Triangle Trip

If you are traveling and have any kind of hotel status, your nearest ATM should be your hotel’s front desk. Almost all hotel loyalty programs let you cash checks for free, up to a couple hundred dollars, if you have some kind of hotel status. You just need to carry a check or two when you travel. This way you don’t have to worry about ATM fees and/or driving around looking for an ATM.

Most United Premier members from 2008 who didn’t qualified for 2009 Premier levels probably received an email from United asking for the following:

• $350 to be a Premier Associate (a sellout scheme created by United)
• If you fly 7,000 actual miles within 90 days, UAL will promote you to Premier
• If you fly 15,000 actual miles within 90 days, UAL will promote you to Premier Exec

As a frequent flyer, I believe you can achieve status if you just go about your business. Paying for status is not a best practice. If you read enough of our posts, you will see tons of ways to get status quick and tips to improve your travel experience.

I have the following gripes with UAL’s most recent pitch to pimp out status:

1. Premier Associate is purely a desparation to get more money from passengers. $350 for 90 days is not a good deal. I believe you can get a Premier Associate membership for $400 that can last a calendar year.
2. The latest pitch to extract $350 from 2008 Premier members devalues the Premier status. It is a kick in the face to the 2009 Premier members who have truly earned their status by flying on UAL in 2008. Essentially what UAL is saying is:  15,000 miles + $350 in present terms = flying 50,000 in 2008 which could have been worth $10,000 as you were on the plane at least 25 times at around $400 a ticket.
3. United also tries to sell you seats in the Premier zone when you check-in which is a “sell out” move. Now they are trying to make you pay for “bonus” miles when you check-in to speed up your qualification.

I have over 700,000 actual flight miles on UAL. The recent tactics  implemented by UAL not only devalues everyone’s status, it also makes me ashamed to be affiliated with them.

What’s next for UAL?  … charging me for the floatation cushion on a 1970s aircraft?

“Earn 500 bonus Starpoints every night and an additional 5,000 every 10th night.”

Starwood Hotels (W Hotels, Westin, Sheraton) have been addressing the economic downturn with a strategy that I can only call a self-inflicted double whammy.  Because of falling demand, prices for a single night at Starwood properties have been falling.  While this is a normal business practice, what’s disconcerting is that at the same time, they are rolling out excessive point-earning incentives.

In exchange for short term solvency, they are guaranteeing a future “market correction.”  Will it be in the form of a bankrupt points program?  Will a Sheraton reward rise from 2,000 points to 10,000?   Will Westin rebrand as Le Meridien? For someone with a very generous balance of points, I’m downright worried.

If anything, SPG should be increasing their rates for this fairly inelastic market.  Yes, there are alternatives like video conferencing, but they’ll never replace the effectiveness of a face to face meeting.  On top of that, I’m guessing that SPG’s bread & butter business traveller is as greedy as I am.  The hotel stay is going to be reimbursed, so they’re not going to compromise their starpoints balance to save $20 a night by moving over to the Hilton.

I don’t care how bad the economy is, any self-respecting consultant won’t be found at a La Quinta.  What’s next?  Online coupons?

-Terminal D