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Ynglaur posted:Does anyone know if Platinum Amex can still use Delta Skylounges?
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Dec 10, 2013 04:04
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Thoguh posted:drat. Airport bar it is. What the others said. There is a smallish little Asia near the Courtyard Marriott (some mediocre Hot Pot and some solid Thai), Lulu's at the Red Roof Inn (near all the Hitlon Properties) has some cheap drinks so you can stretch your expense account if you want. As said, the closest cool place is 16th and Mission and it's 40 mins, which is cutting it real close. Just rock it in the lounge or the airport bar.
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Dec 10, 2013 07:57
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I just finished up my business travel for this year. That's 98 flights on Southwest since January, and 8 other ones on Alaskan/Horizon. I have a ridiculous amount of points and I've been holding out hope for the past 2 years that I can just redeem them all when SW finally flies to Hawaii, but who knows when that will actually happen  I wish I didn't almost exclusively travel in the poo poo west coast airline market and I had status with an airline that could take me overseas first class or has perks other than "you get to board first" and "sometimes you may get a free drink coupon".
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Dec 21, 2013 04:53
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nikosoft posted:I just finished up my business travel for this year. That's 98 flights on Southwest since January, and 8 other ones on Alaskan/Horizon. I have a ridiculous amount of points and I've been holding out hope for the past 2 years that I can just redeem them all when SW finally flies to Hawaii, but who knows when that will actually happen This is frequent flying! How many miles would you have? On Delta you generally need 100k-125k just for asian economy ticket. They advertise lower rate days but good luck finding them. Last year intercontinental travel in business class policy was reinstated by my company. Since the upgrade came out of our project budget we could choose to do it or not. I did 1/3rd of my trips in BC. Yesterday my GM sent an email saying next year our department wouldn't be doing any upgrades next year to save money. Guess who went on the most IC trips this year? Guess who booked business class for 100% of his IC trips? Guess who is transferring out of our deparment to Europe starting the second week of January? Poor next GM doesn't know they angry debates he is in for.
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Dec 21, 2013 16:38
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Uncle Jam posted:This is frequent flying! How many miles would you have? On Delta you generally need 100k-125k just for asian economy ticket. They advertise lower rate days but good luck finding them. They don't call em skypesos for nothing! Lax-hkg-KUL KUL-sin Sin-Syd Syd-akl Akl-hkg Hkg-dxb Dxb-amm-LHR LHR-dfw-lax All for 180k in business on aa / OneWorld. In reality it's likely 100k butt in seat miles to earn that in 1 year. More if you have previous status or a credit card. Just gotta choose the right alliance and program.
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Dec 21, 2013 16:50
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nikosoft posted:I just finished up my business travel for this year. That's 98 flights on Southwest since January, and 8 other ones on Alaskan/Horizon. I have a ridiculous amount of points and I've been holding out hope for the past 2 years that I can just redeem them all when SW finally flies to Hawaii, but who knows when that will actually happen Why not try to move your travel from Southwest to Alaska? Alaska is partners with multiple major carriers so you can assign your miles to one of them and get access to their whole network even though Alaska is just west coast.
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Dec 21, 2013 17:50
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Uncle Jam posted:This is frequent flying! How many miles would you have? On Delta you generally need 100k-125k just for asian economy ticket. They advertise lower rate days but good luck finding them. I actually don't know! SW values "points" rather than miles and you get rewarded with more points if you buy a more expensive tier of ticket. Which is actually dumb as hell, since there's no perks for doing so unless you buy the super expensive business fare tickets and then you get to be one of the first 15 people on the plane. As person #16 every time anyway, I don't care and I'd probably be gutted like a fish by my consulting company if I tried to get reimbursed for a needlessly expensive ticket. Thoguh posted:Why not try to move your travel from Southwest to Alaska? Alaska is partners with multiple major carriers so you can assign your miles to one of them and get access to their whole network even though Alaska is just west coast. I have been thinking about moving to Alaska next year so I could actually get usable status with Delta or something. I went with SW originally due to the convenience of my home airport having ninety billion of their daily flights compared to the occasional Alaskan flight. I'm pretty much the worst, most irritable business traveler now and I hate to start over in status, but damnit, I really want to be able to see what goes on in these Board Rooms! There's alcohol, right? And I hear they have this magical thing called First Class??
