Triangle Trip

As the year comes to an end, many Starwood Preferred Guest (“SPG”) faithfuls are probably looking for ways to retain their status for next year — including me. Since SPG offers two redemption options for its rooms, you’re probably wondering:

Does using SPG Starpoints (to redeem a free room) or the Cash & Points (a combination of SPG Starpoints and cash to book a room) redemption option to reserve a room before the end of the year count toward one’s “number of stays” or “number of nights”?

The answer to both questions is:  No.

SPG treats Starpoint AND Cash & Points redemptions as “Reward” reservations. Hence both redemption options will not help you with your required “stays” or “nights” required to retain your SPG elite status. However, you can still earn Starpoints on other eligible incidental charges during a Cash & Points stay. Below is a quote from SPG’s Terms and Conditions for Cash & Points redemption:

Guest will not receive Starpoints or airline miles for their reservation; therefore, a Cash & Points stay does not qualify as an eligible stay toward earning elite level or toward any promotions requiring nights or stays.

You can also click on this picture to be linked to SPG’s FAQ site regarding this matter.

I had the opportunity to be on two separate Star Alliance flights this month – US Airways and Air Canada. As a Premier Executive on United Airlines and a Star Alliance Gold member, I could board early and access the airport lounges before my international flights. Those are meager benefits for flying 50,000 miles with Star Alliance partners.

Even worse, Star Alliance Gold status doesn’t give any useful perks like advance seat selection when you book your flights on Air Canada and USAir. These benefits from the Star Alliance website are obviously over exaggerated or not honored by all Star Alliance members. I was on a domestic flight operated by USAir, and an international flight operated by Air Canada. Both carriers tried to charge me for picking an aisle or window seat during the reservation process.

USAir claimed their systems were not linked to United, and could not verify my status, when I called them to get out of a middle seat – and told me it would cost an extra $15 to $20 if I wanted to switch. Luckily, the USAir agent was kind enough to give me an exit row seat without any additional fees.

Air Canada also tried to charge me C$15 for selecting an aisle or window seat during the reservation process. Air Canada was more straightforward when I called to change my seat – the agent told me I had purchased a low fare ticket (Tango Class).

Apparently, Tango class ticketholders do not get to pick their seats in advance, regardless of the flier’s status – you can only pick a  seat once you check in at the airport. I was very fortunate again, as the agent told me that the flight was completely empty and I should get a good seat on the flight without paying. FYI, below is a chart I dug up from Air Canada’s website:

Given my recent experiences, I’m not sure if there are any incentives to remain loyal to Star Alliance, or any airline, for that matter. If you’re still keen on getting status on Star Alliance, I strongly suggest you checkout Statusmonger’s previous post: Fast Track to Star Alliance Gold.

Having just returned from Europe, where the price of internet access is extremely high compared to the US, I highly recommend visitors subscribe to a WiFi plan from one of the US providers like Boingo, IPass, Wayport or TMobile before heading to Europe – especially if you are staying for more than four days.

A WiFi provider may sound useless if you’re from and travel throughout the US, where you can get free WiFi by buying a cup of coffee or going to a hotel lobby. However, Internet access in Europe is still quite expensive and limited. For instance, the Madrid airport and its airline lounges charge EU 9 (or around US$12 as of Oct 2010) for an hour of WiFi internet access at the airport terminal. A cheaper alternative is to use a terminal kiosk offered by a local provider which costs EU 1 for 10 minutes or EU 2 for 25 minutes. Furthermore, most European hotels charge guests at least EU 9 per night for internet access – some hotels even limit your data usage.

So if you’re planning to be in Europe for at least four days, I strongly recommend you pick up a “pay as you go” global WiFi plan with a US WiFi carrier that allows you to roam without extra charge. For example, Boingo has a US$59 per month Global WiFi plan which allows you to roam with European WiFi carriers while you are abroad. There is a data limit to this plan, so make sure to check the fine print.

Happy travels.