Posted by Seth on July 30, 2009 under Uncategorized | 
OK, so maybe I jumped the gun a bit on my post earlier this morning. Forget maybe. I definitely jumped the gun. I posted a lot of things based on some assumptions and the way that all the other programs I’ve seen through the years operate. It turns out that jetBlue is actually trying to change the way things work in the loyalty marketing sector – a lot.
Not much more than an hour after my last post I actually received an email from Dave Canty, Director of Loyalty for jetBlue. I’ve worked with Dave in the past and so when he said we needed to talk to clear up some of my misconceptions I was quite happy to take the call and get some better answers to the questions that are swirling about with respect to TrueBlue2. And so, 30 minutes later, I was chock full of actual information, including answers to some of the more glaring omissions from the initial release.
Mr. Canty certainly seems to have the right idea when it comes to creating value from a loyalty program. I know that from our previous discussions and it was reinforced by some comments he made in this afternoon’s call. There is the issue of availability and getting to extract actual value from a program rather than just the perceived value that the marketing folks put on the table, essentially summed up thusly: “Programs have lost their utility due to capacity controls, among other things.” I’m not so sure that they have completely lost their value, but certainly the capacity controls have a notable negative impact on the value of the points earned.
One of the main drawbacks of the TrueBlue program was that the occasional flier struggled, unless they held the jetBlue AmEx card. Watching the points expire and knowing that there is nothing to be done about it always hurts. At the same time, it is important to not destroy the value for the very frequent flier (VFFs) out there. The VFFs are generally where the bulk of the revenue comes from so they have to feel that they are getting value for their investment. Mr. Canty accurately summed up the challenge he faced:
[We] absolutely want to reward frequent fliers…and at least match the value for the current members. We also wanted to come up with an opportunity for the [less frequent] fliers to get value, too.
On the earnings side, it looks like the basic numbers I had before are correct. Earning will occur at 3 points per dollar of the base fare (excluding taxes and whatnot). That will double to 6 points per dollar for folks who buy at www.jetBlue.com and for customers with a jetBlue American Express card they’ll receive their normal 1 point/dollar spend and a bonus dollar for spend on the jetBlue website. That’s pretty straightforward. But there is more. Lots more.
There are bonus thresholds out there. After the first $500 in spend a TrueBlue member will have earned 3,000 points in the program. This is rewarded with 500 bonus points. After $1,000 in spend (6,000 points, not including the 500 bonus points previously received) there is a threshold bonus of 1,000 points. There is an additional 2,000 bonus points granted at $1,500 in spend (9,000 base points) and then 4,000 bonus points for each additional $500 spend. Those bonus numbers can really add up in a hurry. By the time a customer reaches $2,000 in spending they will actually be earning bonus miles faster than base miles in the program. As if the spend bonus wasn’t enough, the new TrueBlue program is also going to reward their frequent transcon customers. Flying five transcon round-trip flights (previously sufficient to ensure 100 TB points and a reward) will net a bonus of 10,000 TB2 points, essentially guaranteeing that a customer has enough points for a reward on the jetBlue network. And all the miles are pooled together for the sake of reward redemptions, which is very good.
OK…so now the earning ratios are covered and they’re much better than previously expected. What about the redemption rates? This is what the jetBlue website states:
You will need at least 5,000 points to earn an Award for a oneway flight. The number of points required to redeem an Award flight will vary according to the flight chosen; for example, some flights may require more than 5,000 points depending on your choice of destination, day of the week, time of year and how far in advance you are booking your flight.
I interpreted that as a linear redemption path, starting at $50 in value for 5,000 points. Boy was I ever wrong. There are going to be three redemption price-points, similar to the approach Delta has taken with their reward charts, though mapped rather differently. The rewards will be based on the current selling price of tickets on the desired reward redemption flight, with the 5,000 point tickets covering the cheapest “pool” of fares and a 10,000 point redemption level covering the bulk of the fares jetBlue sells seats at. There will be a higher redemption bucket for last seat availability and the highest fares but the redemption value isn’t yet clear for those. Based on the current prices at which seats are selling and some of the data analysis the folks at jetBlue have done, they expect that the average redemption will come in below 20,000 points for a return ticket. That is a better value than today for a straight AmEx spend and they expect that it will also solve a few other value-based issues that they are seeing today in the program.
Redeeming a TrueBlue award for a short-haul today is, essentially, a losing proposition from a value perspective. Redeeming for JFK-Syracuse when the same amount of points can be used for a JFK-Aruba reward seems counter-intuitive. The new program will definitely discount the redemption costs at the bottom end of the fare bucket and include the vast majority of the seats in their inventory at the “regular” level of 10,000 points/seat.
