View from the Wing

I’ve give Starwood a hard time lately, because their points devaluation was a pretty big deal. But they’ve taken a step to give back a lot of value to members with changes to the Cash & Points program.

One of the better features of the program over the years has been the ability to combine points and cash at a pretty favorable rate towards award nights. So instead of spending, for instance, 10,000 points on a category 4 hotel you could spend just 4,000 points + $60. This was a better option because you were basically ‘buying’ the difference in points at just 1 cent apiece.

However, only some hotels would participate each quarter. Starwood would have to solicit them to do so, and most would opt out except for in their slowest seasons. As a result they were only bookable for short windows, at those properties where they were available at all, and even when Starwood began wrapping up a year’s worth of participation at a time the first quarter’s participants weren’t known very far in advance making planning difficult.

Furthermore, Cash & Points only went up to Category 4 and with hotel category inflation this left a whole bunch of properties (even those that had chosen to participate in the past) out of reach.

Now Starwood has implemented a program where nearly all properties participate in Cash & Points and where category 5 and 6 hotels are no longer excluded (though those few category 7 hotels aren’t part of the program). There are still capacity controls on the awards, in other words a hotel doesn’t have to make them available on all nights or for all standard rooms. So a participating hotel may not be offering the award when you want it. But it might be, also.

Now, a couple details.

Category 1 and 2 hotels only participate in the Asia/Pacific region, though again they participate year-round. Those few hotels at category 1 and 2 elsewhere don’t participate in Cash & points. However all hotels through the Starwood system in categories 3-6 participate year-round.

The cash and points prices of Category 1-4 properties remain the same:

• Cat 1, $25 + 1200 points
  
• Cat 2, $30 + 1600 points
  
• Cat 3, $45 + 2800 points
  
• Cat 4, $60 + 4000 points

And the cash and points prices of Category 5-6 properties will be as follows:

• Cat 5, $90 + 4800 points
  
• Cat 6, $150 + 8000 points

As before, guests are still responsible for taxes on the cash portion of the rate (though some hotels have been known not to realize this, and adjust the cash portion such that the total comes out to the amount in the chart). I imagine that resort fees do apply, except when booked online unless those fees are bow being disclosed in advance through spg.com. Resort fees have always applied to telephone bookings, but now to online bookings because of the disclosure issue - and for some reasons the web gurus at Starwood never implemented a fix.

Cash and points doesn’t earn stay credit and doesn’t earn points on the cash portion of the award rate. And unlike traditional category 3 and up awards, the fifth night is not free on cash and points.

If you have any award stays planned with Starwood, you might try rebooking them in the coming weeks if Cash & Points are available for your dates..

I’ve give Starwood a hard time lately, because their points devaluation was a pretty big deal. But they’ve taken a step to give back a lot of value to members with changes to the Cash & Points program.

One of the better features of the program over the years has been the ability to combine points and cash at a pretty favorable rate towards award nights. So instead of spending, for instance, 10,000 points on a category 4 hotel you could spend just 4,000 points + $60. This was a better option because you were basically ‘buying’ the difference in points at just 1 cent apiece.

However, only some hotels would participate each quarter. Starwood would have to solicit them to do so, and most would opt out except for in their slowest seasons. As a result they were only bookable for short windows, at those properties where they were available at all, and even when Starwood began wrapping up a year’s worth of participation at a time the first quarter’s participants weren’t known very far in advance making planning difficult.

Furthermore, Cash & Points only went up to Category 4 and with hotel category inflation this left a whole bunch of properties (even those that had chosen to participate in the past) out of reach.

Now Starwood has implemented a program where nearly all properties participate in Cash & Points and where category 5 and 6 hotels are no longer excluded (though those few category 7 hotels aren’t part of the program). There are still capacity controls on the awards, in other words a hotel doesn’t have to make them available on all nights or for all standard rooms. So a participating hotel may not be offering the award when you want it. But it might be, also.

Now, a couple details.

Category 1 and 2 hotels only participate in the Asia/Pacific region, though again they participate year-round. Those few hotels at category 1 and 2 elsewhere don’t participate in Cash & points. However all hotels through the Starwood system in categories 3-6 participate year-round.

