I track my nights/stays/points very closely…I mean, who doesn’t?  I blogged earlier this year that for several days/week the SPG thermometer, which I love, had disappeared from the website.  Luckily, it reappeared a few days/weeks later. However, it seems to me that it doesn’t really track accurately.

I am 2 nights away from re-earning Platinum Status, however, the dot is smack in the middle of the thermometer.  With only 2 more nights to re-earn Platinum, shouldn’t the dot be much closer to the end?   Hopefully by this time next week I’ll be zero days from re-earning Platinum and we’ll see where the dot is then.   Not sure why I really care so much…other than the fact that I love the thermometer and tracking how close I am to Platinum.   This is also the fastest I’ve ever re-earned Platinum status with SPG 50 nights in Q1 (plus I had 15 nights w/Marriott in Q1).   I ended 2011 w/98 SPG nights and can only imagine where I’ll be at the end of 2012.  But whose counting

What a strange day of travel I had on Friday.  For those of you who follow my posts, you’ll remember that I wasn’t able to use Star Awards Upgrades for this trip because United had temporarily suspended their participation in the program.  So I boarded my first flight in London, in coach, but before take-off was able to move to an empty row – made the flight totally bearable.   About 2 hours into the flight that announcement you dread came over the intercom – is there anyone on board with medical experience? If so, please ring your call button.  When no one heard any call button dings, we all new it was not good news – we would likely have to stop.  And that we did.  That layover made a 7 hour flight into an 9.5 hour flight and created a few missed connections!

 

After flying through customs and security thanks to TSA’s Trusted Traveler Program, I headed over to US Airways.  The flight to Tampa started like any other.  But before the first class flight attendant could serve drinks to anyone beyond row 2, a man from coach darted up to the front and began talking to her.  Everyone could tell something was going on, but it was hard to hear.   Next, she got on her phone and called the flight attendants in the back – this is when those of us in the first few rows could start to hear what was going on – she was a loud talker.   There was a lot of action for the next 20 or 30 minutes with people going from the front to the back and from the back to the front of the plane.

 

From what we were able to over-hear, it seems that two men were sitting in close quarters and one bumped into the other, accidentally. He got up to go to the bathroom and when he returned, the man that he bumped would not allow him to sit down.  There was a verbal altercation and apparently enough was said to get a uniformed enlisted man engaged, another man – whom everyone suspected was an air marshal (because he went into the cockpit while first class was boarding the flight) involved in keeping the situation under control.
When we landed, the pilot annoucned that we weren’t at the gate – another plane, he said, was at our gate. But, those of us sitting on the front left of the plane could see there were no airplanes at any gates near us – and he asked everyone to stay seated.    We then noticed several police cars with lights flashing speeding towards all the empty gates.  When they parked, about 6 uniformed officers climbed the steps to the jet-bridge and then our plane began to pull in. When we stopped, the pilot asked everyone to remain seated while the police boarded the flight.

 

We were soon joined by at least 4 armed officers and it appeared that two may have been standing in the jet-bridge.  They all headed towards the back of the plane.   After a few minutes, the man everyone suspected was the air marshal disembarked first, then, 1 officer escorted the man who wasn’t allowed to sit down (the victim) off the plane, then the uniformed enlisted man disembarked and on his way out said to someone in first class – if you’re in the military, you have to help out.  Then, another officer came to the front and we could all hear him say “he’s in cuffs in the back, everyone can get off.”

 

So that was it, we all got off the plane and as we got off saw officers talking to the enlisted man, the “victim” and the “air marshal” all in different areas of the jet bridge.   No one really knows exactly what happened but it sure was an eventful day of  travel and left a lot to the imagination!

I know the picture is blurry, but the officers were moving fast

Last week I blogged about the fact that I am ready to leave behind my Chairman Status with US Airways and make a move to a new airline. It’s a hard decision, I’ve held Chairman and Platinum status with US Air for many years now.  However, there are two factors driving my decision 1) US Air doesn’t really fly the routes I need over the next two years and 2) they’re customer service stinks lately.   I love the Star Alliance, but was completely frustrated that United wouldn’t match my US Air status since they’re both in the Star Alliance.(seems unfair that they don’t offer challenges within Star Alliance or some way to transfer airlines.)