So, with that all out of the way, let’s take a look at a few different examples of “typical” customers:
First off, the customer who flies 5 return transcons annually at the cheaper end of the spectrum. Previously they’d spend about $1,250 and earn 100 TB points, enough to redeem for a round-trip reward. In the new plan they will earn 7,500 base points, 1,500 bonus points for spend and 10,000 bonus points for transcon flying. That puts them at 19,000 total points and right at the “average” redemption cost for a reward in the new program. In other words, their net change is nil.
If that same customer were to commute between the coasts ten times annually, however, the numbers skew much differently. Under the old program they’d get one more freebie. Under the new program that customer would do MUCH better. The second set of five transcon trips would earn another 10,000 bonus points for the flying, as well as spend threshold bonuses at $1,500, $2,000 and $2,500 for a total of 10,000 more bonus points. That totals 29,000 points earned for the second set of five transcons or a total of almost 50,000 total earned for the year.
For the NY-Florida commuter the value comes from the spend threshold bonuses. The ~$2,000 spend that the old program required for 100 TB points will realize 19,500 total points in the new scheme. Again, that’s enough for a redemption in most cases and additional travel will earn at a faster pace since the spend threshold bonuses are higher the more one spends.
On the partner integration front things are somewhat mixed. Day one of the TB2 program (expected now to be sometime in September ‘09) will not have a ton of partners integrated into the mix. The good news is that there are a lot on the horizon, including potential of implementing the much hoped for Lufthansa partnership. Many of these integrations are expected to happen in the 6 months between the initial launch and the end of Q1 ‘10.
There are other “soft” benefits coming, too. These might include pre-boarding, free EML upgrades and other benefits. They have not been finalized yet and will not be until sometime in Q1 ‘10. Part of it is a technical issue – they have to integrate all the new systems and jetBlue has a lot of those coming online right now – and part of it is a process and training issue. They need to make sure that their airport agents can be sufficiently trained to actually deliver on the soft product and right now there just isn’t time to make that happen.
The new TrueBlue program looks very much like it will compare favorably to the old program, both for the VFFs and the infrequent customers. The less frequent fliers will have access to some rewards eventually instead of kissing their points goodbye at the end of 12 months. That’s good news for the folks who are currently loving the jetBlue experience. But what about customers in other programs? Is the new TrueBlue2 a sufficient draw to gain converts? I think the jury is still out on that one. A direct correlation between spend and “elite” status (bonus miles, priority handling, etc.) is a nice draw, particularly for folks who buy expensive tickets when they travel but who don’t necessarily travel too frequently. For folks who get lots of very long flights for very cheap TrueBlue2 still isn’t quite there, but it is darn close. I’ll definitely be reexamining my travel plans next year – especially once the Lufthansa details are known – and perhaps I won’t feel like I’m throwing points away when I travel on jetBlue any more.
Oh, and sorry for all the misinformation earlier.
Posted by Seth on July 30, 2009 under Uncategorized |
I’ve been speculating for a while on some of the changes that will be coming out as part of the new TrueBlue 2 program, jetBlue’s planned re-launch of their loyalty program. I heard some bits direct from the horse’s mouth, so to speak, and other bits were inferred from some of the surveys they’ve sent around and other bits of information that have made their way onto the intertubez. Now, finally, the carrier has actually announced some of the details of the new program. And, as with any change in a program, there is some good news and plenty of not so good news, too. The impact will depend on one’s personal travel patterns but the new program definitely looks to be an improvement for at least some customers.
The new program is going to be based on dollar-spend on flights with the carrier. This isn’t really a surprise (I mentioned it as far back as March). Now they’ve released some of the details of that earning. Earning will be at 3 points per dollar spent on airfare. The earning will double to 6 points per dollar for flights booked online, keeping with jetBlue’s double credit for online booking approach that they’ve had since the launch of the original TrueBlue program. The fact that the earning is on fare and fees (like EML seating or checked baggage) but excluding taxes is likely to cause some confusion for some customers (Why did I only earn 291 points if my ticket cost $110??) but such is life.
The new program will also be much better for the customer in terms of point expiration. The current program expires all points 12 months after they are earned, regardless of whether there is additional activity with the TrueBlue program (with an exception for folks who carry the co-branded AmEx card). The new program will not expire any points as long as there is activity on the account within 12 months. That is a pretty good deal, though the 12 month horizon is still at the short end in the industry. But at least the points no longer expire just because. And there will also no longer be a forced issuance of rewards once a customer hits the magic 100 point threshold, another problem with the old program. I actually think that this is a major improvement in the program.
And then the bad news. They haven’t released a reward chart yet. The only information available is this:
You will need at least 5,000 points to earn an Award for a oneway flight. The number of points required to redeem an Award flight will vary according to the flight chosen; for example, some flights may require more than 5,000 points depending on your choice of destination, day of the week, time of year and how far in advance you are booking your flight.