The cash and points prices of Category 1-4 properties remain the same:

• Cat 1, $25 + 1200 points
  
• Cat 2, $30 + 1600 points
  
• Cat 3, $45 + 2800 points
  
• Cat 4, $60 + 4000 points

And the cash and points prices of Category 5-6 properties will be as follows:

• Cat 5, $90 + 4800 points
  
• Cat 6, $150 + 8000 points

As before, guests are still responsible for taxes on the cash portion of the rate (though some hotels have been known not to realize this, and adjust the cash portion such that the total comes out to the amount in the chart). I imagine that resort fees do apply, except when booked online unless those fees are bow being disclosed in advance through spg.com. Resort fees have always applied to telephone bookings, but now to online bookings because of the disclosure issue - and for some reasons the web gurus at Starwood never implemented a fix.

Cash and points doesn’t earn stay credit and doesn’t earn points on the cash portion of the award rate. And unlike traditional category 3 and up awards, the fifth night is not free on cash and points.

If you have any award stays planned with Starwood, you might try rebooking them in the coming weeks if Cash & Points are available for your dates..

I’ve give Starwood a hard time lately, because their points devaluation was a pretty big deal. But they’ve taken a step to give back a lot of value to members with changes to the Cash & Points program.

One of the better features of the program over the years has been the ability to combine points and cash at a pretty favorable rate towards award nights. So instead of spending, for instance, 10,000 points on a category 4 hotel you could spend just 4,000 points + $60. This was a better option because you were basically ‘buying’ the difference in points at just 1 cent apiece.

However, only some hotels would participate each quarter. Starwood would have to solicit them to do so, and most would opt out except for in their slowest seasons. As a result they were only bookable for short windows, at those properties where they were available at all, and even when Starwood began wrapping up a year’s worth of participation at a time the first quarter’s participants weren’t known very far in advance making planning difficult.

Furthermore, Cash & Points only went up to Category 4 and with hotel category inflation this left a whole bunch of properties (even those that had chosen to participate in the past) out of reach.

Now Starwood has implemented a program where nearly all properties participate in Cash & Points and where category 5 and 6 hotels are no longer excluded (though those few category 7 hotels aren’t part of the program). There are still capacity controls on the awards, in other words a hotel doesn’t have to make them available on all nights or for all standard rooms. So a participating hotel may not be offering the award when you want it. But it might be, also.

Now, a couple details.

Category 1 and 2 hotels only participate in the Asia/Pacific region, though again they participate year-round. Those few hotels at category 1 and 2 elsewhere don’t participate in Cash & points. However all hotels through the Starwood system in categories 3-6 participate year-round.

The cash and points prices of Category 1-4 properties remain the same:

• Cat 1, $25 + 1200 points
  
• Cat 2, $30 + 1600 points
  
• Cat 3, $45 + 2800 points
  
• Cat 4, $60 + 4000 points

And the cash and points prices of Category 5-6 properties will be as follows:

• Cat 5, $90 + 4800 points
  
• Cat 6, $150 + 8000 points

As before, guests are still responsible for taxes on the cash portion of the rate (though some hotels have been known not to realize this, and adjust the cash portion such that the total comes out to the amount in the chart). I imagine that resort fees do apply, except when booked online unless those fees are bow being disclosed in advance through spg.com. Resort fees have always applied to telephone bookings, but now to online bookings because of the disclosure issue - and for some reasons the web gurus at Starwood never implemented a fix.

Cash and points doesn’t earn stay credit and doesn’t earn points on the cash portion of the award rate. And unlike traditional category 3 and up awards, the fifth night is not free on cash and points.

If you have any award stays planned with Starwood, you might try rebooking them in the coming weeks if Cash & Points are available for your dates..

The Starwood American Express remains my credit card of choice for most purposes, and there’s now a best-ever offer worthy of my ducking into the Thai Airways lounge in Osaka in order to post it — 10,000 points with first purchase and another 15,000 bonus points for spending $15,000 on the card within 6 months.

