Triangle Trip

United is merging with Continental to form the largest airline in the world (see news). United will carry the name, and probably its poor customer service, to the newly merged airline. I’m not sure how combining two non-profitable airlines will make the company profitable; the merger will create more United 1K and Global Service members. The merger will further dilute and devalue airline miles and making redemption of airline miles harder. This is why hotel points are much more valuable than airline miles.

Furthermore, I wouldn’t be shocked if United will follow Spirit Airlines’ lead and begin charging for carry on baggage for non-Premier members. You heard the prediction here first! Vacationers and casual flyers are going to get squeezed either way, whether they pay for carry on or get the Premier Baggage membership for $250.00.

The good news here is it will take these two inefficient airlines another 18 months to 2 years to merge their internal systems. It is definitely time to burn your airline miles and consider switching to the SkyTeam or OneWorld alliances, or JetBlue or Southwest if they’re available in your market.

Similar to the SPG 2009 Free Weekend Nights offer (see last year’s post as FYI), SPG is bringing back free weekend nights in 2010. Simply stay three (3) times at a Starwood property between May 1, 2010 to July 31, 2010 and you’ll earn a free weekend night. You must redeem your free SPG weekend nights by December 19, 2010. This year’s redemption process should be very similar to the 2009 SPG free weekend night redemption process.

Your 2010 SPG free weekend night should appear on your account 3 to 5 days after your third SPG stay. Keep in mind that “hotels stays” are not the total amount of nights you stay at a hotel. A “hotel stay” is every time you checkin to a hotel.

The 2010 SPG Free Weekend Nights offer is a bit less generous compared to the 2009 offer. The SPG 2009 Free Weekend offer only required two stays to get one free night vs. the 2010 offer. The good news is you can earn unlimited free weekend nights if you chose to check-in and check-out every night.

Here’s the official link to register and official FAQ page. You must register by June 30, 2010 to qualify.

I’ve been searching for an easy to use “To Do” list to manage my daily tasks for months now. Most “To Do” task management tools are very complex, and provide unnecessary features and a really cluttered interface. I just wanted a “To Do” list on my iPhone that worked like a basic pen and notepad – I didn’t need to have 10 different types of priorities and reminders.

The Minimalist To Do List for the iPhone perfectly suited my task management needs. Just like the name suggests, it’s really simple! Using Minimalist To Do List, you can add, edit, and delete/complete tasks with one simple tap or swipe. And since Minimalist To Do List doesn’t have any unnecessary bells and whistles, learning how to use this iPhone app is extremely simple and fast. I was tracking all of my tasks just two minutes after I downloaded it. Minimalist To Do List does not have a webpage yet but here’s a link for more details via their Facebook page:  http://bit.ly/minimalist-to-do-list.

I highly recommend you check it out. In addition, you may want to check out the Coach’s post of top iPhone apps for road warriors.

For a to do list iPhone app, that works exactly like a to do list, I recommended downloading Minimalist To Do List.