Musings of a Food and Travel Addict
I’m doing another Asia run on American Airlines. Which means that I’ll have to take a connecting flight to LAX. Since the transpacific leg leaves at 1100, in order to make the two hour minimum connection time, the SFO-LAX flight I’m booked on leaves at 0700. Which means that I need to leave the house at 0500. Waking up at that hour is worse than staying up all night, which is what I guess I’ll have to do. Ugh.
At least you can get Sausage McMuffin with eggs at that awful hour…bright side!
…everywhere else but home it seems.
It’s funny. I think I’m more in tune with dining in places I visit (Tokyo, Singapore) than where I live (San Francisco).
San Francisco has lots of overpriced, “good” food. It also has a lot of mediocre and overpriced food. Why is it overpriced? A lot of it is the hipster factor, but a lot more of it is the stupid laws that restaurants have to comply with. Let’s start with the “living wage” and the city health insurance. Now add in the regulatory requirements (no formula retail) and the cost of outrageous rent. It’s amazing we have places to eat at all.
Because of these factors, the affordable gem, the fantastic hole in the wall or the latest trend skips San Francisco entirely. Ever wonder why there’s no Din Tai Fung (opening in San Jose) or Ippudo (opening in Berzerkley) in San Francisco?
And if I want to have xiaolongbao or Hakata style ramen, I have to visit Tokyo or Singapore. Which works, I guess.
Well, the lemmings have followed each other off a cliff. AA has pulled a “United” by devaluing their award chart and later this year, accrual of Redeemable Miles. What AA has NOT done is to institute a spend requirement for status, like UA and Delta have done. Mixed blessings, huh?
I’ve been Executive Platinum for two years. And despite having to fly to LAX to go anywhere in Asia on AA metal, my upgrades clear (without having to book W class fares) and as one of my friends says, experiencing flight crews that don’t hate their passengers. Still, this devaluation has got me thinking about alternatives based on my travel patterns. Maybe KrisFlyer?
It’s hard to go from the JL first lounge to economy class on the airplane. The lounge has real food, real booze and the infamous curry rice. A lot of yum there. Compare that to the mystery food in economy. Result? Eat dinner in the lounge.
So the other shoe had dropped. As predicted (because Delta Airlines did it), UA Mileage Plus will become a revenue-based mileage program.
Here’s a link comparing the two programs.
Long story short, the more expensive the ticket and shorter the distance, the better it is. Which means that if you plan to fly SFO-HKG, you will get less miles under the new scheme than under the current miles based program.
For example, let’s look at a $1100 ticket to Hong Kong. If you buy and fly under the current program, It’s 13,800 miles round trip. Double that amount because of elite status, and it’s a total of 27,600 RDM.
Now, under the new scheme, an $1100 ticket purchased by a 1K will get you a whopping 12,100 miles. For the same ticket. What a rip off! And if you’re lower status than a 1K, you get even less miles for your flight.
By imposing this new scheme, the concept of Mileage Runs (most miles for lowest price) is dead. And as a result, the last reason for travelers (who spend their own money on tickets) to remain with UA is gone.
Thanks Jeff! That’s a change that we (AA) will all like!
A lot has happened since the last post.
I finally divorced United Airlines. This has been a long time coming. First, there was the gradual devaluation of 1K status. Then there was the announcement that Mileage Plus was going to a revenue model (like Delta). Even if you flew 100k BIS (Butt in Seat) miles in a calendar year, if you didn’t spend US$10,000 on said miles, you get no status. So much for loyalty. The final straw was the devaluation of the Star Alliance partner award chart, where tickets I regularly redeemed for went up from 40 to 120%. I miss my access to Star Alliance flights, but after UA jacked up the prices for these flights (cos they don’t want to pay for them and would prefer to keep their flyers captive on UA metal), it wasn’t worth the grief anymore.
I am now an Executive Platinum on American Airlines which means I will be flying OneWorld carriers going forward. So far, it’s been a mixed bag. In January, I flew British Airways in Premium Economy to Istanbul via LHR. If I needed a reminder of what I left behind on UA (old planes, older FAs), all I need to do is fly BA. Yes, it was that unimpressive. My next trip was to PVG on AA. It was pleasant enough, with my SWUs clearing despite me being on an el cheapo ticket. The hard product in C is 15 years too old though. Regardless, it beats steerage any day. The next trip will be on Cathay Pacific for a run to Hong Kong. This is a reunion of sorts because my first trip overseas was on CX. Am looking forward to their lounges in HKG.
United Airlines has actually made a change that all of us (frequent flyers) will like!
