Triangle Trip

I travel through a lot of different airlines, and each airline has their own boarding strategy. I have a rough estimate of what boarding group I will get with the seat I pick.

It would be nice to have the boarding group # displayed when selecting your seat # on the different airline sites.  Also, it would be nice to display the number of tickets seats purchased with priority boarding.  This way I would know when to pack lighter for a smaller carry on, or at least expect to check my luggage in to pick a seat with an earlier boarding assignment.

Different carriers have different number of boarding groups and strategies. United has 4 groups and board by outside-in, 1 status, 2 window, 3 middle, 4 aisle seats. Other carriers do back-to-front (4 groups), while others even do a reverse pyramid strategy (usually more than 4 groups).

Back window seat will guarantee you at least a boarding group 2, B, if you are status-less on most airlines and have no clue of the airline boarding strategy.  Guaranteed luggage in overhead, except maybe United since the majority is group 1, which is a different story.

I finally took a Delta flight from JFK to LAX since Delta’s announcement of all LAX flights departing out of Terminal 4 as opposed to the normal Terminal 2 and 3 gates. I found my experience a bit confusing for the following reasons:

1.  Poor Pre-Flight Communications – Prior to my flight to LAX, Delta did not notify that my JFK to LAX flight was departing from Terminal 4. If I was a first time Delta flyer (or anyone without a Delta Medallion profile), I would not have received the original Delta email telling me that all LAX flights were leaving from JFK’s Terminal 4 (or for some, read my previous post on Triangle Trip). Furthermore, I could have easily forgotten or never read the email.

2.  Delta’s website lack information – On Delta.com’s flight status page, only the gate information was provided (Gate 22). Gate 22 resides in Terminal 4 was no where to be found. Delta is wrong to assume its passengers know where Gate 22 is at JFK. Regardless if I was a frequent flyer or a novice, there is no way I would have known to go to Terminal 4 for Gate B22. There is actually a Gate 22 at Terminal 2 where most of Delta departure gates are located. As a matter of fact, I don’t recall Delta displaying Terminal information for any its JFK flights which was somewhat OK since Terminal 2 and 3 are linked. Regardless, the website does not provide adequate information to its travelers.

3.  Lack of signage outside the airport (JFK) – On my way to JFK Airport, the JFK Expressway does not have any signs stating Delta has departing flights from Terminal 4. The lack of signage led to my limo driver asking me several times if he was supposed to drop me off at Terminal 4 instead of Terminal 2 or 3. Delta should work with the Port of Authority of NY & NJ to address this issue ASAP.

4.  Poor signage inside the airport (JFK) – Once I arrived into Terminal 4, I do not see Delta checkin agents/kiosks or any signs that tells me where Delta’s located. I can clearly locate ticketing/checkin counters of other airlines such as TAM, Virgin America, etc. Again, Delta needs to work with JFK airport management to address this issue.

Due to the lack of pre-flight communication, inadequate information on the website and signage at JFK, I could have missed my JFK to LAX flight because I would have ended up at Terminal 2 or 3. Taking the AirTrain from Terminal 2/3 to 4 could take 20 minutes as the connection between Terminal 2 and 3 and the AirTrain station can be quite challenging, especially those passengers with bags.

Following up to my previous post regarding depreciation of airline mile, I am sure you have seen tons of posts about which is the best credit card to earn airline miles or hotel points or getting cash back. Since 2006, airlines have adjusted blackout dates, limited the number of seats available for redemption and increased the number of miles required for a free ticket. Furthermore, most airlines are charging customers for ticket redemption. For example, I had to pay $150 plus 60,000 miles to redeem a ticket on Delta with less than a week advance booking. If you use the old method of one penny (USD 0.01 per mile), my ticket cost me $750 ($150 + $600). In addition, I had to pay for taxes and fuel surcharge. Despite the fact that my ticket was a last minute purchase and would have been around the same price, I don’t think airline miles are as valuable compared to hotel point.

Hotels unlike airlines have relaxed their redemption policies. Many hotels have adjusted their redemption requirements for 2009. Starwood never had blackout dates which makes them one of the best hotel programs. Marriott recently jumped on the same bandwagon by eliminating blackout dates. Since January 2009, hotels have been on a promotion spree and issuing bonus points to loyal customers. Starwood and Hyatt properties have multiple generous bonus offers that goes on to mid-April. Hotels also have generous cancellation policies. Here are the promotions:  Hyatt and Starwood. Most hotels allow you to book a room and cancel on the same day before 6PM without any penalties. Airlines however charges you a fee to redeposit miles.

If you are a frequent travel to international destinations like myself, hotel points will come in very handy. Most American hotels in international destinations are clean compared to local hotel chains – i.e., Thistle in the UK can be great if it’s new or a hole in the wall if it’s in an old building. American hotels are also consistent with service and generally cost more. Redeeming hotel points at international destinations gives you the best bang for the buck. You can always find a cheap fare to London (i.e., American and United has $200 round trip fares almost every week) but you will rarely find a hotel deal at a Marriott or Hyatt in central London.

In summary, we recommend banking hotel points which is going up in value vs. banking airline miles that is facing inflation pressure. The more airline miles you have with an airline, the more money you will end up spending on them.