A life skill I just didn’t have before.

Platinum members of Starwood Preferred Guest can redeem award nights for stays through August 31, 2005 for 25% off the usual points — but the offer is valid for bookings made this week only.

Since these reservations are fully changeable/cancellable you’d be advised to make bookings you think you might need now.

Note that if you have to change the reservation later, you’re likely to have to redeposit the award and book a new one at the usual point level.

It’s terribly ironic that the federal government’s (IMHO, correct) decision to deny United taxypayer backing for billion-dollar loan may have lead to the situation where the federal government is taking on an even larger liability for the airline’s pensions.

Of course it’s possible that providing the loan would still leave the government in the position of picking up the pensions also.

But United provides an interesting illustration of failed U.S. industrial policy. The airline has been operating under bankruptcy protection for two and a half years and continues to lose nine-figure sums each month. Despite cost-cutting and layoffs the airline has no path towards profitability, and labor relations are at a low point.

The airline has been kept afloat by the government, by the courts which have kept aircraft lessors at bay (though a recent ruling scales this back somewhat), and by the bankruptcy process itself which privileges obligations to repay new money for the carrier encouraging big bets with limited risk.

A piece in Sunday’s New York Times asks who would even notice if the carrier were finally allowed to fail?

Airline employees would be hurt, left without jobs and at the mercy of the market. Airlines picking up United assets would in some case pick up employees as well. Union contracts disadvantage union employees switching carriers, as in most cases employees are paid based on seniority which they lose when switching employers. Unions would lose power but union members might benefit from a market system where employees could make lateral or even career-advancing moves between airlines.

While profitable routes would likely be picked up quickly by other carriers, and in the long run few passengers would be inconvenienced, those holding United tickets for immediate travel would face disruption at best. And unmentioned in the Times are the customers with a vested interest in the continuance of the carrier — those with large frequent flyer balances. Airline elite members, with access to perks like international upgrades, can simply request a status match from most carriers they would choose to switch their business to. But large mileage balances could well be lost.

Ameniti, United’s “Luxury Travel Club” (which is useless in almost every regard) is offering a 3-month trial membership for $10.

It comes with 2 United Red Carpet Club passes and Starwood Gold status, my best guess being through February 2007.

If you allow your membership to renew after 3 months for a $295 annual fee you’ll receive 25,000 United miles. Otherwise, just cancel before 3 months are up.

Here’s a story about a husband and wife who took a month for their honeymoon and traveled around the world in business class — all on frequent flyer miles, with most of the hotel nights paid for in Hilton HHonors points.

We saw the famed sunset in Key West, sandy black shores around Tahiti, the Opera House and governor’s mansion in Sydney, Bangkok’s ornate Grand Palace, the Ancient Agora in Athens and Sorrento’s Mediterranean Cliffs.



We even got a personal marriage blessing from Pope John Paul II at the Vatican five months before he died

I’m not making as many stops on my own upcoming honeymoon, but will travel to more than one part of the world over three weeks – in first class, not business, and also all on points.

Chris Elliott’s latest column, published in today’s New York Times is on airline status beyond the published benefits of elite frequent flyer programs.

The gist is that high spenders receive rewards greater than those provided to an airline’s 100,000 mile flyers.

On United and on other airlines, members of the secretive, invitation-only clubs are met at the airport by employees and whisked past the check-in line. They wait for their flights in unmarked V.I.P. lounges and are offered liberal upgrades and personalized attention by airline employees. And at a time when airlines are obsessed with improving their on-time records, it is not uncommon for a plane to be held for a super-elite member who is stuck in traffic.

Chris gets some of the details wrong. He says that the Global Services designation requires only $20,000 of spend in a year with United, but I know several flyers whose spending exceeded that amount but were not invited as UGS members.

He says that United Global Servics members get their upgrades confirmed at booking, which is only true when redeeming confirmable upgrade certificates or miles, a benefit no greater than that afforded to United’s 100,000 mile flyers. UGS members do see their upgrades using 500 mile domestic certificates clear at 120 hours before departure, 20 hours in advance of United’s 1K members.

He also mentions Continental’s Chairman’s Circle, but doesn’t mention the larger “Star” designation which is separate from Platinum elite.

This top tier status is compared to the American Express Centurion Card, though the piece incorrectly states:

And, like the super-elite status conferred by the airlines, the American Express Card is granted to those deemed deserving – never in response to a customer’s request.

In fact, historically customers who have spent $150,000 in a year on their American Express Platinum card can request an invitation to Centurion. I understand that the required spend level is increasing to $250,000 in July.

Update: Christopher Elliott responds:

Thanks for plugging today’s story about super-elites. I was a little surprised when I caught the line about inaccuracies in the story — until I read about my alleged errors.



- “He says that the Global Services designation requires only $20,000 of spend in a year with United, but I know several flyers whose spending exceeded that amount but were not invited as UGS members.”



Didn’t say that. I said “at least” $20,000 a year.