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Dec 22, 2013 07:45
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nikosoft posted:And I hear they have this magical thing called First Class?? Literally never worth the additional premium over business.
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Dec 22, 2013 07:54
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Midjack posted:Literally never worth the additional premium over business. When redeeming miles on Cathay I couldn't disagree more. The increase is negligible for one of the most awesome experiences in the air. Edit: I need to do more business in Singapore. Qantas business lounge has table service for food and puts every US lounge to shame. It's not quite The Wing but drat. The barramundi is on point. sellouts fucked around with this message at 14:04 on Dec 22, 2013 |
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Dec 22, 2013 08:46
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Really? Just flew business class on Swiss Air and Lufthansa, and couldn't see any difference between that and first class. Free alcohol, free movies , fully reclining seats, and a decent menu. Perhaps first class had a different wine selection? Either way, compared to US carriers it was night and day.
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Dec 22, 2013 15:40
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Midjack posted:Literally never worth the additional premium over business. Agreed 100%. First is nice but generally never worth the premium over biz, which can sometimes be 4-5x more. This is especially true for anyone flying AA on their new 777-300s.
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Dec 22, 2013 18:47
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Belldandy posted:Agreed 100%. First is nice but generally never worth the premium over biz, which can sometimes be 4-5x more. This is especially true for anyone flying AA on their new 777-300s. I have to disagree and echo sellout's thoughts: it depends entirely on the carrier and the equipment used. Cathay's first is awesome and a marked upgrade in both service and seat quality over business. Lufthansa offers those things and a little better catering as well, and if you can get F on the 744, you get a completely separate bed in addition to the seat. Singapore does something similar with their suites. Showers on Emirates. The list goes on. Now, I will never turn my nose up at a seat in business, and I agree with you that I would never pay the price premium for international first. But on an award, in some cases when the delta between business and first isn't very large, or you have SWUs, it's a really nice way to travel.
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Dec 22, 2013 19:22
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Welp, I'm pretty much wrapped up w travel for the year. I'd be curious to see everyone's stats. Airtime: 104,361 MQMs on Delta (110 Segments) Hotels: SPG - 149 nights (47 stays) Marriott - 98 nights Hilton - 6 nights I've got a 3 month gig in Phoenix (i'm based out of NYC) starting in Jan, so hoping I can hit Diamond in 2014.
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Dec 23, 2013 04:18
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I'm done traveling for the year too. This is going to be the first time in a year that I'm going to be home for 2 weeks in a row. Delta: MQMs: 109,918 Segments: 158 Diamond Marriott: 82 nights Platinum And just for fun Roncari Valet (BDL): 193 days
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Dec 23, 2013 04:44
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Midjack posted:Literally never worth the additional premium over business. Pretty sure he meant domestic first class. Which is a big step up from domestic coach but isn't even comparable to international business class.
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Dec 23, 2013 06:25
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I'm not following his statement then but sure. With JetBlue and aa's new planes the difference will be very close to international business. It'll be on like 3 routes but I fly them pretty regularly. But you're right. It's a shame because the service I get on premium cabins on 2-4 hour regional Asian flights is often better then the 14 hour long hauls. It doesn't have to be the way it is in the US, dammit! I hope the trend of plated cook to order meals in the lounge before a flight continues. Then you could leave the first class to bottles of Dom, billecart salmon and caviar and a big rear end bed with private transfers at each end. Last night was the first time I've ever seen a flight attendant shoot a cork across the cabin and cause the bottle to erupt all over. She was very embarrassed and it was before the curtains were closed so I'm sure to economy it looked like the party was starting like it does in movies.
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Dec 23, 2013 13:57
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sink the biz posted:Welp, I'm pretty much wrapped up w travel for the year. I'd be curious to see everyone's stats. Done also. Air: 164,688 Miles / 133 Segments on American Airlines (Concierge Key) Hotels: 75 Nights with SPG (Also hit lifetime Gold, yay!)
