Kinglobjaw's Blog

Archive for May, 2009

This will probably be my final post regarding AMEX’s Advance Your World Challenge.

By now, all winners should have gotten an email stating the prize you won. Still, all participants should check their name against the winner’s list just to make sure they did or did not win. Sometimes spam blocking technology can misinterpret the email and block it out completely so you can’t even find it inside your ‘Spam’ folder.

In order to to get a copy of the winner’s list, send a blank email to WinListRequests@eprizefulfillment.com. Be sure to include a subject and at least one character inside the body. It’s an automated email so all they do is take down your email address and then they email you a copy of the list once the promotion is over. Technically, it isn’t over until after May 18, 2009.

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark

Remember the Advance Your World Challenge brought to you (and cancelled) by Hilton & AMEX?

Guess what? I was one of 993 first prize winners. What does that entitle me to? 10,000 Hilton HHonors points and Diamond VIP status extended thru early 2011!

Was hoping to win the grand prize, but oh well! Better than nothing.

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark

This will only take a click! All you have to do is enter your Continental OnePass member number on this form. Takes 4-6 weeks to post to miles however, but it’s free and worth it. Even if you’ve never an OnePass account, it’s still worth it!

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark

True story! Check out what FlyerTalker MileageAddict posted in the United forum: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/united-mileage-plus/951267-most-unique-upgrade-offer-ever.html.

Next time someone catches in snake at my gate, I will gladly try to upgrade them even if the gate agent doesn’t do it automatically!

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark

US Airways will soon receive it’s first batch of the brandnew Airbus A330-200 (A332) which is a slightly meaner, leaner version of the A330-300 (A333). This will allow US Airways to fly nonstop long haul nonstops such as Philadelphia to Tel Aviv or to Beijing (should they choose to use this aircraft for that route). Regardless of what they decide for the future, US Airways is running this plane to San Juan even before they start using it to Tel Aviv. Obviously it makes sense as they need the crews to get acquianted with the new “bird” and it’s a smart business decision to run iton San Juan flights- US1071/1024. I swair, I have these two flights memorized! Those two flights, the outbound and return were previously flown by the A333, so US isn’t really wasting capcity by using a “heavy”.

And while coach class will only take in a whiff of brand new leather on the seats and that new plane smell, starting in June passengers up front in Envoy (seat is Envoy, service is domestic First) will get to enjoy a different kind of business class seat on US Airways. Tempe HQ is staying silent, but an airplane seat manufacturing company said the seats wil be fully flat and supposedly in a suite style setting. Looking at USAirways.com’s current Envoy seat map for the A332, it’s showing a 2-2-2 configuration so I doubt it will be suite like, but I’ll never really know till I try it, will I?

Based on schedules, the brand new US Airways A332 starts flying daily to San Juan as US1071 and back as US1024 on Sunday, June 7, 2009. It’s daily throught June and beginning of July with the exception of a few dates. Here are the details:

6/7/2009 – 6/15/2009 Daily A332

6/16/2009- 6/17/2009 B757 on both days, no A332 service

6/18/2009-7/1/2009 Daily A332

7/2/2009 B757 on this day, no A332 service

7/3/2009-7/5/2009 Daily A332 on all three days

After 7/5/2009 the flight goes back to B757 as the A332 starts flying to Tel Aviv daily on the evening of the 5th of July. We could see the A332 flying to San Juan again in Fall of 2009 as US Airways takes delivery of additional A332′s.

I’m tempted to hop down to San Juan just to check out the product in Envoy. If I can’t do that, I’ll try to arrange a tour with the US Airways Philadelphia Satellite Headquarters while the A332 is on the ground in Philly. I’ll schedule enough time connecting time on my way to Los Angeles or maybe on return portion. Whatever works for them and reasonable enough for me.

Here’s a picture of the aircraft itself, courtesy PictAero,

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark

Aside from my other Twitter account, LOTPolish, I didn’t think there were any actual airlines out there broadcasting news related to their companies. There’s also an USAirways on Twitter, but I was never really sure if they were the ones who created the account on Twitter.

Apparently, Twitter is the newest addition to United’s marketing plan. They have a “friendly being” who could or could not be UnitedPR on FlyerTalk twitting away at other people. He or she is alerting subscribers of United’s most recent fare sales and bonus mile offers. He or she is also offering advice, talking aviation and sharing behind the scenes tid bits. Given my general disdain for United Airlines and my curiosity if such “friendly being” will reply to absolutely anyone, I’ve decided to twit @unitedairlines:

@unitedairlines joins @usairways on Twitter! Does it mean United is dropping StarNet blocking and becoming the good guy like US Airways?

Talk about asking a loaded question! For those of you that don’t know what StarNet is, it’s the a program that makes your United miles basically worthplace should you choose to redeem on Star Alliance partners.  United uses StarNet to block the majority of available award seats on Star Alliance member carriers like Lufthansa, Air New Zealand or Singapore Airlines. This is the opposite of what US Airways does, which matches all award availability that the other Star Alliance members release. I guess I don’t have to tell you who the good guy is…

Let’s see what they [UnitedAirlines] say!

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark

If you remember posts from my blog from over a year ago regarding Hawaiian airlines, you’ll know that I was generally happy with them. Friendly service with smile? Check! Miles earned with US Airways Dividend Miles program? Check! No hassle baggage policies + interlining (passing of bags between carriers)? Check!

I don’t know if it is because Aloha Airlines no longer flies, or there is growing hostility toward Go! airline, but Hawaiian Airlines has taken a turn for the worse. And it has nothing to do with closed counters to which customers are still directed to, poor signage that to forces you to change lines three times or agents that won’t check you in, becuase you’re not flying First Class all the way.