I contacted American Airlines (via twitter) and Delta Airlines (via email) .   The AA Twitter Team did respond and said they would send me a status challenge via email, but I never got anything.  Delta responded via email and asked a ton of follow-up questions about my business travel and today I got an email offering me a status challenge.  I have Platinum Status for the next 90 days and to keep it until Feb 2013, I need to fly 26,000 Medallion Qualification Miles OR 35 Medallion Qualification Segments on flights operated by Delta or Delta Connection

Since it took so long to hear back from Delta and I still haven’t heard from American, I decided not to give up on United and reached out to the manager of my company travel desk.  I explained to her what type of travel I would be doing over the next 9 months, explained that United was a better fit,  provided her with my current status with US Air and asked what she could do.   After a few emails back and forth (between me and her and between her and the airline rep) she was able to get United to give me an outright status match to gold.  No challenge required.  Now, I’m Chairman on US Air, so Gold is a step down. Nice of them to do an outright match, but….an equal match would have been better.  So the moral of the story is don’t give up!  I didn’t think United would match, and sure enough, after I found the right way to go about it, they made the match.

Now, I’m in the position that I have to choose which way to go.  I have flown 30,000 miles on US Air since Jan 1, 2012, that feels like wasted miles towards status. I have already booked 1 flight from CHS to BRU in two weeks on United and I would probably easily reach at least 75k on United between now and end of year, maybe even 100k.

And then there’s Delta.  Everyone has said Delta’s international product is terrible, and I do hate flying through ATL.  The majority of my travel is to BKK over the next three moths and that would mean over 30 hours of travel time due to the # of connections and layovers with Delta.  And since the flights would have to be on Delta to qualify, that would be challenging.

While United doesn’t offer much better routing for me, since I wouldn’t have to fly on United (no status challenge), I could fly any Star Alliance Partner and still earn miles on United.  Since Thai got rid of their direct from LAX to BKK, I’d probably go with Asiana.

So, as I see it I either stick with US Air and put up with them, or switch to United and deal with Gold status for a while until I make it to a higher status level on miles.   I also have to say, that in the last two days, US Airways social media team has been responding to tweets. That’s a great sign…but they’ve got a long way to go in the customer service department.

Which way would you go?

Other news:

Recently, several of my coworkers have asked for help with status matches of their own.  Happy to report, all of them had some success.  Starwood did an outright match for a Hilton Diamond member to SPG Platinum.  All she did was call SPG and ask!

Another coworker emailed Frontier Airlines and asked them to Match American Status. They offered a status challenge. Fly four one-way trips in two months and to maintain Ascent status (normally acquired by flying 15,000 miles for 20 flight segments.)  Amazing challenge – and so easy for someone in my industry to complete.

Another coworker had their SPG Platinum status outright matched by IHG at the same level.  She did an online chat session with them and then emailed her current SPG status and was granted the status for one year.

Have you had any success with status matches?

 

 

 

This Saturday I enjoyed a meal with a friend at Pollen Street Social in London. The meal has made it to my list of top 10 meals of all time – yes, it was that good.   Located in the Mayfair district, Chef Jason Atherton – formerly of Gordon Ramsay’s Maze restaurant – has created a contemporary and trendy eatery well worth its acclaim as one of London’s best new restaurants.

I arrived at Pollen Street Social before my friend and was greeted by two hostesses who were very friendly and offered to take my coat.   I took a seat on a comfortable couch in the bar area.  While I waited, I was offered a drink menu by at least 3 different people and offered water a few times as well.  The entire bar and reception staff was very welcoming and accommodating.  The bar is light and airy and has an informal and warm vibe.

Once my friend arrived, we were taken to our table in the main dining area.   The meal started with fresh bread, dips and Spanish olives.  Our server was very knowledgeable about the menu and made several recommendations.  Since I have a food allergy- tomatoes- ordering was a little challenging.

I started my meal with the scallop ceviche served with cucumber, apple, radish and yuzu soy dressing. The presentation was beautiful and the dish was delicious. The scallops were fresh and thinly cut and the combination of cucumber and yuzu dressing was great.