Considering that the lowest price jetBlue traditionally publishes fares at (excluding most sales) is $44-49 each way, that pretty much puts the value of the points earned at a penny each. Not too much of a surprise. So lets extend that out a bit. Earning 5,000 points will actually cost somewhere between $833 in airfare purchases (excluding taxes) assuming an online customer. And as a reward for that spend you get a $50 plane ticket. That’s actually a 6% ROI for the travel spend (excluding taxes). This scheme should appeal to folks who are constantly buying more expensive tickets, as they are now going to get more value for their short flights. And compared to the programs of the legacy carriers it actually is much better in that regard since short, expensive hops are a terrible value in the legacy programs. But that seems to be where the benefits end.
Looking at a leisure traveler, one who does really well in the program today, however, and things are not quite as clear. Take the customer who pays, on average, $250 for a transcon round trip (which is a pretty good price) and buying everything online. Those folks used to get a free reward flight for spending about $1,200 and earning 100 TrueBlue points. That same spend will earn 7,200 points in the TrueBlue2 program at the online rate of 6 points per dollar spent. That’s enough for about $75 in travel credit, nowhere near enough for a round trip ticket. That $1,200 spend used to be enough for a flight anywhere within the jetBlue network. Now it might get you from Long Beach to Las Vegas. That pretty much sucks.
For the Florida or Caribbean commuter – jetBlue’s other major traffic center – the number are similarly bad. At around $200-300 for a round trip flight (again, at the low end of the price scheme) it would generally require about $1,500-2,000 in spend to realize a reward. Now that same spend nets 9,000-12,000 points, or about $100 in travel credit. So the amount of travel required would at least double to realize a reward. At the most expensive end of the jetBlue fare structure – a $439 ticket one-way from New York to Ft. Lauderdale – it would take just over $5,000 in spend to get to 100 TrueBlue points and a reward in the current scheme. In the new scheme that would be 30,000 TB2 points. Assuming the value applies linearly that’s about $300 in travel credit, barely enough for a discount round-trip ticket.
Finally, a quick look at the earning options for the credit card folks. The TrueBlue AmEx will now earn points at a straight $1 = 1 point rate. That is basically in line with every other program out there. At $25,000 in spend that’s 25,000 in TB2 points, or about $250 in credits. Not horrible, but not the same as a reward ticket anywhere in the jetBlue network, which is what $20,000 in spend used to accomplish. Moreover, at $50,000 in spend ($60,000 on Delta) one normally could redeem for last seat availability. At $439 each way on jetBlue that will cost many more points.
There are still no details available about the potential for redemption on jetBlue partners such as Aer Lingus or Lufthansa, something that was supposed to be part of this program. I’d be disappointed, but at the rates involved for other redemptions I’m not really sure it matters at all.
The marketing guys are going to work really hard to sell no blackout dates and great availability since they no longer will need to restrict inventory. But the cost of these improvements, and the commensurate loss of value in the program, really hurts. I was afraid that this was coming. The writing was on the wall. And now the writing is on their website and it doesn’t look good at all. TrueBlue will remain an “also ran” in the world of loyalty programs, at least for me. There are too many great earning opportunities elsewhere for my money.
Update: Wow did I ever screw this one up. I received an email shortly after this post and just got to have a conversation with Dave Canty, the Director of Loyalty for jetBlue. Suffice it to say that I made a pretty big ass out of myself and umption with some of the stuff posted above. The revised and much more accurate details can be found here. Sorry about that.
Posted by Seth on July 29, 2009 under Uncategorized |
When Larry Kellner, CEO of Continental, said during their quarterly earnings call that he felt the transition time between SkyTeam and Star Alliance would be days, not weeks or months, I’m not sure that this is what he had in mind. It turns out that Continental is actually starting the transition today, if their web site is to be believed. Sure, they have almost 90 days left in SkyTeam, but why let that get in the way of an orderly transition?
Effective July 1 (but only announced today…thanks, guys) Continental will be offering credit in their OnePass program for many flights on Star Alliance carriers. There is some fine print, but the overall effect appears to be quite positive. For now credit will only be given if there is a connection to or from an intercontinental Continental flight. And the credit can only be received for a single segment. Considering that Continental has been selling connections to United and ANA lately on their website, having the ability to earn miles on those flights is really pretty nice.
OnePass members will earn 100% credit on the actual number of miles flown for all fare classes, with a 50% bonus for first and business class tickets. In addition, Continental is giving out Elite Qualification Miles on all these flights at 100% or better (150% for first, business or full fare coach). They are not giving out elite bonuses which would range from 25% to 100% depending on the elite level, but it is still a pretty sweet deal considering that they are still part of SkyTeam.
Although we won’t know with any certainty for a little while yet, it seems reasonable to assume that this will be the basis for the formal earning plan once Continental makes the jump to Star later this year. If that’s the case it is something of a mixed bag. No 500 mile minimums for anyone (currently elites get that on Continental family flights and a few other carriers) and no elite bonuses (this is a pretty significant loss for partner flights). But the base earnings are 100% across the board with bonuses for higher fares. The mix of 50% and 0% fares on Continental and partners right now is truly a pain to navigate when trying to figure out what the actual miles earned are.
