Why Aren’t You Earning Miles?

There are more reasons than ever to join airline frequent flier programs, as Tim Winship of FrequentFlier.com writes for SmarterTravel.com.

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Seven-Day Caribbean Cruise: $429

Carnival is selling inside cabins on a December cruise to the Caribbean for $369 a person, double occupancy in an inside cabin, plus taxes and fees for a bottom line of $429 a person.
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Advertising En Route

Have you noticed that every time you are immobilized in public, something tries to sell you stuff?

Stuck in traffic? There’s a billboard. Pumping gas? Audio and video commercials on the pump. Eating in a restaurant? Big-screen TVs everywhere.

Airlines are already putting ads on your boarding passes. And ultra-low-cost airlines like Spirit are plastering ads in the interiors of their jets. So it’s not surprising that the legacy carriers are looking at opportunities to sell “brand placement” on their aircraft, as CNN reports.

I don’t believe the world of commercial aviation will fall apart if we passengers are subjected to yet more advertising in-flight. I just wonder at what point a company that sells you a service has an obligation to treat you like a paying customer instead of a captive audience to be sold to the highest bidder.

Southwest $49 Sale Through Thursday

As near as I can tell, Southwest Airlines has three kinds of sales, where fares start at $39 , at $49 or at $59.

The new 7 Days of Deals sale is a $49 sale, which means that’s the bottom rate for short flights such as Bradley to Baltimore.  
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Mexico Fare Sale For The Decisive

Thinking about a trip to Mexico this year? You might want to buy your ticket right now.

Aeromexico is selling discounted fares from New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Antonio to several cities in Mexico for travel through Dec. 10, 2010. The sale ends Thursday, March 25, at midnight.

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Strategies For Getting More Leg Room

The Seattle Times has a useful story about how to get an exit row seat in coach and the extra leg room that goes with it. The key points:

• Exit rows are rarely available when you book (unless you have elite status) so try to change your seat when you check in online.
• If that doesn’t work, ask at the gate if any exit row seats have opened up.
• When there are two exit rows, one in front of the other, choose the second row. The seats in the front exit row don’t recline.

This is pretty much my strategy, and it often works. I recently flew in an exit row on the aisle with an empty seat next to me. I thought I was in heaven.

There are times, however, when I won’t take an available exit row seat. I recently had a chance to switch into a middle exit row seat but opted instead to keep my standard aisle seat. It’s not worth the tradeoff to me.

The article also has advice on how to get a bulkhead seat, but I don’t much care for those. I like to put my carry-on under the seat in front of me, which is hard to do if there’s no seat in front of me.

Google Maps Testing Hotel Rate Displays

Google is testing a feature that lists the rates of hotels next to their listings in Google Maps, according to the TechCrunch blog. Reviews are already linked into listings, so this adds another layor of information. I imagine we’ll see the same technology on GPS units in a few years.

Get Double And Triple Amtrak Points

Amtrak has announced a promotion that grants double mileage points for train trips through May 7 and triple points from May 8 to May 29, 2010.

Yes, Amtrak has a rewards program. And you should join it if you ever take a trip on Amtrak. In fact, my advice is that you join every loyalty program for every travel service you ever use because why not. It’s free.

To get the Amtrak extra points you have to join Amtrak Guest Rewards and sign up for the Spring Training promotion.

Transcontinental Flight Returning, Bradley To LAX

Delta will restore its Bradley to Los Angeles service in June, bringing back Connecticut’s only nonstop flight to the West Coast, the Associated Press reports.

The flight will operate every day of the week except Saturday. When Delta suspended that service in September 2008, flights had been cut down to four times weekly.

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Buying Gasoline: Are The Airline Miles Worth It?

Today I did something I haven’t done for years — I paid cash for gas.

I did it because the station was offering a cash discount, but it got me wondering whether the discount was worth losing the frequent flier miles from a credit card purchase. After working out some math, I decided it was better to pay cash in this case, although there are several factors to consider.

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