Kinglobjaw's Blog

Archive for March, 2009

Alright, get ready for the coolest, most rewarding sweepstakes ever! This beats any sweepstakes in the past that were deemed good, even US Airways’ 50 cent flights!

Why? Because winning is based on skill, not luck! Advance Your World is the name of the game. Pun intentended. The sweepstakes is a game!

Basically, you enter seven races in different parts of the world and you try to get to the finish line in the least amount of time possible. On the way, you collect power-ups which can help you avoid obstacles, reduce your score by two or three seconds and speed you up. The top 1,000 people are the winners. Top seven scores get the Grand Prize- 1,000,000 HHonors points, $10,000 cash and Diamond VIP status until March 2011. The other 993 top members each get Diamond VIP until March 2011 and 10,000 HHonors points deposited into their account. No luck necessary! Maybe an ailment for your fingers?

Everything about the race is Hilton/Amex themed- from the seven race track courses set at seven destinations where you find Hilton family hotels. Hawaii, New York, Costa Rica, Italy, Japan, Australia and Mauritius are the courses. The power ups are things like 2X Hilton HHonors points, No Annual Fee and Baggage Insurance Plan. Here’s a screenshot of the Tokyo, Japan track.

Easiest track? Hawaii, USA. Most difficult? Tokyo, Japan due to the many unexpected turns and road blocks. Lots of cops too!

You can race as many times as you need to get the lowest score. This contest ends on April 15, 2009. As of 5PM Central Time on Monday, March 9, 2009, my rank on the list was 198. I hope I can at least get my 10,000 bonus points since I doubt I’ll get one of the the top seven spots. My gaming is not was it used to be. Pretty ironic since I’m still a teenager, right?

Register and take part in the promotion here: http://www.advanceyourworld.com/

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark

Three days ago, I discovered that so many people search for “cheap plane tickets” on a Yahoo search engine. That so many people can’t be specific and are making a foolish mistake.

Today, I discovered an Yahoo Travel article (which was essentially written by Travel + Leisure). The article is called Top Travel Myths. After reading, I have to say the author is clueless on multiple counts. It feels as if the  author was living  during a time of no frequent flyer programs and regulated airlines. Here’s where I politely disagree:

Current Advice: Never assume prices are cheaper because they’re in a store marked “duty-free.”

Sure, not everything is bargain at a duty free store, but during many occasions, I’ve found buy one- get one free deals, even buy one- get two free for things like chocolates or other food items. At the same time I’m not paying tax, so the savings do add up. Whenever I buy cologne, I immediately convert (in my head) the price to US dollars and recall how much I would pay at Bloomingdale’s or Nordstrom and I’ve found savings ranging from $10 to $30 per bottle. Maybe it’s not 70% off, but the author of the article is arguing that we should avoid duty-free stores, because the prices are higher than regular stores. Simply not true!

Next, Brad Tuttle (the author) argues that you should never buy packages to save money,

Current Advice: Booking à la carte is often the smarter option.

I always book à la carte, not because I get savings, but because it’s more rewarding in the sense of loyalty programs. Let’s say I book a US Airways flight, a Hilton Hotel and an Avis car through US Airways Vacations. Not that they’re a bad company, because they’re not, but I wouldn’t get any Hilton points or miles for the Avis car rental. You only get points if you book directly from them.

But let’s talk about price. Vacation packages often offer things like a $300 Mastercard Gift card, free tickets to events or meals included in the hotel package. For those who don’t want to rent a car, a transfer is already included to and from the hotel. Vacation packages also offer discounted insurance, and for families with kids who can get ill or something comes up before the trip, it is very helpful. Last, but not least, companies like US Airways Vacations buy the rooms ahead of time, so sometimes you won’t find the room available through Marriott, but it’s still available as a package through a different outlet.

Still, when I book separately I have the ability to customize a little more= you can cancel hotel, change to another, book different type of car. Plus you get all the benefits/rewards.

