View from Outside the Fairmont San Francisco |
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Fairmont Rewards Chase Credit Card Program
Fairmont Presidents Club (FPC) is less about rewarding spend and more about customizing the onsite experience (I did score a four night stay in Barbados from them for spending 61 nights in a year along with 4 other free nights and several meals, so it is somewhat rewarding). Since free nights are awarded based on number of nights stayed, not dollars spent, this model doesn't work for a credit card points program. Rather than fit into FPC, Chase made up their own program. I confirmed with Fairmont that FPC is not switching to Chase's model and all hotels will be ranked the same in FPC. I don't think Chase's chart is the most rewarding award chat around, but it isn't terrible. The sign up bonus is two free nights, not bad, but I don't need to stay at a Fairmont any time soon, so I won't get the card. Also, The Plaza in New York has special rules constraining awards, so don't plan on booking a free night there soon.
Here's the trick for booking The Plaza. There is a limited number of free nights Fairmont is allotted at The Plaza per month. You can call Fairmont, find a month that's open, usually six or more out, and book a room for the number of nights you want. This holds those free nights for you. Call back later and shift the reservation to another time that month when your plans are finalized, the nights are yours and you can use them any time that month. There is no fee and as long as standard rooms are available on your new dates, no hassle.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Heineken Slushy - United First Class Drink
The Heineken Slushy is an off menu drink item for United Airlines first class customers. It's a frozen can of Heineken that comes out in a slushy consistency. United puts their beer on top of the ice in the catering carts and if the beer sits there long enough, you get a Heineken slushy. I've only had these as pre-departure drinks and only with Heineken. Some passengers may find it a nuisance, but I like the humor of it.
United Airlines' Heineken Slushy, Off Menu |
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Spending Miles On Short Notice
Yesterday a friend sent me a note saying he has July off and
was wondering if I would like to go on a trip.
Absolutely was my answer (not taking summer classes, so I have a bit of
free time). I started looking on
United.com for long haul award flights to see where we can go (long haul flights are the biggest constraint in planning, getting from your home city to the gateway airport is easier). The key here is tracking the results, because
you can only search one day at a time.
Here’s an example of my tracking format.
Dates are on the left and the different routes across the top. I track the class availability in the cells
with a little code for cabin and connections (Y for direct coach, Cc for
connecting Business, Y(UA) United 747 coach warning). The data can change at any time, but it is
static enough to not need to refresh daily, but just before calling to book.
Availability Tracking Example |
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
World's Most Valuable Boarding Card from Austrian Airlines
"World's most valuable boarding card" is one of my favorite ongoing promotions by an
airline. Austrian Airlines wanted to
promote a free stopover in Vienna, similar to Iceland Air and others, but Austrian
took the extra step of turning their boarding pass into a tourist discount
card. Discounts are available at numerous
attractions, shops, and restaurants around town. Here’s the current list. The promotion has extended to other Austrian
destinations too. If you are going to
Vienna (my favorite capital in Europe), I recommend their Vienna Card too.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Lets Play On The Slide
Is American offering rides on the slide? Count me in!
American Airlines 757 With Emergency Slide Deployed |
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
There's No Hope
I'm traveling for work this week and there is no hope for an upgrade. Two US Airways segments then three Delta segments; I'm doomed to coach. I'll be going through Milwaukee and Frontier's recent move to stop almost all Milwaukee flying is having an immediate impact by limiting my options and increasing my costs. I never knew how much I depended on Midwest Express until they disappeared. They also gave out warm cookies in coach, I could sure use one this week.
US Airways A319 at CLT |
Friday, June 8, 2012
United Airlines A319 First Class Lunch / Dinner
Even the flight attendants are excited about the shrimp
salad. It’s also the most consistent
offering for lunch or dinner, so you won’t be surprised like with strange looking wraps. I was flying from John Wayne to Denver around lunch on a United Airbus A319.
The first class lunch offerings on the two hour flight were a warm wrap or a cold
shrimp salad, both came with soup. I
went for the salad. It has six peeled shrimp
on a large collection of lettuce and other salad parts. It is a filling portion size and fairly colorful
and diverse. It came with two vinaigrette
dressing cups, croutons, small side of fruit, roll, and a delicious gumbo
soup. United’s soup is superb and the
gumbo, Cajun something at least, is the best yet.
United Airlines First Shrimp Salad Lunch |
The flight was fairly bumpy once we got over Colorado. The crew made a quick and friendly service in
the 8 person first class cabin. Once the
turbulence started, everyone took their seats and buckled in tight. We also had an aborted landing due to
unfavorable winds. On the glide in, the
engines suddenly wound up and we gained altitude and made a 90 degree turn. We landed on the second try and the cabin
applauded (this was more unsettling for me than the textbook go around just
executed). The cockpit crew explained
what happened once we pulled onto the taxi way and made this irregular
operation seem commonplace. The
professionalism of United’s pilots is second to none.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)