Category Tips and Tools

Ok, so this isn’t really about a stupid article as much as about stupid people, and several “journalistic” outlets who have not done their job of skepticism.

The story, widely reported but originating in the Los Angeles Times,  is as follows:

Self-described “experienced travelers” call Turkish Airlines to book a flight to Dakar, Senegal.
They book said flights.
They go on said flights.  LAX to Istanbul, no problem.  About halfway through their second flight, they realize they are going to Dhaka, Bangladesh, instead of Dakar.
They blame the airline.  The airline flies them from Dhaka to Istanbul to Dakar, at no extra charge, but it takes 9 hours for them to figure this out.
They rant and say they should be given refunds, oompa loompas, and snozberries. Now.
They claim that the agent put...

I’m about to head out and spend the day with my family here in New York, before flying out to Dublin tonight for a long weekend in Dublin and Paris. But I thought I’d take the chance to share my gratitude publicly for all the great things I have in my life, and the great year I’ve had.  This year, I’ve met a wonderful fella, welcomed a perfect nephew into the world, traveled to some fantastic places, and had some major professional victories.  My family survived Hurricane Sandy with little more than inconvenience.  I’ve remained healthy.  I’m fortunate in that I have the time, money, and general security to spend time thinking about collecting points and miles and finding cheap airfares when most of the world doesn’t have the luxury to do so...

This year, as in the past several, American Express is running a promo on the Saturday after Thanksgiving — Small Business Saturday.  The terms are pretty simple.  Register your Amex in advance (any Amex but a prepaid or corporate card will do), make an in-store purchase of $25 or more at a small business, get a $25 credit on your Amex statement.

Signup is limited, and starts November 18 at midnight here.  The list of qualifying small businesses is confusing, as it includes both those on the promo website and those on the Square directory.  Remember, your purchase must equal or exceed $25 to get the credit!

Unfortunately, my ability to benefit from this will be limited as I’ll be in Dublin on Small Business Saturday, and there are no qualifying businesses there...

Our flight touched down at Rome’s Fiumcino Airport a little early, and I was quickly off the train and onto the monorail to the main facility.  Immigration took quite a while, as a flight from Rio de Janeiro had just arrived and there were only two agents for non-EU citizens.  Another line opened up and I made it through in about twenty minutes.  Not so bad, and I had to wait for luggage anyway (though Alitalia’s priority tag apparently works!).

I had to get to Rome’s Termini train station to catch my train to Florence.  I had purposely not booked a ticket in advance, as I had no idea what time I’d actually make it through the airport, and there is pretty frequent service...

Hard to believe, but Memorial Day is just a few weeks away — meaning the start of the peak summer travel season is upon us.   And while airfare deals and promos are generally hard to come by in the summer, hotels are competing for your dollars by offering a lot of points and discount specials.

Rather than rewrite the book, I highly recommend checking out this post at Loyalty Lobby which fairly extensively covers current points promotions at the major hotel chains.   But many of my readers are not just concerned about points accumulation, but about actually spending less money to start with.  First, you should check out my post from about a month ago laying out generic booking tips...

After a long hiatus, Stupid Article of the Week is back.  This week’s article comes from the Consumerist,  a site which has a more realistic pro-consumer bent than the oft-illogical Chris Elliott, but still often makes blunders.

Earlier this week, Consumerist posted a story entitled “U.S. Airways May Make You Check Your Bag Even if the Plane Isn’t Full,”   the essence of which is as follows:

Man is boarding U.S. Airways flight with carry-on bag of unspecified dimensions.
Man is asked to check bag, along with several other customers
Man is outraged that there ends up being empty overhead bins on the flight at take-off.

Consumerist suggests its crazy for gate agents to ask passengers to check bags before they are 100% sure that there is no room for those bags.

This is idiotic...

Recently, a reader and friend asked me for some tips on finding cheap hotel rooms.  I put together a list of some of my hotel booking resources, and realized I could share them with you all.   In this post, I’ll start with promos offered by major hotel chains.

1) Starwood Properties:

Starwood Properties (Westin, Sheraton, W, Le Meridien, Luxury Collection, Four Points, St. Regis, Aloft, and Element) have a number of promotions that can save you a lot of money.   First, many organizations have special relationships with Starwood that will provide you with an SET code that gives you a discounted rate  (for example, professional groups, employers, etc.).    Second, Starwood has a number of promo codes that provide for discounts on multi night stays, some of which are prepaid...

I try to take two longer vacations a year, and then several shorter ones, making the most of my four weeks of paid vacation.  I realized I hadn’t planned anything for summer 2012 yet, and if I was going to want to use miles and have flexibility, I needed to act fast.   Summer travel to Europe can be a great use of miles– if you can get the flights you want on dates you want.  And after 3 calls to the Delta Gold Medallion line, I finally did.

For a while, I’ve been saying I’d love to go back to Israel – a country I haven’t been too since my junior year of high school in 2000.  I’ve also never been to Italy for more than a two hour layover en route to Istanbul...

I know you’ve missed it, but today is the return of my “Stupid Article of the Week” feature, and I’m throwing a helpful article as well.

We’ll start with the positive.  The New York Times Travel Section has a cute article today by political correspondent Ashley Parker on travel tips she’s learned traveling with the Romney Campaign, as well as sharing tips from other politicos and correspondents.  None of the trips are anything new to most frequent travelers, but as someone who toyed with political journalism as a career, it’s still a good read.

Now onto the negative, featuring perennial thorn-in-my-side “Consumer Activist” Chris Elliott, who misleadingly posted a complaint entitled “US Airways charges family extra to sit together.”

The basic story is that a woman booked a flight for the...

I had a birthday this week, and one thing that means is that a variety of travel loyalty programs have been sending me various “gifts” to celebrate.   Some are more useful than others, but I thought I’d share with you.  It’s a reminder that it never hurts to sign up for free programs.

Alamo Insiders:  One Free Rental Day, 2-day minimum  (coupon good for 2 months)

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan:  10% discount (for booking and travel within the month of your birthday only)

Marriott Rewards:  A free elite night credit

Melia Mas Rewards:  Buy one night, get one night free (booked in month of birthday for 3 month period)