Posted by Seth on July 19, 2010 under Trip Reports | 
We arrived in Westray by airplane from Kirkwall, on the Orkney mainland (the Orcadian name for the largest of the Orkney Islands). And then we promptly left to take in the world’s shortest commercial flight. A couple hours later, however, and we were headed back in to the harbour of Pierowall, Westray, the largest town on the island. All I could think of as we pulled in was that the water was too clear, the blues too bright and the sand too white. The waterfront looked Mediterranean, not Orcadian. At least not what I expected to find in the Orkneys. I was quite mistaken in my expectations, as I would come to discover several times during our 18 hours on the island.
We had a lovely lunch of fish & chips at the Pierowall Hotel and then headed on to The Barn to check in for our stay there. A bit of confusion as there was no one at reception but we made the best of it, relaxing on the breakwater for a bit before eventually finding someone to get us a key so we could stow our bags and head out to explore a bit. Here’s the path we hiked:
We started at our guest house (1), The Barn. It isn’t really a barn, though it is built on the edge of a working farm. Our room was small but clean and it had enough space for us and our bags. Plus it was way less expensive than the other hotel options in town. It is just on the south side of town and an easy 5-10 minute walk to get up to the north end of town where the kid’s park is.
From our hotel we headed north, up the main road through town to the Lady Kirk (2). Lady Kirk is one of two medieval era churches on the island of Westray. While most of the ruins visible today are from a reconstruction of the building in 1674 there are parts of the foundation and the south wall that date back to the 1200s. The church is right on the coastline and is surrounded by a cemetery with tombstones dating back to the reconstruction in the 1600s. Among the preserved tombstones is one from Michael Balfour, of the family that basically owned the islands in the 1500s and 1600s. The entire structure is pretty well preserved considering that it doesn’t have a roof, door or windows. And there were signs of repair and restoration work going on as we passed through. Plus, walking through the grounds and reading about the folks who lived in the area 400 years ago and how they met their demise was rather interesting.
From the Kirk we headed further north and then west, out to the beach on the other side of the island. While there is a shore line in Pierowall there isn’t really anywhere to walk in the sand. But just about a mile away there is a wide, deep beach (3) with sand that is bright white and more beautiful blue water. There are also huge rock formations in the middle of the beach which disrupt the sandy experience a bit but which also add to the dramatic views that you get on the beach.
Leaving the beach we headed back south and then a bit more west, to Noltland Castle (4). The castle appears to be rather run down but it is not all that much removed from where it was when construction was halted hundreds of years ago. The castle construction was initiated by Gilbert Balfour after he was installed as the Sheriff of Orkney and he started to rile up opponents with his behavior. There are more than 70 gun placements in the lower level, providing the ability for the castle to be defended from any angle.
The building changed hands several times throughout its early history as the Balfour family went in and out of favor with the Crown and as its members plotted and schemed various coups. Various sections may have been completed at some point in time as people lived there over the years, including in the four story tower where the resident of the moment lived. There is also a rather impressive internal spiral staircase in the opposite corner.
It is likely that the main hall was never completed, leaving it much like it appears today.
The castle is quite an interesting little bit of history to check out during a stay in Westry. The main door is locked but the key is held by the farmers across the street and they’re happy to give it out to visitors.
From Noltland Castle it was back into Pierowall and to the hotel to relax before dinner. Having dined at the Pierowall Hotel for lunch we decided to pay a visit to the Cleaton House Hotel for dinner. The Cleaton House gets great reviews for its food – including a mention in the Michelin Guide – but none of the reviews I saw mentioned one critical detail: reservations are mandatory for folks not staying at the hotel. We made the 2.5 mile hike out to the hotel without that information. Once we arrived the gentleman who answered the door was kind enough to inform us of such. After the 2 miles that morning on Papa Westray, the 3.5 miles around Pierowall and then the 2.5 miles to the hotel we were not amused.
We settled in for a pint to get over our misfortune and had the hotel ring a taxi for us to make it back into town for dinner at the other option – the Pierowall Hotel. Conveniently enough the taxi driver was the same guy as we had made arrangements with to drive us to the airport the following morning. Apparently we appeared upstanding enough that he rolled our fare for the cab that night into the fare for the following morning with a, “Just pay it tomorrow,” as he dropped us off at the hotel. In all my travels that was most definitely a first for me – a cabbie putting off the payment of a fare to the next day. Turns out he also works part-time as crew at the airport and then collects additional fares for the ride back down to town. Not a bad gig at all.
Despite the setback with dinner at the Cleaton House Pierowall was a great place to spend an out-of-the way day in the Orkney Islands. If you’ve made it all the way to the Orkneys you may as well get the Westray – Papa Westray flight in and then spend some time out in Westray. No need to rush back to the mainland with this much beauty in the outer islands.