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Dec 23, 2013 14:19
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79,827 miles / 88 segments on United, all domestic except one round trip ORD-LHR. just got platinum last week
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Dec 23, 2013 17:19
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Thoguh posted:Pretty sure he meant domestic first class. Which is a big step up from domestic coach but isn't even comparable to international business class. Domestic first is a hilarious waste of money, but international has never been worth it either in my experience. I have not had the opportunity to take first class on one of the carriers that inspires cultlike devotion, but I have been in coach and business on some of them and you're still on the same lovely airplane with rude cabin staff, crappy food, and scumbag fellow passengers so being in the front of the plane is no better than the back. If you're charging it to the customer's contract knock yourself out I guess; I won't refuse a no cost upgrade but I will never expend a resource (money, miles, regional upgrade) on a first class seat when I can use that resource for literally anything else.
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Dec 23, 2013 18:42
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Try it on emirates, cathay or Singapore once. You won't say the cabin staff is rude, at least.
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Dec 23, 2013 23:13
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Midjack posted:If you're charging it to the customer's contract knock yourself out I guess; I won't refuse a no cost upgrade but I will never expend a resource (money, miles, regional upgrade) on a first class seat when I can use that resource for literally anything else. Delta gives unlimited (space available) upgrades for domestic first, no use of a certificate or anything. The past two years as a Platinum the only route I haven't been upgraded basically every time is MSP-SNA. If somebody (like the post that started this discussion) is flying exclusively on Southwest with the occasional flight on Alaska then their flights are entirely domestic. So the advice was for somebody flying domestic. Domestic flying and international flying can be very different.
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Dec 24, 2013 02:59
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All balances reset to zero. My precious...
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Jan 2, 2014 15:35
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Man. Malaysia airlines and to a lesser extent Royal Jordanian really blow
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Jan 2, 2014 18:29
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Welcome to 2014. Delta and United MQD/PQDs are officially here.sellouts posted:Man. Malaysia airlines and to a lesser extent Royal Jordanian really blow
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Jan 2, 2014 18:37
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Man, I hate all you platinum, gold, diamond whatever.  I've flown over 100,000 miles this year and all I got to show for it was Silver on United. Reason being is my company just flies me on whatever's cheap so all my miles get split between British airways, United, Delta and Emirates. Dammit, I'm never getting upgraded.
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Jan 3, 2014 01:51
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mr_cardholder posted:Man, I hate all you platinum, gold, diamond whatever. I end up with that problem to a lesser degree; if I could choose to keep it on one airline I'd be top level and then some. As it is I'm stuck spreading it out across United and American with the occasional Delta or Jetblue thrown in for laughs. I have over a million miles total, though it's so hopelessly fragmented that my highest concentration is 530K rear end-in-seat miles on United.
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Jan 3, 2014 02:07
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So, I'm hopelessly naive about status and things. Now that everything has zeroed, how can I maintain my statuses and such? I've heard there is a way to keep these things going without grinding through all the flights again. For reference, I'm US Airways Gold and Hilton Diamond. Also, I'm thinking about switching from Hilton, any suggestions?
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Jan 3, 2014 02:20
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Shbobdb posted:So, I'm hopelessly naive about status and things. Now that everything has zeroed, how can I maintain my statuses and such? I've heard there is a way to keep these things going without grinding through all the flights again. For reference, I'm US Airways Gold and Hilton Diamond. Also, I'm thinking about switching from Hilton, any suggestions? Airline status, not so much.
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Jan 3, 2014 02:35
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I've personally found Marriott status straightforward to get and to retain, and--important to me--their points go a long way and it's easy to book free hotel stays with them. Hyatt points are very deflated in value. 90000 of those got me a night in NYC on a weekend that wasn't ideal. A similar number of Marriott points would have gotten me 2-3 nights with no practical limits on availability. Marriott seems to have more availability, overall I know little of Hilton's program, though I will say the beds are invariably comfortable.
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Jan 3, 2014 03:47
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Mackieman posted:All balances reset to zero. My precious... And I have no flights booked, aaahhhh!
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Jan 3, 2014 03:50
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Belldandy posted:And I have no flights booked, aaahhhh! Thankfully I'm booked to 54,363 PQM through May at the moment, healthy mix of work and leisure. Starting the year off right with a visit to BRU and VNO in a couple of weeks. The paid J trip to CAN doesn't hurt, for sure. For those of you trying to stick to a particular airline for status but have to book all over, I humbly submit that Alaska Airlines has an excellent program. You can earn on Delta, American (soon to be US Airways as well) and Alaska flights, and they have a pretty spiffy partner redemption system. For hotels, I'm in SPG's camp at the moment. I used to have top tier with Marriott but 75 nights a year is a bitch to maintain when you're not doing it for work. If you are, Marriott isn't bad and they have properties everywhere. Hilton sucks thanks to their devaluations and I don't know that Hyatt has the market cornered like they used to, all though they have some very nice places, much like SPG does. It's really about where you see value, and it is entirely possible that hotel status may not make any sense at all depending on what you're looking for.