For folks who fly a lot on partners the lack of an elite bonus will hurt, but that is rather typical of the Star Alliance program. For folks mostly looking for Elite miles, however, the new program looks pretty good. Of course, lots of things can change in the next 90 days, but it doesn’t completely suck as of right now.
It also would not surprise me to learn that Continental is using this as an opportunity to test their integration with their new partners’ IT systems, though the fact that it has to be on the same reservation and that it only counts for the one flight immediately before or after the Continental flight seems to belie that hope.
Posted by Seth on July 29, 2009 under Uncategorized |
The legacy airlines are all pretty desperate and they aren’t afraid to use promotions and the allure of more miles to try to increase revenue and market share. United has continued their EQM bonus promo for residents of Australia, for example. In the case of American Airlines their target market is New York City residents and those in the surrounding area. They’ve just released a new double miles offer that will last the rest of the year.
The offer is open to folks who have an AAdvantage account registered in NY, NJ or CT and is valid from July 29th to December 31st. That is a pretty long promo and it applies to every AA flight, even those purchased prior to this announcement. The miles don’t count for elite status this year but they do count towards lifetime status.
If I had some discretionary trips to book I’d definitely consider this as an option, solely for the extra credit towards lifetime status. I’ve already got my other status for the year sewn up and this could add some fun to the second half.
Posted by Seth on July 27, 2009 under Uncategorized |
It has been a long time coming. Many months ago Delta started hinting that an official 4th tier was coming to their SkyMiles program. Then back in May they made it official – a new top tier was coming but there were no more details available. Now there are details available, thanks to the August issue of Sky Magazine being published online a bit early. And the benefits seem decidedly underwhelming to me.
The new level – Diamond Status – will supplant Platinum Medallion as the top level in their program. The qualification levels are the highest in the industry – 125,000 Medallion Qualifying Miles (MQMs) or 140 segments in a calendar year. And what great benefits does one get for flying that much? There are some nice perks, including a 125% bonus for reward miles over the 100% that Platinums get and a higher priority for complimentary upgrades on domestic flights. There is the option to pick two “special rewards” such as a SkyClubs membership or gifting bottom tier status instead; Platinum medallions will get to choose one of those rewards. And no fees at all for reward redemptions which is not significant since Delta screwed their Platinum Medallion members earlier this year by taking away that top tier benefit.
The real benefit that Delta is introducing is one that applies to all their members, not just the new Diamonds – rollover on extra MQMs. So a Silver Medallion who earns 40,000 MQMs this year will start next year with 15,000 in their account already. That’s great news for all their Medallion members, not just the Diamonds. In some cases it could be seen as a disincentive for folks who are around 120K miles to take that extra trip; starting the next year with 45,000 MQMs in the bank is not a bad place to be.
Delta has unofficially offered similar benefits previously so this mostly just codifies the existing structure. But it definitely wouldn’t incent me to fly more for the benefits if I were to use their program as my primary focus. There just isn’t that much of an upside there for the extra investment. It is a great reward if you’re flying that much anyways, but not an incentive to go farther (and spend more money) as far as I can see.
Posted by Seth on July 27, 2009 under Uncategorized |
Taking a “bump,” aka Voluntary Denied Boarding compensation, is one of those things in travel that is very much a polarizing topic. There are plenty of people out there who would never consider accepting a delay – they just want to get where they are going. And then there are people like me. I love the bump. Assuming I have time to deal with it, I’ll take it every time. I’ve jumped over people’s extended legs to get to a gate agent to volunteer. I’m just that eager. Having the vouchers for future travel means my next adventure will always cost a little bit less, and since I’m usually planning that next trip having some voucher cash in my pocket is a good way to start planning.
When I booked my flight home from Jacksonville to LaGuardia for last night I wasn’t really planning on getting a bump. The flight seemed to have plenty of seats and the fares weren’t all that high. Still, when I did the online check-in Sunday afternoon for the 7:45pm flight the Delta website popped up a notice that they were potentially looking for volunteers. My mind started racing with alternate routings and various options. Ultimately I realized that the bump would also require an overnight in Jacksonville. No big deal for me as I was going to have plenty of options available for the early flights home on Monday morning and still get to work on time, and Delta would spring for the hotel. That came in very handy in the end.
After going through the check-in and then the security screening we wandered into the SkyClub lounge for a drink. And I asked if they were looking for volunteers. The agent was nice enough to call over to the gate and 10 minutes later I was looking at my $400 travel voucher and a confirmed seat on the flight out at 7am the following morning. We had a nice chat as she was processing everything and I was even able to finagle the hotel room at the Hilton Garden Inn, my favorite property at that airport, for the overnight. I took all my vouchers (only $7 for dinner which was pretty pathetic) and we had a rather slow and not particularly delicious dinner at the Chili’s in the airport and then I headed out for the hotel, leaving my wife at the airport to head home. Or so we thought.
