Posted by Seth on December 27, 2011 under Trip Reports | 
The first few days of this trip seemed too easy. Yes, there were the typical problems that happen, mostly associated with my being an awful negotiator, but overall the trip was going pretty well. It was a far cry from our first trip to India six years ago when things just seemed a lot harder. Maybe it was because we weren’t taking public transportation. But that trip was only one train ride and the rest basically the same as this one. Maybe it was because India had chilled out in the past 6 years. Or maybe because I’m a better traveler. Neither of those really seemed likely either.
And then we made the hop from Kochi to Chennai and reality came rushing back in a hurry. The two hours of traffic to travel the 43 kilometers from our hotel to the airport in Kochi was just the beginning. The flight was actually fine and the transfer from the airport to the hotel was lovely. Then we tried to get out of the hotel and do some other things. Maybe a trip to the beach, or just to wander around the neighborhood and over to the mall a kilometer away. Not so fast.
Getting a car was either ridiculously expensive or going to take hours, so that was no good. We did end up making the walk over to the mall which had only 3 stores open. Sure, one of them is selling out all the leftover inventory of tulip-liveried United Airlines models in the toys section, but that’s not really going to get me very far. We did head to the bar at the brand new Hyatt in the same building (quite lovely), but even that portion of the trip had its own collection of fun, like all the beggars that apparently are kept out of Fort Cochin were trucked in here. Or the tuk tuk driver who stalked us for a few blocks, waiting for us to give up and hop in. The roads were chaotic and the crowds much crazier. It was the India I remember, the India I love.
I love that it is a harder experience. I love that the ride back on the tuk tuk took us by some less than elegant neighborhoods and that we saw not just the sanitized version but also the real bits of life on the streets here. Those experiences are what make travel so amazing to me. I can get mediocre quality hotel food anywhere in the world; getting out and seeing what’s actually happening on the streets means a few more risks, a few more challenges and tremendously greater reward.
Kerala is relatively easy travel. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it also just isn’t quite the same. I’m happy to get to experience the challenge again. I’ve got two more days of it and I cannot wait. Game on!
Posted by Seth on November 16, 2011 under Dining, Review, Trip Reports |
There’s something to be said for enjoying the local dining delicacies when traveling. Whether Peking Duck is actually a local dish in Beijing or not is certainly the subject of some debate – there are a number of folks who suggest it is better in other cities – but given that I was in Beijing and it was available, I figured I’d give it a try. There are a few restaurants generally considered as the upper echelon of options for the experience and I chose Made In China, one of the restaurants at the Grand Hyatt Beijing.
It should be noted that ordering the Peking Duck is very much an experience, not just a meal. And as executed at Made In China it was a rather wonderful one. Not just for the quality of the food, which is incredibly high, but also for the expansive presentation and the expertise and precision with which the entire exercise is carried out.
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| The speed and precision with which the waiter carved and presented the duck was incredible. |
My favorite part of most poultry is the skin. And that also happens to be the part that is most special when it comes to cooking the duck. The skin holds much of the fat from the bird, meaning that it can be chewy or otherwise not so great. But when prepared correctly the skin is crispy and full of flavor, without too much fat dripping off. The staff insisted that it be sprinkled with a bit of sugar to complete the effect. I’m not completely convinced that was needed. It was simply delicious.
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| Duck skin, sprinkled with a bit of sugar. |
Next up after the skin was the breast meat, served with hoisin sauce, leeks, cucumbers and small pancakes for making small rolls. Not surprisingly, there was nearly as much focus on the presentation of the meats as there was on the quality of the preparation.
This was followed by the leg meat being carved and presented. The leg was actually my favorite bit, much like it is on other poultry. As served up at Made In China the leg meat was a full ross-section of flavors, including the skin and a layer of fat, in addition to the meat itself. Each bite was a combination of the flavors.
In the end, the amount of food presented for the order is somewhat staggering.
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| One of these days I’ll learn to order a meal that doesn’t require a spare stomach. That will be quite sad. |
From a logistics perspective, making a reservation is highly recommended, both for a table and for a duck. Preparing the duck can take over an hour if you don’t and that’s not much fun. That said, if you do have an hour to spare while waiting you have the opportunity to sample some of the other food on the menu. Thinking that I was going to be waiting that hour I actually ordered an appetizer, scallion pancakes, to nosh on while waiting for the duck to show up. The duck actually was served first. Whoopsie. Not that I’m particularly disappointed as that was also delicious, but it was way too much food for just me.
For seating, as a single guest they managed to find room for me at one of the bars scattered through the restaurant. I much prefer that arrangement to being seated at a table on my own so that was great. Plus, rather than a cocktail bar this one was located facing into the dumpling kitchen. So in addition to the great food I was treated to the entertainment of watching the chefs work their magic on a variety of different doughy delights.
Overall the entire experience was wonderful. Yes, it is one of the more expensive meals in Beijing, but it isn’t actually all that pricey. I walked out for under USD $50, including one cocktail and fully stuffed with delicious food. Well worth it for the experience; I highly recommend it.
Read more from this Trip Report under the Dream2011 tag here.
Posted by Seth on April 30, 2011 under frequent flyer, points |
Ever wonder what’s going through the minds of the folks running your favorite loyalty programs? Of course; we all do. Ever think you’d see five of the most prominent program leaders sitting in the same room, taking questions from their customers about what makes their programs work and why they have chosen certain specific policies? Me neither.
Last Friday, at the first ever Randy Petersen Travel Executive Summit, a group of us were treated to exactly that. The heads of Delta, American Airlines, United Airlines, Hyatt and American Express Membership Rewards came together for a question and answer session led by Mr. Petersen, by most accounts the guru of loyalty programs. After discussing the history of the programs (we’re celebrating the 30th anniversary of the very first one this month) and taking a walk down memory lane it was time to get to the meat of the discussion. Many questions were asked and the program heads were mostly quite responsive, though there were a number of issues where answers were denied in favor of not violating company policy or SEC regulations. Can’t say I really blame them there.
So what were the highlights of the session? I’ve picked out a few of my favorite nuggets and expanded on those discussions.
The "elites" really are
One of the oft-asked and never answered questions about the airline loyalty programs is just how special are the "elite" customers, the ones flying the most miles, really are. And the airlines held firm this time around as well, refusing to disclose the data. But they did give a couple hints as to what the numbers are.
For United Airlines the population of top-tier elites – Global Services and 1Ks – was described as "small six figures" in size. If that’s anything like the way merger partner Continental describes "mid-year" there is certainly plenty of wiggle room there in terms of nailing down what the number really is, but may more specific than the previous non-disclosures. Foland also made it clear that they do distinguish between their frequent customers and their high value customers and that they have many metrics on which they measure those things. Not surprisingly, the two are not always the same folks.
For Delta the numbers were not presented so much based on how many are elite but rather who generates the revenue for the company. It is a very small number of people that really are the High Value Customers for them, similar to the other carriers. The top 1% of customers are responsible for 10-12% of revenue to the company. Expanding that pool out to the top ~3% of customers doubles the revenue pool to about 25%. It drops off precipitously from there, with the bottom 70% of the customers representing only 40% of the annual revenue. It is no wonder that the companies cater to their best customers; they far and away represent more cash.
Mileage expiry is a big deal, except when it isn’t
Jeff Robertson, the man running Delta‘s SkyMiles program, noted at one point that as a company they strive to do what is right for the customer and for the company, even if sometimes that move costs them a little bit of money. In the case of changing their expiry policy for SkyMiles, there is no doubt that the change had some costs, though Jeff also noted that miles expiring represented the single most significant complaint that they received as an organization. And apparently the cost of not expiring them wasn’t so high so everyone wins, right? That’s Delta’s take on the situation.
The other two airline executives speaking on the panel, Jeff Foland from United Airlines and Maya Lieberman from American Airlines, had a different take. They noted that the purpose of the programs is to keep customers engaged with the brand. If a customer hasn’t been engaged for almost two years the expiry is a great opportunity to bring them back into the fold and remind them of the value of those points they’re holding, way better than just holding the points on the book and hoping the customer comes back eventually. Which is better in the long term for the programs? I guess we’ll all have to wait and find out.
It is also worth noting that if the points accrual is so slow that there’s a two year gap in the process, odds are that the points are a bad investment anyways. A customer showing loyalty with such low frequency is likely to be better served financially by simply being loyal to their wallet and buying the cheapest fare available rather than paying extra to accrue miles in a program.
The folks buying miles aren’t who I thought they were
Pretty much every airline now offers the ability to just buy miles outright. During the booking process, at check-in and in various other transactions along the way the opportunities to buy miles are every growing. The problem with these programs is that they are rarely a good value, at least not in bulk. Every now and then it might make sense to top off an account for an award but just not that often.
That’s why I was surprised to hear the great mileage guru Randy Petersen announce (several times over the course of the events) that he buys the miles at the kiosk nearly every time. He’s got tons already and earns them at a blistering pace, and he’s buying more at almost certainly overpriced levels. Even more surprising was a statistic he shared with the group: Over 50% of the folks buying the miles have elite status on the airline they’re buying from. The people who have the most points are also most aggressive about buying more. I just do not understand that.
Speaking with Gary Leff during a break he related similar tales, including one US Airways Chairman’s Preferred member who buys the miles on every single trip. Sure, he gets some awesome reward redemptions out of the deal, but at what price? Then again, if you’re willing to pay the $4500 cost for the trip and points are the right way to find that price point, why not?
Loyalty programs are sortof a zero-sum game, but it is still possible to win
One of the questions asked of the panel was how it is possible that there are loyalty programs can provide value to the companies as well as the customers. All of the loyalty programs are obviously trying to drive revenue to the company so it is hard to have a situation where everyone can win. Indeed, at the macro level the programs are more or less zero-sum efforts – some customers are going to profit and some will not but overall it will still be a benefit for the programs.
Jeff Foland perhaps summed it up best:
We want our currency and elite status to carry more value for the member tomorrow than it does today. We have to do that against the backdrop of running a fiscally responsible company.
So what does that mean? Well, for starters it means that they really do want some customers to have a chance at winning. It also means that when the good arbitrage situations arise that the customers can exploit there is a pretty good chance that the airlines are going to be closing them up in search of that "fiscally responsible" effort.
There has only been one incident in recent memory that resulted in points (the "currency" Foland is referring to above) actually increasing in value. It doesn’t appear that there are any similar changes on the horizon. So to make sure that the currency value increases it is important to pay attention to the trends in the industry and to make sure you’re redeeming the points, not just accumulating them.
Other bits
There were a number of other interesting things discussed, from the future of lifetime status recognition (unsurprisingly United and American were quite tight-lipped on the topic) to how issuing a credit card can help Hyatt drive heads in beds, their core business focus. Oh, and apparently LOTS of folks like redeeming their Membership Rewards points for toasters and other housewares; such a horrible value.
Neither American nor United would comment on any possible changes that may be coming with their lifetime status levels though Ms. Lieberman did note that the ranks of elites on American are somewhat swollen due to their easier accrual policies. No particularly useful information on what the changes are going to be, other than that they’ll provide plenty of notice and communicate them effectively should anything happen, but otherwise mums the word there.
Delta noted that perhaps the biggest challenge they face from a loyalty program perspective is not the merger of Continental and United, but rather that of AirTran and Southwest. The latter represents a sea change to the competition landscape in Atlanta and the new Rapid Rewards program, part of a trend towards rewarding spend more than miles, is a huge part of that change. What it means for SkyMiles or passengers in Atlanta will be fun to watch in the coming months.
Ultimately I must say that it was a great event, both for the information shared and the networking opportunities in the room. Whether with other travel writers (Ben from Today In The Sky and Brian from The Points Guy were two of the bigger names there, along with Gary Leff who was one of the hosts) or rubbing elbows with the executives who make the decisions about how the programs actually operate, it was a great day for meeting new folks and extending existing relationships.
