Rapid Travel Chai

Delta:

• My flight back from the Chicago Seminars did not work due to weather, well, my real original flight was in the morning and connected through Cincinnati, which I booked because it was cheapest and always planned to same-day confirmed to a night flight. My planned flight was a 30-minute connection in Minneapolis in the hope I would be stranded or bought out there and spend a night in my hometown, but the weather broke that connection. I instead took a nonstop flight but the next day requested Delta credit the mileage for my original, paid flights. 305 MQMs difference plus the elite mileage bonuses, worth it for a 1-minute online form submission.
• One Mile at a Time found that Delta is no longer imposing fuel surcharges on award tickets originating in Europe. I immediately sent this to a good friend and ex-Delta flyer who just moved from Spain to Brazil. As a much better consolation I also forwarded the recent Million Mile Secrets interview with Passageiro de Primeira. If he ever gets his residence and work permits sorted out he will be heading to the banks.

Club Carlson:

• A last-minute business trip to Silicon Valley this week gets my Radisson 1-for-1 stay at the Radisson Hotel San Jose Airport. Good thing I re-read Loyalty Traveler’s post which reminded me that I had to book on Radission’s website, and thus find a good excuse why I could not use my company’s website (thank you slow connections in southwest Dominican Republic!).
• Million Mile Secrets has an excellent post, 3 Tips About Transferring Club Carlson Points.

Priority Club:

• The second night of my Silicon Valley trip will be at the Crowne Plaza Milpitas, my 3rd night this quarter to get the 5,000 bonus. I went with the lowest bar, 3 nights, rather than try to stretch to 7 nights for the 10,000, my business travel destinations are too unpredictable and the holiday lull is approaching, see Priority Club Insider’s post. Yes, that means I will be gorging again at the Chinese restaurants of Milpitas Square; I already have a reader meet-up for bubble tea upon arrival!

MileagePlus Shopping:

• 8-10 weeks passed from a 1,000 point promotion for registering a credit card with MileagPlus Shopping. Both wife and I did not receive the points so wrote and got the points within a week, noted as “Cartera.” Why even bother dealing with this company, it causes so much grief to so many? I keep trying to resist signing up for the shopping toolbar crapware offer.

Bookmarked for Study:

• US Airways off-season awards via Frequent Flyer University. If Israel counts as Europe like with Air France, this would really be awesome. Tight booking windows, though. I got my first miles with them via the credit card and need to learn more about the program.
• FrequentMiler presents a great guide to his core work, The art of gift card churning. I will study, though until he puts out “The art of gift card churning if you are exiled in New York,” I will probably still be on the sidelines. The few opportunities in New York City are obliterated by the Dan’s Deals dragnets long before I get wind of them.
• No Mile Left Behind asks Is Hotel Loyalty Worth It For Leisure Travel? As I am writing this in candlelit glow from a sumptuous seaside dinner cooked by the Swiss proprieter at the reasonably-priced Hotel Casablanca in Dominican Republic, my answer is “no.”