For more from our visit to the Westray islands, read part one of this report here.
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Posted by Seth on July 19, 2010 under frequent flyer, News, points |
JetBlue has added another earning option for points in their TrueBlue loyalty program: Getaways vacation packages. The bundles – air plus hotel, car, transfers or excursions – will now earn points based on the total value of the package purchased, less taxes and fees. TrueBlue customers will earn three points per dollar spent with JetBlue American Express card holders earning an additional two points per dollar spent rather than the normal one point for purchases.
To celebrate the launch of the program JetBlue is offering a double points promotion through August 31, 2010. All packages purchased between now and August 31 will earn three bonus points per dollar spent, doubling the regular earning rate. This bonus is based on when the booking is made, not travel dates.
Because the TrueBlue program earning scheme for points is based on spend rather than on distance traveled it is uniquely positioned to be able to offer earning on vacation packages such as these. Virgin America is the only other airline in the USA that has a similar revenue-based model for point accrual but their vacation packages earn only based on the flight component, not on the total package value. This differentiation is a great feature of this new JetBlue Getaways earning program.
JetBlue also provides for “Go Big” and “Go Long” bonus thresholds in the TrueBlue program. These are based on total ticket spend and long segment flights, respectively. For tickets purchased through the Getaways package deals the air component will still count towards these bonuses; the hotel, transfers, car and excursion components will not. In some cases this may mean it is better to book discrete components rather than the package to maximize the points accrual once the current double earnings bonus expires. The air travel component will also count towards extending the life of points in the existing TrueBlue accounts.
Like I always say, seeing new ways to earn points is always a welcome change. And in this case it appears that JetBlue has put together a very strong offering. They are leading the industry on this front.
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Posted by Seth on July 19, 2010 under News |
No, it isn’t a real bank, but Southwest Airlines sortof operates like one with respect to their fares and change fees. How so? Buying a ticket is essentially making a deposit into that bank and the money in one’s account could be applied to any future ticket with the only limitation being the expiry of the funds based on the date of the initial deposit. The tickets themselves are non-transferable, but the value associated with them could be assigned to another passenger. This is no longer the case.
Airlines and their operations are governed by many different things, but when it comes to interaction with their customers the Contract of Carriage (“CoC”) is king. Regardless of what is mentioned in marketing materials, what an agent tells you or what you might think you are supposed to receive, it is the CoC that ultimately determines what will or will not happen. Airlines generally don’t tinker with their CoC very often and when they do it is generally a minor tweak. Southwest quietly issued an updated CoC last week, their 7th major revision in the company’s nearly 40 years of operations. Among other things, this change to the “Bank of Southwest” is included in the latest CoC update.
Refundability and Transferability of Funds
While the vast majority of tickets that Southwest sells are nonrefundable, the carrier makes it possible to “bank” the value of those tickets for future travel in case plans change. With the July 14, 2010 revision of the CoC a new phrase has been inserted into the clauses describing the value of these Ticketless Travel Funds (“TTFs”): “for the originally ticketed Passenger only.” The previous CoC §90(B) read:
Nonrefundable tickets – Passengers who purchase restricted, nonrefundable tickets are not eligible for refunds…the fare paid for unused nonrefundable tickets, upon surrender of the usused ticket or portion thereof, or with the Ticketless Travel confirmation number and proof of purchase sufficient to Carrier, may be applied toward the purchase of future travel, without penalty, provided that travel is completed within the ticket’s eligibility period.
The new version §4(C)(3)(ii) reads:
Travel Credit. Unless otherwise stated by Carrier, the fare paid for unused nonrefundable Tickets, including taxes, security fees, and Passenger Facility Charges, may be applied toward the purchase of future travel on Carrier for the originally ticketed Passenger only.
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Posted by Seth on July 16, 2010 under Trip Reports |
When I mentioned my intent to visit Westray and Papa Westray Islands in Scotland’s Orkeny Islands, a friend suggested that it would necessarily be a short visit as there is nothing to see or do there. In addition to getting to fly on the World’s Shortest Commercial Flight – something that was completely AWESOME – there actually were things to see and do in the Westrays. Not a lot of things to see and do, but definitely enough to spend a day or so and get a flavor for the area. We certainly were not bored.
After the flight in to Papa Westray we had a bit of a hike down the length of the island – just a couple miles, really – to get to the ferry which would bring us back to the larger Westray and the town of Pierowall. But we also had a couple hours before the next ferry and we had our luggage with us so we took our time making the walk and managed to take in some pretty cool sights on the smaller island. Most significant on Papa Westray is the site of The Knap of Howar.
