each can he collected and place them in his pocket. He also seemed to insist on doing all the trash pick-ups, since he really seemed to want the tops. Anyone know why he’d want them? Is it to subsidize his income by recycling them? Is he like my 2nd grade teacher that collected them so she could visually show us how much a million was?

Enlighten me, please!

And My Coke Rewards is now officially useless. I’ve earned tons of Priority Club points throughout the years just for entering codes at mycokerewards.com. While they’ve changed the rules on Priority Club point redemptions many times, they always ended up switching it back to something reasonable. Well, now they’re limiting Priority Club redemptions to one per My Coke Rewards account. I have a bunch of codes sitting here, so I’m wondering whether I should create a new account. Erm, I mean get a friend (not living in the same household, of course) with a different IP address to open a new account.

Let’s hope this policy isn’t permanent, as I’m really not interested in any of their other redemption options.

The 21st Annual Freddie Awards were held this past Thursday at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale, and I had the opportunity to attend. Randy Petersen generously invites FlyerTalkers to attend, so this was the second year in a row I took him up on the offer (last year was in Phoenix).

The Freddie Awards aren’t just a quick award show, but rather a whole evening and night of fun, starting at around 4:30PM and going well past midnight. This year the cocktail reception was out by the pool (starting in the afternoon), inhabited mostly by industry representatives. This is where I had the chance to speak with all the United representatives as well as the (very funny) Lufthansa representative. The Freddie Awards are one of the few opportunities we have as frequent flyers to make suggestions to the industry folks in such a direct way.

The cocktail reception was followed by dinner, which was followed by the awards ceremony. I always find the results to be interesting, since it’s not just a matter of getting the most votes, but rather a “value vote,” whereby voters rate how important certain categories/programs are to them.

Now, as far as the hotel programs go, I’m always surprised by how well Marriott performs. They have some of the highest elite qualification requirements and their elite benefits are fairly limited compared to most of the other programs. Nonetheless, if a program can offer relatively limited elite benefits and get such high marks from customers, more power to them. It will be interesting to see if there’s a shift in the results next year, given that Hyatt has introduced free internet for all elite members along with electronic suite upgrades for their Diamond members.

On the airline front, I think we see just how disgruntled frequent flyers are nowadays. This year, for example, AirTran scored higher in the “Best Elite-level Program” than United, Delta, and American, for example, which I can’t understand. It seems that a lot of people vote based on the progressions of the individual program over time, meaning they’re comparing their favorite elite program this year to the same program five years ago, instead of looking at the big picture. I certainly understand the frustration frequent travelers have with the legacy airlines, but I think they still have the best elite levels, no matter how you slice it.

As much as I’m frustrated by United raising award redemption levels, blocking some partner inventory, and limiting upgrade space, I think they still have a great frequent flyer program. The same goes for American, which hasn’t had such drastic cutbacks, yet only scored in seventh place in the “best elite level” category.

It just comes to show you that the best program isn’t necessarily the one that has the most benefits, but rather the program which does the best job managing customer expectations.

I just got this email from Delta, and Northwest seems to have a similar offer out there at the moment:

Dear Mr. Lucky, Book Now!

You now have 500 reasons to buy your next ticket at delta.com.

Earn up to 500 bonus miles on all flights you book at delta.com between April 28 and May 31, 2009. No enrollment is required!

Here are the full terms and conditions:

Terms & Conditions
Eligibility: Promotional enrollment is not required. To participate in this offer, eligible members must have a SkyMiles® account with a U.S. address. Bonus Offer: Earn 500 bonus miles for each flown round-trip qualifying ticket (250 bonus miles for each one way ticket) purchased at delta.com. A qualifying ticket includes any Delta or Northwest coded flight purchased at delta.com. Flights must be sold under the DL or NW code. Bonus miles do not count toward Medallion® or Million Miler™ status. Bonus applies only to the SkyMiles member flying and purchasing the qualifying ticket at delta.com. Purchase Period: Tickets must be purchased between April 28, 2009 and May 31, 2009 for travel anytime. Best Fare Guarantee: Best Fare Guarantee is valid for electronic tickets purchased by credit card with a United States billing address at delta.com for travel originating in the 50 United States. Voucher offer only applies for lower published Delta fares found that same day for the exact same itinerary including the exact same Delta flight, cabin, booking class and flight time of the itinerary purchased at delta.com. Difference in total fares (including third party booking fees) must be equal to or greater than $10. Cancellation/refund request must be made by midnight the first day of travel or midnight the day after purchase is made, whichever comes first. For a voucher claim to be valid, it must satisfy all terms and conditions and be submitted in compliance with the claims processing procedures. Fares, offers and rules are subject to change without notice. Additional restrictions apply. Visit delta.com/bestfare for additional details Additional Restrictions: Bonus miles will post to the SkyMiles account of the qualifying member 4-6 weeks following the end of the promotion (May 31, 2009). Taxes and fees for Award Travel are the responsibility of the passenger and must be paid at the time the ticket is booked. Award Travel seats are limited and may not be available on all flights or in all markets. All SkyMiles program rules apply. To review the rules, please visit Membership Guide & Program Rules. Offer void where prohibited by law. Other restrictions may apply. Offer subject to change. Please refer Delta customer service representative to 970639.  

While it’s not a big enough incentive to book Delta if you otherwise wouldn’t have, it’s a nice bonus.

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

Correct Answer: Las Vegas, Nevada (Wynn)
Winner: Blake

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

Check it out:

Do 5 inches really matter? There are many places where 5 inches makes a world of difference, and Economy Plus® seating is one of them.

Something tells me if they advertise this via email, it will end up in my spam folder.

Oh, United, you leave me speechless….

Check out this Fortune article about my friend Frank, one of United’s best employees. No one loves United more than he does. It’s refreshing to see an article like this where I can say with 100% certainty that every word is true. If you attended Fleet Week last year or were one of the lucky FlyerTalkers that took part in the maintenance base tour two years ago, Frank is the one to thank.

Here’s an innovative new benefit for Delta American Express cardmembers:

We have exciting news to share. We’re now adding new benefits to your Platinum Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express so you can save even more on flights.
Now you can schedule your Award Travel with more flexibility, because the award ticket redemption fees are waived. As an additional benefit, you can book with any of our partner airlines and we’ll waive the handling charges. Here’s how much you can save:
• No award ticket redemption fees – a savings of up to $150
• No fees when you book on any Delta partner airline – a savings of $25
Use your Card to book Award Travel when you want, as close to the travel date as you’d like.

That can be quite valuable, when you think about it. You can save on the close-in fees and all the other BS fees Delta charges their members for award redemption. Kudos to them for adding this benefit, as I’m sure it’ll convince some people to get their credit card. This is a true win-win.

(Tip of the hat to Peter)

Some frequent travelers avoid Southwest because of their onboard humor, which I can understand to a certain extent, especially for those that fly 100+ segments a year. While the normal set of jokes can get old, I think this flight attendant rap is hilarious (and extremely well done):

Am I the only one that thought that was hilarious, at least the first time around? I love the businessman sitting in the front left that looks irritated at first, but is laughing by the end of the rap.

Even more interesting, though, is this flight attendant rap (possibly NSFW), which I found in the “related videos” section.

I apologize for not having written a review of the Freddies yet, but I promise it’s coming. I’m done with classes on Monday, at which point I’ll have plenty of time to write a review. On a personal note the Freddies were especially interesting this year, since I had the chance to talk with three Mileage Plus executives, including Graham Atkinson and Robert Sahadevan. Believe it or not, I sort of understand Starnet blocking from a different angle now. Stay tuned!