Posted by Seth on June 9, 2011 under Trip Reports | 
It would seem that, sadly, this is going to be a rather short post. Yes, I’m quite happy that I got to spend a couple days in Frankfurt, Germany as part of the Lufthansa A380 Inaugural flight from San Francisco, but there really isn’t a ton to do in town. We got by and managed to not go too crazy, but it was tough.
The Altstadt ("Old Town") is where we spent most of our time while in town. It is convenient to the river and where our hotel was so that definitely helped keep us there. And what few tourist-focused bits of town exist are rather concentrated in that area (though we did head across the river for dinner both nights).
The European Central Bank is in the area, and it looks just like a bank building but with a nifty Euro logo out front. The Frankfurt Bourse is also in the area. They went with the more traditional bull & bear theme for their statues.
And then there is the Dom. Like any good European town, the city of Frankfurt is more or less centered around a town square, with the local cathedral not too far away. In the case of Frankfurt Saint Bartholomeus’s Cathedral (Dom Sankt Bartholomäus) is located just a block off the central square and it is one of the main tourism spots in town.
The location has had a cathedral for several hundred years but, like much of the town, this iteration is relatively new construction from after the war. The Dom served as the election site for emperors of the Holy Roman Empire as well as providing a site for the anointing of German kings. Today it is just a cathedral, with no special powers (and not even a Bishop’s seat) but it still serves as a focal point in the community, for tourists and locals alike. Plus, at 95 meters tall it is a great navigational beacon in town.
Within the main square there is some interesting history to go along with the very tourist-focused shops and the Römer, formerly City Hall and now used by the local government for a number of functions, including wedding facilities in some of the halls. There is a lovely statue of Justitia, holding the scales for judging and a sword for carrying out guilty verdicts.
The square also happens to be where we got a snack our first day in town. There is a cute little würst shop selling sausages of various persuasion, along with the requisite sides, and beer. It was certainly not the best food we had during the trip but given that the options just north of the square included a Subway I’m pretty sure we made the right choice. Besides, standing out in the square eating and drinking was a great opportunity to people watch.
And that’s pretty much it. We did spend some time in a couple different food markets (one on purpose and one by accident); that will be another post as there are too many cool photos in that one. We also took a quick trip out to Mainz for 30 minutes and that was more fun than the several hours we spent in Frankfurt.
Don’t get me wrong, Frankfurt isn’t bad, per se, but there are much better cities to visit in Germany if you’re looking for more traditional touristy things to do.
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Posted by Seth on May 31, 2011 under frequent flyer, media coverage, points |
A couple weeks ago I recorded my first ever podcast. I’m rarely convinced that anyone wants to listen to me ramble about travel so I’m always pleasantly surprised to hear that someone really does. Or at least they think people do.
And chat we did. About my trip on the Lufthansa A380 Inaugural from San Francisco, Starwood promos, American Airlines promos, United Airlines changes and many other topics. I think the best part for me was that I was learning so much throughout the conversation, even as I also got to provide some information about the service and the trip I took.
Anywho, it is a great chat with a great group of guys and well worth listening to if I do say so myself. Oh, and it is a week old. Apparently I missed it going online last week due to working too hard or something. Whoopsie.
Check it out here: http://upgrd.com/upgrd/upgrd-86-springtime-travel.html.
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Posted by Seth on May 23, 2011 under Review, Trip Reports |
As part of the prize package from Lufthansa and the A380 Inaugural flight from San Francisco we were given two nights in the Steigenberger Frankfurter Hof hotel. The Frankfurter Hof is arguably the flagship hotel in the Steigenberger chain. With over 130 years of history, a Michelin starred restaurant and a beautiful façade, it is readily regarded as one of the nicer properties in Frankfurt. Based on our experience there it is easy to understand why.
The property is located in the heard of the financial district, just around the corner from the Euro Central Bank headquarters and less than a kilometer from the main train station in Frankfurt. Add on the U-Bahn station just outside the front door and the location could hardly be better.
As best as I can tell the room we had was just a standard room. It was, however, anything but "standard" compared to other hotel stays I’ve had in the area. In addition to being rather large (and the fire escape map suggests that it was just the same as the others on the floor) it had a walk-in closet, high ceilings and was generally well appointed.
