Frequent Flyer/hotel/car rental programs

Im starting to do more and more trips in Canada and the US and finding that I get to choose my flight/hotel/car. My company uses a program that allows me to just select what ever I want and I can put my membership number for whatever airline / service to get the points.

What membership programs do you think are the best bang for your buck in terms of having the best benefits.

Ie hotels that give you great benefits or free nights, im unsure with airlines as I try to use westjet rewards but 10 flights later I only have $25 westjet dollars. And my coworker keeps harping on about national car rentals emerald aisle...

Well, for sure get yourself into either Avis, or enterprise clubs.

A family member who travels a lot is into Hilton points. He says it's pretty flexible, has a lot of locations. He stays probably 30 might a year around Canada.

I like IHG (Holiday inn) for hotels. Lots of locations with a 6pm day of checkin to cancel which has come in handy many times. I can usually get around 5-7 free nights a year for personal use and always take the points vs the gift and you can top up points as well. Hilton is good as well but I just find there are more holiday inns at the places I go to. Car rentals I use budget and Avis, again because they have more locations cause I do a lot of one way rentals and they also have similar programs like the national emerald isle. I go to a lot of small towns that you won't see National at. For flights my preferred is WestJet, but I don't use any WestJet or travel credit cards cause I really don't fly much for personal so I just use a cashback card. Get Airmiles if you don't have it already as well to get points at hotels, car rentals and other stuff.

nzwasp - I used to travel internationally quite a bit and found the Emirates Skywards program quite good (alliance with Budget/Avis and SPG) Emirates is partnered up with Alaska Airlines and WestJet too, so I believe you can accumulate Emirates Skywards points while flying with their partners. SPG is now combining with Marriott's program, however in my experience with SPG even without status anymore, I've accumulated enough points for free nights, and perks like free Wifi access, late check-out etc. If you were able to make it to their Gold or Platinum status, that's where more perks are available.

That said, for the Star Alliance flights, I'm on Asiana Club (Asiana Airlines out of Korea); their mileage collection system also allows some mileage accumulation from members outside of the Star Alliance (ie. Qatar Airways flights). They also allow you to hold onto your status for longer at each of the tiers. I haven't tried to redeem flights with my mileage, but having the status is nice to access lounges, priority boarding etc.

I travel fairly regularly for work and it took me a while, and some research, to figure out which programs I wanted to go with. You may want to figure out what's important to you when looking at the programs, do you want free upgrades, free nights/stays, status etc. Each program does things a bit differently. There seem to be 4 main categories for rewards,

Airline - If you are travelling in Canada and the States, I'd pick one of the Canadian airlines based on what they offer. I went with Air Canada because I wanted the ability to upgrade classes and have access to the lounge in Canada and around the world through the Star Alliance program. If most of your travel is to and around the US then you could even look at one of the US airlines loyalty programs.

Rental Cars - With these, my company only allows us to rent from Enterprise or National so I just went with Enterprise.

Hotels - this was one of the more difficult ones to choose as there are so many of them. Look at what each of the programs offer and also if the have a presence where you'll be traveling most. This page https://thepointsguy.com/guide/best-...alty-programs/ gives a good rundown of all the hotel programs and ranks them. I ended up going with Hilton for various reasons and use IHG when I can't find a Hilton

Last one is your credit card. My company has us pay for everything and then get reimbursed. For me, that can be $20 - $30,000 worth of points being paid for by my company. Again, you have all kinds of options. Travel cards, cash back cards, most of the rewards programs also have credit cards tied to them that do things like help you attain status faster.

Couple of other things, pick the best programs for you and try to stick with them, nothing worse than having your points spread out all over the place and not being able to do anything with them. Some places let you mive points from one loyalty program to another but you usually need a minimum number of points.

If you haven't already, get your NEXUS card, it can make getting through customs and security so much easier - especially in the US.

Bumping this for thoughts on USA travel rewards for hotels and airlines? I have Hilton and westjet, but I think I'll need United and possibly Marriot as well.

For hotels I always end up just booking through online agencies like Agoda, expedia or hotel.com along with Rakuten (formerly ebates). Booking through those sites you can't collect hotel reward points, but sometimes the rebate % is like 8%!