About two hours later the flight was cancelled. The weather in the NYC area messed up a whole bunch of things. Fortunately I was able to grab the last seat on a routing back to NYC for my wife (though that ended up horribly delayed thanks to mechanical problems and an eventual emergency landing, so maybe it wasn’t so fortunate) and then she hopped on the hotel shuttle and came back to the room that Delta had already sprung for. At this point we were up $400 and the hotel room as no one made it out that night.
By the time 6:15am rolled around and the agent was preparing for the 7am departure – my flight – I already knew that the flight was overbooked. Again. The cancellation the previous night pretty much guaranteed it. So when I walked up to the counter and suggested that I’d be happy to take the Continental flight right across the hall that was leaving in 20 minutes the agent was ecstatic. About 10 minutes later I had another $200 in vouchers as well as my ticket rebooked onto Continental as a full-fare ticket, meaning extra miles on top of everything else. And I actually got home earlier than expected from the first bump. Overall a very well played bump adventure, if I do say so myself.
Posted by Seth on July 24, 2009 under Uncategorized |
Sure, I’m way more obsessed with earning frequent flyer points than the next guy, but that doesn’t mean that it is the only thing I consider when booking a flight. They’re called loyalty programs for a reason: the carriers want you to have some motivation to book more, above and beyond the most obvious considerations of fare and schedule. And it works some of the time. But there has to be a point where you can just walk away and know that the miles not be there but it doesn’t really matter. This weekend’s trip to Florida is just one example of such a situation. Yup. I paid for a plane ticket with no expectation of any mileage earning opportunity at all.
This is a quick weekend trip – last flight out Friday night and last flight back on Sunday evening. There isn’t a lot of time to spare but there was also some concern about making it to the airport in time for the flight due to work schedules. Delta, jetBlue and Continental all offer flights in the NYC(-ish for CO) to Jacksonville market and they even all have a late evening departure, but there are enough differences between the offerings that choosing the carrier for this trip was not as simple as going with my “normal” points program.
Continental – the front-runner for my loyalty in this market – offers service on the late flight through Continental Express. That means a departure from the decidedly crappy Terminal A at Newark and a flight on an Embrear ERJ-145, aka the Barbie jet. It is plenty safe and fine and I’m sure it would get me to Jacksonville just fine, but the seats aren’t as comfortable as a mainline flight. And with the smaller plane no chance at an upgrade detracts a bit from the allure of the minimal number of miles involved in the trip. Plus, the crappy dinner options at the terminal would mean that food for the night would basically be non-existent. Not a good thing when the expected arrival at our final destination is somewhere after midnight.
Delta would also allow me to credit miles to my Continental account so they’re pretty much number two on my list for the flight. But their service is operated by Comair and is on a Canadair Regional Jet. Those are a step below the Barbie jets from Embrear, which isn’t a particularly great motivation to take that flight. Plus the departure from LaGuardia would mean trying to time the travel to the airport correctly during the evening rush hour on a Friday. That’s a risky proposition. The food options in the terminal are better than what CO can offer so Delta would actually jump up to number two for this particular trip, but they still didn’t win my business.
The winner? JetBlue.
I’m not a fan at all of the TrueBlue program from a loyalty marketing perspective. It doesn’t present a terribly useful upside to the passengers and it is outright horrible for folks who want to travel beyond the limited route network that jetBlue serves in the USA, the Caribbean and northern South America. But they fly a pretty decent fleet of airplanes. The late flight to Jacksonville is operated on the Embrear E-190, a plane that I had not yet flown when I booked the tickets. It was also the latest of the three scheduled departures which was useful for the work issues. The ease of access on public transit – which translates to a cheap trip and a reasonably predictable travel time, if not necessarily the quickest commute – was also quite beneficial. It took 85 minutes from boarding the train at 14th Street & 8th Avenue until we were inside security in T5. That’s certainly no record, but we were pretty much guaranteed that it would be between 80 and 90 minutes for the trip on the subway. At $15 for the two of us that’s a pretty reasonable deal and the timing didn’t completely suck. And JFK T5 has, by far, the best dining options of any terminal in the NYC area. Since we were definitely looking at dinner in the airport this was the final tipping point for my booking plans.
Booking on jetBlue means that I’m giving up the 831 miles for this trip. I’ve already qualified for next year’s status and it really isn’t enough miles to get worried about. Yeah, I’ll get 4 TrueBlue points (I think), but I’m never going to earn enough to redeem a reward with their ridiculous rules so I’m calling them worthless. Does that mean the loyalty programs are meaningless to me? Certainly not. Like I said, I’m pretty obsessed with the points. But it also means that there is more to travel than just the points. At least there is for me.