The room was nice without any over-the-top luxury at play. It also, as it typical of European hotels, was somewhat lacking on the air conditioning front. There was one and it mostly worked, but we had it set as cold as possible and with the fan on high and it barely cooled off the room; It was only in the mid-70s outside. Were it the middle of the summer I’d be worried about just how warm the rooms would get. Yes, this is typical, but I’d still be wary of it. The windows do open which can help with the ventilation if the weather isn’t too muggy.
Our room rate also included complimentary breakfast. I’m not usually a breakfast person and when we missed it the first day because of jetlag I wasn’t all that broken up over it. When we woke up early the second morning before our flight home and did have time to dine I immediately regretted having missed it the day prior. For starters, the listed rate for breakfast was €32. I don’t know of any breakfast that is actually worth $50 and I’d never actually pay that, but if it is included in the room rate then why not, right? It was definitely worthwhile.
They had American (omelet bar, bacon, etc.), European (sliced meats & cheeses, breads, etc.) and Japanese (noodle bar, soup, etc.) options available. In addition to the traditional smoked salmon they had a house-cured gravlax; it was delicious. Plenty of fruit and other light options, too. Oh, and sekt. Lots and lots of sekt. We were in a hurry and there was plenty more in the Senator Lounge when we got to the airport so I wasn’t too disappointed at only getting a couple glasses in during breakfast, but it was a nice accompaniment to the great food being served up.
I certainly would not go so far as to consider the Hof a luxe property. Luxurious in many ways, but not luxe. Still, it has a sort of old-world style about it that makes it quite the lovely place to stay. Things like live jazz music on the patio in the afternoon for snacks or cocktails. Those bits add up to make for a wonderful hotel experience.
And, needless to say, it was a much nicer hotel than I would have had were I paying for my room.
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Posted by Seth on May 20, 2011 under frequent flyer, points |
United Airlines has finally stepped up in the ever escalating battle over the San Francisco/Los Angeles-Chicago market, adding a targeted double EQM promotion for locals flying between those cities. The new promotion, however, has sufficient fine print that it isn’t nearly as good a deal as it could have been or that American Airlines is offering. The promotion is valid through the end of August 2011.
Like usual, United is only offering the bonus to itineraries ticketed after the bonus was announced (19 May 2011). This is unfortunate but given the goal of driving new revenue it is somewhat understandable. And the offer is targeted at Mileage Plus members living in California and Illinois only. Also restrictive but most promotions are more targeted than not these days so not particularly surprising. The other significant clause, however, is much more limiting:
Offer valid on nonstop flights between Chicago O’Hare (ORD) airport and Los Angeles (LAX) or San Francisco (SFO), on roundtrip itineraries for travel solely between Chicago O’Hare and Los Angeles (LAX) or San Francisco (SFO) and not on any connecting or additional city on the ticket.
That last bit is pretty severe. Historically this sort of promotion has been available so long as the passenger is flying between the cities mentioned, even if they continue onwards at one end or the other. By setting up the rules this way United is effectively increasing the costs of participating in the promotion. Hard to blame them for trying to be as specific as possible in rewarding targeted behavior, though it does mean that the promo is not nearly as useful for many folks.
Registration is required: http://united.com/offer/mpd771.
Posted by Seth on May 17, 2011 under frequent flyer, News, points |
A bit of excitement coming out of Australia this morning as Qantas has announced several changes to their frequent flyer programme. Most of the changes appear to be rather beneficial to customers, particularly at the high end, but there are a couple moves that quite likely will limit earning potential in the program as well.
Perhaps most significant is that a new elite tier is being added to the program. The "Platinum One" level will require 3,600 tier points to qualify (Platinum is only 1,200) so this level is not going to be something that many folks reach. It will require 20 paid one-way trips in business class between Sydney and San Francisco or 10 paid one-way trips in first class between Sydney and London in a year to reach this level, for example. The specific details of what benefits will be included are not yet published.