- “He says that United Global Servics [sic] members get their upgrades confirmed at booking.”



Straight from a high-level source at United. And since none of these rules are publicly available, a difficult point to argue.



- “He also mentions Continental’s Chairman’s Circle, but doesn’t mention the larger “Star” designation which is separate from Platinum elite.”



Reliable sources at Continental could only confirm the existence of Chairman’s Circle. Perhaps Star has faded?



- “In fact, historically customers who have spent $150,000 in a year on their American Express Platinum card can request an invitation to Centurion.I understand that the required spend level is increasing to $250,000 in July.”



I can only tell you what Amex tells me about the black card, on the record. It’s invitation-only.

There’s a vending machine in the Atlanta airport that sells iPods. I hadn’t seen this. Though I don’t like Hartsfield one bit, it’s long had the best vending machines, especially for ice cream.

Thanks to Marginal Revolution for the pointer.

The federal government spent billions of dollars on screening devices that didn’t work when it took over airport security. It didn’t make us any safer, but it made us feel safer

“After 9/11, we had to show how committed we were by spending hugely greater amounts of money than ever before, as rapidly as possible,” said Representative Christopher Cox, a California Republican who is the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee. “That brought us what we might expect, which is some expensive mistakes. This has been the difficult learning curve of the new discipline known as homeland security.”

How bad are the screening systems?

Customs officials at Newark have nicknamed the devices “dumb sensors,” because they cannot discern the source of the radiation. That means benign items that naturally emit radioactivity – including cat litter, ceramic tile, granite, porcelain toilets, even bananas – can set off the monitors.



Alarms occurred so frequently when the monitors were first installed that customs officials turned down their sensitivity. But that increased the risk that a real threat, like the highly enriched uranium used in nuclear bombs, could go undetected because it emits only a small amount of radiation or perhaps none if it is intentionally shielded.

…

The port’s follow-up system, handheld devices that are supposed to determine what set off an alarm, is also seriously flawed. Tests conducted in 2003 by Los Alamos National Laboratory found that the handheld machines, designed to be used in labs, produced a false positive or a false negative more than half the time. The machines were the least reliable in identifying the most dangerous materials, the tests showed.

…

The Transportation Security Administration bought 1,344 machines costing more than $1 million each to search for explosives in checked bags by examining the density of objects inside. But innocuous items as varied as Yorkshire pudding and shampoo bottles, which happen to have a density similar to certain explosives, can set off the machines, causing false alarms for 15 percent to 30 percent of all luggage, an agency official said. The frequent alarms require airports across the country to have extra screeners to examine these bags.

Now the government wants to go back to the drawing board and spend billions again.

Some free magazine subscriptions available:

• A six-month subscription to Better Homes & Gardens. Enter promo code KDIH502BH.
  

• A one-year subscription to Genre Magazine (for gay men)
  

• 
  A free subscription to TechNet Magazine
  

• 
  A free subscription to Driving Sports Magazine
  

• 
  A two-year subscription to Black Enterprise

Continental is offering tickets to a Houston Astros game on May 19 for 25 miles apiece, limit 4. Offer expires May 12.

(Hat tip Free Frequent Flyer Miles.)

Register to earn triple United miles at the first three iDine restaurants you eat at by June 30, up to 3000 bonus miles.

A credit card set up to earn United miles for dining and an online iDine profile are required.

(Okay, I can’t stop calling it iDine, I’ll never manage to refer to it as RewardsNetwork. But at least I’ve stopped calling it Transmedia.)

Hat tip to Free Frequent Flyer Miles.

Receive 300 Priority Club points for requesting a price quote through FordDirect.com.

Following on the recent spate of Presidential Suites available for award redemption at Intercontinental hotel properties (using the standard room 30,000 Priority Club points per night rate, see here and here), Flyertalk’s Savage25 surveyed all the Intercontinental hotels to see where this glitch is currently coming up. The report:

For kicks, I tried a random date in October for reward nights at all ICs. ICs that are out of the way seem to have great redemption deals.



Figures are Best Flexible rates for the respective room types on the date of redemption.






Asia

====



IC THE GRAND PALACE SRINAGAR

KING PRESIDENTIAL SUITE $1,000







Middle East and Africa

==========



INTERCONTINENTAL DOHA

1 KING BED DIPLOMATIC SUITE $563



INTERCONTINENTAL RIYADH

1 KING EXECUTIVE SUITE $933



MASSARAH TAIF INTERCONTINENTAL

1KNG 1QN 2 BEDROOM ROYAL SUITE $1,119

2 KING 3 TWIN BED VIP VILLA $1,279



PALAZZO JOHANNES. MONTECASINO JOHANNESBURG

1 KING BED SUITE $458



INTERCONTINENTAL ABU DHABI

ONE BEDROOM GULF SUITE $1,225



IC RESORT AL AIN, UAE

1 KING BED EMIRATES SUITE SMOKING $326



INTERCONTINENTAL ASTANA KAZAKHSTAN

1 KNG BD PRESIDENTIAL STE CITY VIEW $2,750





Latin America

===========



InterContinental SANTIAGO

1 KING BED PRESIDENTIAL SUITE $1,500



InterContinental TEQUENDAMA BOGOTA

1 KING 2 TWIN BEDS PRESIDENTIAL SUITE $450



Real InterContinental Metrocentro Managua, Nicaragua

1 KING BED PRESIDENTIAL SUITE $600



InterContinental DEL LAGO MARACAIBO

2 KING BED ROOM SUITE SINAMAICA $540

Better go get redeeming!

