Posted by Seth on August 10, 2010 under frequent flyer, News, points | 
Alas, the coupling isn’t nearly as sexy as it could have been.
Virgin America and Virgin Atlantic are slowly moving forward in their relationship, with the British half announcing today that customers flying on the American carrier’s flights will be able to credit their travel to the Flying Club frequent flyer program rather than Elevate if desired. This is a nice improvement, especially given the breadth of other partners that Flying Club has for good earning potential. Still, it is limited in several ways to the point of being less than great news.
For starters, flying on the less expensive fares will only earn half credit; only the most expensive fare classes like refundable Main Cabin fares or Main Cabin Select will earn full credit. That’s unfortunate but somewhat understandable, especially considering the similar limitations that Virgin Atlantic applies to their own flights and to other partners. Additionally, the partnership is only for earning: no redemption on Virgin America yet. Plus, it is only in one direction: no earning in Elevate for Virgin Atlantic flights. Turns out that you can earn in Elevate for flying on Virgin Atlantic, too. The rates are miserable – as low as 10% on some fares and maxing out at only 60% – but at least the option is there.
Still, for someone who doesn’t mind the fuel surcharges that Flying Club charges on redemptions and who has lots of Hertz rentals and Hilton stays, the ability to rack up points in Flying Club isn’t all that horrible. And being able to add the occasional Virgin America flight to that pool rather than abandoning it in Elevate is a nice option.
Growing partnerships are always nice to see, even if they are not perfect. This development certainly falls in to that category.
Posted by Seth on December 17, 2008 under Uncategorized |
Hertz made a very big deal over the summer of their new, customer-friendly refueling policy. The concept was reasonable: no more gouging on the per gallon price, with just a bit of gouging on the service fee. Now that fuel prices are back to a somewhat reasonable level, however, Hertz has decided to drop the marketing efforts and go back to gouging on fuel prices.
The announcement came with no fanfare and the webpage for it doesn’t even have the Hertz logo on the page. They are clearly trying to downplay this, and for good reason. As bad as the “pump price” policy was, it was still way better than the traditional gouging they offer.
Hertz has reverted to our prior refueling options, effective December 1, 2008. This means the Flat Refueling Fee, and Fuel and Service Charges based on local pump prices, have been discontinued. All North American corporate-owned Hertz locations, including Airport, Hertz Local Edition® and Off-Airport locations in Canada are affected.
Hertz has three refueling options available to meet your needs:
- You may purchase a tank of gas from Hertz at time of rental and return the vehicle with as little gas as you prefer. Please be aware that we are unable to issue a refund for unused fuel. However, this method eliminates the need for you to refuel the tank prior to returning.
- You can let us refuel for you and only pay for the fuel required to replace the fuel you used, and for the service and convenience of refueling the tank.
- You can stop and refuel the tank yourself, immediately prior to returning the vehicle.
We apologize for any inconveniences this change may cause. No matter which Hertz refueling option you decide is best for your travels, we are glad you are choosing Hertz.
The worst part of it all is that they changed the program effective December 1 and didn’t bother to tell anyone for a couple weeks. Morons.
Posted by Seth on September 29, 2008 under Uncategorized |
Part of the fun in the ridiculous trips I plan is the hunt for elite status with the various programs I participate in. So when the programs offer to just sell the status outright it seems to take away some of the fun. But what I really cannot figure out is how I got the two offers that I did in the past month.
The first offer is from Hertz. The email talks about my “President’s Circle Upgrade” as if it is something that I was supposed to already know about and be a part of. It highlights some of the benefits and then, at the very end, reminds me that the offer is about to expire and that I need to pay the $450 now to claim it. $450. Are you kidding me? For a guaranteed one-car upgrade (which I rarely want) and a 25% points bonus on rentals. I have only used Hertz for a car rental once in the past year, so I cannot figure out why they think I’d pay for this, but I keep getting “reminder” emails about it.
The second offer I received is from US Air. This offer is for a 90-day US Air Club membership and either Silver, Gold or Platinum status for 90 days. Apparently I can actually buy the Club member ship ($120 for 90 days) or the status ($215/$430/$645 for 90 days, depending on the level) separately, even though the email doesn’t mention that. Of course, I have no idea why anyone would willingly fly US Air, certainly not enough to be elite with them.
Suffice it to say that I am not going to pursue either of these offers. That being said, it is interesting to see the various companies trying to raise money through offers such as this. I wonder if they are actually successful.