For my main course, my options were a bit limited and, in fact, I had to go with my third choice.  The manager even came to the table to discuss my options with me – turns out most of the meats are braised in a tomato base of some sort or another.  So after I gave up on the idea of having duck or Atlantic Halibut, I settled on the roasted sea bass with celeriac, celery and celeriac crumble.  The dish typically comes with a truffle sauce, but that had to be replaced because it had tomato in it.  In the end, I was thrilled with the sea bass. The fish was cooked perfectly and the texture and flavor were dead on.

After the main meal, we were served a pineapple granita topped with Kaffir lime, a thick lychee foam and passion fruit coulis. It was a great way to cleanse the palate and prepare for dessert.

Having read much about the restaurant online, I knew I had to save – or make – room for dessert.  The dessert choices all looked amazing – and in fact, the restaurant has its own dessert bar – but I had to go with the PBJ.  The PBJ looked amazing online, but only tasting it in person can really do it justice (my pictures certainly don’t do it justice).  The PBJ is a peanut butter parfait with cherry jam and creamed rice puffs.  The dish also had a scoop of sorbet and fresh blackberries.  It was as good as I had hoped and just enough sweetness to end the meal – or so I thought.

Just when you think you’re done, the staff, who never stopped attending to our table throughout the meal, return with a box filled with chocolates and miniature macaroons – the macaroons were yummy!  And then, just before you’re served the check, you’re given one last treat – a classic French financier.  Ours were filled with Almond and Pumpkin and were warm and rich.

Every attention to detail was thought through and looked after.  The service was spectacular and the food was magnificent.  Pollen Street Social is expensive – but it’s worth the price for a special dinner you’re not likely to forget.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OUT NYC, New York City’s first hotel to cater specifically to gay tourists, has opened on 42^nd Street between 10^th and 11^th Avenue near Hell’s Kitchen.  The hotel’s co-owner, Ian Reisner, describes the hotel as the world’s first gay focused, straight-friendly, urban resort.

The hotel will offer some very unique features including a sun-deck, described by the hotel as Fire Island meets Manhattan, with a glass reflecting pool and water room enclosed by cascading curtains of rain.  In addition to the sundeck, you’ll find The Secret Garden, a quite space tucked inside a garden of black bamboo and The Great Lawn, a green space with beanbag chairs.

The hotel’s restaurant, Kitchin, will be open for brunch, lunch, dinner and late-night dining and will have large communal dining tables.  There will also be a nightclub, called XL, in the hotel.  It will offer 14,000 sq feet of space including a lounge and cabaret stage.  The hotel’s fitness center spans 5,000 sq feet and is located in a glass covered atrium.  There is a 15-foot waterfall, a gym, two Jacuzzis, a steam room, relaxation cabanas and a massage treatment rooms.

There are several types of rooms offered in the hotel – from sleep shares to suites; you’ll find a variety of amenities.  The Sleep Share rooms start at $99/night and for that, you get a spot in a nature inspired, four-person room. The Sleep Share room has a shared bathroom, cubbies, 4 full-size beds with personal 22’’ TVs and privacy curtains.   Outside of the Sleep Share rooms, there are Superior Rooms, Deluxe Rooms, Executive Rooms and suites.  All rooms are modern and minimalist with floor-to-ceiling mirrored headboards and illuminated bedside cubes.  The Executive Rooms and Suite offer ergonomic desks and conveniences for business travelers.

Rooms in April range from $223/night for a Superior room to $335/night for a Suite.

Have you been to OUT NYC?  Let me know what you thought.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looks like they did a great job! This is what the space looked like from Google Earth 1 year ago

United Airlines has suspended their participation in the Star Alliance Upgrade Awards program while they work through their merger with Continental Airlines.

I spent several hours on the phone with US Airways last week trying to figure out why I couldn’t book a Star Alliance Upgrade on a United Fight.  After contacting US Airways Dividend Miles Chairman Liaison, I got the following response via email:

I confirmed with United customer service that this was in fact the case and their website has also been updated to reflect the same message: while they integrate their systems, Star Alliance Awards will be unavailable.  I hope this doesn’t last long!

 

I ran out of tissues in my hotel room this week and so I requested a box of Kleenex from housekeeping.  Admittedly, there was a bit of a language barrier with the person whom I was making the request of.  Shortly after making the request, there was a knock at the door and a housekeeper appeared with a good old-fashioned handkerchief.  I was at a loss for words (rare moment!)