When we were checking in with Hawaiian for the Honolulu to Chicago via Lihue, Phoenix and Philadelphia (HNL-LIH-PHX-PHL-ORD) portion of the trip, we were fully aware of baggage fees. It was explained to us from the beginning- since we were flying interisland on Hawaiian, we were only responsible for the 2nd bag fees.  Immediately after arriving, the “kind” lady barked at me saying I have to pay for each and every bag I am checking. “Doesn’t matter what reservations or US Airways told you, you have to pay for all the bags you check. I simply don’t care that it’s on US Airways stock or their rules. You’re on Hawaiian Airlines and we decided what we do with you!” Here’s the juicy part. A supervisor and a second agent sided with me. They told me I would only have to pay the bag fee for the second bag since I’m flying US Airways back to the mainland. A few minutes later as the supervisor’s shift ended (or maybe he just took a break), the original agent told me I would still have to pay up since she couldn’t get in touch with the supervisor and that the supervisor didn’t go into the record. She also told me the second agent that sided with me was not a supervisor and she couldn’t listen to him. Funny she said so. Isn’t she just a regular agent? So why can she make rules, but the, the second agent can’t? I keep telling her I want to talk to the supervisor in front of her. She says he’s gone, puts her hand in the air covering the area face and direct vision at her and storms of for five minutes.

After about five minutes, she returns in a slightly better mood and says she has a special deal for me. I thought, what, a bribe? She says she’ll only charge for the second bag as the rules state, but she will only tag it to Lihue where I have to leave security during my connection, pick up all bags and re-check with US Airways. Ha! This is after I told her that my Mom lost her only photo ID and that she would need about 30-40 minutes of additional screening time. In the end we had to pay the $55 dollars since there’s no arguing with a lady which probably finished drinking some acid. She was pure spite! Of course, while gathering information about the supervisor, second agent and her, all I got was first name. No last name or initial or badge number. Agent should have been fired on the spot.

Erase the friendly service with a smile and the no hassle baggage policies on the spot. Also erase the automatic miles postings. I had to contact a USAirways.com live chat agent in order to get the miles posted. I am going to write a complaint letter to Hawaiian Airlines, but I’m also going to try and question the charges with the credit card since techinically “I was charged for a service I did not use/request”. We’ll see where that takes me.

There is good news however which is what the second half of this post is dedicated to. While “arguing” with the agent, I noticed a new airline  nearby with a small counter- Mokulele Airlines. I did some research after I returned from my trip and I’m thinking if they do well, they could be the next Aloha Airlines. Mokulele Airlines has their own website. I also emailed them with a few questions and here’s what I can tell you so far without flying with them.

• First Class- 2 bags free of charge on each flight, Coach Class- first bag free on all fares, second bag $17
• Fleet of 3 Embraer 170′s and Cessna Grand Caravans 208 B’s
• Complimentary juice/water in coach, alcohol/soft drinks/juice/water in First Class
• Working on a in-flight snack program for sale
• Operate two lounges (one in Honolulu, the other in Kona)- annual membership costs $79.95 + tax
• Each flight will earn you 500 Alaska Airlines miles
• No additional charges for passing bags two two interline carriers, Alaska Airlines and Continental Airlines (more to be added in the future)

What’s neat is that with only three EMB-170′s they still offer a generous amount of flights between the different islands. The Cessna’s add to the experience by offering service to smaller destination, and for aviation enthusiasts, a nice “ride”.

I am seriously considering switching to Mokulele Airlines for all my future inter-island travel. I’ll likely miss out on my 500 miles, but I’ll be able to see which “pineapple” tastes better! Cause we’re not comparing apples to oranges here.

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark

NWA has an enticing promotion where you can get up to 10,000 bonus WorldPerks miles after just 10 purchases. There are quite a few partners out there, but I’m trying to figure out how I can make these 10 purchases spending the smallest amount of money and trying to buy things I can actually use.

So far I’m 50% done. What’s neat is I can earn 1,000 miles after each purchase, not 10,000 after 10 purchases. So in the end, if I can’t utilize partners to buy 10 times, I’ll still get some bonus miles.

1. Barnes & Noble $10 gift card (+ $0.95 for shipping). Miles earned: 30 base + 1,000 bonus.
2. Borders $5 gift card (+ $1.95 for shipping). Miles earned: 15 + 1,000 bonus.
3. Gaiam $1 tree donation certificate (no tax/free shipping). Miles earned: 6 + 1,000 bonus. (link of this item here)
4. NorthernTool saw/blade ($1.99 no tax/free shipping). Miles earned: 6 + 1,000 bonus. (link for this item here)
5. Sears $5 (free shipping). Miles earned: 10 + 1,000 bonus.

All this adds up to 5,067 extra miles added to my NWA/DELTA account. Of course, the NWA Mall probably takes the longest of all the airline malls. I won’t see those miles till July or August. Ironically, Delta’s mall posts miles the fastest (generally 5 to 6 days after transaction).

I buy magazines regularly at Borders/Barnes & Noble, so I’m really only spending extra on the shipping which would costs less than if I were to drive or take the bus. With Gaiam, I’m doing a good thing for the planet- I’m donating a tree. Sears has a lot of things like extra nozzles for my Dyson vacuum, so I’m sure I’ll end up using it soon. I’ll put good use of the blade from NorthernTool, I’ll no longer struggle with scissors when cutting boxes! What’s funny is that the blade is backordered. Many FlyerTalkers are probably onto this promotion and that’s the cheapest you can go at NorthernTool.

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark