Upgraded: Your ability to earn lots of British Airways miles
Chase and British Airways have launched a pretty amazing airline mileage-earning credit card offer. 50,000 BA miles after one purchase, then 50,000 more after spending $2000 within three months. Gary Leff has thought this through and come up with a scheme for 420,000 miles between two people. That’s a lot of free tickets for a $75 annual fee.

Downgraded: Track suits
A Best Buy executive says that United refused him an upgrade because he was wearing a track suit. “United says there is no passenger dress code, but they cited two rules. Ticketed passengers can not be barefoot and must be clothed.” Standards!

Upgraded: Fees for Expedia phone bookings
Expedia announced that it was dropping the booking fees it charged for booking any flight, car rental, hotel or cruise on the phone. As online agencies compete to attract customers, this is the latest fee to drop. Yay, lower fees! Priceline immediately tweeted that they had never had phone booking fees. Nyahh.

Upgraded: Responsibility for rental car reservations
Avis Budget Group has worked with global booking systems to prepare their networks for an eventual introduction of no-show fees for car rental bookings. Frankly, I’m amazed that this is a fee that hasn’t been enforced more widely already.

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Periodically, US Airways runs a sale on buying their frequent flyer miles. Usually, buying miles is no bargain. But when they offer you double the miles for the same price…

Over at View from the Wing, the bottom line is clear:

With this offer you can buy 40,000 miles for $1030, get 80,000 miles in return, and fly business class from the US to Europe. Or if you and a friend each have 40,000 miles, you transfer to each other for $430 apiece, and you now both have 80,000 miles — enough for a business class Star Alliance partner award to Europe.

And don’t forget that US Airways doesn’t block Star Alliance partner flights like United does. This is a great deal, and a great way to book a complex ticket in business class at a low price.

Disney Cruise Line is trying to upgrade its windowless interior cabins with a new feature: the virtual porthole.

High-definition cameras perched on the exterior of the ship will broadcast real-time video to the circular monitors in the cabins.

From a design perspective, it’s pretty clever, and I could imagine other cruise lines following suit if this is successful. Some airlines already offer a camera pointed forward and/or downward on the inflight video. Perhaps this is just the logical extension.

And heck, imagine other faux windows… a hotel with a broom closet room with floor-to-ceiling LCD screens with ocean views?… hmm… alert a venture capitalist!

But leave it to Disney to not leave well enough alone and to “improve” upon the real world:

One twist: Disney says every now and then an animated Disney character such as Peach the starfish from Finding Nemo or even Mickey Mouse may appear in the virtual porthole (superimposed on the live outdoor feed to look as if they were outside the ship).

Take that, natural vistas!

Now, I’m not attracted to cruise travel in the first place, so I’m not a fair judge of this upgrade of windowless rooms. But for those of you who like to cruise, what do you think? Is this a genuine improvement, or is it lipstick on a pig? Vote in the poll, and leave your comments below.

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(Reading this via the feed? Click here to vote and comment.)

Ric Garrido of Loyalty Traveler, the blog devoted to maxing out hotel points and value for the frequent guest, picks up on my post last week on Travelocity’s prepaid hotel rate guarantee.

Ric argues that hotel companies’ own best-rate-guarantee programs are superior to the new Travelocity program, for three reasons: 1) Travelocity caps the number of claims to 5 per customer per month. Hotel chains typically don’t place such a limit. 2) Group rates, such as AAA rates, aren’t covered by the Travelocity guarantee. 3) The loyalty benefits of booking through the hotels’ own sites exceeds the value of the potential rebate via Travelocity.

Ric’s argument may make sense for the high-frequency traveler with high frequent-guest program status — and established loyalty to a given brand, as his blog name implies. But the Achilles heel of the hotel chains’ programs remains their timeframe for making a claim. If you only have hours after purchase to find a lower rate, that’s not a really meaningful guarantee. To Travelocity’s credit (and, to a lesser extent, Orbitz’s credit) the agency’s rebate lasts days, weeks, or even months. And the five-claim limit per month won’t be a problem for all but the most high-volume travelers.

The Travelocity guarantee is far from perfect, as I’ve argued. But it’s not worth dismissing wholesale in favor of the hotels’ own programs.

You may remember Dave Carroll from music videos decrying the state of United Airlines customer service. But the airline keeps finding ways to inspire new songs:

After famously breaking his guitar, United Airlines has managed to cause further trouble for David Carroll by losing his luggage — just as the Canadian singer-songwriter was en route to deliver a speech about customer service.

You can’t make this stuff up.

There have been two videos so far, both decrying United’s baggage handling and subsequent customer service. Personally, I thought that Carroll’s first video was his best. The second was okay, but felt like it was trying too hard, and didn’t add much. Yes, the third video in the trilogy is basically writing itself now.

(Thanks for the heads-up, John!)

Travelocity is upping the ante in the ongoing wars between the major online travel agencies. The agency is offering refunds if a hotel rate drops between the time you book a room and the time you stay at the hotel.

Here’s their pitch:

While competing sites offer price protection on hotel bookings only when lower prices are found on their respective sites, or only within the supplier`s cancellation window, Travelocity customers who find the same hotel booking for less elsewhere online (excluding hotels booked using a name-your-own-price service) any time prior to the day of check-in, can notify Travelocity and receive a refund for the difference in price. Additionally, as a special offer to introduce the hotel price match guarantee, between now and Dec. 31, 2009, customers will also receive a $50 discount toward future travel.

The new guarantee is aimed at two competitors: the hotels’ own lowest-price guarantees, and Orbitz.

Hotel websites typically offer a 24-hour window for filing a claim if you can find a lower rate. (See Hyatt’s terms, for example.) That’s not that impressive.

Orbitz offers an automatic refund (”Price Assurance”) if another customer on Orbitz books the same room for the same dates at a lower rate. Those are some slim odds. Yes, it’s automatic, but again, the odds are against your ever seeing a penny.

Travelocity’s guarantee is stronger than both of these offerings, insofar as the rate simply has to drop, and in a huge window of opportunity. But since you have to do the legwork and call Travelocity in order to get the refund, they are effectively betting that you won’t be tracking rates on a regular basis.

To be clear, this is only relevant (and possible) for prepaid reservations anyway. A cancelable reservation can always be replaced with a new reservation at a lower rate, after all, should the price drop. Travelocity calls their prepaid rooms “Good Buys” so look for that label to be covered by the new guarantee.

So, how DO you track rates once you’ve booked? Bring in Yapta.

Yapta allows you to receive updates when rates drop for specific hotels’ rooms (they do it for airfare, as well). So if you book a hotel room on Travelocity, you should immediately run a search for that specific hotel on Yapta, then select “track price drops.” If the price goes down, you get an e-mail. Then, contact Travelocity. Collect refund.

I don’t believe Travelocity was counting on customers using automated assistance when they launched this. But they’re about to find out if this is a feature they can actually sustain.

Related:
- Orbitz Price Assurance re-examined: Real savings or gimmick?
- Check in the mail: Orbitz refunds airfare price drops, but is it worthwhile?
- Less Choice: Expedia excluding hotels from searches
- Track airfare before and AFTER you buy?

Downgraded: TSA
Upgraded: Airports with independence
Near Glacier National Park, in Kalispell, Montana, Glacier Park International Airport is hoping to boot the TSA off its property and replace the government security agency with private contractors. What?? I had no idea this was possible, but sure enough: Under the Screening Partnership Program, an airport can apply to reprivatize security, generally if TSA isn’t meeting the airport’s needs. The issue for Glacier was staffing: The TSA calculated staffing levels based on October traffic levels — when August is the peak travel time for the area. About 15 airports, including several in Montana, have opted out of the TSA’s domain.