Current Advice: Let children run around in the airport to burn off some energy, so that there’s a chance they will sleep on board. One parent may want to board early, to set up some books in the seatback compartment and store bags in the overhead bin. The other parent can take care of the kids and be among the last people to get on the plane.

I don’t think so! Rules are meant to be followed. Don’t let children run around. It’s an airport, not a playground. That kid bumps into something or gets hit by a door in the head and you’ll want to sue someone, when you are the who to blame. Who are you going to sue? The airline, the door manufacturer, the airport authoriy, city or the state?

Kids MUST preboard with their parents so they can sit down, get buckled up before the general masses board. It’s pretty simple:

• Buckling the kids up and stowing your stuff while no one is boarding and trying to do all that while 200 people are waiting behind saying “Let’s go, let’s move it!”
• Having the kid sit before anyone else in that row sits or having the kid climb over someone who already boarded
• Walking through the aisle hitting empty seats with your bags/totes or walking through the aisle hitting people’s faces and arms, because you can’t take the stuff off of your shoulder

Virtually every major booking engine and hotel chain, airline, and car rental agency guarantees that its Web site has the absolute lowest price available, and typically backs up the claim by matching prices and offering additional discounts or coupons if proved wrong.

Right, except before they do that, airlines charge a $150 fee for domestic price adjustments and $250 for international, so unless your fare drops by $200 ($300 on international), don’t even bother. Again Brad, what guarantee were you referring to?

Current Advice: While booking, keep it quiet that you’re getting married. Feel free to announce your nuptial status, however, when checking in at the airport, the car rental counter, and the hotel. By then, reservations are set, and there’s an outside chance a friendly counter agent might give you an upgrade at no extra charge.

Not true at all, buddy. If you don’t prepare yourself in advance with miles and you don’t plan you won’t get anything done at the airport. Absolutely no chance of getting thestuff you mention for free, especially with all those elites upgrading. You want First Class? Pay for it, or use miles in advance to upgrade. You want the nicer hotel room? Use points for a basic and pay the difference. You want better a rental car?Pay the difference. Sweet talking people is especially shallow if it’s such a big deal like a honeymoon!

I have to say Brad, you saved the best for last laugh! Here is what you say:

Myth: Airline loyalty program members are likely to be upgraded.

Reality: In the old days, a frequent-flier member wearing a nice suit had a fair chance of being bumped up to business or first class if the flight was overbooked, or simply if a seat up front wasn’t filled. These days, in an era when so many travelers belong to airline loyalty programs — and when airlines are considerably stingier with rewards — membership has lost its prestige and its value. Carriers tend to give upgrades on the spot only when forced to, due to overbooking. If that’s the case, upgrades go to the most elite loyalty members — typically die-hard business travelers with thousands of miles they will never have the chance to use.

Current Advice: Regular travelers have almost no chance of scoring a free upgrade. If your heart is set on sitting up front, accumulate points however you can (airline credit cards are the easiest way), and book a first- or business-class seat. Or, check out airlines offering less expensive business-class seats.

Ha! Elite members are likely to be upgraded is a myth? Maybe it’s a myth that you are writing for a Travel magazine! You say that airlines only upgrade due to overbooking? Hardly!

So the fact that a Chairmans’ Preferred with US Airways can upgrade seven days before departure is a myth? Then why have I done so for the last two years. I haven’t felt what a coach seat feels like for two years now! It was pretty similar when I was a gold- three days out I got my upgrade most of the time, but very rarely at the gate! And your theory on getting a credit card to get a huge bonus and spend it on a one time First Class flight? I doubt that will even get you a one way domestic First Class ticket since they now cost 25,000 miles, and most credit cards give you an opening bonus of 20,000!

Your article glistens with advice that has an overall theme of “getting it done last at last minute”. You want kids to board last, honeymooners to get free upgrades at the last minute, non-elite members to get upgraded at the gate and waiting until the last minute to buy a ticket. Who are you kidding here?