That spending bonus is all gravy, since 10,000 points alone is the usual signup bonus. And as always, first year of the card remains free ($30 thereafter).

(Hat tip to boazs)

Goldpointsplus is offering double points starting with your second stay through August 31. Amazingly, no registration is required.

Summer is often a big time for hotel promos, which business travel and occupancy rates down. Nice to see a promo from Goldpoints, so if your stays take you to participating properties (mine usually don’t, actually) this will be a nice bonus.

Stay at participating Radisson Hotels & Resorts®, Park Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Country Inns & Suites By CarlsonSM, or Park Inn® locations in North, Central and South America between June 15 and August 31.



If you’re a goldpoints plusSM member, you don’t even have to register; just make your reservations and your Gold Points will double automatically, starting with your second stay.

Tumi’s summer sale is back — up to 40% off on discontinued items and colors. Tumi is great luggage, highly recommended, but bear in mind that even on sale it isn’t cheap.

And don’t forget that Tumi is in the AAdvantage Mall…

It’s on American Airlines. Bummer that there’s $130 in fuel charges and another $60 in US and Guatemala departure/arrival taxes. Brings the total price to around $330.

Fare basis is QEA14L5K. 14 day advance purchase required. Valid for travel on or after June 19, completed by November 15. Must purchase by June 20 (unless it’s pulled first.).

For years I’ve been a huge fan of Cathay Pacific’s AsiaMiles program.

AsiaMiles could be used to upgrade flights on their partners, including American and some great upgrade options with British Airways.

And there have been some real gems in the award chart, such as just 60,000 miles for a business class award under 5000 miles each way. So a British Airways award from the US East Coast to most of Europe was just 60,000 miles in business, compared to 100,000 miles in BA’s own program. Last year a colleague came to me, about to redeem 100,000 Delta miles for a ‘SkyChoice’ (no capacity control) award to Europe in coach. Instead I suggested he transfer 50,000 Starwood points to 60,000 AsiaMiles and redeem for the same award on British Airways in Business (where availability was quite open). He got hooked on the Molten Brown Spa at Heathrow (they’ll be changing spa providers to Elemis, but that’s another story - an actual positive in my view) having never been to an airline lounge…

But starting October 15th many of these great values go away — another program devaluation.

As usual, mileage increases really focus on business and first class redemptions, i.e. the ones I care about.

Now only Y, B, and H economy fares are eligible for upgrade on American and British Airways (most expensive fares).

Since 1999, the spectrum of Economy Class fares has also widened enormously. In order to keep the increases in the mileage requirement to a minimum, we have therefore decided to exclude lower fare classes from Business Class Upgrade Awards.

(Emphasis mine. And though it’s not explicitly clear here, it may no longer be possible to upgrade from World Traveller Plus to Business on British Airways, just coach to World Traveller Plus.)

And in addition to other changes, that great 60,000 mile business class award is going to be 80,000 miles — less than BA still, but the standard amount of most carriers. And first goes from 90,000 to 120,000… Bummer. Mental note to be sure I redeem for 2008 by October 15th of this year…

Frontier is adding seats to their planes and reducing legroom (admittedly from a relatively generous 33 inch pitch to a more standard 31 to 32 inches) and adding blackout dates for frequent flyer redemption as well as getting more sophisticated with its capacity controls — they used to offer a fixed number of redemption seats but will now vary those seats, limiting them on popular routes, dates, and times and making them more available when they expect those seats to go unsold. (Their spin is this will increase seats. Whatever. This is not good for customers, at all.)

Southwest used to recognize that people earn credits in their frequent flyer program based on an understanding of what the program offers, and changes with little notice in effect as dishonest — an implicit promise broken. So their Rapid Rewards program rules said that any change to the program required 6 months’ notice. Still short for my tastes, but superior to their competitors who didn’t require any notice of themselves…

Now they’ve announced a change (with six months’ notice…) that in the future changes will only require 30 days’ notice.

Shame, shame.

A defense of the guy who flew back to the US with ultra-drug resistant TB. (Via Marginal Revolution.)

Indeed, I’m not sure what I’d have done in his shoes, either.

