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Thread: Frequent Flyer/hotel/car rental programs

  1. #21
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    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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  2. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by rage2 View Post
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    Cars, it's all uber these days.
    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 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.

  3. #23
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    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.
    Originally posted by SEANBANERJEE
    I have gone above and beyond what I should rightfully have to do to protect my good name

  4. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by rage2 View Post
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    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.
    That was my thinking.
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  5. #25
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    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
    Last edited by adam c; 09-07-2019 at 07:54 PM.
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  6. #26
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    Hahhahaha (sigh) just had to change plans to come home from Houston this week through OKC, that'll be another 3 segments on United.
    Quote Originally Posted by killramos View Post
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  7. #27
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    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.

  8. #28
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    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.
    Last edited by Gainsbarre; 09-10-2019 at 07:41 PM.

  9. #29
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    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.
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  10. #30
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    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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  11. #31
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    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!
    Originally posted by SEANBANERJEE
    I have gone above and beyond what I should rightfully have to do to protect my good name

  12. #32
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    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.

  13. #33
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    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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  14. #34
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    Quote Originally Posted by ExtraSlow View Post
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    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?
    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.

  15. #35
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheGeneral View Post
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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.
    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.
    Quote Originally Posted by killramos View Post
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  16. #36
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    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!
    freshprince
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  17. #37
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheGeneral View Post
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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.
    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.

  18. #38
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    Quote Originally Posted by freshprince1 View Post
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    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!
    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.
    Originally posted by SEANBANERJEE
    I have gone above and beyond what I should rightfully have to do to protect my good name

  19. #39
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    Quote Originally Posted by rage2 View Post
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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.
    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 ).
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    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.
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