The Knap of Howar is believed to be Northern Europe’s oldest standing building. The structure – really two adjacent buildings connected by a small hallway – are over 5500 years old. They are located right on the coast (though not likely on the coast back when they were built) looking out towards Westray across the strait. The two buildings are believed to be a store house and living quarters. They are constructed with layers of local stones surrounded by earthen berms to stabilize and insulate the buildings. The fact that they are still mostly standing more than 5,000 years later is really amazing.
Getting to the Knap of Howar involves walking around a random farm house and then through a field of grazing cows. And, in our case, around cows protecting their calves in the middle of the path. Whoopsie.
Further on headed south on the island we eventually made it to the ferry pier with plenty of time to relax and enjoy the Scottish sunshine and some snacks for lunch.
And then we hopped on the Golden Mariana for the ride over to Pierowall and the more developed part of the Westrays.
More from the Westrays in Part 2, coming soon….
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Posted by Seth on July 15, 2010 under News |
American Express and US Airways announced today a deal extending airport club access to the US Airways Clubs for holders of American Express Platinum Charge Cards. This move adds 17 lounges in 13 cities to the lounge program which also includes access to American Airlines Admirals Clubs, Delta SkyClubs and Continental Presidents Clubs. Unique to the US Airways deal is that one need not be flying on a US Airways flight to gain access; with the other three lounge programs you must have a ticket with the lounge carrier to gain access.
More information about the new partnership can be found here.
Posted by Seth on July 15, 2010 under frequent flyer, News, points |
JetBlue’s TrueBlue program has joined the ranks of frequent flyer schemes offering online shopping “malls” as a means for earning points in their programs. The shopping portal –ShopTrue – was announced today and is operated by points.com. ShopTrue provides TrueBlue members the ability to earn points through their online shopping at over 800 websites.
Looking at the earning rates in a number of the stores, however, the program does not appear particularly compelling:
| |
American |
United |
Continental |
JetBlue |
Delta |
| eBags |
7 |
4 |
10 |
3 |
9 |
| Sears |
3 |
2.5 |
5 |
1 |
3 |
| iTunes |
3 |
2 |
- |
1 |
2 |
| Best Buy |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0.5 |
0.5 |
| Borders |
3 |
- |
- |
1 |
2 |
| Buy.com |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
| Shutterfly |
5 |
3.5 |
- |
4 |
2 |
| Gap |
3 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
| Macys |
3 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
5 |
| Dell Home |
2 |
1.5 |
2 |
0.25 |
2 |
The argument can be made that the JetBlue points are worth a bit more than some of the other programs based on the lack of blackout dates and the relatively fixed and known value that the points carry for redemptions. Still, they are not likely to be worth triple the value of points in legacy programs, and that appears to be roughly where they are pricing out overall.
More partners is always good and more ways to earn points is always good. But there is a value proposition at play as well and in most cases the ShopTrue mall appears to be losing on that value play. At first blush it appears that the other points programs or a cash-back site would be a better value for an online shopping portal.
N.B. – The above numbers make Continental look like a great program for online shopping. They have had a number of reported issues with folks having to fight to receive miles that they were due. I urge caution and diligence should you choose that route. You may end up investing more time to claim the miles than the points are really worth.
Posted by Seth on July 14, 2010 under frequent flyer, News, points |
In a move that will create the third largest airline in Europe, EU regulators have approved the merger of British Airways and Spanish carrier Iberia. The approval was expected for some time now and does not come as much of a surprise. The two carriers will continue to operate as distinct brands in their respective markets. No word on whether they will be combining their loyalty programs or which other back-office operations will be combined, though many are expected to be.
In addition to the merger approval the EU has also approved – with conditions – the ability for the new British Airways to operate with their USA-based partner American Airlines with anti-trust immunity (“ATI”). The ATI deal gives the OneWorld partners the ability to coordinate schedules, inventory and fares on transatlantic markets where the carriers operate, including the European Union, the United States, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Norway and Switzerland.
The approval of the ATI brings OneWorld into the same arena as the other two global alliances, SkyTeam and Star Alliance. Those two have recently increased their TATL ATIs (Alitalia just joined the SkyTeam group in the past couple weeks) so this move will have all three on a level playing field as they compete for much coveted traffic in the TATL market. But, as noted above, the approval does come with some strings attached.
Over the next ten years the OneWorld ATI members will have to cede airport slots at New York City’s JFK airport and also at London’s Heathrow or Gatwick airports. New entrant airlines looking to start service into London or Spain will also be guaranteed “favorable terms” for add-on segments on the BA or Iberia networks for onward travel once they get to Europe. From the EU Commission release:
Concretely, the parties offer to make available landing and take-off slots at London Heathrow or London Gatwick airports, at the entrant’s choice, on routes to Boston, New York, Dallas and Miami. The number of slots will allow one or more competitors to operate a total of 49 more return flights a week between London and the four affected destinations in the US.
