I saw this on FlyerTalk, but it’s simply too good to pass up. Check out this auction. Let’s go through this together, shall we?

2. The account is is only 4,600 miles away to reach Gold Status. That means you are only one flight away to become Gold Memeber.

First of all, wouldn’t it be cool if he actually knew the name of the status, “Premier.” Second, wouldn’t it be nice if he knew that the person he sells this to can’t fly under his Mileage Plus number.

Membership level: Member
Current redeemable miles balance: 44,232
Year to date Elite Qualifying Miles (EQM) 20,402
Year to date Elite Qualifying Segments (EQS) 5
Lifetime United flight miles: 0

While I’m all for providing as many details as possible when putting up an auction, this is a case of too many details. I mean, how many Mileage Plus members have 44,232 redeemable miles, 20,402 elite qualifying miles, and five elite qualifying segments, all while having zero lifetime miles on United? That raises another question: why the hell is this person crediting to United if he never flies with them?

….CHECK MY 100% POSITIVE FEEDBACK !

Let’s see how long that lasts….

Regarding my next level status indicated below, please double check with United with the requirement.

So I guess the phone call would go something like “Hi, I’m thinking about buying a mileage accout on ebay, but I just wanted to double check that I would make Gold status if I earned 4,400 more miles. Is this correct?

I believe my account is 4,600 away from the next status, which might subject to United terms.

Like, eh, not selling your miles on ebay while posting all the information United could possibly want to close your account?

Posted on May 31st, 2009 by lucky
Filed under: Misc., United | 3 Comments »

After a nice dinner with about a dozen FlyerTalkers, I got to the airport about an hour before departure for my flight to LAX. As I walked up to the gate the screens were on the “confirmed awaiting seats” page, which were showing 15 passengers, and the second page showed seven passengers, for a grand total of 22 passengers without seats. Cha-ching!

Moments later the gate agent made an announcement saying they needed volunteers and that they’d rebook passengers on a flight tomorrow morning. I volunteered and promptly got booked on the nonstop SFO-PHL redeye (instead of my original routing of SFO-LAX-PHL). The agent offered me a free ticket, but I asked for travel credits. After saying no at first, he changed his mind and said he could do $300. I agreed, given that I’d be getting home at the same time, and walked away a happy camper.

All three of my onward flights looked packed as well, which is why I decided to stick with PHL instead of trying for a different routing.

United’s inventory management has been truly insane as of late….

Posted on May 31st, 2009 by lucky
Filed under: Mileage Runs, United | 3 Comments »

Shortly I’ll begin my four segment journey back east, and it’s looking like a fun couple of days. All four flights I’m booked on are zeroed out in coach. The two planes with first class have a couple of seats open there, but that’s about it.

Wish me luck!

Posted on May 31st, 2009 by lucky
Filed under: Mileage Runs, United | No Comments »

For me one of the most entertaining parts of flying first class is when cookies and milk are served. You see people in suits dunking their cookies in milk, which is a priceless site. So admit it, how many of you do this?

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By the way, I took it one step further yesterday, and it was totally worth it. I asked for a spoon, and separated the cookie into about a dozen pieces. I then placed them all in the milk, and after about a minute enjoyed the pure crumby, chocolaty goodness…. give it a try!

Posted on May 31st, 2009 by lucky
Filed under: Misc. | 10 Comments »

I really love the InterContinental San Francisco, especially as a Royal Ambassador. The hotel is reasonably priced, has exceptional employees overall, and tends to treat Royal Ambassadors particularly well. I’ll post a more thorough review when I get back home next week.

There is one thing that really bugged me upon check-in just a couple of hours ago, though. As I entered the hotel I went towards the Ambassador check-in desk, which was unmanned. I asked someone at the concierge desk, which is located right next to it, whether there was anyone manning the Ambassador desk. The response from this gentleman was appalling: “You’re an Ambassador?”

I responded “I’m actually a Royal Ambassador,” and all of a sudden he couldn’t have been nicer. He addressed me by name, asked me to take a seat, etc. Nonetheless, the way he phrased that question left me annoyed. In all fairness I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt and I’m probably among the youngest Royal Ambassadors out there, but that doesn’t make me any less likely to be an Ambassador (or Royal Ambassador) than anyone else. What disgusts me the most about this is that anyone can join the Ambassador program for $150. I guess he just thought I wasn’t worthy.