Effective October 1, 2007 a new Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus award chart will be in place.

North American awards, for instance, increase by 5,000 in coach and premium economy.. and 15,000 and 20,000 in business and first class, respectively. In general the higher pricing applies mostly to premium class awards, and is explained as being driven by Thai Airways’ improved services (though the increases apply on other carriers as well, aren’t reduced as United cuts its service, and mileage cost ought to track with price rather than service in any case since the mileage program is buying the seats from the transporting airline…).

Transfers of 50,000 Diners Club points to American Airlines by August 31, 2007 earn a 5000 mile bonus.

The American Express Centurion card isn’t completely moribund. While they’ve consistently increased costs (recently adding a $5000 initiation fee on top of the $2500 annual fee), they’ve also been letting benefits lapse — no more Starwood Platinum status, no more Hyatt Diamond (replacing it with almost useless Priority Club Platinum), all the while the Membership Rewards program has been letting its best partners depart.

Finally a bit of good news. Plenty of Black Card holders report that they’ve been upgraded to Platinum status with USAirways (the previous benefit was Gold). Prior to the America West merger, Centurion members had status one level beneath the highest - Gold. After the merger the Dividend Miles program introduced four levels, and Gold was second from bottom. So they’ve finally fixed matters, Platinum being once again second from top.

After Six is offering a free slider tie for siging up for information from them.

American and Citibank are offering up to 40,000 bonus miles with a new American Mastercard. The offer is:

• 20,000 points for spending $750 in 4 months
• 10,000 points for spending $10,000 during the first year
• 10,000 points for $10,000 in purchases during the second year
• First year fee waived

Upside of the offer: lots of points if you can meet the spending requirements (which really aren’t that onerous on a monthly average basis).

Downsides of the offer: you need to keep the card past year one (while the fee is waived) in order to max out the miles — so you need to pay $85 in the second year or receive no more than 30,000 miles.

The offer is available for both the personal and business cards so you can actually earn 80,000 miles through the special offer…

And despite the strange structure of the bonuses (designed to get you to make this a heavily used card and to keep it over time), the offer is better than the regular offers available with the card.

A couple of weeks ago I noted that effective June 1 United would no longer allow expiring 500 mile upgrades to convert to miles — and was also blocking the early conversion of 500 mile upgades in order to get in under the wire. This was a big blow to international customers who rarely use 500 milers, as well as United frequent flyers in TED cities with no cabin to upgrade into.

Responding to complaints and pressure, United has relented and reversed course… sort of. Current Global Services, 1K, and Premier Executive members of Mileage Plus can register by August 15th so that their expiring 500 mile upgrades will continue to convert to miles — as long as the member retains at least Premier Executive status or resides outside of the 50 U.S. states.

General members and premiers are still out of luck, but at least United isn’t sticking it to their very best customers anymore (at least those who notice the offer).

It seems as though Northwest Airlines may not be enforcing the Saturday night stay rule on award tickets in order to be eligible for their standard (”PerkSaver”) mileage pricing. Developing…

It’s been rumored for what seems like forever, and Alaska Airlines has finally announced service to Hawaii.

• Seattle-Honolulu starts October 12th;
  
• Seattle-Lihu’e begins October 28th;
  
• Anchorage-Honolulu starts December 9th.

They have some great introductory fares of $109+tax each way, but don’t count on finding any seats left (after a day!) at that price. Instead, fares of around $160+tax each way are still available — which is pretty darn good. Alaska will apparently allow use of the Bank of America Visa $50 companion tickets on these routes, and the flights are upgradeable with miles and MVP Gold Guest upgrade certificates.

If you have or can score a $50 companion ticket on a $350-ish all-in ticket, and there’s upgrade availability, two people can fly first class from Seattle to Hawaii for $450 or so roundtrip + 40,000 frequent flyer miles. At least for bookings made by August 1.

Alaska’s award chart has been updated to reflect these new flights as well. And since these flights were literally just loaded into reservation systems, very few award seats have been taken yet… (Note that Continental, American, Delta, and Northwest frequent flyers can all redeem miles with Alaska…)

Find out how to get free underwear here.