So I got to thinking…did they just misunderstand my request or is this the newest way in which hotels are going “green”?

In the end, I didn’t use the handkerchief…it just seemed a bit too radical for me.  What do you think? Would you use a handkerchief provided by a hotel in lieu of a box of tissues?

 

This hotel review is longer than most of my reviews because it includes a history of the hotel (which I found very fascinating), of course, you could skip the Hotel History section and jump to the review, but what fun would that be?

Hotel History:

The Park Lane Hotel is a grand London hotel built in the early 1920s.  The hotel’s steel frame was erected before the beginning of World War  I {Use Roman numerals, not Arabic numbers to designate WWI and WWII}, but construction was abandoned due to a lack of financing. The property was completed in 1927 by Sir Bracewell Smith and reflected the era’s Art Deco style.

The hotel is widely recognized for its ballroom and Palm Court where afternoon tea is served.  In fact, during World War II, Parliament decided that the Park Lane Hotel ballroom would be used by the Commons in the event the Houses of Parliament were damaged.

When the Park Lane opened to the public in 1927 a single room w/private bath rented for 76 pence to     £ 1.05 (about  $1.18 to $1.76 in US dollars), a double room rented for £ 1.41 to £1.75 and a suite rented for £2.66 – £3.15.   Today, those rooms rent for around £223 for a single/double and about £503 for the suite.   Imagine what those rooms will be renting for during the 2012 London Olympics – a report issued today said rates are increasing as much as 50%.

The hotel’s interior design was managed by Lady Bracewell Smith and all the rooms were designed and furnished by top designers of the day.  For example, the breakfast room, an Art Deco style room, was decorated by Harrods.  After Sheraton acquired the hotel in 1996 at a cost of £44 million, the ballroom was renovated and restored to reflect its original splendor and re-opened in 1997 to celebrate the hotel’s 70^th anniversary.

The hotel has been featured in many TV shows and hit moves including the James Bond feature “Golden Eye,” “Shanghai Surprise” and “The End of the Affair.”

 

Hotel Review:

Overall

Today, the hotel retains its historical charm.  The rooms are modern and well designed for business travelers and visitors alike.  As with most old hotels, the floors creek, but I didn’t find it bothersome during my stay.  While you can hear the floors creeking in the hallway throughout the day (especially when the bellman or housekeeping bring their carts through) there’s minimal creeking at night – during the time most people are sleeping.

There are only two lifts (elevators) in the hotel, and that can create challenges at times – at least once during the first 9 nights of my stay one of the lifts was not working during the busy morning hours. If you’re into walking stairs, there is a beautiful staircase in the center of the hotel that leads to all floors.

The hotel offers a traditional high-tea service on the weekend and the Palm Court bar serves a limited menu and sushi in the evenings.  Breakfast is served in Bracewells, just off Palm Court, and Citrus serves lunch and dinner.

There is no concierge lounge or Sheraton club at this hotel and Starwood elite status benefits are limited (no complimentary water in the room for example).  There is a gym on the lower level of the hotel that always seemed busy.

Check-in

This was the first time in almost five years staying with Starwood that I’ve had a bad experience at check-in.  I arrived at 3 pm local time – the hotel’s official check-in time – and my room was not ready.  I was told that I was upgraded to an executive room with more space since I would be staying 19 nights –  I was very happy about that.   I was advised that my room would be ready in about 90 minutes (4:30 local time).  Since the weather was awful, I went to the bar and had a sandwich and cup of tea (which I thought were reasonably priced until I remembered that prices were listed in Pounds, not Dollars!).

I returned to the front desk about 4:30 and was informed that my room was still not ready.  I was offered a different room but the agent recommended I wait for the original room because she thought I would be unhappy in the other room which was smaller and next to a lift (she said it would be loud.) I really appreciated her suggestion and agreed to wait another 40 minutes for the room.  The third time I returned to the front desk, the room was still not ready, and at this point, I was getting very frustrated.   The agent assured me that it would be ready in 20 more minutes.  Indeed, it was ready after an additional 20 minutes.  So in the end, I waited just over 2 1/2 hours for a room – something that’s never happened to me before at a Starwood property.