Of course, we are flying Delta on the way home because it is the late flight and getting a cab home from LaGuardia at 11pm is cheaper and faster than the same from JFK. Plus there is no compelling difference on the food side of the equation and I can handle the CRJ for a couple hours when the schedule makes it compelling. And this is actually the second time I’ve booked a “worthless” trip this year. The first was a flight on VLM in January from London’s City Airport to Luxembourg. I got a couple new airports, a new route line, a new airplane type and a new airline all at once. It was completely worth it, that one even more than this weekend’s trip.
Posted by Seth on July 21, 2009 under Uncategorized |
Would you be willing to pay about $1000 for a restricted inventory seat in business class between North America and wither Europe or Asia (Japan, China, Korea)? Many folks would leap at that opportunity – the price is phenomenal. Heck, it isn’t always even possible to find coach tickets that that price point. Well, if you’re willing to take a bit of a risk with US Airways right now, such a ticket could be yours.
When the airlines start offering great deals to buy miles outright it always raises a red flag. They are desperate for cash and aren’t particularly afraid to show it. So US Air’s current 2 for 1 promo on buying miles is certainly both tempting and a bit scary. Scary because there is always the risk that you won’t be able to redeem the miles and they go bankrupt and the tickets aren’t honored (a small risk, but a risk nonetheless). And ridiculously tempting because the redemption rates they offer with their partners in Star Alliance are really quite reasonable.
For 80-90,000 miles it is possible to issue a reward for business class between North America and either Asia or Europe. And you can fly on their partners. The likes of Swiss or Austrian to Europe or ANA to Asia come into play in a hurry. Lufthansa or United are options, too. Lots of fun to be had, and all for the low, low price of about $1,000. Oh, and you have to find available seats on those flights. The promo is limited to the first 50,000 miles you buy so don’t plan too many trips, but getting one for that price is really not a bad deal at all.
Sometimes the points game isn’t all that much fun. But right now it has a lot of potential if you’re willing to make a bit of an investment.
Posted by Seth on July 20, 2009 under Uncategorized |
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| The waterfalls got larger the more we headed inland |
The last two days of the trip brought us deeper into the fjordlands. Sure, we had been in fjords of some sort all along, but the last two days were where we made it all the way to the end of the line at Geiranger. The last two days were also where we saw the most waterfalls and the most ships – many of them large cruise ships that seemed ambivalent about running us over on the water. And the last night also brought us to the absolutely most fantastic camp site I’ve ever seen.
The paddling was relatively easy and neither of the last two days required too much exertion on our part. We were rather fortunate to be able to focus on the beauty of the surroundings. Shortly before lunch time we turned the corner into Geirangerfjord. That was the last major navigational point on the trip. We set up for lunch at the dock of a house out on the point with an orchard of sorts. We also made the acquaintance of the guy living there at the time. It still isn’t entirely clear to me whether we were trespassing or not but everyone seemed to be all smiles throughout the meal, though the guy did sit down on the dock and stare at us for the hour that we sat there eating. Maybe it was because he was waiting for his friends who showed up a bit later or maybe it was because we were just that strange. Or maybe both.
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| The Seven Sisters on the left and Suitor Falls on the right |
After lunch we made our way deeper into the fjord and to the base of two of the more impressive sets of waterfalls I’ve ever seen. The Seven Sisters falls (on the left in the picture) are fed from a single stream that splits into seven thin, tall falls. They are about 1000 feet above the fjord and all of them flowing together is pretty amazing. Just across the fjord from the Seven Sisters is Suitor Falls. Legend holds that Suitor is constantly proposing to the seven sisters (though no one is quite sure which of the seven) and he is constantly being rejected. Perhaps it is because he is short and fat (Suitor falls is rather lower and wider) and that doesn’t go over well in a country where they mostly seem to be tall and fit. Or perhaps it is because he seems to just be asking for any of the seven and not wooing a specific one. Or perhaps we spent way too much time drinking and thinking up fun stories about the falls on our last night in camp, though the aquavit was quite refreshing.
We were able to kayak right up to the base of Suitor Falls. Literally. We actually crashed our kayak head-on into the rock at the base. It was pretty cool to be in the center of the fall with water flowing down on both sides, staring up as the rush of water surrounded us. And we didn’t actually cause any damage to the kayak when we ran into the rocks which was an added bonus.
Our campsite the last night of the trip we camped at Blomberg Farm, just inside the fjord from the Seven Sisters falls. The hike up to the farm was somewhat taxing – about 30-45 minutes and rather steep going up. But the exertion was extremely well rewarded. The farm is the highest one in Geirangerfjord and also has the benefit of being literally at the edge of the top of the Seven Sisters falls. A short 10 minute scramble across a few slippery rocks and we were standing at the edge of the water, several hundred meters above the fjord. The roar of the water passing by was incredible, as were the views back down into the fjord and across to Suitor Falls on the other side.