So for work, when I book hotels with my BMO Master Card, I get 3X the points w/ the credit card, some bonus dollars from the travel sites (e.g Expedia Blue Points or Agoda Dollar), then 3-10% back in cash rebate through Rakuten a few months later! My last work trip to Europe I got $210 in ebates deposited into my paypal account a few months after.. pretty sweet.

Airlines, Air Canada hands down. Westjet benefits are useless, and Air Canada benefits extend to Star Alliance parters at 35K (50K for the good shit like worldwide lounge access and priority boarding).

Hotels are all over the map. I stay (personally) at Fairmont, and other Accor properties through work, so I'm on the Accor program.

Cars, it's all uber these days.

So, Air Canada is part of star alliance. But honestly the flights I'd be taking would be United anyway. Is there a benefit to joining the United rewards program over Air Canada? I don't care about lounge access, just hoping to have some free upgrades if I end up flying a lot. What's the inter-airline transfer-ability of whatever status that you get?

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Originally Posted by ExtraSlow

So, Air Canada is part of star alliance. But honestly the flights I'd be taking would be United anyway. Is there a benefit to joining the United rewards program over Air Canada? I don't care about lounge access, just hoping to have some free upgrades if I end up flying a lot. What's the inter-airline transfer-ability of whatever status that you get?

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You can. You also get bonus points for living in a different country IIRC.

edit - looks like just PQD requirements are waived.

I know AC is good for international flights out of Canada, but it seems like United goes where I want to be. Now some of the probably flights are code-shared united/AC flights, I guess if I was a united member, i'd be better booking those through United than through AC probably?

I honestly don't know longer term how much travel will be involved. It sure seems like there's going to be a fair bit for a few months at least.

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Although, on those code-share flights, I'm sure that UA and AC would charge different prices.

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I'm siting here contemplating all this in OKC, and I'm flying YYC-HOU next week, although that may turn into YYC-HOU-OKC-DEN-YYC if we can get a client to call us back. And bossman says I need to get to pittsburgh

I know he flys to china and the middle east pretty often but I think that's not going to involve me. Or I hope. Continental USA is one thing.

For rental cars I like National's emerald aisle program - no need to book a certain type of car - just pick and choose what you want, also super quick to get out of the airport.

I also like hilton for hotels in the states but I am going to lots of smaller cities in the US and they either dont have a hilton or its $80 a night more expensive so I've also started collecting holiday inn points. I find Marriot to be too expensive and our company doesnt ever prefer them.

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Originally Posted by ExtraSlow

I know AC is good for international flights out of Canada, but it seems like United goes where I want to be. Now some of the probably flights are code-shared united/AC flights, I guess if I was a united member, i'd be better booking those through United than through AC probably?

I honestly don't know longer term how much travel will be involved. It sure seems like there's going to be a fair bit for a few months at least.

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Although, on those code-share flights, I'm sure that UA and AC would charge different prices.

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I'm siting here contemplating all this in OKC, and I'm flying YYC-HOU next week, although that may turn into YYC-HOU-OKC-DEN-YYC if we can get a client to call us back. And bossman says I need to get to pittsburgh

I know he flys to china and the middle east pretty often but I think that's not going to involve me. Or I hope. Continental USA is one thing.

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Yea no upgrades using points with codeshare flights. Sucks. United probably makes more sense for you, as you're flying all these small US only segments. You get points on your YYC <-> US flights.

I'm lucky I do the long hauls, 5 trips and bam, 100k max status. Trying to earn status on short legs must be a fucking grind.

Well, maybe the word "lucky" is relative.

I think probably I don't care much about airline status. It won't make much difference on these short flights. Good thing about westjet is that the points and passes are all really handy for the few family vacations.

I get status on short hauls and you're right - it's a bit of a grind. I think I did 54 flights last year which gave me the 50K status.
As for the question, whenever possible I try to fly AC/united. You may not care about lounge access now, but if you start travelling a lot it's so much nicer to be able to grab a snack and a drink and sit in relative comfort in the lounge, even if its only for a short time. The other benefits also come in handy, like priority luggage if you check bags and the loyalty number you can call if shit goes sideways.

For hotels I use Hilton and cars Enterprise.

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Originally Posted by cet

As for the question, whenever possible I try to fly AC/united. You may not care about lounge access now, but if you start travelling a lot it's so much nicer to be able to grab a snack and a drink and sit in relative comfort in the lounge, even if its only for a short time. The other benefits also come in handy, like priority luggage if you check bags and the loyalty number you can call if shit goes sideways.

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Someone in another thread joked that I just commute from lounge to lounge, in a sense, it's true haha. I book flights based on the best lounges these days.

If I had to do 54 flights, yea, fucking gimme a lounge and pour me a drink. I'd even use the arrivals lounge privileges haha.

Hah, a loyalty phone number woukd have been handy today. Flight out of OKC was delayed due to equipment problems. They had to bring a new plane in. Of course that means I miss my connection. Current estimate is that I'll arrive home 9.5h later than planned.

Theyve already made a compensation offer for the first flight. I'll wait till I'm home to see what that increases to.

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Originally Posted by cet

I get status on short hauls and you're right - it's a bit of a grind. I think I did 54 flights last year which gave me the 50K status.
As for the question, whenever possible I try to fly AC/united. You may not care about lounge access now, but if you start travelling a lot it's so much nicer to be able to grab a snack and a drink and sit in relative comfort in the lounge, even if its only for a short time. The other benefits also come in handy, like priority luggage if you check bags and the loyalty number you can call if shit goes sideways.

For hotels I use Hilton and cars Enterprise.

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I'm in this boat - most of my flights are short haul (2k miles or less) and it's def a grind. I don't typically have much time to spend in the lounge, but it's definitely a great perk over time.

Marriott usually for me, sometimes Accor. National for car (mostly just for convenience).

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Originally Posted by ExtraSlow

Hah, a loyalty phone number woukd have been handy today. Flight out of OKC was delayed due to equipment problems. They had to bring a new plane in. Of course that means I miss my connection. Current estimate is that I'll arrive home 9.5h later than planned.

Theyve already made a compensation offer for the first flight. I'll wait till I'm home to see what that increases to.

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I wasn't allowed to book a connecting flight last month because it was a 40 minute layover and they needed 60 minutes minimum to book. Since I had Nexus I booked it through customs towards the gate while on the phone with the loyalty number. Made sure I had a seat on a full flight, saved me 4.5 hrs extra layover haha. Sorry to the standby that got bumped. :D

Fuck those low-status plebes.

Well, after spending a bunch of time looking at potential upcoming flights, I went with United MileagePlus over AC because there's a good chance I'll be doing the Houston/OKC/Denver triangle more than once.
Already have 4 United flight segments under my belt, and because of a mechanical-caused delay, they are going to owe me a flight credit or points credit too.

I really hope I don't end up flying enough to get status, but hey, seems silly not to at least sign up.

On a side note, the united app is really helpful when you need to rebook or change flights due to a delay.

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Originally Posted by rage2

Cars, it's all uber these days.

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My boss always tells me how he always uses Uber....but I always rent a car when I travel for work. Maybe it's just me, but I love to go out and explore the surrounding areas when I am not doing work related things. I have been to Denver like 4 times this year, and went out to the mountains, Pikes Peak, etc when I am staying over the weekend or finished work for the day. Would be hard to do that with Uber, since it's long drives and for personal reasons, don't know if I could reasonably justify submitting those expenses to my company :)

As for the rental car, I always use Silvecar where possible. This year used it in LA, San Fran, 4x in Denver and got Orlando coming up in November, all Silvercar. Get to drive around in an Audi, so far no-one said anything about it :D Going to Hawaii for work in a few weeks....no Silvercar, have to drive around in some random rental car (cars really, going to 3 islands) like some hobo.

Most of my flights are United, so I just use my Aeroplan number with that. I don't need lounges and all that crap. Don't know if having a united program would be more beneficial for me. Normally I would only fly a couple of times a year, but this year is super busy.

If most of your flights are United then ya there’s still advantages with going with United rewards. Even if you don’t leverage the perks, on full flights they dish out free upgrades based on status to free up economy room for standby. You’re way down the list for free upgrades on a united flight with Air Canada Altitude membership.

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Originally Posted by rage2

If most of your flights are United then ya there’s still advantages with going with United rewards. Even if you don’t leverage the perks, on full flights they dish out free upgrades based on status to free up economy room for standby. You’re way down the list for free upgrades on a united flight with Air Canada Altitude membership.

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That was my thinking.

I don't usually fly international for work, mainly just within Canada so I try and book with Westjet since I have their CC, free baggage, companion fare, plus westjet dollars towards future flights
Car rentals, usually enterprise although my rewards is National, however their rental locations suck
Hotels, Hilton if there's one around where I'm going

I'd rather just book and pay for these myself but our work has a travel company that they go through, hopefully that can change when the new travel policies come out whenever that is

Hahhahaha (sigh) just had to change plans to come home from Houston this week through OKC, that'll be another 3 segments on United.

I recently switched to flying with Delta rather than Air Canada. Air Canada is absolute shit and it doesn't matter if you hit 100k status, the perks are useless.

I was collecting Aeroplan miles for over a decade before finally making the switch over to United Mileage Plus in 2017. Never had status with Aeroplan but I attained Silver status last year (18 flights credited to Mileage Plus) and Gold status this year (39 flights so far) with Mileage Plus - Mileage Plus Gold is the big one as it gives you Star Alliance Gold status and free access to Star Alliance lounges.

The big difference I find between Aeroplan and Mileage Plus is that Mileage Plus has two separate categories of miles - premier qualifying miles and award miles, while Aeroplan lumps everything into award miles. Since I'm an avid hobby traveller who eschews business travel (haven't had to take a business flight in over 7 years now), I pay my own way so I'm always on the lookout for the cheapest fares. You almost always get the full distance of the miles flown as premier qualifying miles under Mileage Plus (one noticeable exception is only 50% of Air Canada domestic routes if you have a discounted ticket), while many of these same discounted fares would get you only 25% or 0% of miles flown if I attempted to accumulate these miles under Aeroplan. For instance, I flew YYC-YYZ-KEF and KEF-YUL-YYC this past June on Air Canada. I received 100% of miles flown as premier qualifying miles for the YYZ-KEF and KEF-YUL segments, and 50% of the miles for YYC-YYZ and YYC-YUL under Mileage Plus. If I attempted to collect miles for these flights under Aeroplan I would have gotten nothing, as these were considered basic economy fares under Aeroplan. Aeroplan is also a colossal pain to collect missing miles, whereas Mileage Plus has really upped their game in the past year and miles are credited mere minutes (!) after you complete the flight.

My only regret is not signing up for Mileage Plus years earlier. I had status with Skyteam (KLM Flying Blue) in 2017 because of all the cheap Aeromexico flights I took during their YYC-MEX launch year, but Star Alliance is the way to go if you live in Calgary with all the Star Alliance flights in and out of YYC. IIRC Skyteam only has direct flights to Seattle/Salt Lake City/Minneapolis (Delta), Amsterdam (KLM) and Mexico City (Aeromexico). Oneworld is even worse as I think it's only London Heathrow (British Airways) along with DFW/Chicago (American). Westjet partners up with Delta and American when it's convenient for them, but doesn't belong to either alliance.

Mileage plus will also credit new members with any flights from up to 30 days BEFORE you signed up. They are really easy to deal with.

What do you guys know about delayed flight compensation? Had my flight last week delayed 4h for a mechanical issue so I missed my connection. Final arrival was over 7h later than planned. Original offer from united was $50. I emailed them and they have increased the offer to $150. Is that about right or should I hassle them for more?

There are no regulations for delay compensation in the US (exception is delays due to getting bumped).

Dec 15th is when Canada rules come into force, and you can get compensation for delays that are under control of the airline. Airport delays (ie SFO current renovations and runway closures) or weather isn’t applicable for compensation.

EU is pretty awesome for compensation gotta look them up.

I’d say you did pretty fucking good already haha. Wonder if compensation lowers your rewards qualification dollars. If not, bonus!

I was flying back home from Kansas City via Houston with United this past April and a delay in Kansas City (mechanical issue - it was one of those incidents when we all boarded the plane, an issue was uncovered, and we all had to disembark again) resulted me in spending the night in Houston at a crummy hotel close to the airport (at United's expense) with two $10 food vouchers. I complained about the delay and hotel and was given a $150 voucher for future use, so I'd say that $150 from United is pretty good.

Yeah, that was my situation too. Okay, I'll probably accept that $150 then. I didn't even have to stay an extra night anywhere.

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Originally Posted by ExtraSlow

What do you guys know about delayed flight compensation? Had my flight last week delayed 4h for a mechanical issue so I missed my connection. Final arrival was over 7h later than planned. Original offer from united was $50. I emailed them and they have increased the offer to $150. Is that about right or should I hassle them for more?

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Check your CC coverage as well. You might have "Flight Delay Insurance" which should reimburse for hotel, transport to hotel, other small items, and I'm sure at the very least in your case, some food or coffee.

I'm looking at updating my CC's for better rewards and start building US credit so diving into some of the fine prints.

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Originally Posted by TheGeneral

Check your CC coverage as well. You might have "Flight Delay Insurance" which should reimburse for hotel, transport to hotel, other small items, and I'm sure at the very least in your case, some food or coffee.

I'm looking at updating my CC's for better rewards and start building US credit so diving into some of the fine prints.

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Yeah, in my case I didn't require an overnight stay, so aside from the extra beer I drank while waiting for the two flights, it's pretty hard to argue I was out of pocket.

I travel extensively for work, and have for years. And I've switched companies a few times so I've seen a few different travel programs. The most important thing is to pick some loyalty programs and stick with them. In the end, most of them are relatively the same. We Beyonders know more than most the merits of arguing which is the best brand (i.e. MB, BMW, Audi, etc), they all have their ups and downs. But when you get high on the point scale is when they start to benefit.

For cars, I did National for a long time and rally enjoyed it. It's easy to rack up points, and they have the best selection at most airports by far. My new company forces me to use Hertz, which is OK, but I find it harder to climb the loyaltly scale. The downside to National Emerald Program is that they're the most expensive, so if you ever go to rent one on your own without using points, you'll pay more out of your pocket.

For flights, I do Air Canada. They are not the cheapest, but they have the most flexibility in cashing in points for trips. I personally am not a fan of Westjet, I've just had issue after issue with them and they've always been hard to deal with when a complication does arise. Plus, Air Canada is linked to United, and they are quire flexible as well in terms of destinations.

For hotels, after many years of being a Sheraton/Marriot guy, I've switched over to Hilton. Hilton is by far the easiest to cash in points to use for personal use. They have a good program and lots of locations. I find IHG (Holiday Inn) difficult to use and very expensive for how much points they want for booking free nights. The thing I miss the most about Sheraton, is that you can transfer the Starwood points over to Aeroplan 1:1....allowing me to rack up serious Aeroplan points over the years which you can then use for car rentals and hotel as well.

Good luck!

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Originally Posted by TheGeneral

Check your CC coverage as well. You might have "Flight Delay Insurance" which should reimburse for hotel, transport to hotel, other small items, and I'm sure at the very least in your case, some food or coffee.

I'm looking at updating my CC's for better rewards and start building US credit so diving into some of the fine prints.

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I had to use this earlier this year. Flight got delayed in TO on my way back from Chicago from 10pm to 7am due to weather, so grabbed an airport hotel and claimed both room and dinner through my CC's Flight Delay insurance. Reimbursed within a week.

I just got back from my trip to Bangkok and my flight was delayed >24 hrs in Tokyo due to the Typhoon. I just submitted my claims for the room + food + bus tickets to the CC Flight Delay insurance. The hotel was $400 (cheapest one last minute by the Tokyo Station) so hopefully they will fully reimburse it.

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Originally Posted by freshprince1

For hotels, after many years of being a Sheraton/Marriot guy, I've switched over to Hilton. Hilton is by far the easiest to cash in points to use for personal use. They have a good program and lots of locations. I find IHG (Holiday Inn) difficult to use and very expensive for how much points they want for booking free nights. The thing I miss the most about Sheraton, is that you can transfer the Starwood points over to Aeroplan 1:1....allowing me to rack up serious Aeroplan points over the years which you can then use for car rentals and hotel as well.

Good luck!

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I'm on Fairmont (Accor) for points, and yea, you're not getting a ton of freebies with points. All I get is preferred rates and free room upgrade on Platinum, and small savings cashing in points.

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Originally Posted by rage2

I'm on Fairmont (Accor) for points, and yea, you're not getting a ton of freebies with points. All I get is preferred rates and free room upgrade on Platinum, and small savings cashing in points.

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It kinda sucks they got rid of the yearly certificates. It was nice being able to use the free night or suite upgrade certs for Banff/Lake Louise.

On an unrelated note, FYI for others: Amex has had a bunch of promos on conversion bonuses last little while. Last month you'd get a 50% bonus transferring MR to Hilton Honors, and I think this month I received another e-mail about Bonvoy or one of the other programs having a conversion bonus from Amex MR. I don't know if this is for all cards, or just specific ones, or if it's a targeted offer or not.

There's also a BOGO for Hilton Honors Points right now where if you buy a certain amount of points you'll get a 100% bonus. Good if you're short a small amount of points (or need a night or two at the Waldorf in the Maldives :) ).

Interesting comparison, because of flight times, had to fly TO Houston on Air Canada, then return flight was United. The Mileageplus "miles" were 874 going down and 1395 coming back. I'm already up to 10 segments in 2019, and I started in September.

Don't think it's worth anything, but just for this email that made me laugh:

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Originally Posted by Hilton Honors

ExtraSlow, you've upgraded to Silver status!

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Also, got asked to visit Tulsa, and it looks like united flies there. Sigh, wooo?

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Originally Posted by ExtraSlow

Also, got asked to visit Tulsa, and it looks like united flies there. Sigh, wooo?

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:rofl: I've been to all 50 US states and 100+ US cities - Tulsa might just be the most boring US city I've been to. The Gathering Place was the most exciting part of Tulsa when I was there earlier this year - too bad I wasn't a little kid again, because this would have been one hell of a playground if I was 7 years old again :rofl:

This video from a recent mayoral debate is probably the most exciting thing to happen in Tulsa in years

I'm going to push for a video meeting instead of visiting Tulsa. However if I do visit I'll likely be in that city less than 6 hours.

Not sure if this is a win or a loss. Don't have to go to Tulsa, but I DO have to go to go to OKC. Pretty fast turnaround, leaving Calgary Monday around 2PM, land back in Calgary 10PM Tuesday.

I might be derailing this thread, but fuck it.
Flight from OKC-DEN cancelled today due to "taxiway damage in DEN" apparently. Got rerouted through IAH. Flights from OKC to IAH were delayed due to weather. Got booked onto an earlier flight that was delayed 4+ hours so I got onto it somewhat close to my original departure time.

Now my IAH-YYC flight is delayed because of a combination of weather and "tire maintenance" issues. So I fully expect to be able to weasle out another credit voucher from the customer service chat. Win?

Dear Travel Diary,

Sincerely,
ExtraSlow

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Originally Posted by adam c

Dear Travel Diary,

Sincerely,
ExtraSlow

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:rofl:

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Originally Posted by adam c

Dear Travel Diary,

Sincerely,
ExtraSlow

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Beyond has been my diary for several years now.

I have to fly through Denver on Sunday. I hope they have their issues sorted out by then.

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Originally Posted by cet

I have to fly through Denver on Sunday. I hope they have their issues sorted out by then.

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Well, they are also subject to lots of poor weather, so they get lots of delays for that reason too.
I swear OKC/DEN/Houston triangle is home to the most thunderstorms/hail/snow/gusts etc in north america.

Dear Travel diary, received this response from United today :

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Originally Posted by United costomer care team

We apologize for the inconvenience you experienced on your recent trip with United.

We have issued a $150 electronic travel certificate to your Mileage Plus account.

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do you just write to united any time you have a delay? I've never really complained when I get delayed, maybe I should start

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Originally Posted by cet

do you just write to united any time you have a delay? I've never really complained when I get delayed, maybe I should start

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Same here, didn't know it was a thing and it seems like I hit up the same locations as Mr. Extraslow, even shitty Tulsa. $150 for 5 minutes to send in a complaint sounds like a good deal.

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Originally Posted by cet

do you just write to united any time you have a delay? I've never really complained when I get delayed, maybe I should start

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Originally Posted by botox

Same here, didn't know it was a thing and it seems like I hit up the same locations as Mr. Extraslow, even shitty Tulsa. $150 for 5 minutes to send in a complaint sounds like a good deal.

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US is pretty shitty when it comes to delay comp, but United is great for it. US regulations only gives comp on overbooking and luggage. In the EU, the rules are way more strict, so you get paid like $1k for a long delay. In the end, flights out of the EU don't get delayed much because it costs airlines a stupid amount of money.

Canada's new rules come into play Dec 15th. $$$$$ for delays, lost luggage, and overbook/cancellations.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/air...ules-1.5211981

Much like EU, flight delays will become less common like the EU because the comp is so expensive.

On the united website, you go to help /contact us/customer care. From there you sign into your mileageplus account in order to submit your "concern". You click the recent flight that's linked to your account, and in the notes section I always put in the exact flight numbers, the sequence of events if it's a multi-leg journey or if there were delays that caused missed connections, and then the actual arrival time of the flight you ended up on, plus I do the math on how many hours and minutes delay that way.

I then say something like " I believe compensation is warranted due to this lengthy delay caused by mechanical problems with the aircraft, and the impact that had on my travel plans."

Don't make it hard for them, do your research, understand and state the type of delays, and I find them super reasonable. It's more than five minutes work the way I do it, but less than 15.

Don't tryt o get compensation for weather-related delays though. That's a no-go. It has to be mechanical or maintenance issues or something that is supposed ot be in the airlines control.

Gotta say, I'm really happy with the customer service from united. Thier app is great for rebooking or changing flights, and the gate staff has been helpful getting me onto wait lists, or waiving change fees. Plus, last few flights have had legit hotties for in-flight crew. Doesn't hurt.

I contacted WestJet about their delay for my bereavement flight and I got compensated. You just have to ask.

Speaking of frequent flyer programs. Fuck Aeroplan is pissing me off, has unilaterally decided that the last trip I took on Air Canada doesn’t count for miles. Their online system says to refer to their table for what is eligible, and my fare class on my ticket and receipt is clearly listed as Eligible.

So I call their toll free to speak to someone because the website is being autistic, and they are so ass backward you can’t even wait on hold. It just says “we have higher than normal call volumes and have no one available to take your call, bye bye” and hangs up.

What the actual fuck lol. Complete racket.

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Originally Posted by killramos

Speaking of frequent flyer programs. Fuck Aeroplan is pissing me off, has unilaterally decided that the last trip I took on Air Canada doesn’t count for miles. Their online system says to refer to their table for what is eligible, and my fare class on my ticket and receipt is clearly listed as Eligible.

So I call their toll free to speak to someone because the website is being autistic, and they are so ass backward you can’t even wait on hold. It just says “we have higher than normal call volumes and have no one available to take your call, bye bye” and hangs up.

What the actual fuck lol. Complete racket.

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This is why I prioritize westjet dollar collection. So far, they have been great to deal with. Lounges aren't as nice, fewer planes with actual business class, but at least I can accrue and redeem the rewards points easily. And speak to a real person on the phone with no hold time on the gold support line.

Yea I don’t hate westjet at all to me it comes down to which times work better. Should have just booked my flight to London through them. Fucking Air Chrétien.

Win or loss? I will be submitting a flight delay compensation claim today for my flight DEN-CPR. Roughly 2 hour delay.

I should have just driven to Casper.

EDIT: Here's my 2019 summary. I was on pace, but then didn't go anywhere in November and December.
Attachment 89534

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Originally Posted by ExtraSlow

Win or loss? I will be submitting a flight delay compensation claim today for my flight DEN-CPR. Roughly 2 hour delay.

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got $50 voucher for this, zero hassle. I need to book a personal trip on United to start using these.

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Originally Posted by ExtraSlow

Win or loss? I will be submitting a flight delay compensation claim today for my flight DEN-CPR. Roughly 2 hour delay.

I should have just driven to Casper.

EDIT: Here's my 2019 summary. I was on pace, but then didn't go anywhere in November and December.
Attachment 89534

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Were you aiming for silver?

I don't think I've grumbled yet about the major changes that United made last fall to their Mileage Plus program, which will guarantee that I won't be maintaining my Gold status past January 31, 2021. They've pretty much switched from a mileage based program to a spend based program like everybody else, which isn't good for a thrifty leisure-only traveller like myself :guns:

Though I suppose I was pretty lucky to obtain Star Alliance Gold status in the first place, having only $1,654 USD (!) in spend...:rofl: 2019 was the final year for Mileage Plus where you were exempt from a minimum spend as long as you didn't have a US based address.

Attachment 89562

I actually would have made platinum with plenty of room to spare if my roundtrip flight to Australia in May 2019 was with a Star Alliance carrier instead of Delta/Virgin Australia....

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Originally Posted by Gainsbarre

Were you aiming for silver?.

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not "aiming" for anything. I travel when I travel, and since it's for work, I don't get much flexibility on dates or routes.