Did you Ever see poachers help themselves to a hotel’s free breakfast buffet?

Are they called “poachers” because of the poached eggs served at breakfast?

Can one tell whether or not people who help themselves to the complimentary breakfast offered by such lodging chains as Hampton Inn, Holiday Inn Express or Fairfield Inn are actually guests of the establishment, or did they simply walk in off the street to take advantage of something juicy to which they are not even entitled?

Do the alleged poachers butter up the employees of the property so that they are not caught and become toast, or do they simply waffle around inconspicuously, milking the free breakfast for all that it is worth to them until they decide to cheese it because they do not have enough bread to pay for their own breakfast? Are some of them cereal offenders?

Some FlyerTalk members believe that there oat to be a strictly-enforced policy apple-ied to breakfast poachers to prevent this situation from occurring in the future…

If you are an American Express Membership Rewards member who is also a member of the Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards frequent flier loyalty program, you need to know — or, at least, be reminded — the news about Southwest Airlines no longer a partner effective July 1, 2010 because of Southwest dropping AmEx as Partner., so be sure to transfer your American Express Membership Rewards points to your Southwest Rapid Rewards account by June 30, 2010.

Included in the “Boarding and flexibility” option now for sale AA.com (nee PriorityAAccess for sale?) is an optional fee where non-elite American AAdvantage members who purchase non-Y economy class airfares are now offered the option of purchasing a “Boarding and Flexibility package” when purchasing a new ticket at www.AA.com.

Depending on distance for each one way, current pricing is $9, $14 or $19 per passenger, including connections.

In addition to early boarding privileges, one can also stand by for an earlier flight at no additional charge, as well as save $75 off the regular $150 service charge, when applicable, when one changes one’s travel itinerary.

Is this a good idea, or just another way for an airline to gouge its customers out of as many dollars as possible? Is this program fair or unfair to American AAdvantage elite members?

…but the offer is only good when originating from select cities such as Pittsburgh and Nashville.

Still, to take advantage of the double MQM + up to 50,000 bonus miles per round-trip promotion by Delta Air Lines, it may be worth positioning oneself to select airports around the United States to attain SkyMiles Medallion elite status — for 2011, anyway, as the promotion is good immediately until December 31, 2010.

The more round-trip flights one takes on Delta Air Lines from select origination cities for the remainder of 2010, the more Medallion Qualification Miles and bonus SkyMiles one can earn, as follows:

• 5,000 bonus Delta Air Lines SkyMiles plus double Medallion Qualification Miles when you fly to Delta Air Lines hub cities—Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis, New York/JFK and Salt Lake City
• 10,000 bonus Delta Air Lines SkyMiles plus double Medallion Qualification Miles for flights to all other cities in the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean — greater than 350 from which to choose
• 25,000 bonus Delta Air Lines SkyMiles plus double Medallion Qualification Miles for international travel in Economy Class to greater than 70 countries
• 50,000 bonus Delta Air Lines SkyMiles plus double Medallion Qualification Miles for international travel in BusinessElite

Other rules and restrictions apply.

Continental Airlines Presidents Club membership, Day Pass and Passbook rates will increase, and individuals and companies will be limited to a total of 20 Passbook purchases a year, both as of July 1, 2010. However, one can renew or purchase one’s Presidents Club membership before the July 1 rate increase.

One FlyerTalk member notes that Continental Airlines OnePass elite members will pay proportionately more than the non-elites regarding the Increase in PC membership fees. If this is indeed true, is this fair?

FlyerTalk members answer the question of What airline will you never fly again, and why?

While some FlyerTalk members answer the question with answers such as Eastern Airlines, TWA, Ansett Australia, Sabena, Pan Am and Braniff for obvious reasons, other FlyerTalk members list the airlines which still exist today on which they would never fly again with reasons such as the following, which includes but is not limited to:

• Terrible food
• Lack of in-flight entertainment on long-haul flights
• Back pain
• Burst eardrum
• Food poisoning
• Involuntary “bumps”
• Switched seat assignments with no advance notice
• Stolen video camera

Can you guess which airlines are being blamed for the above?

Delta plans RDU giveaway on Tuesday, June 15, 2010 when Delta Air Lines celebrates 40 continuous years of serving Raleigh-Durham International Airport and commemorates that milestone by giving away 40,000 SkyMiles to one passenger on each of its 41 flights departing from that airport all day tomorrow.

Jeff Robertson, who is vice president of the Delta Air Lines SkyMiles frequent flier loyalty program, will be there to help celebrate. Complimentary cookies will be passed out on the concourse.

One FlyerTalk member was so excited that he or she purchased a ticket for $378, thinking that he or she would automatically get the 40,000 bonus SkyMiles. Well, at least that FlyerTalk member can take advantage of the 24-hour risk-free cancellation policy if he or she is not feeling all that lucky after all…

Although FlyerTalk member flyersfo discusses Dangerous Rio where flyersfo was allegedly robbed by a group of knife-wielding teenagers at night at the beach at Ipamena in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, other FlyerTalk members impart sage advice about protecting oneself in a strange or unfamiliar city or country, no matter wherever one happens to be traveling.

Is Rio de Janeiro really more dangerous than other cities around the world, or did flyersfo just happen to be unfortunate enough to be involved in a deplorable incident?

Yes, US Airways is offering a Free 90 Day Silver Trial – Again for 2010.

While it is somewhat different than the promotion that was first posted here at The Gate last year, this offer is eligible only to those US Airways Dividend Miles members who are currently non-elite general members, did not have status in 2009 and have not done any trial or status match within the past 24 months. Also, one must purchase a non-refundable ticket on US Airways or US Airways Express online to qualify for the 90-day Silver Preferred trial status.

Among other perks, Silver Preferred status members of the US Airways Dividend Miles frequent flier loyalty program enjoy no bag fees for first and second checked bags, priority check-in and boarding, First Class upgrades and a choice of Preferred seats.

This promotion is good until August 15, 2010. Other rules and restrictions apply.

The pilots of Spirit Airlines, the airline that is expected to institute in August a fee of as much as $45 to place a carry-on bag in the overhead compartment, have walked out after three years of negotiations. The dispute is over pay and benefits. All flights for today have been canceled as a result of the Spirit Strike.

To add insult to injury for its passengers, Spirit Airlines will only offer credit on future flights and no cash refunds. However, to lessen the sting of the pain, Spirit is offering affected passengers a $100 Future Flight Credit in addition to full credit on what was paid for the canceled flight.