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| Looking down from the upper falls |
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| Suitor Falls, as seen from Blomberg Farm |
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| Another cruise ship entering the fjord, being watched by the Viking mask rock formation in the wall |
There was plenty of drama with getting up to Blomberg Farm. They had a winch/lift system in place that we attempted to use to get our camping supplies up to the site. It was a rather strenuous hike and not carrying our gear would have made it way better. Sadly, the winch broke. We managed to get one load of stuff up on it but no more. The good news is that nothing was lost but the bad news is that there was no way I was going to repeat that hike unless absolutely necessary. Fortunately I had packed most of our stuff into a backpack myself and carried it up so we were OK for bedding and whatnot but we did need dinner still. The guides and a couple others made a second trip (and finished another bottle of Jack Daniels, I believe) and we managed to get everything up to the camp. They called in reinforcements for the hike down – more employees from the company came out to help – and we managed to enjoy our last night with some great food, beautiful views, a few bottles of wine and booze and got a great story out of it as a bonus.
The last morning we hiked back down to the dock, loaded up and began the last segment of the journey – the paddle into Geiranger. I’m not really much of a fan of Geiranger. It exists essentially because the cruise ships like to come in there to show off the fjord. And the ships anchor and tender their passengers over to shore and the people get out and shop in the tchotchke shops along the main drag. But there is nothing particularly redeeming about the town. The good news is that we didn’t have to spend too much time there. We ducked into the grocery to pick up some lunch (and a beer for me) and hopped in the van for the drive back to Ålesund.
The trip could not have been better if we tried. There was some exhaustion and some frustration at points but that just made the other bits better. The weather was wonderfully cooperative and the people we met and shared the trip with were great. Most of all, the scenery was unparalleled. I shot over 1000 photos and probably would have taken a ton more if I hadn’t been paddling and worried about dropping my camera into the fjord. Plus even with some extras purchased just for the trip I didn’t have a ton of memory cards with me. Still, it was unparalleled beauty out there, an experience that I cannot recommend highly enough. The rest of the published photos are here. If you haven’t seen them yet you really should.
Posted by Seth on July 17, 2009 under Uncategorized |
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| The farm buildings. Yes, that is grass on the roof for insulation. |
After a relaxing 24 hours at the Ytste Skotet farm it was time to head back out on to the water. It was good to be paddling again, working up an appetite for our next meal and otherwise enjoying the beautiful weather that Norway was providing us.
The paddling on day three was not particularly strenuous. We only had to go an hour or so, just across the fjord and around the corner to find our way to the next stopping point. That meant lots more time to explore and – for a few of the folks on the trip – a chance to go fishing. The fishing was rather unlike anything I’ve ever seen previously. The lines weren’t baited. They were simply unwound off the back of the kayak and then the folks fishing would paddle a few hundred yards through the fjord and reel it in to see what was hooked. Oh, and they managed to drink a bottle of Jack Daniels, too.
One of the two fishing pairs was more successful than the other. In a big way. At the end of the efforts the score was 8-0 in terms of fish caught, with a single line pulling in 5 fish at one point. That was much more luck than anything else, it turns out. Three of those five were not hooked through the mouth. Either way, they were definitely delicious, filleted right there on the rocks and then grilled over an open fire. It was among the freshest fish I’ve ever had and it was wonderful.
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| Jeromy shows off his eight-fingered fish gloves. |
The other effect of filleting the fish on the shore near the campsite was that we were treated to a show from the many seagulls that came along to help clean up. Watching them swoop in and fight over the scraps was quite entertaining.
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| Fighting over fish guts |
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| Taking time out to relax and reflect |
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| This kid was having fun playing on the dock in Stranda |
After yet another beautiful night of camping it was on to the town of Stranda to reload our supplies. We were up early – too early as it turns out. Stranda is a quiet little town with a few houses and a ferry terminal and not much else. Well, it does have a couple grocery stores, a post office and a liquor store. Maybe it isn’t so bad after all. We stocked up at the grocery (the guides on fresh fruits and veggies, me on chocolates and candy) and then wandered next door to stock up on the more critical bottled supplies. It was just before 10am and the liquor store didn’t open until 11am. Fortunately we had a contingency plan for this scenario – wait. Having exhausted the entirety of our supply of booze (the bottle of vodka during dinner at the farm and the Jack Daniels during the fishing) it was declared that waiting to get more booze was more important than getting back out on the water. Shortly after 11am we collectively had about a case of hooch (red & white wine, scotch, vodka, aquavit and probably some more, too) loaded up in the kayaks and we were back out on the water and headed on.
Day four also happened to be the longest paddle day of the trip. Maybe it was because we kept believing Brian when he said that the campsite was just past the next point or maybe it is because it was the first day where we had to deal with rain (just a tiny bit of drizzle) or maybe it was simply because we were getting tired. But that was a long day of paddling. The good news is that we had plenty of booze to celebrate with when we made it to camp.