Readers, these types of articles get me really upset. So many knowledgeable people to write about airline rewards programs and policies, but they pick someone who probably usually reviews a beach or a restaurant. Brad, even on a beach you get need to get their earlier to get a primo spot. You can’t show up last and hope someone will give you the best patch of sand.

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark

Nothing to do with my fav airline, or points, or rewards programs. I guess every aviation fanatic will find this interesting. It’s just an excerise, so don’t get too freaked out!

Basically, a kid takes his Dad’s plane for a ride (a Cessna 182) and realizes he doesn’t know how to fly it all once he is in the air. He does proudly claim that he has a license from Flight Simulator! With the equivalent of four hours flying time in fuel remaining, a Canadian Forces pilot tries to teach this kid to safely fly and land this plane. What’s interesting is the kid is more worried whether he will eat lunch or if his dad will get mad at him than if he can land safely. I guess to each his own. Personally, I wouldn’t land that thing until I got a complimentary meal and beverage on china and in glass! LOL! =]

He’re the whole audio (sorry no video- don’t get too excited!) courtesy of YouTube. Enjoy!

Honestly, this would be much more interesting if it were to happen on bigger plane like an A321 or B757!

Have a nice clicK life and don’t do anything this kid wouldn’t do,

-Mark =]

A few minutes ago I was trying to check my Yahoo email so I fired up my Internet Explorer and my set home page (Yahoo.com) loaded. As I was about to log-in to my email, I noticed the ” Today’s Top Searches” widget. Aside from the usual celebrity searches, I noticed something at #7. See for yourself.

Cheap Plane Tickets? Who in their right mind would search Yahoo or any search engine for that matter to find a good deal on airplane tickets? Of course, the results you probably would expect include Cheapflights.com, Cheapair.com Cheapoair.com! LOL! Even I, at the young age of 11 or 12, have never done such a thing.

I don’t have an official humor or joke tag since I usually don’t blog about that stuff, but this will surely fit.

Have a nice click life,

-Mark

Since I’ve been posting about the Club nonstop for the past few days, I decided to make an About Me type of post. Visited/favorite US Airways Clubs.

Visited US Airways Clubs

• London Gatwick (no longer open)
• Boston
• New York- LGA
• Tampa
• Charlotte (Visited 2 of 2)
• Philadelphia (Visited 2 of 2 + Envoy Lounge)
• Pittsburgh
• Phoenix (Visited 3 of 3)
• Las Vegas
• Los Angeles

The next two I’m most likely to visit this year? DCA and RDU. I want to seem them all, but I’m worried GSO and BUF and BDL might get shut down.

My favorite?

PHL Envoy Lounge is by far the best lounge, but when it comes to regular Clubs, I like TPA (great views) and LAX (generous offerings) the most. The PHX Clubs are pretty nice too.

My least favorite?

The A21 PHX Club, because it’s so tiny and the the concourse B Club in CLT, because it’s also pretty small and service offerings were non-existant both times I was there. Now, even if I’m connecting between two flights in concourse B, I still walk over to the C/D club in CLT. It’s a bit of a schlep, but it’s completely worth it.

An interesting tidbit- of all the questions and emails I get, Club is the most often asked about question (which one to use, worth the entrance fee, can I enter if I’m flying domestic F?)

Want to check out the Clubs through the lens of my camera? Head on over to the Gallery part of Kinglobjaw.com.

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark

It’s my third post in 48 hours about the US Airways Club. Turns out US has another offer if you join. This one seems to be stackable with other offers, but is only open to Preferred members. Basically, you get free Hilton HHonors Gold VIP if you join the Club. More details available here: http://www.usairways.com/awa/content/dividendmiles/promotions/hiltongold.aspx

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark

My Mom just forwaded me an email she received from the US Airways Club department. She was very surprised as she has never gotten an email from the US Airways Club. I guess since she’s never been a member before, I’m sure that’s the reason why she got it. I on the other hand wouldn’t mind getting such a discount when renewing in a few weeks. Here’s the new offer. It’s only going to last for 2 weeks, so those who are considering joining the Club, I say act on it right away!

