My travels/observations

Category Archives for My travels/observations.

My gift of two United Airlines Systemwide Upgrades goes to…

I’m thrilled that two of my available United Airlines Systemwide Upgrades have found a new home. Congratulations to commenter number 58, and I’ll be emailing you directly with further details shortly. Thanks for everyone’s interest and happy flying to us all!

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My thoughts on the rumored United Airlines Mileage Plus changes

Ben over at One Mile at a Time gave many of us quite a shock last night when he posted details of the Mileage Plus program rumored to begin in 2012. Here’s a summary of what he learned: As for upgrade priority, the all mighty fare value on each segment will be the primary metric…

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I’m gifting two United Airlines Systemwide Upgrade certificates (SWUs)

[Edited to add: Thanks for everyone’s interest. Commenter #58 ended up being chosen and the upgrades are reserved in his name] My international travel has been plotted through at least January next year and I have two United Airlines Systemwide Upgrade certificates available that I’d like to gift to someone, so who better than one…

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Test-driving Dynamic Air Awards by American Airlines

Last week American Airlines introduced Dynamic Air Awards where elite members of AAdvantage have access to discounted economy class mileage awards for travel in the contiguous United States. Based on published fare levels, the amount of miles varies, but are below the AAnytime award level of 50,000 miles for a roundtrip ticket. These awards are…

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Instant Hilton HHonors Gold plus free night and bonus miles for airline elites

Last Friday I received a letter co-branded with the Hilton HHonors and United Airlines Mileage Plus logos stating, “We’ve opened the doors to Gold status just for you.†Thanks, Hilton, I’m already a Gold and you’ve just opened up a brand new account and sent me a new card. Reading on, though, it’s a targeted…

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My travel experiences flying American Airlines vs. United Airlines

I’ve now taken a dozen domestic American Airlines flights since the end of May in both first class and coach and offer my opinions below as compared to my 62 flights on United Airlines this year. I’m a top-tier elite in Mileage Plus with United and only just Saturday rolled over to Platinum in AAdvantage…

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Trip Report: United Airlines inaugural 777 flight DEN-ORD June 7, 1995

I was going through my photos yesterday and came across the batch of pictures I took when I flew on the inaugural United Airlines Boeing 777 flight from Denver to Chicago on June 7, 1995. Knowing there are a ton of aviation geeks out there like me, I figured it would be worth it to…

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United Airlines Red Carpet Club survey

Yesterday I received an email inviting me to “share your opinions about being a Red Carpet Club member,†as it was so titled. Fantastic, I thought, that United Airlines wants feedback from current RCC members and I was hoping to give some praise and criticism since I figured they’re gathering direct input for the eventual…

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Bonus video from Tom Stuker’s 10 Million Mile United Airlines celebration

It has been a busy week for me, but I finally uploaded the additional videos and pictures I took at Tom Stuker’s 10 million mile celebration with United Airlines a week ago. Featured in this video are Randy Peterson, founder of BoardingArea, Flyertalk, MilePoint and countless other frequent flyer essentials, and Francis Gallagher, Publisher &…

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Review: Hilton Los Angeles Airport and Towers King Room 1717

I’ve stayed at the Hilton LAX now several times in my quest to maintain Gold status in the HHonors program, so I think it’s about time I publish a review of the property here on my blog. I booked an advance purchase rate for a Towers King room on a previous return from a lengthy…

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