I think the reason I got so frustrated about the wait was not because I had to wait, but because the weather was terrible and I was stuck waiting around the hotel.  There is no formal lobby in the hotel, so I had to wait in the bar area – I was hungry when I arrived so I didn’t mind getting a sandwich & drink – but what would I have done if I wasn’t hungry?  The bartenders don’t like non-paying customers just taking up space.

I also felt like the hotel could have said, have a cup of tea on us, or here’s an access code for free wifi while you wait.  But they offered nothing.  I did speak with the hotel, and received an email from the Assistant Front Office manager which essentially said we’re very sorry, we look forward to having you for a considerable length of time, but you chose to wait for the upgraded room, we had something earlier, but you didn’t want it. My response was that I didn’t want it because the girl said it was next to an elevator and loud – so why would I want that room?  And why did it take 2 ½ hours to get a room ready.

In any case, I was finally in my room at 6 pm and my luggage (which the hotel held during the wait) was delivered very promptly.

For my platinum amenity at check-in, I selected the continental breakfast choice.  This was definitely the best choice given the length of my stay.  It turns out, that was a great choice because the hotel allows you to have the full breakfast buffet in the restaurant and they have an amazing selection of choices.   The restaurant was always very crowded, but service has been excellent and there’s never a wait.

The Room

As I noted, I was upgraded to an executive room, and it was very spacious.  My room had a king size bed, a couch and chair and a work desk.  The desks even featured electrical outlets for UK plugs, EU plugs and US plugs.  Upon request, I was also provided with an adaptor for use during my stay.  The hotel emptied out the mini-bar for me so that I could store some of my own items – which I appreciated.

I found the room to be very dark once the sun went down. The lighting in the room didn’t suffice.  So I contacted the hotel and they brought up a lamp that made the room very bright and allowed me to keep working (or blogging) in the evenings.

The bathroom was large and had a bathtub and shower.  The shower only has a waterfall shower head and so I found the water pressure to be weaker than most Sheratons that have standard shower heads. The bathroom also had a towel rack that was heated – though I haven’t yet turned it on.   The bathtub was the only part of the bathroom that showed its age.  There were non-slip strips on the floor of the tub that looked old and showed some dirt.

Another great benefit of the room was the walk in closet.  It had plenty of space for my suitcases and I was able to unpack and hang and fold all my clothes – after all, for 19 nights, it’s worth unpacking.  The hotel even brought up extra hangers.

Restaurants and Room Service

As I mentioned, the breakfast is great – but if I wasn’t getting it as a Platinum benefit, I probably wouldn’t pay for it out of pocket.  I did notice that the hotel was offering 20% off breakfast with a coupon from the front desk.    Room Service is very expensive.  I ordered room service one evening and requested a tuna fish sandwich (it’s on the menu) and within 5 minutes I had a call back from room service asking me what tuna was.  I’m not kidding.  I just re-read the menu item to him and said okay.  Luckily the correct item did show up less than 20 minutes later.   I have not yet had the chance to try Citrus, but I suspect I will at some point during my visit.  I’ll update the post if/when I try it.

General 

There were several, let’s call them, hiccups that I’ve experienced so far during my stay.  The first day after checking in there was no hot water in the hotel until around 11 am due to a flood in the boiler room.  Nothing the hotel could really do about that – but still bothersome.   I already blogged about my experience with the rudest hotel concierge ever –the hotel did respond by apologizing profusely (in fact, SPG social media team reached out to me before the hotel did – they’re always impressive with customer service).   The hotel Front Office manager did call me today to check in, see if I was comfortable and apologize again. He also sent a tray of crumpets and bottled water to the room (they were very good).  So I think they handled the hiccups very well.

The hotels location is very central and close to Buckingham Palace and other tourist sites.  It’s also within 10 minute walk of the Green Park tube stop , which made it easy to commute to the office.