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| The clouds rolled in, but that just made the mountain views more impressive |
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| Sure, it was cloudy, but our campsite still had spectacular views |
Like the previous nights, the views from camp were simply outstanding. The fjords make for great backdrops and the failed to disappoint at any moment during the trip.
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| Looking down from our campsite on night 4 |
That’s all for part two of the trip. Part three should be online shortly. In the meantime, there are a ton more pictures here to keep you busy.
Posted by Seth on July 16, 2009 under Uncategorized |
The grand plans for our summer vacation this year had one main focus: kayaking on the fjords of Norway. A good friend of ours had done a similar trip a few years back and both the photos and stories she’s shared were unbelievably amazing. I say unbelievable because they really seemed that way. And then we went over to Norway and did it ourselves. Now I absolutely believe her and know that she wasn’t exaggerating even the tiniest bit in describing just how amazing the trip was. I believe, and I now get to try to make others believers, too.
The trip we booked was a 6 day, 5 night kayaking and camping adventure. We covered about 100 kilometers across the 6 days – some days as many as 25 and some days as few as 5 – setting up camp along the way on some pretty amazing patches of grass in what certainly qualifies as Top 5 in the most beautiful surroundings I’ve spent time. Even better, we got to do it with 10 other folks with whom we quickly became friends. It was an amazing journey and not without a bit of extra sweat and exertion to make it so.
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| Out into the water on day 1 |
The western fjords of Norway run pretty much the entire coast. Our trip with Coastal Odyssey focused on the Geiranger fjord and the Sunnmøre Alps. The trip began in Ålesund – quite a nice town, really; more on that in a future post – with a bit of drama. Sure, we had read the packing list. We planned, purchased and planned some more. And then we packed everything into a bag and schlepped it through Denmark on the way to Ålesund. And then we met Brian and Jimmy, our guides for the trip. They handed us each two dry bags and simply said, “Make it fit.” Easier said than done, to be certain. We rather quickly determined which items absolutely needed to be dry through the trip and which we could risk a bit of splashing with. And we learned that with two people squeezing and pushing a dry bag can be made smaller than it seemed possible. We left things behind at the starting point and otherwise manipulated our packing but we eventually managed to make it all fit. We even managed to jam it all into the kayak somehow, along with some of the food and other “common” supplies that we’d be using through the week. And with a shove from behind we were off onto the water. Yippeeee!
The skies were blue and the water was crystal clear. The wind was at our back. Everything was simply great. Being out on the water with nothing but the sound of the paddle pulling through the water was incredibly calming and wonderful.
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| One of the goats we met on the island where we lunched day one. |
Day one was a pretty long paddle – about 20 kilometers – and we spent a long time out on the water. It felt good to be out moving and we made great time on the water, no doubt thanks to the wind. Before we knew it we had made it to our lunch stop and then, after a few more hours of paddling, to our campsite for the first night.
The meals were certainly camping food but the veggies were fresh (hard not to be on the first day) and the we settled in to share some stories and otherwise chat as the evening rolled on. And then the bad news came. Brian had been reviewing the weather forecast and the tide charts and our routing for day two. There is one stretch of water where the currents get tricky and if we don’t time it right we’d never make the pass. Unfortunately, to time it right meant leaving the campground no later than 5:30am. That put us up for a 3:30am wake-up call. On vacation. Ouch.
The good news about the 3:30am wake-up was that it was bright daylinght out when we woke up so I didn’t really notice just how early it was and we were pretty much done paddling by noon. We had arrived at our day two campsite and had a ton of time to spare, exploring the grounds of Ytste Skotet, an historic farmhouse that is now operated as a museum. The site has been inhabited since the turn of the last milennium (yup – over 1000 years) and the oldest current building dates back to the 1700s. They do real farming there (though they also have to import some goods because of the number of folks passing through) and they have kids come out to play and live on the farm as part of a summer camp experience. The kids learn all about life on the farm, from chopping wood (yes, they give 7-year olds axes to play with) to where their meat comes from (at the end of the summer the kids are around when the pigs are slaughtered for the following year’s meat supplies). They also cook up some pretty delicious local foods and were incredibly hospitable to us. There was a small stream running through the farm and a pool just off the edge of the farm house where we were able to rinse off in fresh water. The water was cold but certainly refreshing.
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| One of the kids hanging out at the farmhouse the night we were there |
The farmland surrounding the house covers about 750 acres, with fields and trails to go along with the historical buildings. We certainly had no trouble finding ways to spend our time. And we had plenty of time. Thanks once again to the tides we weren’t actually leaving until the following afternoon. We had a full 24 hours off from paddling to explore.
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| One of many fields of flowers on the farm |
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| This is about as close as it got to sunset while we were in Norway. It was light out non-stop! |
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| The view from the outhouse. Not too shabby. |
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| Looking back down at the fjord across the field of flowers |
That’s all for the first couple days of the trip. There are a ton more pictures here, part 2 of the tale is here, and part 3 is here.