Am I off base?

Posted on May 30th, 2009 by lucky
Filed under: Hotels, Priority Club | 18 Comments »

For the three people reading this that don’t browse FlyerTalk between the hours of 2AM and 5AM (east coast time, that is), United just eliminated online ticket holds, which totally sucks. Holds are incredibly useful when trying to apply vouchers to tickets, be they paper vouchers or electronic vouchers. This change is going to cost me (and in turn United) quite a bit of time. In the past I would put itineraries on hold and then ticket them via web support (since I book many roundtrips using the multi-city tool) using an e-certificate. Now I’ll have to call web support and waste their time as they piece together my itinerary.

So why would United make this change? Well, I’m guessing it comes down to ticket holds screwing with inventory management a bit too much for their comfort. In the past you could only hold one of the same flight at a time, but as of late you can hold several seats on the same flight for the same person at the same time. I can see how this could be potentially problematic, especially on the smaller planes where inventory is tightly controlled. Along the same lines, I’m guessing somewhere in United’s thought process was the fact that people were holding itineraries and waited to ticket until the price either dropped or went up to determine when to ticket. Given that United recently got rid of the ability to refare, I’m guessing that was a consideration for them.

While the old system might have been too generous, there has to be some compromise. Why not go back to allowing one hold per flight, or something similar? This decision is bad for consumers and bad for United.

Posted on May 30th, 2009 by lucky
Filed under: United | 11 Comments »

Going through the TSA checkpoint moments ago here in TPA at the unholy hour of 4:45AM, I witnessed something I haven’t seen in years. A young guy with baggy pants, a backwards baseball cap, and enough bling to break a metal detector comes to the checkpoint with his boarding pass. The conversation from there goes something like this:

ID Checker: Can I see your ID please?
Dude: My ID? Man, they ain’t tell me I need no ID.
ID Checker: Yes, you need an ID. You don’t even have a wallet?
Dude: No, why would I have that?
ID Checker: You have nothing with your name on it?
Dude: No. Man, is they gonna let me fly? No one told me I needed an ID….

At that point I switched lines to actually get through the checkpoint. I think I found the last person in this country that didn’t know you need an ID to fly (fine, technically you don’t, but he wasn’t trying to be a maverick, obviously). Had this been an Australian or some smartass I would have guessed otherwise, but he genuinely didn’t realize one would ever need an ID to fly.

Posted on May 30th, 2009 by lucky
Filed under: Security/TSA | 3 Comments »

At this point you’d probably think this is a blog to point out technical glitches with airline websites, no? I’m pulling an all nighter, and was about to book a Delta flight, when I saw this on the final booking page:

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Given that this is both a flight in coach on Delta (pre-upgrade, of course) AND an evening flight, I think I better hold off till I’m well rested to book this, since I must be going crazy.

Posted on May 30th, 2009 by lucky
Filed under: Delta, Northwest | No Comments »

untitled

(Worry not, the full story of my flights will be coming soon. Prepare to be impressed.)

Posted on May 30th, 2009 by lucky
Filed under: United | 3 Comments »

While I’m usually not a morning person, I do just fine getting up for early flights…. up until a certain point. I never count on getting a full night of sleep before flying, because I go to bed at my normal time (the wee hours of the night), and get up at some early hour (the wee hours of the night). The worst for me, however, is the flight I have tomorrow morning from Tampa to Washington. It departs at 5:40AM, which means I have to get up at 3AM.

So what would you do in this case? I know I won’t make it to bed before 1AM, or so. Should I even try sleeping? I’ve been in the same situation so many times before, and I usually end up getting about 45 minutes of sleep, since I roll around in my bed for about 45 minutes pondering whether or not I’ll hear the alarm.

Gah!

Posted on May 29th, 2009 by lucky
Filed under: Travel, United | 9 Comments »

Once in a while I’ll see the word “elitist” thrown around when talking about frequent flyers and their general attitudes, but I had to laugh when I saw Thai Airways’ description of their first class product:

Royal First Class represents the ultimate in flying luxury, awarding privileged recognition to those who have achieved the pinnacle of social or professional status.

Well, having flown Thai Airways first class several times, and not having “achieved the pinnacle of social or professional status,” I guess I’ve “achieved the pinnacle of social status.” Yeah, let’s just go with that…. :D

Posted on May 29th, 2009 by lucky
Filed under: Thai | 4 Comments »

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