Chicago O'Hare Airport Construction

As part of the endless and boundless make work program that O'Hare Airport is for the city of Chicago, it's under construction.  Again and forever.

Chicago: Ubi Est Mea - Where's Mine?

Lufthansa Miles and More Temptation

I’m a member of at least 15 airline frequent flyer programs. That sounds like a lot, but there are dozens of other programs I can join, but do not interest me. For a program to interest me it must meet one of these criteria: 
1) Attractive Reward Value: Earning and burning points for general award travel. This is the core of my frequent flyer hobby. I don’t have anywhere in mind, but I have the miles to go anywhere I choose. United, American, Southwest, British Airways, and Delta (at least when I joined 8 years ago) fit this category. 
2) Unique Redemption: Limited service markets I travel or want to travel. Alaska Airlines fits this category with their extensive network north of Seattle. Hawaiian, Iceland, and Singapore also fit this group. 
3) Website Search Features: Most airlines websites are miserable for booking award tickets. Many only show availability one day at a time and can only search a limited set of partner airlines. I joined Qantas and ANA to search award space on their superior websites (space should be the same across all alliance members). Then I use that information to book with my preferred program. 
4) Doesn’t Play Well With Others: Frontier and Spirit flights only credit to their own programs. I feel compelled to collect miles even if all I might earn is a magazine subscription. Southwest is like this too, except their miles have value on flights. 
5) Just for Fun: Something somewhere grabs my interest and I join a program. Air Berlin has flight awards that start at 2,500 points and has many free point offers. 500 points here and there quickly earn a free flight. Qatar, TAP, and Etihad also were just for fun sign ups. 

Lufthnsa A320

Lufthansa’s Miles and More program is now interesting. United’s most recent devaluation made first class on partners astronomically expensive. Also Lufthansa, like Singapore, has ample first class space for their members, but severely restricted space for partners. 85,000 points for a one way first class flight from Europe to North America is good value (United charges 110,000 points, the old price was 67,500). The First Class Terminal in Frankfurt is amazing and I want to return some day. There is also a good credit card sign up bonus offer available and Lufthansa is an SPG transfer partner.

Doesn't Play Well With Others

Update:  The 50,000 mile bonus is gone, so wait for it to return before signing up.

Football Season Is Here

I'm interested in baseball still, but a few people might be interested in the football season kicking off. To appeal to a wider audience, here's an NFL related picture.

Carolina Panthers A319

Pity this year the Cubs would be the best team in the NL East or West, but are third in the Central division.

Booking United Flights With Global Premier Upgrades

Global Premier Upgrades, formerly System Wide Upgrades, permit upgrades without any miles or copay. The pre-merger United.com website had a search option for using a System Wide. The post-merger website has no comparable feature. This means users have to use the Advanced Search and search for fare classes W and V, the two cheapest fares that work with System Wides. Then there is no way to know if the upgrade will clear at booking. The best method for confirming upgrades at booking is making a reservation and then trying to apply the upgrade. The website will say if seats can be confirmed. If the flight is waitlist space only, cancel the reservation and try a different date. There’s no fee because you are cancelling 15 minutes into the 24 hour free cancelation window. United will put an authorization hold on the credit card used, so your available credit will be used up quickly.

Difficult to Move Up Front

MileagePlus and Mercedes-Benz Offer

Wow, United actually has a great offer available.  Most emails I've read recently are bad ways to acquire miles and worse ways to spend them, but the Mileage Plus Mercedes Benz offer is a great deal.  The deal is run through TrueCar.com and starts with the best TrueCar prices then adds an additional discount ($500-$7,000) and bonus miles (up to 50,000).  This is probably the best price on a new Mercedes publicly available.  Now if only I had a spare $100,000 for a 577 hp station wagon.

Like 757's, Good Deals Are Harder to Find

Could Be Worse

It's not de-icing season yet.

Coming Soon to an Airport Near You

IHG Rewards Credit Card Extra Bonus Points

The IHG Rewards card I picked up earlier this year is still paying out bonus points.  The sign up offer I received was for 80,000 points after $2,000 spent (any offer less than 70,000 isn't worth taking).  IHG ran a promotion when I signed up that gave me an extra 2,000 bonus points for acquiring the card. All these points counted to status and I earned Spire Elite status which comes with 25,000 bonus points (or gift Platinum status).  I thought 80,000 points was a good credit card bonus, but I actually earned 107,000 points.  I wish other credit cards had extra bonuses like this.

I Have a Few Free Nights to Enjoy

Visit Britain Shop Review

I'm excited for my trip to the UK and Ireland in October and I've started my planning.  The British tourist board has a great website for exploring activities and a shop to buy travel cards, tourist cards, and maps.  It's a top notch production and I ordered London transits cards and a map for my trip.

On Board Soon-ish

Post #600

To celebrate 600 posts, here's an uplifting picture from CLT.  Thank's for joining me on the trip.

About to Depart CLT on Runway 18 Center

Etihad Starts Race To Bottom in Middle East

Etihad is pulling a Delta by making a new fare class that comes with fewer benefits and the same price as the previous cheapest fare.  The new Business Breaking Deal fare class doesn't even include a chauffeur to the airport.  Who could fathom business class travel without the airline sending someone to pick you up?

How About That? I Had An Etihad A330 Picture

New York Departure Problems

I wanted to get home Thursday. Bad weather in Houston and New York made it almost impossible.  

Number 18 for Departure

Flight Option 1: I started Thursday booked on a 7PM from EWR to DEN. I expected a quick day at the office and switched to an earlier departure.  Option 1 left 5.5 hours late and arrived in Denver at 2:30AM.