Upgraded: Efforts to keep convention business. ANY convention business
Hotels need business. So, is there any problem with hosting a convention of swingers as a Holiday Inn in upstate New York did? The annual spouse-swapping event, “Entice the Falls” (link not entirely safe for work), featured some exciting events like “Flogging 101″ and a (canceled) body painting party. But how many bonus points do you earn for a weekend of debauchery?

Downgraded: Chrysler at the rental counter
The Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group is slashing its purchases of Chrysler vehicles. Their fleet is currently 76% Chrysler, but Ford will nearly tie Chrysler for new purchases (34 and 30%, respectively).

Upgraded: Luxury in Mecca
Downgraded: Raffles Hotels’ management’s common sense
Islamic pilgrims to Mecca who aren’t feeling particularly pious, but who are looking to live large, may be pleased to hear that Singapore’s Raffles Hotels are planning an enormous luxury hotel that will cast a shadow on the Muslim world’s holiest site. But what on earth is the hotel chain thinking? I’m sure some will find the uber-luxurious hotel an affront to the religious meaning of the site; are they painting a giant target on all the hotels in the Raffles brand?

Upgraded: Recliners!
The dip in travel has been a boon for furniture makers. What? Yes, according to the industry, sales of reclining chairs are up, as Americans travel less, stay home more, and look for greater comfort in their living room.

Upgraded: Spotlights on mileage running
I’ve been known to go on a mileage run or two (though not for a few years now) in order to bump up my elite-qualifying miles to the next tier, but I’m nowhere near the big leagues that these guys play in. Check out this 20-minute documentary on mileage runners, and the OCD spirit that drives them to collect miles and points with a singleminded focus:

After last week’s incident in which a Northwest Airlines flight from San Diego to Minneapolis flew 150 miles past its destination before turning around and coming back to land, there have been more questions than answers. The pilots claimed to have been embroiled in a heated discussion. They deny reports that they were napping, and they had no alcohol in their systems. It’s unclear how long it will take before we really know what happened, and why these pilots were out of touch with air traffic control for so long.

I offer no answers here, either, but another question: Would this have happened if passengers were able to hear the cockpit conversations?

I don’t fly United Airlines much anymore (and it seems I’m on United Express when I do), but the thing which made United unique (and to me, pleasant) was Channel 9. Audio channel 9 on the inflight entertainment system can, at the captain’s discretion, be set to the radio frequency which the pilots are using to communicate with the FAA center, airport approach, or tower handling that flight’s movements. I’m a nerd, I realize, but I’ve always found that audio interesting: You can hear the frustrations of pilots and controllers at busy airports like O’Hare. You can hear what the ride is going to be like minutes before you hit a patch of bumpy air. You can hear your pilots getting cranky when they’re delayed for takeoff, or guided to descend into severe wake turbulence (which I experienced once.)

But if I were a passenger on a Channel 9 enabled flight that was scheduled to arrive at 8, and it was 8:15 and we weren’t descending, with pilots silent on Channel 9, I would suspect something was up. I might ask the flight attendants questions. And maybe, just maybe, the incident in question might have played out differently.

Now, someone might argue that this degree of passenger empowerment leads to nuisance questions from travelers who don’t understand the technical lingo of aviation and who misinterpret the meaning things your pilots might say. (”Fuel emergency” on approach would scare the pants off of many people, I’m sure.) That’s part of the reason Channel 9 has been increasingly turned off on United flights in recent years.

But I am left thinking that Channel 9 would have been a healthy check on this wayward flight. Passengers could have raised the alarm, and a huge imbroglio could have been avoided — not to mention missed connections at MSP.

So what do you think? Should passengers be allowed to hear the pilots’ conversations with air traffic control? And what would you have done if you had been listening on a flight like NW 188 and heard nothing but dead air?

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Image: Northwest 188’s flight path, courtesy of FlightAware. When the pilots didn’t respond to air traffic control, many suspected the possibility of a hijacking. Some of the twisting-back-and-forth maneuvers were apparently required by air traffic control to test whether the pilots were actually in command of their aircraft.

