Another late reminder on a Starwood promotion which started earlier this year.
Earn 2x, 3x or 4x the Starpoints on all your eligible stays.
Start out the year with rich rewards from SPG®, where the more nights you have in your stay, the more bonus Starpoints® you’ll earn. Receive double, triple or quadruple Starpoints
for every night of each eligible stay — with no limits — between
January 5 and April 15, 2010. For example, a three-night stay earns you
triple Starpoints on each night.
Better late than never.
Jaunted.com has put together a useful reference chart for Airline WiFi costs and availability. Check it out. Here’s a quick snap-shot but make sure you visit www.jaunted.com for the latest and greatest.
If you’re staying at a Westin between now and May 13, 2010 then make sure you register before April 30, 2010 to take advantage of this promotion.
The conditions:
Register now and stay twice at a Westin® hotel in the U.S. or Canada by May 13, 2010, and you’ll receive a $100 Amazon.com Gift Card. Use it on the new Westin Wellness collection or on millions of other items at Amazon.com.
Be sure to register by April 30, 2010, and stay by May 13, 2010, arriving Sunday–Thursday, to qualify for this exceptional offer.
Valid for Starwood Preferred Guest members on new bookingsmade after registration.
Go here. Enter your mileage plus number and do what you do by flying at least 3 qualifying round trips. 
Sorry for the late post on this one.
A fellow flier supplied the following template for making complaints to your airline for non-weather-related inconveniences.
Complaint Template:
Dear <<Airline>>:
I was on Flight <<>> leaving <<>> on <<>> when <<>> difficulties forced us to exit and change planes and delayed our arrival by over <<>> hours. This resulted in me missing several extremely important meetings in <<>>. I am a frequent flyer with <<>> (FF: <<>>) and am extremely upset that the <<>>. I trust you will provide a refund or similar compensation for this incredible inconvenience.
Thanks,
<<>>
Along with the an example of a response from the airline:
Thank you for contacting us.
Use it, but don’t abuse it.
My fellow frequent fliers recently engaged in a long thread on the best ways to get compensated on United for non-weather-related delays and cancellations.
Here’s the summary:
- For United, their customer service phone lines appear to be better than any other channel for communicating problems; Delta appeared more responsive through their email channels
- Some folks have had better success with United Customer Care through the on-line channel since they have issues getting through on the phone even with status
- United typically provides 3 choices for compensation: A $200 e-certificate, 20% off a worldwide economy-class ticket, or 9,000 miles
- Certificates are arguably the best deal because they have no blackout dates and are transferable (good for gifts!); still limited to one per itinerary and only used on domestic flights including Puerto Rico & Virgin Islands
- Compliments don’t get you anything - only complaints (that’s sad…)
If you’re not happy with your service, United won’t know unless you let them know.
This promotion has been in effect for a while, but it’s worth mentioning since free Internet is always a good thing. It’s only available to Starwood Platinum members and you don’t have to do anything to take advantage of it.
Here’s how it works:
- Log on to the Internet when you get to your room.
- If you receive a prompt asking you to accept the hotel’s Internet access charges, please accept them.
- Because you are a Platinum member, Internet access charges will be eliminated from your final hotel bill.2
The fine print:
Please note that in-hotel Platinum benefits, including complimentary Internet access, do not apply when
the reservation is pre-paid or booked through a third party.
A few Starwood members voiced concerns on how vulnerable the process appears to human error since the charges must be eliminated manually, but folks who have used it have not issues with it incorrectly appearing as a charge.
Looks good to me.
Courtesy of the Economist, J.D Powers has surveyed more than 12,000 passengers who took round-trip flights last year (2009) to develop its North America Airport Satisfaction Study.
The Economist notes:
The top-ranked airports in the large, medium and small segments were, respectively, Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County, Kansas City and Indianapolis. Overall, though, the company found that satisfaction with airports was "considerably" lower than in other travel segments such as hotels and rental cars. That’s largely because the essentials—prompt baggage delivery, good seating and clear signs—are not being consistently met in spite of technological improvements in many areas including Wi-Fi, parking-lot management and online check-in.
That's not surprising since we are truly a captive audience.
My fellow Delta fliers have alerted me to a promotion with a “social” angle. Here’s the summary straight from the horse’s mouth:
- Team captain has to have a SkyMiles account address in MI, MN, TN, or WA – he/she then can invite up to 3 teammates, who can live anywhere
- Fly before May 15th with flights booked on any AMEX
- Earn up to 20,000 miles per member
Points are aggregated across all flights on a team and the bonus points are as follows:
Hurry up - you have until April 15 to register up your teams!
Here’s a disturbing article from the LA Times which digs into how pilot fatigue is a big problem with airlines.
Some interesting quotes:
"Seven of the last nine airline crashes in the United States have involved regional carriers, and pilot fatigue was likely a factor in at least four of those incidents, according to federal safety investigators."
"Critics say the situation has been exacerbated by the airline industry’s long slump, putting pressure on airlines to cut costs by forcing pilots to work longer hours."
"A 2008 study by NASA found that about 80% of regional pilots said they had nodded off during a flight."
"One recent bulletin reviewed by The Times noted an upward trend of pilots taking off without knowing their aircraft’s weight and balance figures – numbers crucial to the way stabilizers are adjusted on a plane’s tail. Improperly set controls have caused crashes."
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This article does not make me a happy flyer.