In addition to the new top tier level the earning rates for travel are changing, mostly for the better. Passengers who already have elite status will see their bonus miles earning rates grow and passengers flying in premium cabins will also see the bonuses they earn grow.
| Status-based bonus |
| |
Old bonus rate |
New bonus Rate |
| Silver |
25% |
50% |
| Gold |
50% |
75% |
| Platinum |
100% |
100% |
|
Cabin-based bonus
|
| |
Old bonus rate |
New bonus Rate |
| Premium Economy |
10% |
25% |
| Business |
25% |
50% |
| First |
50% |
100% |
All good news, right? Well, maybe not. There is one area where the earning is going to change a bit for the worse. As explained on the announcement page:
Currently members earn a Loyalty bonus of 5,000 points for every 450 Status credits earned. Loyalty bonuses will be calculated this way only until 30 November 2011.
From 1 December 2011, Members will earn a Loyalty bonus of 8,000 points for every 500 Status credits earned within a single membership year – up to a maximum of four Loyalty bonuses per membership year.
At 1 December 2011, Status credit balances relating to the calculation of the Loyalty bonus will be adjusted to recognise only those earned within the member’s current membership year. Status credits earned in previous membership years will not be recognised in the calculation of Loyalty bonus after 1 December 2011.
Not a huge devaluation there, though the 4x maximum annually seems a bit limiting. Those passengers aren’t even at the top tier level (only 2000 tier points, just over half way to Platinum One) and they no longer will be earning the Loyalty bonus points.
Overall it would appear that these enhancements are actually that, changes that make the program better. It certainly is nice to see that happening in an industry where program devaluation seems to be more the norm lately.
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Posted by Seth on May 16, 2011 under Trip Reports |
A few weeks back Lufthansa held a contest via Twitter and FaceBook to give away seats on their inaugural flight of an Airbus A380 from San Francisco to Frankfurt. Given that I like to travel and I like to do it for free I entered. And I lost. But my friend Scott won and it was a trip for two so guess who eventually got the text message asking if I was available to go to Germany on May 10th? This guy!
A quick hop (as much as a transcon can be) from JFK to San Francisco had me out there in plenty of time to see the plane arrive in from Frankfurt and to join the party that the San Francisco Airport and Lufthansa hosted out in the Bayfront Park, just off the airport grounds. It was a surprisingly solid crowd out to welcome the first regularly scheduled A380 service to SFO.
They had box lunches and picnic blankets that they were giving away as well as a raffle to win free tickets and a trivia contest to win other toys. I didn’t win the raffle but, well, apparently I’m loud enough that I managed to win at least one of the trivia question toys. And I am pretty sure I got a few other answers right but no big deal.
After the party outside the airport we headed back into the terminal to the official party being hosted near the boarding gates. This one was a bit harder to attend as it was officially only for press and other invited dignitaries. Such limitations are trivial to me, however, and I managed to negotiate for access to the party for all three of us. Some good snacks and more cool toys (I seriously almost needed an extra bag to bring all the good stuff home), plus getting to catch up with a bunch of my Lufthansa friends. All good things.
Finally it was time to board and begin the long flight over to Germany. Boarding was, not surprisingly, a bit of a mess. Getting 500+ people onto a plane is always a bit of a challenge, even with three jetbridges in use on two different levels. And the walk to our seats (4th row from the back) was a long one. Still, we got into our seats, stowed our bags and started to make friends with the flight attendants and other passengers with whom we’d be spending the next 12 hours or so.
Part of my "settling in" process at my seat was to unpack the blanket I brought with me for the trip. I acquired it from United Airlines on my flight from JFK earlier that morning and it is wonderfully comfortable. It was also still in the plastic wrap when I put it down on my seat and headed to the back galley area to chat. Imagine my surprise a few minutes later when I returned to my seat to find that the blanket was missing. Sortof.
It seems that my seatmate also noticed that the blanket was really nice and she figured it was fair game since it was still wrapped up. Oopsie. I don’t know that I’ve had a more awkward conversation with a total stranger before this one, trying to explain that it was a blanket that I had rightfully stolen and that I’d like it back. On the plus side, we did chat off and on the rest of the trip so it was a decent icebreaker.
The rest of the flight was surprisingly uneventful. The meal was fine and the open bar was well stocked and free flowing. I did discover that I was unable to get my "favorite" beverage – Fernet Branca – as it is only available in business class. I had to make do with the brandy that they were serving in coach instead. And then I slept. Even wedged into an economy seat and even all the way in the back of the plane I managed to get a solid 6 hours of sleep. That’s definitely an advantage of the longer flights from the West coast; on a flight out of JFK sleeping 6 hours would have me in the hangar after they finished unloading and cleaning the plane.
