For those of you who are Hyatt Gold Passport members, you need to know that you can no longer earn Gold Passport points at Hawthorn Suites properties as of July 18, 2008. Award stays that have been already booked at Hawthorn Suites properties will be honored until October 18, 2008.

For additional details, please consult with the Sale of U.S. Franchise Systems, Inc. (Hawthorn Suites) thread.

Leave it to British Airways to make it real.

FlyerTalk member rweintra recounts a story about what was found on British Airways flight 347 in the There’s a WHAT on the plane?!?!? thread, which will rock you like a hurricane. The situation became so crazy, it was almost like being at the zoo. I will bet that at least some people could not wait to be coming home.

rweintra, no one like you can tell a story such as this one. It is enough to keep one in trance.

So, what in fact was found on the aircraft?

Hey you: is there anybody out there? Read the thread. Now!

Well, no. In fact, this story is potentially more disgusting. I would even go so far to say that this story blows, but that would be wishful thinking.

FlyerTalk member ALadyNCal went out to eat lunch at a restaurant where the server was serving the food while his nose was obviously dripping.

Hopefully what was dripping out of his nose is not the secret - or should I say secreted - ingredient that flavors the food.

ALadyNCal asks Sick Server — What would you have done?, which is a thread that has the potential to be running longer than the nose of the server. After all, who nose what you would have done if you do not post in that thread?

Time for me to sinus off on this one…

According to an email sent by United they do.  Check out the reactions.

Insider ITA Hacker has posted the clearest explanation I’ve ever seen on why you can sometimes avoid (or reduce) fuel surcharges.  Check out this invaluable info <here>.

At the time that this was written, there were 177,464 FlyerTalk members — enough people to populate a moderately-sized city.

It stands to reason, therefore, that FlyerTalk members, who are as varied and diverse as the population of most cities and towns throughout the world, could support each other in what I like to call the FlyerTalk Economy.

Perhaps your company is searching for a new employee? Is there a product or service that you want? Are you looking to travel to meet other FlyerTalk members and are looking for ways to increase your capital to finance the trip? Do you need assistance in completing a project?

Why not give preference to fulfilling your needs to a fellow FlyerTalk member?

Here are four threads to help jump-start the FlyerTalk Economy:

• Hire a Flyertalker - Ideal for both FlyerTalk members who are searching for employment, as well as FlyerTalk members who are looking to hire someone.
• The FlyerTalk Business Exchange Forum - Ideal for both FlyerTalk members who are searching for a product or service, as well as FlyerTalk members who are looking to promote either their own products and services or the products and services of their companies.
• Earning Compensation to Attend FlyerTalk Gatherings: An Idea - If you are attending a gathering of FlyerTalk members and are seeking ideas on how to finance the trip, why not be creative and ask FlyerTalk members in the area in which you plan to visit and find out if someone who can use your talents, products or services will compensate you?
• The Continuous “Please Assist a FlyerTalk Member” Get-Together Thread - Ideal for those FlyerTalk members who can mutually benefit each other by agreeing to offer their assistance and support to the other in order to complete projects, such as working on each other’s homes.

If there are any other threads that you believe would contribute to the FlyerTalk Economy, please send me an e-mail at canarsie@mail.flyertalk.com and I will update what has been posted here.

BlissWorld reported a fellow passenger had been denied upon boarding an operational upgrade given at check-in.  Has this happened to you?  What do you feel about it?  Does it matter if the op-up was given “in error”?  Link to the thread <here>.

We first brought you the “breaking news” on the “exclusive story” regarding wearing pajamas while traveling back in August of 2006.

Now we bring to you the PJ Etiquette thread where the topic is all about wearing pajamas on-board an aircraft. After all, we would be doing a disservice to post a link to a thread pertaining to pajamas but not to one which discusses the etiquette of wearing them on-board an aircraft.

For example, when is it acceptable to change from your clothes to your pajamas? Where is an appropriate place to do so? What does one do with one’s wallet once changing into one’s pajamas? Should one even change into pajamas in the first place? Do you prefer to keep them wrapped and either take them home as a souvenir or sell them? Is that even acceptable?

Thank goodness there is not a thread that discusses underwear etiquette on-board an aircraft…

Imagine the surprised look on the face of FlyerTalk member henwood when booking a flight at the Internet web site of Delta Air Lines, only to be alerted “Sorry, but your fare has gone down.”

Difficult as it was and reluctant to accept the fact, henwood saved money on the Delta Air Lines airfare.

What was the routing henwood was taking, and how much money was actually saved? Could this anomaly happen to you someday? What do other FlyerTalk members think?

In the United Airlines Mileage Plus forum there is frequent discussion on the reduced availability for awards flying on partner airlines, relative to using some other Star Alliance frequent flyer miles.  A sample of recent threads includes Air New Zealand (UA filtering NZ), Asian airlines (UA filtering NH, OZ, SQ and TG), Lufthansa (UA being stingy with LH), general (UA gets tough on manual sell for award seats), and I hate the ANA tool.  A simple search on “Starnet” brings up many more threads.

For those unfamiliar with the ANA tool, anyone can sign up to the ANA program and search for awards on all Star Alliance airlines (except Swiss) online.

This is not something as simple as a blackout for a short period, or the oft-discussed situation whereby Qantas releases awards 355 days before departure but AAdvantage can only access them 330 days prior (thus many prime awards have already gone).

Do other frequent flyer programs have a similar issue of reduced availability on partner airlines?