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Jan 3, 2014 04:50
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mr_cardholder posted:Man, I hate all you platinum, gold, diamond whatever. Did you know that BA, Delta, and Emirates are all partners of Alaska Airlines? Delta and Emirates count toward elite status on Alaska, also, which provides some reciprocal benefits with those programs.
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Jan 3, 2014 05:26
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Small White Dragon posted:
Just really weak customer care. Flights very late for no reason given. No notice of late boarding so you leave the lounge for no reason. No mention or lounge passes unless you ask. No recognition of alliance status benefits unless specifically mentioned. Bags improperly tagged unless you check it. No sync of information systems for transiting passengers (I shouldn't be asked to produce bag numbers while at a transit desk) Children allowed to run up and down the aisles below 10k feet while on approach. No immigration benefits to premium cabin flyers . Poor drink service timings. No real follow up on customer service. Then again, Qantas is almost as bad at least they get lounges right. RJ isn't as bad. I actually like their food setup on the trolly. But man AMM sucks for transiting passengers and those flights had pound for pound the worst passenger conduct I've ever seen. And on my flights their business class was treated like family class with multiple small children running absolutely crazy during the entire flight with the parents sleeping and leaving the FA's to be babysitters. Maybe I'm just cranky as I've done something like 37k miles in the past 3 or so weeks but the good (Cathay and new AA biz on 773) really stand out.
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Jan 3, 2014 05:58
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Sorry to hear that. I flew AirBerlin a couple months after they joined OW, and there were certainly a lot of issues with alliance benefits.sellouts posted:Then again, Qantas is almost as bad at least they get lounges right. The Qantas First lounge in SYD was quite nice though. Small White Dragon fucked around with this message at 06:40 on Jan 3, 2014 |
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Jan 3, 2014 06:21
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I'm sure it just varies on crew. Their long haul biz hard product sucks pretty badly. I guess they have some sort of pad or cover that can help with it when it comes to sleeping, I wouldn't know because I was never asked if I would like one despite staying up well into the meal service. I flew one medium haul intl biz and one short haul intl biz. Maybe the A380 is better. I wouldn't pay to fly them to Australia though unless it was economy because at that point it's all about lowest price.
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Jan 3, 2014 11:30
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sellouts posted:I'm sure it just varies on crew. Their long haul biz hard product sucks pretty badly. I guess they have some sort of pad or cover that can help with it when it comes to sleeping, I wouldn't know because I was never asked if I would like one despite staying up well into the meal service. http://www.qantas.com.au/travel/airlines/international-business-class/global/en
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Jan 3, 2014 11:54
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A330 with skybed out of SIN. It was supposed to be 744 but got changed a few months ago. That was realistically going to be my last flight on the upper deck of a 744  Edit: the smart gate stuff in Australia owned pretty hard. My wife didn't use it because she wanted her passport stamped but I didn't care. It was like magic
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Jan 3, 2014 12:37
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kaishek posted:Did you know that BA, Delta, and Emirates are all partners of Alaska Airlines? Delta and Emirates count toward elite status on Alaska, also, which provides some reciprocal benefits with those programs. I've got the same issue where I don't usually have a choice in carrier. I wish this were an option for me, but being based out of DAY, Alaska's nowhere near me. So, between my lack of choice and my mostly domestic short haul itinerary, I'm firmly at the low end of any airline elite status — only 35K BIS miles, split between different airlines. I was at least able to maintain United silver, but I lost my American gold - a lot of my end of year trips ended up getting postponed. 
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Jan 3, 2014 23:51
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The point was more that you could travel on American or Delta and credit the flights to Alaska (thus getting Alaska elite status, which grants you a number of benefits on AA and Delta). Read this: http://hackmytrip.com/2013/10/travelers-join-alaskas-mileage-plan/
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Jan 4, 2014 02:38
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So . . . What I'm learning is that if I want to play the West Coast (Best Coast!) game, I need to go Alaska. Right?
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Jan 4, 2014 09:54
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