Overall it was a great trip and a ton of fun. Plus we had 2 days in Frankfurt lined up for more grand adventures!
Posted by Seth on October 2, 2010 under frequent flyer, Mileage Run, points, Trip Reports |
Every now and then there are fares that attract swarms of folks out looking for miles. When a $140 round-trip transcon comes along, for example, it is rather common to see folks buying a couple of them to accrue a collection of points and make their elite status for the year. It gets even better when one of the flight attendants working on the flight is also a junkie, intimately familiar with the crazy that is the mileage run mentality. Today’s trip to Ontario, California is a prime example of making such a situation work.
Settling in to 3A at 5:30am is a mixed bag of emotion. Happy because the upgrade cleared but stupid tired because of the 4:45am wake-up call. I seriously need to stop booking sunrise flights. Still, we settled in to our seats and started chatting only to have the guy in front of us turn around and ask us what our names were on FlyerTalk. Apparently it was obvious.
Sunrise was nice, as was the quick nap I caught on the flight after breakfast. And then on to Houston where we met another guy flying this weekend on a quick run to San Francisco. A quick chat at the gate and then we headed into the Presidents Club for another snack and to enjoy the layover.
Our flight from Houston to Ontario had at least six folks in it just for the miles. Three of them are returning on the same plane back eastward while three of us are headed onwards towards other adventures. One guy just has a different routing back to Chicago and two of us are headed to Palm Springs for some fun before heading home on the redeye. We spent most of the last hour of the flight in the forward galley having a blast with one of the most professional men in the industry. Great time.
As we boarded the flight I was greeted by name by the flight attendant. Apparently I’m just that famous (not really). Still, it was a warm greeting following the email I received last night warning me that he knew I was coming and that he’d have the bar cart ready for me. Apparently being infamous isn’t so bad after all.
Posted by Seth on August 7, 2010 under Flying, frequent flyer, points, Trip Reports |
There is nothing quite as exhilarating as flying for free. Sure, cashing in points for an awesome reward itinerary is nice, but a ticket that turns out to be profitable is really something of a holy grail. Oh, and it is even better when done in the pointy end of the plane.
Yesterday morning I got the coveted email informing me of my upgrade on my Continental flight from Newark to San Francisco. Yes, upgrades on the transcon routes are apparently hard to come by but there it was, right in my inbox. New seat: 4A. That probably would have made my $168 fare worth it, but my good fortune was just beginning.
Standing in the gate area just prior to boarding I heard the gate agent explaining to a couple that they didn’t have seat assignments because the plane was oversold. No announcements on the PA (I’m pretty sure they are supposed to do that) but my ears started tingling when I heard that discussion. I quickly found myself next in line to speak with the agent regarding the situation. My travel plans are a bit flexible, so long as I don’t miss my flight on Saturday. Oh, and I really don’t want to lose the upgrade.
About 20 minutes later I’m called back up to the counter. They can get me on the flight an hour later (that is actually only 25 minutes later thanks to a delay) and I can keep my seat up front. Oh, and there will be a voucher involved. Given how little I paid for the flight I’m essentially guaranteed that this one is a freebie since the vouchers generally are quite nice. Still, there was some uncertainty as I didn’t negotiate a specific amount prior to agreeing to the bump. Yeah, that may have been a mistake, but anything is better than nothing and I really didn’t care too much. When the supervisor showed up to issue my voucher my flexibility was paid back and then some: a $400 travel credit is happily stowed in my pocket right now. That’s roughly double what I was expecting to come away with but, as I explained to the agent, they usually take care of me so I’m not worried. Apparently that line worked tonight.
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Posted by Seth on June 24, 2010 under Trip Reports |
I travel a decent amount, but apparently not particularly broadly. I thought my list of 40+ countries visited so far was pretty decent but with my most recent booking I’m also realizing that perhaps I’ve visited as many as I have because they have been relatively easy. And then along came a deal that I couldn’t say no to.