So far, I have had some very good experiences with the Sheraton Park Lane Hotel and a couple of not so great experiences.  I imagine with any long stay, there are bound to be issues.  I am glad the hotel has addressed them all.   If anything changes during the next ten days or so, I will be sure to update this report.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the 22nd year, designers, engineers and artists have combined forces to create the ICEHOTEL in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden. The hotel began as a 60 sq meter Igloo and today, is the largest ice hotel at over 5500 sq meters.  This past December, on a flight to Fiji (yes, I see the irony here) I watched a documentary on the creating of the ICEHOTEL in the Swedish Lapland.  I have always wanted to stay at an ice-hotel and ever since I saw the Northern Lights for the first time 4 years ago in Alaska, I’ve been obsessed with seeing them again.  I never really imagined that after seeing the documentary I’d have an opportunity to make it to Jukkasjärvi Sweden so quickly!   This feels like a trip that should be planned – not a spur of the moment weekend vacation trip.

It just so happens that I will have about 5 days in Europe to use at my leisure in early April and this year has been a stellar year for Northern Light sightings.  Who knows how long these conditions will last.

I have plenty of frequent flyer miles – so traveling to  Jukkasjärvi from The Hague wouldn’t be a problem.  The dilemma is the cost for 2 nights at the ICEHOTEL.  I’m spoiled, I’ll admit it. I can’t remember the last time I paid for a hotel room on vacation and I certainly can’t remember the last time I paid rack rates at a hotel. But this isn’t any hotel, this is an ice-hotel – there are no points, no discounts and no way around paying for a room.

So, how much would you pay for 2 nights at the ICEHOTEL?  Currently, 2 nights the week of April 1st in the Arts Suite would cost $1666 USD. That includes the room, breakfast, warm weather boots and overalls, transfers to and from the airport and a nightly outing to see the Northern Lights.   $833 per night is a bit steep for a single….I really, really want to do this, but I’m having a hard time committing when I have about 20 nights worth of points at Starwood and Marriott combined.

How much would you pay for 2 nights at The ICEHOTEL?  Have you been? Is it worth the money?

After 7 years of elite status with USAiways, it’s time say adios! Now, who will match my status?

I have a love-hate relationship with USAirways.  I’ve had Chairman status w/USAirways for 5 of the past 7 years (the other two years I hit Platinum).

I went with USAirways because I love to traveling to South East Asia/Oceania for vacation and I find that USAir has the most liberal awards on partner airlines. For example, four years ago I flew first class on Singapore and Thai t0 Thailand for 120k round-trip (my friend traveled a different route using her United miles and paid 140k miles for business class to Thailand), this year I flew to Australia for 120k round-trip in first on Thai & Lufthansa.

I know what you’re thinking – USAirways has the worst planes.  Yes, that’s mostly true.  However, they have begun to add business class to their regional jets and their Envoy class to Europe, South America and the Middle East isn’t too bad.  When I’m flying domestically, it’s usually for quick trips and since I’m based in Charleston, SC, 90% of the my flights are on RJs.  All of my friends complain about the lack of entertainment system on USAir’s planes – I’ve got a laptop, an iPad and 2 iPhones – I’ve got plenty of entertainment options.

I typically have had great experiences with USAirways flight crews.  Yes, occasionally I encounter a flight attendant whose having a really bad day and taking it out on everyone – but for the most part, the crews are pleasant and helpful.  I had amazing service on a recent flight from Philly to Brussels as I noted in my flight report.

I’m pretty sure that USAirways has the worst elite benefits of any program. Their benefit of 2 system wide upgrade certificates for their elite Chairman status is probably worst in the industry. American Airlines provides 8 system wide upgrades for their Executive Platinum members.  Delta provides their Platinum members with 4 certificates and Diamond members with 6 certificates.  They don’t offer complimentary upgrades to Europe or the Middle East either.  You can’t book 1-way award travel and you can’ t change your award travel once travel has commenced.   While they offer unlimited upgrades domestically (including Hawaii) unless your a Chairman, you’re not likely to have a very high upgrade % annually (this is a statistic US provides you each year as a member) last year I had 90% while some Platinum and and Gold members reported having around 50% success with upgrades.

Now this is where USAir loses me – their customer service representatives are awful.  As a Chairman I have special number to call to reach a Chairman’s liaison.  Sometimes they’re helpful – sometimes they’re extremely helpful, sometimes their not – it’s really hit or miss.