Starting as early as April 2010, travelers on long-haul Air New Zealand flights may be able to stretch out and sleep in coach, for as little as $150 extra.

To get the “bed,” the adjacent seat would need to be empty (a rare phenomenon in the sky these days), so there would be no guarantee of upgrading the seat before booking. Two adjacent economy seats could be mechanically adjusted to create an angled but flat seat.

Regrettably, there are no photos to show at this point. But here are some details that were provided to analysts:

Curley, head of research at Goldman Sachs JB Were, said the airline’s management was coy about revealing too much before a relaunch of its aircraft interiors ahead of the first arrival of one of several Boeing 777-300ER planes at the end of next year. But he said he believed the seat arrangement would involve a system where both seats could slide forward and the seat rest would come up so the foot room disappeared and the passenger could spread out across both seats.

Unlike the herringbone design used in business class, where the seats fold down flat, the economy class “beds” would still have a slight pitch.

Because this is a world first, the idea also has the potential to earn millions of dollars for Air New Zealand in export revenue. Its aircraft interior design subsidiary Altitude Aerospace Interiors, set up in 2008, plans to sell its new turn-into-a-bed economy seat design to other airlines.

Given the long flights from New Zealand to nearly anywhere else in the world, it makes perfect sense for this particular airline to be spearheading this. And this sounds like a fantastic idea for those looking to travel more comfortably on the cheap.

But it’s no substitute for a reserved seat in a premium cabin. There’s always a big risk that the flight will be full, and that the adjacent seat won’t be available. But this is creative thinking. I’m looking forward to seeing the design.

Related:
- Lufthansa considering bunk-bed style sleeper seating in economy class
- Airline seating: Standing, alternating, elevated, and now, sideways
- A step up for economy class seating
- Three people, six arms, four armrests: Can they coexist?

Joe Sharkey reminds us that the Secure Flight program requires travelers to, from, or within the United States to ensure that the spelling of their name on their passport or government-issued identification must match precisely the spelling of their name on their boarding passes.

So if you use your driver’s license and it says John T. Smith, your ticket must also say John T. Smith — not John Thomas Smith, not Jack Smith, or any other name variant.

Let’s put aside for a moment the counterargument that names and identity do not, in and of themselves, create a security risk for anyone. Unless you start flicking driver’s licenses at passengers like Chinese stars…

Yes, in case you forgot, the terrorists won. Big time. But I digress.

The reality of travel in this great land is that your ID has to match your boarding pass. And you’ll have to give them your gender and date of birth, too, to distinguish you from similarly-named people who might be on a no-fly list.

And that means you’ll want (well, need) to update your customer profiles with the companies with whom you book flights.

Though the program is already implemented, the timeline for mandating 100% compliance isn’t clear:

TSA has built some flexibility into the processes regarding passenger name accuracy. For the near future, small differences between the passenger’s ID and the passenger’s reservation information, such as the use of a middle initial instead of a full middle name or no middle name/initial at all, should not cause a problem for the passenger. Over time, passengers should strive to obtain consistency between the name on their ID and their travel information.

The ease of actually changing your profile varies by company. American Airlines makes it easy to add/change your middle name/initial for Secure Flight compliance on their website. United requires that you e-mail them. Orbitz reprimands me to “re-enter a unique name and date of birth for each traveler,” but their site doesn’t actually include a field to actually enter a date of birth anywhere.

And don’t forget that your passport may not list your name the same way as your driver’s license or other government-issued ID. Be sure the ticket matches the identification you actually carry for a given trip.

I’ve made the changes with some, but not all, of the companies I book with, whether airlines or agencies. If I’ve been able to do it online, I’ve done it. Luckily, my passport and driver’s license both list my full name, including my complete middle name

So, have you updated your profiles? Or have you considered having an ID reissued to make sure it’s consistent with other identification? Hit the comments!