I needed to be in San Juan, Puerto Rico in mid-August. Airfare was running around $300ish round-trip. Not great but reasonable for the route. I was pretty close to booking that trip until I noticed that there was, perhaps, a similarly priced deal that would get me a ton more frequent flyer points. Instead of just flying to San Juan and back I’ll be flying in via San Francisco, Chicago, Brussels, Accra and Philadelphia.
Yeah, I’m going from New York City to Puerto Rico via Ghana.
This won’t be my first trip to Africa – I visited Egypt over Christmas last year – but it certainly will be the first trip into what I consider a “hard” country to visit. Among other things, the list of vaccinations required is pretty significant. Typhoid, Tetanus, Hepatitis A & B, Meningococcal Meningitis and – the big one – Yellow Fever. So on Tuesday I found myself hopping between clinics, getting vaccinated and giving blood to test antibody levels for some vaccines. I’m guessing that I’ll need a few more shots in a couple weeks when I get home, but the big one has been taken care of. I got my Yellow Fever vaccination and the certification card that will serve me for the next 10 years.
I’m not a huge fan of needles, but if this is what it takes for me to explore Ghana, Benin and Togo in August and other more adventurous destinations in the coming years, so be it. My obsession with travel is much, much stronger than my aversion to needles.
Tags: Accra, Belgium, Chicago, Egypt, Flying, frequent flyer, Ghana, New York, New York City, Philadelphia, points, Puerto Rico, San Francisco
Posted by Seth on June 3, 2010 under Trip Reports |
Yes, I will be spending more time flying round trip than I will on the ground in Sydney. Yes, I plan to have a ton of fun this weekend. Yes, I am crazy.
Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, allow me to elaborate. A couple weeks ago United Airlines had a very brief 40% off sale for fares to Australia. Not being one to ignore a good sale I took a peek and noticed that it included trips from New York City. The price was right and the number of miles earned – almost 20,000 EQMs and almost 40,000 reward miles – are large enough that knocking out a weekend of flying was a good investment plus a great way to get back down to Oz. Tickets were booked and I didn’t look back. Now, a couple weeks later, I’m in the middle of my first segment of four on the trip, JFK – San Francisco aboard a United 767-300 with the International configuration.
The regular p.s. plane was swapped out due to a fire a couple weeks ago so I get this one instead. The plane feels especially roomy due to the fact that there are way more coach seats on this than on a normal p.s. plane though United is still only selling the normal number just in case. Pretty much everyone who wants one has their own block of seats. Quite nice indeed.
That being said, I’m a bit disappointed in the interior appointments on the plane. Yeah, I know I’m sitting in coach, but I still expected a little better. United has been tooting their own horn a ton lately about cleaning up their aircraft. Maybe they just haven’t gotten to this one yet but the insides have a few issues that don’t make me all that comfortable about maintenance habits. Like I put my armrest down and was greeted with this:
Yeah, I can put the piece back on and I did and no big deal in the end, but it’s just not right. A couple minutes later, after push-back I look across the cabin and notice the flight attendants fighting to keep a couple overhead bins closed. They’re not over-stuffed or anything; thy just won’t stay closed. Apparently a previous attempted fix – taping them shut – also didn’t work. So there we were, cleared to taxi into position for take-off, and the crew was scrambling to find somewhere to store a few bags. Again, our plane was empty enough that it wasn’t an issue but not comforting to see that even the “just duct tape it together” approach wasn’t working. 
And, to top it all off, the IFE was broken. I’m not sure how entertaining watching a movie on these tiny screens would be; watching the moving map was hard enough though I do applaud United for not going to the fully advertising sponsored model there. Still, not having an option on the video was a bit annoying when I woke up from my nap. The good news is that United is familiar enough with things going wrong on flights so their flight attendants are prepared. They made an announcement about an hour prior to landing and came through with the compensation certificates for the entire cabin without prompting. They definitely have the service recovery part down pat.
And the flight itself hasn’t been all that bad. I got some work done, had a nap and read a bit. Not bad at all. Of course, this is the short flight, only 5:50 in the air. The true test is coming up in a few hours when I strap in on a more crowded 747-400 for the 14ish hour overnight flight to Sydney. Good thing I’ve stoked up on drink chits for the RCC in advance of that.