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Tags: AirTran, American Airlines, American Express, Atlanta, Continental, frequent flyer, Hyatt, Membership Rewards, merger, points, Southwest Airline, United, US Air
Posted by Seth on January 10, 2011 under frequent flyer, News, points |
Since the announcement last week of Southwest Airlines’ new Rapid Rewards 2 program there have been a number of comparisons drawn to the other frequent flyer programs that operate under similar premises, namely revenue-based earning. Certainly not everything in the Rapid Rewards 2 program is revenue-based but a lot of it is. And the program is strikingly similar to the TrueBlue program from JetBlue. Just take a look at the comments of Dave Canty, JetBlue’s Director of Loyalty Marketing and Partnerships:
Just looking at the new SWA program, it’s almost identical to the JetBlue TrueBlue program, we are flattered and you’re welcome Mr. Kelly
Mr. Canty is correct; there are a number of similarities in the two programs. But there are also a fair number of differences, enough such that it is worthwhile to compare the two programs in detail.
Earning Points by Flying
Both programs see members accruing points based not on the distance of the trip but based on the amount paid for the airfare. In the TrueBlue program the earning is fixed at 3 points/dollar and doubled to 6/dollar if one buys the ticket at JetBlue’s website. Southwest’s new Rapid Rewards program has three earning levels – 6, 10 and 12 points/dollar spend – based on the type of fare. More restrictive (and generally cheaper) fares are worth fewer points while the fully refundable Business Select fares are worth the most. While most leisure customers will likely see their earnings at 6 points/dollar in either program Rapid Rewards 2 offers more potential upside in earnings, particularly for big spenders.
Earning Points with Partners
Thanks in large part to having been around much longer, the Rapid Rewards program has significantly more earning partners than TrueBlue does. Moreover, the earning rates with the partners appear to be better for the most part.
Rental Cars
Both programs have Hertz as a rental car partner. Rapid Rewards also has Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar and Thrifty. For all of their partners Southwest credits a flat 600 points per rental, the equivalent of $100 in airfare spend on the cheapest fares. In TrueBlue a rental with Hertz will net between 50-300 points, the equivalent of $9-50 in airfare spend*.
Southwest’s Rapid Rewards is much more lucrative for accrual with rental car partners.
Hotels
Currently TrueBlue has Hilton HHonors as an earning partner at the rate of 1 point per $2 spend. Rapid Rewards has Best Western, Choice, HHonors, Hyatt, La Quinta, Marriott, Starwood, Wyndham and the Venetian as hotel partners in the new program. Each of those partners will earn a fixed rate of 600 points per stay.
Once again, the Rapid Rewards program appears much more lucrative for accrual. If you are spending more than $1,200 on a stay and staying at HHonors-affiliated hotels then TrueBlue will net more points.
Credit Cards
Both programs offer a loyalty credit card for earning additional points. Both cards offer one point per dollar spent at most merchants. Both also offer two points per dollar when used to purchase airfare from their affiliated airline. The Rapid Rewards card also includes bonus points each year when the annual fee is paid. There is a premium card available on the Rapid Rewards side that can also earn Tier Qualifying Points (more on this later) for spend. The JetBlue card also offers bonus points for spend in certain additional categories, including gym memberships, restaurants, movie theatres and event tickets.
Overall this earning path seems pretty even; each has minor advantages but not enough to skew towards earning in one program or the other.
Read more of this article »
Posted by Seth on December 21, 2010 under News |
American Express has announced their intention to cut the foreign exchange fee – currently almost 3% – from their two premium credit cards lines, the US-based Platinum and Centurion cards. The fee is currently charged on all transactions that are posted in a currency other than US Dollars. The change is expected to be in effect towards the end of Q1 2011.