On the London-New York city pair, the parties also propose to provide the competitor with slots at New York John F. Kennedy airport.
In addition, BA, AA and IB undertake to provide access to their frequent flyer programmes on the relevant routes, allowing passengers of new entrants approved by the Commission to accrue and redeem miles on the parties’ frequent flyer programmes.
The parties also propose to allow fare combinability and offer special prorate agreements in relation to the routes of concern, which would enable competitors to offer tickets on the parties’ flights and facilitate access to connecting traffic.
Neither of these approvals is much of a surprise. Other airlines and alliances have passed the BA/AA behemoth by in recent years in terms of coordination of operations and this move lets the two start to catch up. The conditions levied on the ATI are not all that burdensome, either. Giving up a total of seven daily slots in London isn’t too much of a burden on the carriers that control such a significant portion of the market there. The JFK slots are actually likely more of an issue for those carriers but they do have enough to make it work when the requests come in.
No word yet on whether AA and BA will be able to remove the limitations on their frequent flyer programs that preclude earning or redemption on flights between the USA and London on the other party or what other synergies they expect to realize. Still, this move definitely will give OneWorld a bit more leverage in the market.
Tags: American Airlines, British Airways, frequent flyer, Iberia, London, New York, New York City, OneWorld, points, SkyTeam, Spain, Star Alliance
Posted by Seth on July 12, 2010 under Trip Reports |
The Shetland Islands are far removed from the rest of Scotland, their political home. Indeed, standing in the main town of Lerwick one is closer to Bergen, Norway than to Edinburgh, Scotland. But at least in the town there is a sense of being somewhere. Just forty miles northwest of Lerwick, across the Mavis Grind and up through rolling hills, one suddenly arrives at what seems to be the end of the world: Esha Ness.
The area is, quite simply, stunning. The shore line is sheer cliff faces stretching up hundreds of feet from the ocean below. The color of the cliffs is amazing as well. They are a red that contrasts beautifully with the green of the fields atop them and the blues of the ocean and sky that surround them.
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Posted by Seth on July 10, 2010 under frequent flyer, points, Trip Reports |
I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with JetBlue. I love their on-board product and I consider their JFK terminal to be perhaps the best domestic air service terminal in the United States. At the same time, however, I always found their TrueBlue program a bit lacking. Sitting on a collection of 43 points, some of which were expiring in a couple weeks, I was pretty convinced that I was actually never going to get to redeem a reward despite flying with them off and on for many years.
One nice advantage the program has, however, is the availability of one-way rewards. I’ve got an upcoming trip that currently purchased tickets will dump me off in Puerto Rico at the end of and I still need to get home. Poking around I can find one-way flights home in the $170-250 range. Not horrible, but I’d rather not spend the cash if I don’t have to. Time to make a phone call.
Lucky for me the route I’m looking at had reward availability on the exact date I wanted. Ten minutes on the phone later and I had my ticket booked. I did have to convert some of my new TrueBlue2 points to old TrueBlue points so that I had enough to book the reward, but that was a trivial process on the website. And I was dreading the phone call to book the award – one cannot book or even see inventory for the old rewards online anymore and hold times have been pretty atrocious since the new program launched – but even the hold time was reasonable this morning (< 5 minutes). As a minor aside, I briefly had a means to search award availability online but the carrier has apparently removed it from the GDSes. Sucks.
And so, nearly seven years after I joined the TrueBlue program and started collecting points, I finally had enough to redeem for an award and I even managed to find the flights and dates I wanted. Sure, it took a bit longer than I would have preferred, but I got it done.
And now my TrueBlue account is at zero. Time to focus on TrueBlue2 – and the balance here is above zero and growing nicely – and getting some value from that program. Shouldn’t be nearly as hard as with the old program.
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Posted by Seth on July 8, 2010 under frequent flyer, News, points |
The hunt for airline frequent flyer status is always an adventure. For some folks it is just a matter of going about their regular business life. For others (like me) it is a collection of random adventures that eventually add up to the right numbers. For folks flying on US Airways this year there have been some creative options, including the program they announced this week: Hop, Skip & Jump.
The concept behind the program is a fun one. There are a 20 different flight routes and regions identified in the program. Customers buying new tickets for travel within these regions or on the routes between July 7 and October 10 will earn a point for each route or region covered. A change in status level is earned for every four points. Earning 16 credits can take one from no status to Chairman’s Preferred, the top status with the program.
Multiple categories can be earned on a single ticket so some judicious planning could have one earning a status bump very quickly. A 12-hour, $300 jaunt of BOS-CLT-BTR-CLT-DCA-BOS is enough to earn four credits. That’s quite a quick way to grab status that is valid through to February 2012.
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