All Premier Mileage Plus members Gold and above, will now receive complementary Marriott Gold status. Yay. For official details, go here.
Even though I don’t usually stay at Marriott hotels, it’s always nice to have the status in your pocket just in case you wind up at one. Free internet and breakfast is fine with me!
…also known as “something we will all like”.
When UA and CO commensurated their merger back in March, there was an important change made to how SWUs were to be accepted. Long story short, SWUs are no longer the top priority for upgrades since the new UA will now push the sale of upgrades at time of checkin. That means you can be a general member and with a purchased upgrade, you can bump a 1K using a SWU. Probably because the SWU doesn’t generate revenue (other than the W class ticket) while a purchased upgrade makes money.
I experienced this first hand during my recent trip to SIN on UA via NRT. For the past month before the flight on dot bomb, it confirmed my upgrade to C plus my assigned seat on the upper deck. Flying the upper deck on a transpac is really the only way to fly that airline. Not only is it an exclusive minicabin of 14 seats, it also has its own set of Flight Attendants and most importantly, TWO lavatories for 14 people! That means they stay reasonably clean compared to the lavs on the main deck. When I checked in on the day of my flight, my boarding pass had “XXX” where “14A” was supposed to be. The gate agents said that it was a full flight and the seat assignments would be done at the gate. How could that be if I already had a seat assignment for the past month? Unless they were attempting…A BUMP!
Remember, the New UA policy that paid upgrades trump SWUs and status. So, in this case, someone of lower status purchased an upgrade at check in and myself, as a 1K using a SWU would thereby be bumped back to Y. Now, those of us who fly transpacific know the shortcomings of UA in Economy. Actually, the only thing it has going for it is Economy Plus. The only reason to fly UA and pay the W fare premium is to apply SWUs to our flights. Really, there’s no other reason to fly UA in Y. It’s not even cheap anymore. When I was booking my upcoming trip to SG, I found that NH and SQ had cheaper tickets in Economy. I wound up purchasing a round trip on NH, connecting through NRT to SIN and a stopover via HND on the way back home. Price? Cheaper than a W class ticket on UA round trip with no stopover.
Anyway, the moment the gate agents showed up and told me to “wait” while they assigned C seats to everyone else in line (thereby affirming my suspicions), I loudly got on the horn with the 1K Desk. Although the “new” United has cut and reduced 1K status, sometimes the appearance of being on the line can “motivate” ground staff. Which it did. They “found” me a seat on the main deck 2 minutes into my phone call (on hold). I was able to horse trade my seat for one on the upper deck where I proceeded to out snore the airplane for 7 hours. Apparently, all this made me tuckered out.
Rule of story: know what’s happening out there!
Due to not flying a lot earlier this year, I have been doing Mileage Runs to San Juan for the past eight weeks. A Mileage Run is usually a flight that covers the most amount of mileage for the least amount of money and usually means a very short turn. Typically, these runs have had me spending 18 hours or so sitting in Economy, since on the new United, upgrades rarely clear (a change we will all like).
So twice, I was asked to switch seats. I normally sit in the E+ section in an aisle seat. I paid for and chose that seat. The first time, the guy sitting next to me in the middle seat gave me a song and dance about how he and his wife would like to sit together. I said, “where is she sitting”? “Row 30B”. I was in 8C. So that would mean that someone who didn’t pay for an E+ seat would be moving up and I’d be in the back in a middle seat. PASS. He obviously knew what he was doing and wound up moving to the back after we leveled off. The second time was on the flight back, where the woman sitting next to me in a middle seat wanted me to move to another middle seat so her husband could sit in my aisle seat. Once again, NO!
What is it with people nowadays who think they’re entitled to my stuff?
…making lots of changes we know you will like.
Like making a simple milk run from SFO-LAX into an ordeal. Has anyone noticed how UA planes are starting to break down more frequently? One of these no-show planes was supposed to land, load up and take off before my hour long flight to The Southland. The plane that I eventually flew to LA was already on the ground, ready to go.
Since the plane to take us to LA is already here, all it needs is a gate to use. And since the flight before ours never arrived, we couldn’t use the gate. We were delayed close to 2 hours before they moved gates and loaded us onto a decrepit 757 that saw better days 15 years ago.
The flight passed without incident until we landed LAX and watched as 3 flights after ours landed get their baggage. Apparently, our baggage was delayed and was on a later flight from SFO. Nice move UA! Didn’t even bother telling us until we had to ask. If we knew, we wouldn’t have interrupted your gossip session!
I don’t like these “changes”.
