And both of the cards are issued by JPMorgan Chase! I understand that most products are cheaper in the US due to lower tariffs, larger market and competition, but to have a card annual fee (much) higher in Canada when the currencies are almost at par it is ludicrous.

And now about the offer, that I received some time ago. It said that if I applied by October 31^st I would earn 50,000 bonus points. It seemed tempting all these points plus a free night stay at any category 1-4 hotel.

However, the annual fee was $120 (waived for the first year) and maybe it’s me but I do not like paying annual fees.

What if I apply, get the points and then cancel the card? The offer did not say anything about a cancellation fee, anything about cancelling for that matter .

So I called and the Customer Service Representative told me I could cancel after 6 months without paying any penalty. Then I said what if everyone did this and almost right away I knew what she would say “the free night stay at any Category 1-5 hotel after the account anniversary”.

The free night might be worth more than $120 plus all the other advantages. However, the free night must be redeemed within 6 months from date of issue and from past experiences I know I will have a hard time finding a location where I would like to go and all my travel plans would seem to revolve using the free night certificate.

And cancelling the card after 6 months somehow I did not feel good about it. One thing is to realize that I do not need the card after I use it for a few months, but it is different to start with the mindset that I would cancel the card immediately after I am allowed to.

So in the end I did not apply for the Marriott Rewards Premier Visa Card.

I have just read in an Air Canada newsletter: “We’re delighted to have been chosen as one of the world’s ten best airlines for in-flight entertainment (IFE) by SmarterTravel.com. Air Canada has been ranked as one of the world’s ten best airlines offering the most advanced, unique, and high-quality in-flight entertainment offerings in the industry.”

Virgin America was 1st, Air Canada 2nd and Emirates 3rd.

Yes, I miss the IFE, it made flying much easier. Due to some work changes I have not flown for some time. Travelling every week was tiring but the best I found was to travel once every other week, however it is difficult to find this kind of work. It seems you either have to travel on a weekly basis for work or you don’t travel at all.

I was curious what movies they have now on so I checked on http://enroute.aircanada.com and this is a movie that I have not seen.

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES

Eight years on, a new terrorist leader, Bane, overwhelms Gotham’s finest, and the Dark Knight resurfaces to protect a city that has branded him an enemy. (164 min)

Usually when I see a contest on Facebook I pass especially if I have to write stories. However, we are talking here about 750 round-trip tickets, so the chances are good.

https://www.facebook.com/aircanada/app_318740734900406

So, let’s participate this time, I’ll write a (very) short story and be done with it.

Suggestion for Air Canada: best stories (as chosen by the Air Canada employees, not by the friends of the contestants) to be published in an anniversary book.

Anyway, why do they ask for the phone number? They say to contact the winners. But no, don’t contact them, make them visit the Facebook page and have them contact you in 3 days let’s say. At least they can do this, otherwise it means they are not really interested so why waste time with them. Organize another draw and allocate the remaining spots and so on.

The link for the contest is here

Europe – The Final Countdown

I will use RANDOM.ORG to choose the winner.

Did you know that RANDOM.ORG is a true random number service that generates randomness via atmospheric noise?

The post has 13 comments (around 4 PM PST). The site random.org is down now! I will try later.

The post has 15 comments now (9 PM PST). However, last 3 comments are after the deadline so they will not be taken into consideration.

Comment #11 is from Wei.

Wei, I will contact you.

“San Francisco Airport gets raves for its art museum, restaurants, and a Zen Room stocked with yoga mats. But SFO airport is among the worst three U.S. airports for flight delays, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS).

No. 1 Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)
Flights Delayed: 23.83%
Best Time Window: Before 7 a.m.
Worst Time Window: 1–11 p.m.

No. 2 San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
Flights Delayed: 21.78%
Best Time Window: Before 8 a.m.
Worst Time Window: 10 a.m.–10 p.m.

No. 3 Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW)
Flights Delayed: 20.1%
Best Time Window: Before 8 a.m.
Worst Time Window: Anytime after 3 p.m.”

Full list and article here

Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. This is the definition from the site and the cool thing is that you can provide the URL of any blog, blog feed, or any other web page that has an Atom or RSS feed.

www.boardingarea.com

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/theskepticaltraveler/

I am not fascinated by the recycling bins  but just curios to what degree the airports are ‘recycling friendly’.

And this is my ‘report’ starting with the worst offender. It is the Munich Airport, where there are no recycling bins!?! Who would have thought I would have found this situation in Germany who has been at the forefront of recycling. I was so surprised that I went to the Customer Service. She feigned some surprise that there were no recycling bins and that was it (she seemed quite annoyed that I disturbed her with such an issue, any issue for that matter).

Only one type of waste bin in the Munich Airport

Quebec: 2 bins, 1 of them for recyclables (I suppose someone will separate them later)

And for the rest of the airports I have visited, the recycling bins are as expected. The ones from Geneva are the ‘best’, there are four bins very clearly marked, easy to identify what they are for.

Bucharest

Brussels

Calgary

Geneva

Montreal

San Francisco

Vancouver

Victoria

“From October 16 until December 31, 2012, every time you fly between Canada and Europe, Israel, Asia, Australia or South America, with a Tango Plus, Latitude or Executive First fare …”

I wonder why they mention ‘Israel, Asia’ separately. Israel is in Asia. Not that Wikipedia is the ultimate truth but it is the only free encyclopedia (I am thinking of getting access to the Encyclopedia Britannica as I heard the quality of their articles is better) I know of so I will quote from it for the sake of it as anyway I knew that Israel is in Asia:

“The highest temperature in the continent of Asia (53.7 °C/128.7 °F) was recorded in 1942 at Tirat Zvi kibbutz in the northern Jordan river valley.”
“Israel is considered one of the most advanced countries in Southwest Asia in economic and industrial development”

However, Israel being in Asia seems to be a fact many people are not sure of as Google shows for the following searches:

“Is Israel in Asia?” – 73,400 results, “Is Jordan in Asia?” – 300 results.

Everyone (almost) knows Jordan is in Asia, but what about Israel?

No wonder that Air Canada was not so sure themselves and preferred to enumerate Israel distinctly among all the other continents .