Flight Option 2:  I switched onto a 5:30 flight to IAH with a comfortable 90 minute connection to the last flight out to Denver.  I liked it because I would earn more EQM's and have better seating options.  The 5:30 flight from EWR to IAH was delayed 3 hours, but the IAH to Denver flight went on time.  Even if I got the 4:30 to Houston, it was 3 hours delayed and I would have spent the night in Houston, but I switched to a third flight.

I Counted 13 Waiting While at the Gate

Flight Option 3: I flew this flight.  I saw storms were coming into New York and wanted to get airborne as fast as possible.  I called United around noon and asked about flights to Houston, Dulles, Chicago, and Cleveland with no luck. I did get the last seat on the 3:30 flight from LGA to Denver.  It was a gamble because the inbound aircraft was running late and hadn't left the gate in Houston.  My flight was 2.5 hours late and by far the best outcome when I looked at flight details Friday morning at home.

I Made It to Denver on Thursday

Bit of a Riddle

What airline is in this photo? The email from Briggs and Riley has an A320 series aircraft with red top engine cowlings and red wing end fences.  My guess was SAS (but they have blue winglets) then Royal Jordanian, but I'm not sure.  Any ideas?

Frustrating Email in Question

Fun Photo

Here's one I like from the files.

50 Seat CRJ to PHX

United 737-700 Exit Row

Row 20 on United's 737-700 is missing window seats.  That means the window seats in row 21 have unlimited legroom, it's like first class class on Southwest.  Don't bother paying for TV, it's about 5 feet away, but unlike Lufthansa First, it isn't very large.

View from 21F

Pick A Seat- Difficult Task

I love window seats.  Which seat to pick on an upcoming flight is a difficult call.  20A does not recline, but has plenty of leg room.  34A does recline, but is a tight squeeze in economy minus.  The flight is 4 hours from gate to gate.  I picked recline over leg room, but I'm hoping someone in economy plus upgrades so I can grab a better window seat.

Recline or Leg Room?

Funny SPG Hotel Search

Starwood also has a slightly silly search feature, here recommending a hotel in Connecticut when searching on Long Island.

Closest For Those Commuting Via Helicopter 

Helpful Hyatt Search Feature

Hyatt doesn't have the hotel footprint of Hilton, Marriott, or Starwood.  This pain is especially acute in Europe. When searching for hotels in Madrid, Hyatt.com suggested the closest hotel, which is in North Africa.  Not a useful suggestion, but funny they even suggested it. 

Europe? Africa? No Big Difference

Good Plane Spotting Day - EWR

I had a decent day plane spotting last week at Newark.  I found United's March of Dimes 737 and retro Continental 737.

United March of Dimes Branding

Retro Continental 737-900ER

Newark Finds Retail Space

Newark airport is very creative in their search for new space.  They removed moving walkways to add a restaurant and bar.  There was too little space and now there's less.  The prices aren't great, but I'd be in favor about the bar if they offered $1 PBR's.

Almost Enough Room

Emirates Crew Doesn't Travel Light

The Emirates crews must being running a serious personal cargo operation.  This is an A380 crew's luggage, plus each crew member has their own roller bag and pilots have an extra pilot case too.  It seems a bit excessive.

Cargo

One Minute of Fame or Two Month's of Hotel Stays

SPG recently auctioned off an experience to throw out the first pitch at a Chicago Cubs game.  The package included two game tickets, a pre-game photo, and no hotel stay.  The winning bid was 189,502 points. That equates to 20 free nights at my favorite SPG hotels, the The Westin Sydney or The Westin Palace Madrid.  It also could be 50 free nights at the Sheraton Oklahoma City or 73 free nights at the Sheraton Athlone Ireland. The points could also be converted into 234,502 frequent flyer miles, enough four or five transatlantic business class flights.  The auction winner bought a cool and unique experience that they could not buy with money. That is the value of points programs, they make the impossible achievable.  I'm also certain I would not spend that much on an experience that lasts about 45 seconds.

Where Could 234,502 Miles Take You?

Math Note: Math assumes maximizing the 'stay 4 get 1 free' room redemption pricing. I did not include any welcome gift or Make a Green Choice bonus points. Off season pricing used for Westin hotels mentioned. Frequent flyer mile math assumes 1:1 program transfer and maximizing the 5,000 mile bonus for every 20,000 points transferred.

QANTAS Admits Dark Secret

QANTAS admitted a long kept secret.  Their ad shown below admits that Australia is not close to the USA.  The flight from LAX to Sydney is almost 14 hours in air.  That's far.  Really far.  They try to spin this bad news as well they can, as you can see.  The trip is well worth the time and the flight is rather pleasant. 

QANTAS Ad Found Online

LGA Will Have $4 Billion Renovation and Not Fix Main Problem

La Guardia airport will still have only two runways and they will still intersect.  The main reason I am frustrated when flying from New York-LGA will remain.  There will be new terminals so you can wait your delayed flight with more space.

Newark Still Looking Good

IGH - Priority Club Spire Elite Status

I lucked into this one.  I signed up for the IHG credit card for the 80,000 point sign up bonus and perpetual Platinum status.  It also comes with a free night certificate all for a reasonable $49 annual fee. Soon after my card arrived, IHG announced a new higher level in their program so Platinum is second tier.  I was disappointed because I wanted to buy top status for $49. The new level is called Spire Elite and I qualified because my credit card sign up bonus earned enough points to qualify. I doubt my domestic Holiday Inn experience will change, but this could be very handy in Europe where top elite status seems to be more meaningful. 

Spire Elite Status Could be Fun in Europe

The moral of the story is to wait until there is a 75,000+ sign up bonus before signing up for the card. I found my 80,000 offer on a reservation review page before confirming a booking. Also the card is a miserable point earner, so don't use it after hitting the sign up bonus if you aren't paying for an IHG hotel stay.