The Government Accountability Office produced a study of trusted traveler programs that they released on Friday. We learned that there were a little over a million people enrolled in Global Entry as of January, and just under a million enrolled in NEXUS at that time. GAO found a backlog of pending applications, about 90,000 at one time needing review, and no plan in place to improve efficiency. GAO also found that trusted traveler interviews didn’t consistently follow published guidelines, and raised questions about denial rates. GAO and the Department of Homeland security disagree on the need for scripted interview questions. While the US works on reciprocity with other countries for trusted traveler programs, they aren’t very careful about documenting other countries’ procedures for clearing people. CBP has discussed information about other countries’ operational procedures for…
Monthly Archives
Monthly Archives for May 2014.
How to Earn 1 Million Miles for Less than $1000… and Dog Poop.
News and notes from around the interweb: Dog poop forced a US Airways flight to make an emergency landing Yahoo Travel covered blogger Frequent Miler‘s successful quest to earn a million miles in a month. Enter my giveaway to win 4 out of 12 American Airlines lounge passes Which gift cards can still be loaded onto Bluebird at Walmart? An update on recent changes. Please update your bookmarks and e-mail address book for this blog. The Starwood Preferred Guest American Express is back via existing member referral with its 30,000 point signup bonus. Apparently the offer will be publicly available in 4 days and I will when it is. Starting July 1, all Intercontinental hotel properties worldwide will begin awarding 10 IHG Rewards Club points per dollar spent, like other full service hotels in the…
Reciprocal Upgrades: The Next Stage of American and US Airways Integration is Coming
A couple of weeks ago I wrote that reciprocal upgrades would be coming in a few weeks to American and US Airways. I’ve seen a lot of speculation from different quarters this week about June 11th announcements about the next phase of integrating American AAdvantage and US Airways Dividend Miles. Now JonNYC points to a knowledgeable account that June 11th will be the first day for reciprocal upgrades of American elite members on US Airways flights, and US Airways elite members on American flights. June 11th is the date for reciprocal LFBUs. All AA elites on USAir won’t be charged sticker equivalent (per Dividend Miles program rules) while USAir elites (outside of Chairman’s Preferred – EXP equivalent) will be charged $35 per 500 mile segments (per AAdvantage rules). There’s a lot of information packed into…
Free Unlimited Boingo Internet Benefit Now Live for American Express Platinum Cardholders
Back in March American Express announced that Platinum (and Centurion) cardholders would get unlimited Boingo internet hot spot access. American Express, of course, is an advertising partner of the blog. Boingo offers over 700,000 land-based hotspots worldwide, and American Express planned to offer access for up to 4 devices. The closest approximate of cost from Boingo for such a plan is $60 per month, and the benefit has been slated to start June 1. Apparently it’s now live. Sign up at amex.boingo.com. You’ll be asked to enter your American Express card number to verify eligibility. I entered my Platinum card and then was allowed to register. If you already have a Boingo wireless internet account, it won’t automatically be cancelled just because you have this new free unlimited service, so you’ll need to handle that…
Comment Here for a Chance to Win (A Bunch Of) American Airlines Lounge Passes
Last month I was giving away 25,000 American AAdvantage miles and a whole bunch of lounge passes. Citibank offered them up to me to share with readers, highlighting their classy move to reach out to American Express Platinum cardholders. Platinum cards no longer offer American or US Airways lounge access, and Citibank is the sole issuer of cards that offer lounge access with the new American Airlines. Citibank has the most generous credit card signup offer in the market with a 100,000 mile signup bonus for their Executive Card which bundles lounge access. It turns out that they sent me a whole bunch of extra club passes, more than I needed to fulfill the last contest, so I’m giving the extras away here on the blog!
What Part of Suite Upgrade Don’t You Understand?
I’m need to buy Lucky who writes the One Mile at a Time blog, this t-shirt. He shared his experience checking into the St. Regis Abu Dhabi, a Starwood hotel. First he was (incorrectly) told that his American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts booking wasn’t entitled to a Platinum upgrade. Then he was told that even though the hotel was selling more than 9 St. Regis suites, that none were available. He tweeted the hotel and Starwood Preferred Guest, and he was given one of those suites. Here’s how to ask for – and get – a hotel upgrade. Burj al Arab
100 Free Miles In Your Choice of Program
Bing Rewards, the loyalty program of the search engine no one ever uses, will give you 100 miles for signing up. You can sign up easily via Facebook (though Facebook is not required), and doing so does not give Bing permission to post to your account. I’ve written in the past that Bing lets you earn miles for online search. The programs you can redeem points in Bing Rewards for include: American Airlines AAdvantage Frontier Airlines EarlyReturns Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles Icelandair Saga Club IHG® Rewards Club Avianca LifeMiles My BestBuy Rewards SVM FuelCircle US Airways® Dividend Miles Virgin America Elevate Virgin Atlantic Flying Club (HT: Loyalty Lobby) You can join the 40,000+ people who see these deals and analysis every day — sign up to receive posts by email (just one e-mail per day) or…
Changes at the Blog, And I Feel Fine
That’s great, it starts with an earthquake Birds and snakes, an aeroplane, and Lenny Bruce is not afraid Eye of a hurricane, listen to yourself churn World serves its own needs, don’t misserve your own needs … Feeling pretty psyched … It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine Growing up I was told that REM’s It’s the End of the World as We Know It was inspired by Michael Stipe’s brother, who was a debater at the University of Georgia and partners with Ralph Reed who would go on to become a prominent political activist and Christian Coservative. The song involves a “plan-counterplan debate.” The lyrics include, A tournament, a tournament, a tournament of lies Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives, and I decline That story may be…
Get $400, a Big Step for the 787, Vacation on the Cheap, and What Happens to Dead Passengers? (Bits ‘n Pieces for May 29, 2014)
News and notes from around the interweb: I’m giving away $400, it’s easy to enter with a comment. Scott Mayerowitz reports that just after the NTSB criticized the FAA for how it had overseen testing of the Boeing 787, the FAA has approved the 787 for 330 minutes “ETOPS” (traveling 5 1/2 hours away from the nearest emergency landing location). How to plan a family beach vacation that won’t break the bank What happens when a passenger dies inflight? (HT: @speakman) Uber is introducing an SUV option for their lower-cost UberX in the DC market You can join the 40,000+ people who see these deals and analysis every day — sign up to receive posts by email (just one e-mail per day) or subscribe to the RSS feed. It’s free. You can also follow me…
How to Choose an Airport Hotel.. and How to Do it in Abu Dhabi (the Premier Inn)
Previous trip report installments Introduction: Maldives and Malaysia in First Class, How I Booked It and What it Cost Etihad Lounge and First Class, Washington Dulles – Abu Dhabi My flight from Washington Dulles was scheduled to land at 7:45pm, and we were a few minutes late. I’d have to clear immigration (easy enough with no line at fast track), and I’d have to be back at the airport early for my 9:35am departure. Now, on this trip I had checked a bag. I almost didn’t need to, and a little more thoughtful packing I wouldn’t have. I was going to be gone for 12 nights. I didn’t need a large checked bag, and checking a bag I didn’t also take a rollaboard (just my laptop bag). But having done that I checked my bag…