The foreign exchange fee is essentially pure profit for the credit card companies so they are generally loathe to waive it. In the face of significant competition from other issuers, however, the company felt it necessary to make the move. Chase has removed the f/x fee from their Hyatt and British Airways cards and Citi has removed it from a couple cards as well. There’s also the Schwab card (now serviced by FIA) that has no f/x fees. Considering that acceptance overseas is also lower for the AmEx products, being uncompetitive in costs was simply too much to make it reasonable for many folks to use it on transactions.
The change is still limited – only for the Platinum and Centurion cards – so the benefit will only apply to folks who are already spending a decent amount of cash annually to carry the card. And depending on which other cards you carry the value proposition for the loyalty points might still tend towards the other cards. But it is certainly nice to no longer be faced with paying an extra 3% for no particular reason at all.
Read more about it here.
Posted by Seth on October 7, 2010 under Mileage Run, Trip Reports |
Maybe it was the sheer exhaustion from a month of non-stop travel and yet another pre-sunrise flight catching up with me. Maybe it was that we were heading out into the desert of southern California with absolutely no firm plans or ideas of what to do for the day. Or maybe it was the several rum minis I consumed on the flight from Houston to Ontario. Regardless of the reason, when it started to rain on us as we settled in to relax at the pool of the Hyatt in Palm Springs I was pretty sure that something was either very wrong or very right.
The original idea was to take advantage of a $140 round-trip fare to spend 12 quality hours in Palm Springs. Maybe ride the Palm Springs Tramway up to the top of the mountain and ride around on a burro. Alas, that was not meant to be. The tramway was closed for maintenance so we could not take the ride. On top of that the rumors of burro rides being available up top were apparently just that – rumors. Just two hours after we had landed in California we were sitting in the parking lot of the tourist board, dumbfounded by our IDB for the day: Involuntarily Denied Burros.
We managed to regroup and quickly. Lunch was secured, along with a couple margaritas and then we decided that our initial plans to be active during the day were a mistake. Blue skies and a hot sun called for the exact opposite. We really needed to be lazy. As an added bonus, it turns out that lazy was incredibly easy to accomplish. We headed over to the Hyatt, put on swim trunks and settled in at the pool. Run a decent enough bar tab and otherwise act like you belong and it turns out that no one even thinks to question you.
And then it rained. Right as I hopped in to the pool I noticed that I was also getting wet from the skies above. Sure, the skies were still pretty clear, but it was definitely raining. In the desert. Yeah, things were getting a bit weird.
We spent the next 4 hours alternating between the pool, the bar and the hot tub meeting new friends and otherwise enjoying ourselves. We met Justin and Stacy, a couple who had come out to Palm Springs for the weekend. I heard Stacy mention something about the University of Florida (Go Gators!) and before we knew it we had become old friends. They invited us to borrow the shower in their room to clean up after the day at the pool which was a very good thing both for us and for our seatmates on the flight back to Houston that night. It also gave us a phenomenal view of the sunset that evening. The clouds were pretty stunning.
We headed out to dinner with our new friends and whiled away the last few hours we had in town before loading back up into the car and starting the drive back west towards the airport.
It turns out that the area between Palm Springs and Ontario has a couple Indian tribes living there and these days that means casinos. We had an extra half hour to spare and breaking up the drive meant a somewhat better chance of me not falling asleep behind the wheel as we approached hour 20 of the day so we pulled off the highway and headed inside. Our plan was to stay only 30 minute or until we lost $50. We were only in building for about 10 minutes. We were both up $45 and there was absolutely no reason to look that gift horse in the mouth. The day was already strange enough so why not add to that the crazy of leaving the casino a winner?
The rest of the drive back to Ontario was rather uneventful, as were the two flights home. Sure, there was the downgrade from a international configured 767 to a domestic 757 but that just opened up the opportunity for us to take a bump down to coach and score $250 to arrive home at the same time we originally planned. Seeing as how that was nearly double what I paid for the ticket I was quite happy to take that certificate off their hands.
Quite a successful mileage run, even if (or perhaps especially because) it was completely random.
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