Fun Friday Photo

Enjoy!

Lufthansa.com or lh.com for short

Southwest Boarding Spot A2

In theory I was guaranteed an exit row window seat, but I could be the 10th or 20th person on board.

Good, Not Great

IHG Priceless Surprises Pomotion

Almost FREE POINTS from IHG! The IHG Priceless Surprises promotion permits 94 mail in entries and each entry earns a minimum of 500 points. Filling out 94 3x5 cards and envalopes by hand is time consuming, but not the worst way to kill time on a flight. Good luck and get them in the mail soon, entries must be postmarked by February 15.

An Entry Can Win >500 Points

NYC to MXP for $899 RT for 2

Emirates is running a fun promotion for $899 for two roundtrip tickets from New York (JFK) to Milan (MXP). This is a great deal to Europe, connections are easy from MXP, over the slow season. No, you don't have to connection in Dubai either.

A380-800 in Houston

Bad Stats From United

United emailed my stats from 2015. I am not impressed.

Bad E+ Ratio and Worse Upgrade Ratio

South African Airways Business Class Promotion

Grab some free TravelPro luggage when booking SAA business class from the USA. A $280 value, so not worth going out of your way, but good deal if work was buying you a ticket soon anyway.

SAA A340 at IAD

Use Better Photos

Ever see a news story with an overly dated photo? It happens all the time, like the one below. Spirit Airlines is an all Airbus airline and this was several logos ago. Alaska is all 737 so seeing an MD-80 in Alaska colors is also frustrating. It's not hard to obtain newer images. I could sell you some even.

Very Old Image from Airfare Watchdog Email

Only One Livery Old Image from Me

I Hate People

If you are so emotionally fragile that you need a comfort animal companion (like a turkey), you are too emotionally fragile to fly. You are a safety hazard to everyone else on the plane because if you are barely hanging on in normal operations, you could fall apart in an emergency and block, delay, or otherwise hinder the egress of other passengers. Stay home, drive, or get yourself together enough to fly without an emotional support animal.

A Lower Bar Every Day

Part of me hopes this guy was trying to make a mockery of the emotional support animal system rather than needing one or wanting to save $150 on checking a turkey round trip. I doubt it, but am still an optimist being bludgeoned by reality.

New Spirit CEO

Spirit Airlines switched CEO's last week. They haven't been running a good operation or growing outside the south and east much, but that still puts them in the top tier or US airlines.  They brought in the former CEO of AirTran (nee Value Jet) who lead them through their sale to Southwest. This got bloggers talking about Spirit and Frontier merging. I think a merger isn't the goal because AirTran ran a solid operation and Spirit needs help there most.

Don't Get To Use AirTran Pictures Much These Days

Credit Card Questions

What card should I pick up? I'm torn between the Fairmont, Sapphire, and Alaska Airlines cards. You can only pick one up ever 3 or 4 months, so I need to use this strategically. The Alaska card has no minimum spend requirement while the other cards are $3,000 and $4,000.

I Would Use Alaska Miles For BA or AF Travel

Fun Photo

Slow start to the year at work, so no travel in the coming weeks.

One Can Dream

Fairmont Card From Chase

Note: I am NOT compensated for this post.

With Fairmont being absorbed by Accor Hotels, the Fairmont card from Chase is only viable for a short while longer, but I am tempted to get one. I have until Jan 31, 2016 to decide.

Pros:

• 2 free nights at any Fairmont location after spending $3,000 in 3 months.
• No annual fee in the first year, and presumably only year, of card membership.
• Fairmont status boost to the middle level.
• No foreign transaction fees.

Cons:

• Though not officially impossible, don't plan to enjoy a free night at The Plaza or The Savoy.
• Chase's Fairmont points program is separate from Fairmont's President Club program. The Chase points must be redeemed through Chase. The award chart is miserable too. Expect a $25 gift card.  Free nights start at $25,000 in spending.

Twists:

• If your +1 gets the card too, then you have 4 nights and that could make for a nice long weekend in Barbados, Europe, or Canada.
• The merger hasn't been approved by regulators, but this is much less risky than the SPG-Marriott union.

I Don't Have Any Hotel Pictures