I’ve completed all my requirements for the free digital camera from Gratis Networks (the free iPod folks).

Actually I’ve completed everything for all of their free electronics offers, and am waiting to receive only the digital camera and the Playstation Portable.

For those of you who need to complete a marketing offer for one of these promotions, I notice that both eFax Plus and consumerinfo are currently on the offers list. Both offer 30 day free trials. Thirty day trials are the best because you have plenty of time to get credit for the offer and cancel without being under a time gun. Nothing is shipped, so you don’t even have to pay for shipping. I’ve used both of these before and had no problems with cancellation. (eFax offers cancellation via online chat, and I was able to just save a copy of the chat transcript.. just in case.)

Another offer that’s actually worth something in its own right is from Blockbuster for their unlimited rentals by mail service (a la Netflix).

You’re on the hook for $9.95 even if you cancel but is actually something that can be worth having, plus they give some nice coupons.

Still, I like the eFax and consumerinfo offers.

While my favorite miles-for-flowers offer is FTD’s ongoing 30 United miles per dollar spent, it’s worth noting that FTD is also offering 25 Delta miles per dollar spent.

The Delta offer is a Mother’s Day promotion. The e-mail from Delta announcing the offer says it will expire May 15, but the webpage itself doesn’t seem to mention a deadline — and if experience is any guide, the offer may still work past the stated deadline.

Delta is offering Silver status for a single paid flight from any one of 14 cities:

Binghamton, NY, Burlington, VT, Buffalo, NY, Charlotte, NC, Erie, PA, Wilmington, NC, Harrisburg/Middleton, PA, Philadelphia, PA, Pittsburgh, PA, Providence, RI, Richmond, VA, Rochester, NY, State College, PA, Syracuse, NY

Register and fly by July 15.

I don’t usually fly American. With the exception of an American Eagle flight booked as a Northwest codeshare in late 2004, I haven’t been on American metal in nearly two and a half years. And my review is this — American Airlines’ domestic first class can be summed up with a your choice of two words: either “ghetto” or simply “coach.”

One three of four flight segments, no pre-departure beverages were served. No coats were taken. The MD80 seats are incredibly worn and dirty. Pen markings are on display everywhere, and on one flight duct tape was holding the meal tray cover onto my seat.

The ‘meals’ they’re serving look like the food that used to be offered in coach. And by used to I’m not harkening back to the long-gone days at the beginning of the Jet Age, or offering fond remembrances of the regulated era. I’m talking about the food that was served in coach in 2002.

Flight one offered pizza or a roast beef sandwich as a ‘snack’. The pizza was small and despite the description as “Uno’s Deep Dish” it was actually more like an English Muffin Toaster Pizza or something that would be microwaved out of the freezer from the Schwann truck. “Dessert” was a shrink-wrapped package of cookies.

Flight two I had the chicken breast. It was the length of my index finger. Dessert was an ice cream sundae with freezer burn.

Flight three brought chicken strips or pizza again. This time I tried the chicken strips, served with overdone pasta beneath congealed sauce. There was a hair in my salad.

Flight four was pizza or roast beef (surprise!).

On each flight someone reclined their seatback all the way into me. I couldn’t take out my laptop, hence nothing was written to post over the weekend (sorry!).

Changing planes in Dallas I watched luggage truck after luggage truck drop bags on the tarmac, and no one came to collect them. At one point there were half a dozen errant suitcases strewn about, having fallen off the tops of trucks.

True, domestic first class isn’t generally anything to write home about. I’m really looking forward to my first class flight on Qantas next month, at least by comparison. Northwest offers an even tighter pitch on some of its aircraft. America West food is probably worse. USAirways isn’t any better. Frankly, though, I haven’t ever seen anything this bad up front on either United or Continental.

One interesting sidenote. US domestic airlines insist on calling their premium cabin ‘first class’ whereas in most of the world a slightly bigger seat and a meal of some sort would be called ‘business class’. Believe it or not, that terminology can have consequences. If you wanted to redeem British Airways miles for a domestic flight in business class, it would be 50,000 points. But since American and Alaska call their cabins ‘first’ British Airways requires 75,000 points for the flight. One of the stranger things out there, thus I can’t imagine domestic US premium class travel is a frequent redemption choice for BA miles.