Today I had an agent who questioned whether United was part of the Star Alliance. Really?  After checking with her supervisor, she came back and confirmed for me that United was in fact part of the Star Alliance.  Thank god she confirmed that!  I hope it was her first day.  However, I wasn’t calling to confirm what alliance United was part of and, in the end, she never solved my problem.  I resorted to calling back and got an agent who couldn’t solve the problem, but was very apologetic and seemed knowledgeable (the problem: trying to book a Star Alliance Upgrade on USAir’s website using USAirways miles for a United flight – United is not an option in the drop down of Star Alliance Airline partners. The outcome: no one really knows why it’s missing – their assumption is the recent United/Continental merger and they suggested trying again in a few days….then, lucky me…call back if it’s still missing.)

Nine times out of ten I hang up from USAirways telephone customer service frustrated and ready to strangle someone.   I’m also sorry to report that I typically feel just as frustrated when dealing with agents at USAirways baggage claim offices.   I’m so tired of dealing with less-than-knowledgeable agents who don’t really seem to care.

So where does this leave me?  99% of my travel in 2012 and 2013 will be international to Europe, South East Asia and Australia.  USAir is not a great option for me anymore and I’m feeling less and less loyalty to them every day.  I currently have about 250,000 ff miles – which I can use for award travel on a star alliance partner airline.  The bigger problem is that I’ve already earned 25,000 miles towards 2013 status with USAir – I should have been smarter and had those credited to my United Account.

I have a Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card – so United is a natural option. But here’s the problem.  United won’t match my USAir status since they’re both Star Alliance members.  That leaves American Airlines or British Airways – Chase transfers to British and they’re both OneWorld.  Then there’s Delta – part of SkyTeam – and Chase transfers miles to Korean Airlines.   Such a dilemma.

I’ve applied for a status match – not challenge – with Delta (corporate program) and American Airlines (I know they typically do challenges, but it doesn’t hurt to ask! After all, they’re in bankruptcy and could probably use a dedicated frequent flyer like myself.) We’ll see what happens!

What do you think?  SkyTeam or OneWorld?  Will anyone match my status outright or will I have to do a challenge?  And, is there any way to get status on United this year??

Stacey

I’m sure hotel concierge love to laugh at the requests they get…but most of them have the sense not to laugh directly in front of your face.  I was stunned today when the concierge at the Sheraton Park Lane Hotel laughed at me.  I assure you, he wasn’t laughing with me – he was laughing at me.

I approached the concierge desk to request directions to the starting location for a specific tour I wanted to take.  The person behind the desk suggested three other tours run by three tour companies I was not inquiring about.  I asked, nicely, multiple times if he could just give me directions to the location of the tour I wanted to take.  It was futile.  I finally asked, “Are you the concierge?”  He said he was not (turns out he’s a bellman) and informed me that the concierge would be back in 10 minutes.  Completely frustrated, I decided to wait.

When the concierge finally reappeared, I inquired again.  He too tried to steer me towards other tours.  The same tours the bellman tried to convince me to take.  So I began to wonder – do they make a commission off certain tours?   I already had a ticket and all I wanted was directions.  Why was this so difficult?  After going round and round, he finally told me where to go.

Before I left, I asked if he could tell me what bus went to the nearest tube stations.  He said, you don’t need to take a bus, it’s a 5 minute walk. I explained that on rainy days, I might like to take the bus to avoid getting wet.  This is where the laughing begins.  He said, “Don’t be lazy, just walk. We have umbrellas if you are afraid of getting wet.“  More laughter and a head shake.

The woman standing next to me said, “Honey, I’d complain to a manager if I were you.”  She was clearly a fellow tourist with a sweet southern accent.  I smiled and said, “I don’t need a manager, I have a blog.”  She laughed…she was laughing with me.

I have stayed in hundreds of hotels on 5 continents of the world.  This is truly the first time I’ve been laughed at by a concierge.  I don’t think my request for directions to a tour I wanted to take and information about a bus route was too much to ask for.

Every time I think I’m starting to like the Sheraton Park Lane hotel, I have an experience like this.  Hard to imagine what my opinion will be when I finally depart on March 23^rd.  I have a feeling this stay is going to be like a roller coaster ride – good experience, bad experience, good experience and so forth….