$215 for annual Club memberships

Become a US Airways Club member and save $175. We value your loyalty and want to reward you with this special offer, but you’ve got to join quickly. You’ve only got until March 16, 2009 and you must join online using promotion code CLB100.

Annual Club membership	$390
Preferred member discount	-$75
Instant savings	-$100
Limited time offer	$215

That’s a new offer which which just came out today. This is in addition the the 3 seperate offers I was blogging about yesterday. Keep in mind, these are not combinable.

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark

This is just in. I might be going to HAJ for 3 nights towards the end of March 2009 to see some friends. I’m brining along a friend, so the routing should be fairly simple. Hopefully after this trip, she’ll be more keen to fly crazy Kinglobjaw style routings.

This is what I’m looking at. ORD-PHL-FRA-HAJ and back on US to FRA and LH to HAJ. Of course, I was able to price other routings for the same base fare price, such as ORD-CLT-PHL-FRA-HAJ-LHR-PHL-BWI-ORD on US/LH/BD/UA. There’s also the option of flying via a triple connection on LH/US only: HAJ-FRA-PHL-CLT-ORD. I haven’t ticketed yet, so we’ll see what happens. Maybe I can convince her to earn more miles. She’s a statusless frequent flyer with United so at least she will earn miles. Maybe that will convince her to satisfy my need for jet lag, more flights and more miles! =]

I didn’t share the fare price yet. It’s not mileage run material, but nonetheless a decent deal- $489.60 roundtrip including all taxes & fees. US Airways was by far the lowest fare, followed by SAS which was roughly $200 dollars more roundtrip.

Interesting thing about the flights is that thie FRA-HAJ-FAR short hop is operated with a Lufthansa A320. Just 175 miles. Neat! I wonder if they offer a service on the flight. Probably do, they’re Lufty!

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark

I’m not sure if this is highly classified information or not, but the old (current) and new (think: still hidden) USAirways.com have different Club membership promotions. If you’re thinking of taking advantage of one of the offers, I highly suggest you print out a page detailing the promo rules and its expiration date.

The old website shows (can view this here):

Offers/promotions

3,000 Preferred-qualifying miles* for new Club members

New Club members receive 3,000 Preferred-qualifying miles when you buy an annual Club membership between May 6, 2008 and March 31, 2009*. Use promo code NCM3K when you enroll online or call 800-828-8522 to enroll by phone. Read terms & conditions below.

• Enroll online

Renew your membership & get 500 Preferred-qualifying miles

Be sure to use your Dividend Miles number and promo code DR500 when you enroll.

• Enroll online

The new website shows (can view this here):

New Club members, pick your offer:

2 months free* for new Club members

We’re giving you an additional two months for free when you buy an annual membership online between March 1, 2009 and April 30, 2009. Enroll online and use promotion code EXT2.

Or:

3,000 Preferred-qualifying miles* for new Club members

Earn 3,000 Preferred-qualifying miles when you buy an annual membership by March 31, 2009. Enroll online and use promo code NCM3K or call 800-828-8522 to enroll by phone.

• Enroll online

My Club membership just expired at midnight, and since I”m not flying for another 3 weeks I’m going to wait until just before my flights to re-new as that will push back my Club membership expiration date in 2010, so I will definitely want to get my 500 Preferred Qualifying Miles! The promotions rules at the bottom of the page show that the offer expires on March 31, 2009, but what if they replace the old website with the new version before they the promotion expires. Will they remember to update it on the new site…? That’s why I advise those who wish to act on this offer, but want to wait a few more weeks to print this ASAP, as proof, of course!

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark