I had an upcoming flight booked, and from the time I booked the flight dropped its price about 4 times. I guess I am not too good at timing when to book flights haha. Thankfully, Delta generally makes it quite easy to get an eCredit of the difference between the price paid and the new price.

If I notice a price drop, I normally go to “Change Flight” on the app, look up the same flight and it will show the new price. Once I click through, I get to a payment screen that will say something along the lines of “Remaining eCredit Amount Due to Passenger”. Click confirm, and you should get a new eCredit that you can use for your future flight!

Issue:

On my last change, I went through the normal prompts and clicked confirm. I got a confirmation email showing the amount applied to be higher than the ticket price, but noticed that at the bottom of the email, there was no eCredit issued. Odd.

Normally when I do these types of changes, I will see this message towards the bottom of the email. This will show that an eCredit has been issued.

Check for this on your changed reservation confirmation email!

I also went to check in my Wallet on my SkyMiles account and did not see any new eCredit. Something was wrong.

Contacting Support:

I first tried via iMessage, but the agent couldn’t see anything and told me to contact support over the phone. I was on hold for about 20 minutes, then spoke with an agent who wasn’t helpful at all. After explaining the situation, she seemed unenthused and said she would transfer me to a supervisor.

After a brief wait, thankfully the supervisor was very friendly and helpful. She did some digging and was confused like myself on why I wasn’t issued a credit for the fare difference. Then, she called ticketing and they issued me the fare difference on an eCredit and it popped up in my account.

The supervisor didn’t really have an explanation for what went wrong, so perhaps it was just a tech glitch.

The Verdict:

I was happy that the supervisor was able to help me get the eCredit, but it did take up time with a phone call. The moral of the story is to make sure if you make any changes due to your Delta fare dropping in price, to check if your Delta eCredit was actually issued! I’m not sure if it was a one-off situation, but it was definitely odd that the system didn’t issue the eCredit.

Have you had tech issues when changing a Delta flight and obtaining an eCredit? Share your experience below!

Cheers,

Ty

When you have a relatively small number of points, goals can seem to be quite far away. I’m going to show you examples of what you can do with small points balances in the British Airways Executive Club and Aer Lingus AerClub.

A Weekend Getaway

Taking a weekend getaway to the beach or even a city break is quite easy to do with points. The lowest amount of points for a one way flight on both Aer Lingus and British Airways is 4,500, which would come to 9,000 Avios return.

What happens if you don’t yet have that many points? Well, the airlines have you covered. As you can see above, the total price is 9,000 Avios plus €49.57 in taxes and charges. You usually have to pay these so no surprises there. But look at the bottom right.

You can reduce your points outlay to as little as 3,000 return, if you’re prepared to pony up some extra cash. Remember that all reward flights feature one checked bag included as standard. You could also just book a one way flight and book the other way separately with cash, which halves the amounts if you have even fewer points in your account.

How Far Can I Go?

It is 4,500 Avios each way for flights up to 600 miles or 965km in length. From Dublin on Aer Lingus, that means Ireland, all of the UK, Paris, Brest and Nantes in France, Amsterdam in the Netherlands, Brussels in Belgium and Dusseldorf in Germany.

Out of London with British Airways, that means the UK, all of Ireland, Denmark, Switzerland, Netherlands, Luxembourg, most of France, and virtually all Germany are within reach. Not too shabby at all!

Avios Reducing Ticket Prices

Frequent flyers generally value Avios at 1c or 1p per point, which makes it easy to work out how much they are worth. One other way to use them is to reduce the cash price of a ticket, which you will see towards the end of the booking process. That could reduce the cost of your weekend getaway, but should you do this?

British Airways is offering €10 off in the example for 1,000 Avios, which matches 1c per point. However the €22 off is 2,900 Avios, meaning that you’re getting less bang for your buck. Aer Lingus are offering €2 off for 250 Avios which is not as good value as the BA example. That being said, if you have a small amount of points laying around and will be hard pressed to use them, this provides a way to do that.

Overall Thoughts

That should illustrate just how few Avios points are needed to take a weekend getaway. Of course, the real value in the points is using them for flight upgrades, especially from British Airways World Traveller Plus to Club World (Premium Economy to Business Class). However, I sometimes use them for upgrades to Club Europe on Dublin to London, as it’s nice to have a little treat on the short flight.

Some people save their points for a big business class trip, some spend them as they get them – whatever you do will be right for you. Using Avios can result in big savings, especially if you can snag frequent flyer seats at popular times. Your saving over paying straight cash can be substantial (think ski resorts in Europe at half term, for example).

What say you? Are you someone who uses points regularly for a weekend getaway or are you a saver, an upgrader or something else? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

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Featured image by Alf van Beem via Wikimedia Commons.

Booking the St Regis Goa

The idea of Goa started off in the dining room with my uncle, aunt and two cousins. This would have been my uncle and aunt’s first vacation in their life, so me and my cousins wanted to ensure a unique experience. We agreed to do a small vacation using my small stash of Marriott Reward Points.

I opened the app, and came across the following three options:

• JW Marriott Goa: 40,000 Marriott Reward Points or INR30,000 / night (~C$500)
• W Goa: 57,000 Marriott Reward Points or INR35,000 / night (~C$600)
• St Regis Goa: 72,000 Marriott Reward Points or INR29,000 / night (~C$500)

The currency conversions are not exact. They are the currency conversion I used in my head as I was determining the best use of points.

I immediately booked the JW Marriott Goa as it was the newest hotel that opened just a month prior to our stay. I booked the JW Marriott Goa using 160,000 Marriott Reward Points for 4 room nights. For the remaining 2 room nights I used my 2 Free Night Certificates, one each from the American Express Marriott Bonvoy Credit Card (Personal) and American Express Marriott Bonvoy Credit Card (Business). However, when I presented this option, my family suggested that not having a beachfront resort in Goa defeats the purpose of going to Goa.

Beachfront Hotel – Finding the Best Deal

On my previous stay at the St Regis Mumbai, the butler was in Goa training the staff to the St Regis standard, at the then newly opened St Regis Goa. I also recalled hearing about the St Regis Goa through Ajay reading his blog when he identified it was a re-flagged Leela. While I have great respect for the Leela brand, staying at the St Regis Goa for 3 nights for 2 rooms, would cost me over 400,000 Marriott Reward Points. I did not want to spend that many points.

We compared the pricing of the St Regis Goa and the Taj Goa as alternative resorts. Although the St Regis Goa was more expensive, we felt my Titanium Status would make up for the added costs with a complimentary suite upgrade for my uncle and aunt. We decided to pay cash for one room and points for the second room. This was a horrible use of points, but I also did not want to spend C$1,500 for a three night unplanned vacation.

When booking any St Regis resort, the Marriott STARS rate provides complimentary breakfast, US$100 room credit in addition to any other offers. I reached out to my agent, who realized the Senior’s rate was the cheapest rate, even after accounting for the room credit through Marriott STARS. We proceeded to book the Senior’s rate (on the account of my uncle and aunt traveling as well).

Transportation to and from St Regis Goa

All of us landed at Goa through an Indigo flight, and we decided against using the airport transfer from the hotel. St Regis Goa was charging INR5,000 (~C$100) for an airport transfer and we felt like we could find something at the airport instead.

This was a horrible idea. We only saved about $50, for an hour long journey, and in that journey had to deal with an old vehicle that had a barely functioning air conditioner. As the family vacation expert, I got the back seat of the van, in the last row, and only I know how relieved I was to walk through the doors of the St Regis Goa.

On the way back, we got a vehicle through St Regis Goa and it was money well spent.

If you want to save a few bucks, you could actually do a short walk to the Holiday Inn just a few minutes down the road and get their vehicles instead. However, because they compete with the St Regis, their cars could not actually drive up to the St Regis. Had we just been cousins, this would have been an easy option, however, with my uncle and aunt, we decided it was worth just booking the car through the hotel.

Check-In at the St Regis Goa

As we got out of the vehicle, there was a team of a few colleagues to greet us, led by Kanika. Immediately, they applied a bead-garland on everybody’s head. My uncle and aunt went to the lobby, while me and my cousins went to the reception to check ourselves in.

Reception at St Regis Goa

During check-in, all of us received a cold coconut water. After the hot car journey in, all of us requested for re-fills which was generously provided by the hotel.

Fresh coconut water as the welcome drink

We had two room reservations; one for the basic King room for two adults, and a Premier Conservative Room with 2 Twins, that could accommodate three adults.

A water feature as you walked into the lobby

Lobby and Reception at St Regis Goa

Lobby and Reception at St Regis Goa

Concierge at St Regis Goa

Flower display at the lobby of the St Regis Goa

Lobby and Reception at St Regis Goa

On the way to the room, we came across a Bloody Mary display. For those that do not know, the St Regis has an unique Bloody Mary at each hotel. My cousin immediately asked for three Goan Mary to be delivered to our room to start off what would be an epic Goa vacation.

One of us may have been too excited to get the vacation started

Suite Upgrade

As a Titanium guest, I was eligible for one room to receive a complimentary suite upgrade. Initially the hotel upgraded the Premier Conservative Room to a Suite, however, we wanted the base king room to get the suite upgrade. This way, my uncle and aunt would be staying in a suite which was very important to everyone. It was an unexpected request for them, so the hotel kindly let us have both rooms until the twin room had been cleaned up by housekeeping. They also promised me to setup an extra bed as well for the entire stay.

Not many hotels would give away a second room to freshen up while the main room is being prepared. That was a very kind gesture by Kanika and her team.

Base King Room at the St Regis Goa

Lagoon Superior (Basic) King Room

Bathtub at the Lagoon Superior (Basic) King Room

Toilet at the Lagoon Superior (Basic) King Room

Sink at the Lagoon Superior (Basic) King Room

The base king room at the St Regis Goa was as cookie-cutter as it got; it came with a King size bed, a walk-in shower, and separate bath-tub. In a luxury hotel, there were two features that I felt were lacking: a his and her sink and a larger full size bath-tub. The room also had a corridor to place the luggage as well. I am also glad that the bathroom contained single use shower amenities. Although I understand the sustainability requirement, from a hygiene perspective, there is something comforting about using the single-use amenities.

Welcome Amenity at the St Regis Goa

There were also three very delicious tarts as a welcome amenity in the room. I’m glad we received three tarts, otherwise, we would have an interesting time dividing two tarts by three people. In addition to the tart, I found a small chocolate bar, and what appears to be a chocolate hammer. This was the first time I saw a hammer to break the chocolate.

Chocolate Hammer

Finally, the room also had a nice patio overlooking the water feature. Although it would have been a great place to relax, the weather was extremely hot, meaning that patio would have gone essentially unused.

View of the patio at the St Regis Goa Lagoon Superior (Basic) King Room

Premier Twin Conservatory Room

Conservatory Premier Twin Room at the St Regis Goa

Conservatory Premier Twin Room at the St Regis Goa

As you walk in, once again you will find a long corridor with a baggage rack. I do find it interesting, in most places in North America, the standard is 2 Queen beds, but in Asia, I typically see 2 Twin beds. Ironically, the twin beds were quite close together.

Covered patio of the Conservatory Premier Twin Room at the St Regis Goa

We also had a bit of a covered patio in the room. The extra bed was ultimately placed here. Between me and my cousins, we had to decide who would be sleeping on the extra bed. Unfortunately, the in-room air conditioning at the St Regis Goa was not that great. However, the air conditioning on the covered patio was amazing. This made our sleeping decisions far easier; do you want to sleep on a nice bed in a warm room, or a bad bed in a cold room. Ultimately, I took the proper bed closest to the window (that’s my preferred bed in a two-bed setup).

Full sized bathtub of the Conservatory Premier Twin Room at the St Regis Goa

His and Her sink of the Conservatory Premier Twin Room at the St Regis Goa

Walk-in Rain Shower of the Conservatory Premier Twin Room at the St Regis Goa

The bathtub was actually a full sized deep soaking tub which made for a very comfortable bathing experience after a long day in the sun. This room also came with His & Her sinks, which, okay, we were three guys, so it really wasn’t used as that, but the two sinks are always appreciated. The walk-in rainfall shower head also provided a nice water pressure, once again for a comfortable shower after a long hot day outside in the city.

Standard Suite for Platinum Upgrades at the St Regis Goa

The St Regis Suite Living Room at the St Regis Goa

I did not get a chance to take a peek around the standard suite since my uncle and aunt had made themselves comfortable by the time I visited the suite. But the Suite living room was very spacious, enough to accommodate the five of us during our evenings. It also had a guest bathroom and the guest bathroom even contained an extra make-up table with a chair. After all, a St Regis guest, cannot be standing up and putting on their make-up.

Champagne Sabering

How can there be a discussion of the St Regis Goa without experiencing the champagne sabering event. As Napolean said:

“Champagne: in victory, one deserves it; in defeat, one needs it.”

Here is the champagne sabering video of the St Regis Goa.

In addition to the video, here is the beautiful venue of the champagne sabering event including a gorgeous sunset view.

Wine glasses for the champagne Sabering with a sunset view

Champagne Sabering Sword

Champagne Sabering Bottle

Dining at the St Regis Goa

We had most meals at the St Regis Goa, including breakfast every day at the resort.

I must also recognize the entire dining team across the various outlets. They were all friendly, helpful people, who made the dining experience at the hotel, perfect.

Indian Dining Options

Let’s start off with the most important meal picture; Bhature Choley and Paneer at the St Regis Goa.

Bhature Choley and Paneer Bhurji

The Indian food options were beyond delicious. I still remember the taste of a masala kulcha full of onions and cheese. It was so delicious, all of us ate the kulcha with just pickle.

Their stuffed paratha selection was also delicious. I believe there was a two day rotation of the stuffed paratha variety at the St Regis Goa:

Western Dining

An important part of breakfast

Half-eaten Pasta Dish

There were two weak points in their dining though, their Italian food could have been better. But also, you shouldn’t be traveling to Goa for Italian food, so I cannot put any fault on the chefs at the St Regis Goa.

Dessert Selection

Their dessert selection was always on point. I will give credit to the staff at the St Regis Goa, as vegetarians, buffet do not excite us that much, due to a large selection of non-vegetarian food. But the dessert was extremely attractive. The staff allowed us to order a la carte off the menu and then allowed us to go to the dessert section for the buffet to enjoy the variety. We even asked for one of the dessert menu items to be repeated, and the chef made a separate batch for us the night prior to our check-out.

A small selection of desserts

White Chocolate Pudding – Pictures do not do it justice.

We may have over-indulged on White Chocolate Pudding

More dessert selections

Bread and Pastries

This is a video of the breakfast pastries on offer at the St Regis Goa.

During every buffet, their breakfast, lunch, or dinner, they also had a variety of warm breads. Every bread selection I tried was delicious.

Bread Selection

Bread Selection

Freshly Squeezed Juices and Smoothies

Finally, their selection of freshly squeezed juice could have improved drastically. I asked for a strawberry and banana smoothie, but the server let me know there are no fresh strawberries in the restaurant. For a hotel of this caliber, I expected a larger selection of higher quality smoothies.

Selection of juices

High Tea at the St Regis Goa

As part of our dining, we also had an opportunity to enjoy the high tea at the St Regis Goa in the Drawing Room.

Drawing Room

High Tea Setting

Top Level of High Tea

Middle level of high tea – the only level that was not re-ordered

Bottom level of high tea

Their Gol Gappa and Patty were absolutely delicious. I’m sure even the chef got tired of serving us extras after a while. I don’t think anyone even had any tea with their high tea, all of us were too engrossed in eating their Gol Gappa (Dahi Puri) and Patties.

More sweets

We couldn’t get enough of these savory dishes

The extras kept on flowing

Dining near the St Regis Goa

St Regis Goa is incredible in a way that as you leave the resort through the beach, on the right side, you will enjoy a typical Goan food shack with beer and seafood. I don’t consume either, but certain members of my family do, so it was a daily ritual during sunset to walk from the resort onto the shack to enjoy a daily beer. There is also a nice restaurant located just a few minutes’ walk from the hotel. Once again, I did not really try much there, also because of the food safety standards at these locations, but my family were very happy for a change from the regular St Regis dining menu.

Swimming Pool

The best part about the Swimming Pool was the caves behind the waterfall. As I approached the waterfall to enjoy the water pressure on my head, I noticed that I could actually go “behind” the waterfall. It was very cute and we definitely enjoyed the experience of going there.

Waterfalls at the pool

Swimming Pool

In addition to that, there was always a server walking around the pool area for any additional food & beverage options, which we indulged in thoroughly sitting on the beach beds. I’m also glad that the server also re-arranged some furniture so all five of us could sit together, since most of them are designed for couples.

Beach

The thing I still can’t get over at the St Regis Goa is the sunset. It was beyond gorgeous.

Sunset view. Let’s go to Maldives again?

Or how about Bali?

Beach view from the beach beds

The beach was also very interesting. There is a private beach component guarded by a security team, but there is also a public beach right in front of the hotel. The best way to realize which part is the hotel beach and the public beach is to look at the color of the sand. I don’t know the reason behind that, but that was a great indicator. The public beach sand color was much darker and a lot dirtier than the beach that was part of the St Regis Goa.

Property Upkeep

I wanted to add another section for this report. The overall property was absolutely gorgeous. It was full of greenery and overall felt like an amazing place to be spending time in Goa.

The video below shows the buggy ride from our room to the beach. So much greenery that it was absolutely beautiful.

Circular rings to walk through to access one of the restaurants

Swings for kids and the kids at heart!

Greenery

More rings

Sunrise view from the Italian Restaurant

St Regis Welcome

Butler Service

To be honest, I totally forgot about the complimentary morning coffee or tea extended through the St Regis Butler and nobody reminded me either.

I did take advantage of the packing service, as I had a busy travel schedule ahead of me. And I’m glad the butler packed it just the way I would have liked.

Service – Failure and Recovery

Unfortunately, I experienced a few service failures at the beginning of our stay.

Extra Bed Delivery Timelines

The first snafu happened between check-in and the second room being ready. The staff told us that when the second room will be ready, they will also setup the extra bed for us as well. When we got to the room in the evening, there was no third bed at all. That’s typically not a problem one quick phone call, and it gets resolved quite quickly. Except, we waited for 20 minutes. Then 30 minutes. Then 40 minutes. Finally, someone comes over with bedding but no extra bed.

That was rather absurd, there was no sofa bed in the room. There was a chaise at best, and the staff were going to prepare the third bed on the sofa chaise, which doesn’t really reflect well on the St Regis brand.

We asked them to come back with an extra bed. That took another 50 minutes. So, after coming back to the room, it took the staff 90 minutes to get an extra bed well past midnight. Although I was not sleeping on the third bed, suffice to say, my cousin was extremely upset at that experience.

Housekeeping Service

The next day, we enjoyed a leisurely day at the hotel. We came back in the evening to notice that neither of the two rooms had housekeeping service at all. Many hotels across the world are relying on reduced housekeeping as an environmental initiative, but I never imagined it would have a significant impact at the St Regis brand.

I called up the butler service, and they said we can do housekeeping right away. Except, we are now in the room. I actually wouldn’t think any housekeeping staff to be comfortable being observed by people in the room as they clean up the room, so I told them that they will have to do it when we leave the room for dinner. The butler service later told me that we had declined housekeeping which was why the room was not serviced. However, none of my cousins had any interaction with the housekeeping team.

When we got to dinner, we met with my uncle and aunt, and they genuinely assumed this hotel does not come with housekeeping service either because their suite was not made up either. I would understand if one room was not serviced because someone mis-spoke, but to have both rooms not serviced, seemed like housekeeping dropped the ball in a very big way that day.

Ultimately, my cousin and my uncle/aunt, who I had raved so much about the St Regis brand, at this point assumed housekeeping is not a brand standard, and the typical turn around time for any request by the butler team would be in the 60-90 minutes range.

Service Recovery

I did let the front desk team know of my displeasure, and more importantly, how my family now perceives the luxury brand to be a rather budget brand in terms of their service. During our day trip to experience the city of Goa, we got a call from Kanika, the front desk associate. She mentioned that your concerns were raised in a management meeting, and to make up for it, we would like to extend the High Tea service to you and your family.

That gesture was greatly appreciated by everyone even though we never asked for anything to make up for the service failures. I will also give credit to the high team dining team, my uncle and aunt came very late after taking a nap, and despite them coming well after high tea service had ended, the chef still served them what would turn out to be a delicious high team.

We also received a delicious selection of chocolates and a bottle of wine to make up for the service issues. Me and my cousins had finished the chocolates in about 10 seconds.

Chocolate with a letter

Bottle of wine

Conclusion

Overall, the stay was incredible. Yes, there were service issues, but once they were made visible to hotel management, they were rectified immediately which I appreciated.

I look forward to my next relaxing vacation in Goa. Hopefully on my next trip, I’ll be able to actually step outside the hotel to see the city!

For people who stay frequently at Hilton properties, the Hilton Aspire card may be a perfect fit. However, it also carries a $450 annual fee. There’s another card that offers some fantastic benefits for just a $95 fee. The Hilton Surpass card offers valuable perks in addition to complimentary Gold status. Moreover, the card is currently offering an amazing limited time welcome bonus offer.

Hilton Surpass Card Offer

Putting those free night certificates to good use #maldives #travel pic.twitter.com/5WAIMbh0KM

— The Points Pundit (Ashish) (@thepointspundit) March 25, 2022

Last year, I used my free night certificates in order to book 4 nights at the Conrad Maldives. Thanks to my Hilton Aspire card, I had multiple free night certificates that got rolled over and extended due to Covid-19. I finally put them to good use and booked 4 nights.

I’ve written extensively about some of the games that Hilton properties in the Maldives play. They often show exaggerated points redemption prices and block inventory for points booking even when multiple standard rooms are available for cash stays. However, I was able to snag a Sunrise Water Villa using my free night certificates.

HILTON SURPASS CREDIT CARD BONUS

With this current welcome bonus, you’ll earn 130,000 Hilton Honors points and 1 free night certificate after you spend $2,000 in the first three months.

Apply Now for the 130,000 points + 1 free night offer

So what’s so great about this particular offer on the Hilton Surpass card compared to other offers?

Hilton Surpass Card: POINTS V/S CERTIFICATES

We’ve seen Amex offer bonuses as high as 180,000 Hilton Honors bonus points on the Hilton Surpass card. Here’s why this offer is better. When you book using a free night certificate, you only need to find a standard room available at that property. Let’s take the example of my Conrad Maldives stay. Booking 4 nights would’ve cost me 120,000 x 4 = 480,000 Hilton Honors points. In a nutshell, each free night certificate was worth 120,000 points while booking at an aspirational Hilton property like the Conrad Maldives.

The same room would’ve cost me close to $8,000 in cash for 4 nights

If you sign up for this particular offer, you can easily book a minimum of 2 nights at the Conrad Maldives once you get your free night and 130,000 points welcome bonus. A Sunrise Water Villa costs around $2,000 per night after you add all taxes and surcharges. If you book 2 nights with this bonus, you’ll easily earn $4,000 in value out of your hotel stay.

STRETCHING OUT VALUE, MIXING AND MATCHING

Once Hilton issues a free night certificate, it’s valid for one year. If you want to book a stay, you can mix a points stay with a free night certificate. For example, any hotel that costs 65,000 points per night will help you book a three night stay. You can book the first two nights with points and then the third with your free night certificate. If you look at Hilton’s portfolio, you’ll find a lot of properties in the 60-65,000 points per night range, right from the Hilton Waikiki beach (Hawaii) to Conrad Bali (just 28k points per night).

Conversely, you can also book the Conrad Singapore, which costs 60,000 points per night. With this welcome bonus, you’ll get three free nights when you add the free night certificate to your booking.

LEVERAGING STATUS

With the Hilton Surpass card, you’ll get complimentary Hilton Honors Gold status. In addition to complimentary breakfast at hotels outside the US, you’ll also get 5th night free while booking with points.

For instance, you can book five nights at Conrad Bali for just 112,000 Hilton Honors points, all from a single card bonus. Moreover, you’ll still have your free night certificate left after booking this trip!

LOWER MINIMUM SPEND REQUIREMENT

Unlike previous Hilton credit card bonuses, this bonus has a minimum spend requirement of just $2,000 in 3 months. For most folks, spending $667 each month should be pretty straightforward in order to meet the welcome bonus requirement.

THE PUNDIT’S MANTRA

Please note that Amex enforces their ‘once in a lifetime’ rule on their while offering a bonus. They may not give you the welcome bonus if you’ve received a bonus on the same card product in the past. Thankfully, Amex’s pop up lets you know if that’s the case.

If eligible, then I’d highly recommend that you jump on this amazing credit card bonus. In spite of its shortfalls, I continue to be a long time Hilton loyalist, thanks to their massive global footprint and some amazing co-branded credit cards.

If you’re not eligible for the Hilton Surpass card, you can also sign up for the Hilton Business Card, which is simply a business version of the Hilton Surpass card. The Hilton Business credit card is also offering an even better welcome bonus of 150,000 points and one free night.

Hilton Surpass Card: Click here for the 1 free night + 130,000 points offer

Hilton Business Card: Click here for the 1 free night + 150,000 points offer

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

HIGHEST EVER WELCOME BONUS FOR THIS CARD!

For a card that charges an annual fee of $150, you can earn 60,000 points + $200 with a single welcome bonus. Click on the link below to find out more…

CLICK HERE FOR THIS LIMITED TIME OFFER

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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The two airlines ostensibly have no affiliation whatsoever with one another and the Dubai based airline is not a member of any airline alliance. Both carriers are standard competitors in the industry and there are no links between the two.

Well, if you don’t count this.

Qantas and Emirates Partnership

In 2013, Emirates and Qantas formed a close partnership meaning each airline placed the others code on their flights. This would allow a person to book a ticket from say Australia to Europe and return with Qantas, with the Australian airline’s flight numbers, but with the flights actually being operated by Emirates.

Essentially, the agreement allows each airline to sell tickets on the others flights as though they were their own. Codeshare agreements are quite common in the industry however this one is much more extensive than most. It has been extended a couple of times over the years, so clearly it works for the two airlines.

The Secret Back Door to Earning with Emirates

British Airways and Qantas are both members of the oneworld alliance which allows members of any frequent flyer programme to earn miles with any of the other member airlines. Third party airlines are generally excluded from earning even when it is a codeshare flight. However, the British Airways web site says the following when it comes to earning on Qantas.

The last line of text indicates any flight carrying the Qantas QF flight code on any third party airline will earn British Airways Avios as though you are flying with Qantas. This means that if you book a flight on the Qantas web site that happens to actually be an Emirates aircraft you will earn full Avios and Tier Points as though it was actually the Australian airline you were flying.

Overall Thoughts

While this means you can earn Avios on Emirates, it also means you it will work on any airline Qantas has a codeshare agreement with. If you happen to book a flight from Amsterdam to Sydney via Singapore, your Amsterdam to Singapore will be QF4218 but actually operated by KLM. That means you’ll fly KLM and earn your Avios that way.

The caveat is that you must book through Qantas and the flight must be a Qantas codeshare flight with a QF flight number. Flights on other carriers are marked quite clearly on the Qantas website, making choosing these services quite straightforward.

Have you earned Avios on Emirates before? Did you even know this was possible? I’ve heard it works seamlessly by those who have done it. Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

Like planes? See my “Does anyone remember” series.
Flight reviews your thing? Mine are all indexed here.
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Featured image via Emirates.

The Amex Everyday preferred card is a great option to kickstart building a good chunk of Membership Rewards points on everyday purchases like groceries and gas stations. Currently, American Express is offering a welcome bonus of 30,000 points in addition to a temporary APR of 0% on purchases.

AMEX EVERYDAY PREFERRED CARD

With this welcome bonus, you’ll earn 30,000 bonus Membership Rewards points after you spend $2,000 in the first 6 months. This is double the standard welcome bonus of 15,000 points.

Also, if you’re looking to finance some purchases, then this card is offering a 0% intro APR. The 0% intro APR will be valid for the first 12 months. The annual fee for this card is $95.

CLICK HERE FOR THE 30,000 POINTS + 0% APR OFFER

(Tip: If the 30,000 points offer doesn’t show up right away, you can clear your cookies/browsing history and/or use private/incognito browsing mode)

BONUS SPEND CATEGORIES

This card offers great return on everyday spend. Following are the bonus categories on this card:

• 3x Membership Rewards points per dollar spent on groceries (supermarkets)
• 2x Membership Rewards points per dollar spent at gas stations
• 2x Membership Rewards points per dollar spent at AmexTravel.com
• 1x Membership Rewards points per dollar spent on all other purchases

If you make 30 purchases in a month, you’ll earn 50% extra points. In effect, the 3-2-1 spending categories will become 4.5-3-1.5 bonus Membership Rewards points categories per dollar spent. However, Amex caps your bonus points earning in the supermarkets category at $6,000 spent per year.

AMEX EVeryday PReferred CArd earns TRANSFERRABLE POINTS

If you have this card, you can transfer points to Amex’s airline and hotel partners. If you use this as your go-to card for everyday purchases and make 30 transactions each month, then the points could add up pretty quickly. Moreover, if you max out the Supermarkets category, you’ll end up with an additional 27,000 points in a single year. If you add the sign up bonus, then you’d have earned a minimum of 57,000 points after the very first year. That’s amazing return on spend for a card charges an annual fee of $95.

OTHER BENEFITS

In addition, Amex offers many other standard benefits that are similar across many of their cards.

• Car rental loss and damage insurance
• Dispute resolution
• Fraud Protection
• Pay It/Plan It
• Return Protection

THE PUNDIT’S MANTRA

Overall, this card is a great option as it gives you the ability to earn transferrable points without paying a hefty annual fee. Moreover, you also have the option to downgrade to the no annual fee Amex Everyday card after the year if you think that this card isn’t the best for your spending habits.

Which is your go to card for everyday spend? Tell us in the comments section.

APPLY NOW FOR THE 30,000 POINTS + 0% APR OFFER

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Cathay Pacific has fired three members of their cabin crew after an incident that sparked off allegations of racism. The incident occurred during a flight from Mainland China.

Racism Allegations

In an audio clip that went viral, the cabin crew member appears to deny a request by a passenger for a blanket. Moreover, it has been alleged that the cabin crew also mocked the passenger’s lack of English speaking ability.

As per this report by CNN, the cabin crew is telling the passenger that if you can’t say the word blanket in English, you can’t have it.

“If you can’t say blanket in English, you cannot have it,” a voice is heard saying in the clip, recorded Sunday on a Cathay flight to Hong Kong from the southwestern city of Chengdu.

In a statement late Tuesday announcing the dismissals, Cathay Pacific (CPCAY) CEO Ronald Lam said he would personally lead a task force to improve service and avoid similar incidents in the future.

“We need to ensure that all Cathay Pacific employees must at all times respect customers from different backgrounds and cultures, and that we provide quality services consistently across all markets that we serve,” he said.

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HIGHEST EVER WELCOME BONUS FOR THIS CARD!

For a card that charges an annual fee of $150, you can earn 60,000 points + $200 with a single welcome bonus. Click on the link below to find out more…

CLICK HERE FOR THIS LIMITED TIME OFFER

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I always receive good service on board a flight. Sure, I have been more or less ignored on one or two flights and on others given the bare minimum of service (hi, American Airlines!) but I have never received overtly bad service. Here are some tips to help you receive great service on your flights.

Smile!

Smiling is so simple and costs nothing… plus, just about everyone looks hotter when smiling! Cabin crew enjoy serving someone who is smiling at them rather than someone who has that serial killer grimace on their face.

Travel can be stressful but remember to smile – it not only inspires people to be friendlier to you but it also makes you feel happier by association. Who knows, you might also pick up a date!

Remember Your Manners, Please! Thank You!

Cabin Crew have commented more than once about how they find me to be very polite. My parents taught me always to say please and thank you and it is amazing how many people forget this.

Are you the kind of person who watches a movie during dinner on a long haul flight? You’re probably that person who has accepted their meal or drinks without acknowledging the crew. It is common courtesy to remove your headphones when the crew arrive to deliver your meal and to thank them for doing so with a smile. I have had two hour movies take three hours due to this but it’s worth it.

Sitting in the window seat and the crew has to deliver your tray over two other people? Reach out and take it from them. Cabin crew do enough bending and stretching and a little help is always appreciated.

While one of the aspects of their job is to ensure your safety serve your meals and so on, they are human beings as well, so treat them as such. Your crew always appreciate a little common courtesy.

Attitude Is Key To Great Service

Everything you do makes people form an impression of what kind of person you are. The way you dress, your attitude, the way you interact – people subconsciously tally this up and judge you. Are the crew making a small joke or wanting a little banter? Join in, laugh at the joke – at least smile appreciatively – it won’t kill you.

The aim is to make someone else’s day a bit lighter – and for a person who has to serve lots of people, anything to lighten the mood is welcome. A great attitude is infectious and your fellow passengers will appreciate this too. Everyone benefits when people are in a good mood, so be the one who helps cultivate this.

Overall Thoughts

You might be reading this and think, “I’m always nice on flights – that doesn’t get me anywhere!” – but are you really? Take a good long hard look at the way you act on board a flight – really analyse it. If you are someone who constantly receives bad service, it’s probably not the airline, it’s probably you.

Not only does great attitude, politeness and smiling result in good service, you sometimes might get goodies too! I have received gifts from the crew more than once so you never know what you might end up with at the end of a flight – all for doing things that cost you nothing.

How do you find things when you fly? Do you get great service or are you routinely treated like garbage? Thanks for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

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Featured image and Qatar Airways service via the oneworld Alliance.
Smiling and happy passengers via Aer Lingus.

SouthWest saved the day twice after I was on 3 different flights that I got cancelled from on the same night !!

The background:

I was in Las Vegas hoping to head home after a week of work. I was on AA flight 1871 flying at 16h50 and landing at about 21h30 in Dallas.

That was the start of a very intense evening which ended with me being on all those flights that got cancelled, buying points to top up my balance and then landing at Love Field at 01h20 in the morning. Of course on any normal Saturday morning after a week away this would have been fine. Get home late, sleep late and then carry on with my weekend.

But no!

A quiet weekend away with my wife ?:

This was the weekend I had arranged to fly to Palm Springs at 07h20 on Saturday morning with my wife for a weekend getaway. The dates ended up being chosen by work restrictions and the fact that I had a 50,000 point voucher from Marriott Bonvoy which was expiring on 26 May.

I had had 3 x 50,000 point vouchers, using the first 2 for nights at the St Regis in Bangkok. I would recommend everyone to stay at this hotel sometime, it was wonderful.

As a result of this I thought to myself, “why not stay at a local St Regis hotel ?”. Well, not so easy. It seems it costs much more to stay at most US based St Regis hotels. My surprise was that it cost 88,000 points per night to stay at the St Regis, Palm Springs on the dates I wanted. I was quite shocked by this, I cannot fathom how that hotel would be double as good as the one in Bangkok seeing as it was costing double the points.

So I carried on looking and then saw the Westin, Rancho Mirage, Resort and Spa. It seemed to be a nice resort type hotel with spa and golf course and pool complex so I booked it. (There will be a separate review of our stay at this Westin.) We booked 2 tickets on SouthWest using my wife’s Companion Pass and so were ready to fly from Dallas but now I am stuck in Las Vegas.

Back to me trying to leave Las Vegas:

I was booked on AA flight 1871 departing at 16h50 and landing at about 21h30. Then the delay messages started. First AA 1871 delayed to 17h08. Then AA 1871 delayed to 18h00. And AA 1871 delayed to 18h50. Finally AA 1871 delayed to 19h05.

I was staying at the Wynn and had arranged checkout for 15h30. I had originally planned to leave the hotel at 14h15 to drop off the rental car and then check-in for the flight. As each delay happened I was able to stay on in my room waiting. Once the delay to 18h50 happened I got worried that the flight might end up being cancelled. Now some of the next time details might not be 100% accurate as it got a bit complicated from here on but I will list it as I remember. On the app I tried to book a flight which was flying at 18h00 but for some reason it put my booking on hold, it would not confirm the flight.

I rushed off to the airport, totally forgetting that the car rental place in Las Vegas is a ways away from the airport. So I had to deviate to the car rental return place, check the car back in, wait in line for the bus to the airport and then ride the bus. All the while my battery was draining from 20% power left. After having to pause while I was driving I was back trying to confirm the flight. I was not able to and it eventually disappeared from my list.

The lovely gate agent Miriama:

I was told by the lovely American Airlines agent named Miriama that it was because I had not confirmed within 30 minutes. That is all good and well but my MyCWT site was convinced that I was on the flight and kept on giving me updates on the progress of the flight. Well, that flight was also eventually cancelled.

By now I had been informed that there were intense thunderstorms over Texas and there were all sorts of delays because of flights not being able to land or take off from Dallas. I was convinced that I was not going to get to Dallas in time for my flight to Palm Springs at 07h20. Sometime around this time my original flight AA 1871 was also cancelled.

I had by now taken over Miriama’s counter as I was asking her about either flights to Dallas after midnight or flights directly from Las Vegas to Palm Springs. Interestingly American does not fly to Palm Springs from Las Vegas even though it is so close. I would have to take an indirect flight. There was one via Miami. Yes Miami. I would have to fly to the other side of the country to get a flight to Palm Springs. I was not sure if that was a good idea as in a worst case scenario I could even hire a rental car and get to Palm Springs quicker.

Flying to Dallas after midnight !

So by that point because of the original cancellation American now had me rescheduled on AA flight AA 2649 which was to take off at 05h00 and land at DFW at 09h30. That was no good. Now I was dealing with agent Tina who was also lovely and helpful. She got me cancelled from AA 2649 and tried to help me get booked on AA 2526 that looked like it would take off at 00h30 and get me to Dallas by about 05h15. My wife could then pick me up at DFW and we could go on to Love Field for our SouthWest flight to Palm Springs at 07h20. Cutting it fine but still feasible.

By now there were flights being cancelled all over the board as one by one flights were not taking off from Dallas and so were not going to be landing at Las Vegas in time for their onward flight. The thunderstorms in Dallas were scheduled to run until around midnight and so with pilots and flight crews running out of time there were not going to be many flights from Dallas until the normally scheduled flights on Saturday morning. Unluckily AA 2526 also got cancelled.

SouthWest to my rescue:

Now SouthWest would save the day for the first time.

By now I was thinking about other ways to get to Dallas and so I thought about SouthWest. I tried to book a flight on SW 611 departing at about 17h35 and landing at about 22h10 but did not have enough points. So there I was sitting against the wall in Las Vegas airport where I know there is a secret wall plug that I can use to power up my phone (which by this time was down to about 3% power). In 2009 I had first used this spot to power my computer watching movies overnight while I waited for a normally booked flight at 8am after I had arrived in Vegas at 9pm. I have used it many times since. It is one of the few power plugs available outside security.

I bought 6000 points for $90, which was normally $180 dollars but there was a sale on. Lucky me !!! Back to my booking. Luckily the Southwest points updated quickly and I was able to go ahead with booking flight SW 611.

Then the delays started with this flight too. SW 611 delayed to 18h54.

Departure board at about 18h30

Then SW 611 delayed to 19h18.

SW 611 delayed to 20h06.

Departure board at 20h55

On this board you can see there are at least 14 flights delayed by more than an hour and 3 flights cancelled.

I had every expectation that this SouthWest flight would also be cancelled. But it wasn’t. Eventually a plane pulled into the gate and we were told to start boarding at about 19h48. Strangely enough with all the people affected by the cancellations this flight was only 2/3 full.

Quite empty rear of the aircraft

As a result of the flight being so late there were some taxi delays and we eventually took off at about 20h50. We landed at Love Field at about 01h20 and parked at Gate 12.

My flight arrived at gate 12

There was still a lot of activity at the airport at that time because of all the people impacted by the storm. My flight was still flying on to Kansas City at about 01h55 (only 2 hours late) and the passengers were drearily waiting to board.

Gate 12 at 01h20 in the morning

On walking out to the baggage area there were so many passengers draped all over couches and leaning against walls watching videos or sleeping. They had all been affected by the delays and were waiting for the next morning.

I waited for my luggage, called a Lyft driver and got home at about 02h20, then hopped into bed and slept for 2 hours before getting up in time to leave for the airport at 5.

SouthWest to the big rescue:

Now SouthWest would save the day for everyone.

Under every normal circumstance I would not have experienced what I did at Love Field that morning. I would still have been tucked up in bed catching up on sleep but for my trip to Palm Springs at 07h20..

On arriving at the terminal it was unbelievable how many people were there. There were about a hundred people in line to be helped by the counter agents. There were also about 80 people in line to check in their bags and this was in the section where you self check in, print the tag, attach it yourself and then stand in a (normally) short line to have your id checked and have the bag checked in.

SouthWest had brought in all the troops:

The really cool thing was I could see that SouthWest had pulled out all the stops. There were agents at every counter to help with re-bookings and to help with checking bags.

And then security. All the security gates were manned, every x-ray machine was active and there were agents everywhere. There were hundreds of people in the general line and my wife joined the end of that line. I went through TSA-Pre, there were at least 30 people ahead of me but the line went smoothly. The general line was interesting to watch. There was a continual movement of people moving forward.

I imagine SouthWest had called almost every employee they could gather to be at Love Field so early to help that Saturday morning. It was a very impressive performance by everyone involved. I did not see any passengers getting upset, and I am sure that was because they could see that the lines for baggage and security were moving so quickly and smoothly. I waited about 15 or so minutes and my wife came through normal security. There were more than a hundred people in line before her and it took her less than 20 minutes to get through the id check line and then through the security machines. I have seen lines like that take over an hour in Orlando.

There were many flights taking off early, I am not sure if SouthWest had booked extra flights or not, it definitely seemed like it.

Our plane to Palm Springs via Phoenix took off on time.

Congratulations SouthWest:

So well done SouthWest after the intense thunderstorms. You handled it very well and those few thousand people on Saturday morning must have been very grateful for your actions. It was a job very well done.

Currently the Amman based carrier operates two Embraer 175 aircraft, which I had the pleasure of flying on in 2008. They also have two of the larger Embraer 195s, which I also took a business class flight in the same year.

The Embraer E2 Series

According to Azorra’s press release, four E190-E2 and two E195-E2 will be leased for 12 years. The first two regional jets are due for delivery in December 2023. An additional pair of E195-E2s were ordered directly from the manufacturer.

The new E195-E2 at Royal Jordanian will seat 12 passengers in Crown Class and 108 in Economy Class. The E190-E2 will also have 12 up front with just 80 seats in the back. In keeping with the premium nature of the airline, there will be mood lighting, leather seats and Wi-Fi installed.

Once delivered, the updated aircraft will replace the fleet of four first generation Embraers currently in service and allow for expansion. Samer Majali, Royal Jordanian’s current CEO, states the new planes offer 25% fuel savings versus the ones flying now. Various reasons also influenced the decision such as pilot training and common spare parts.

It’s interesting to see the CEO return to the helm of the airline. During his previous tenure between 2001 and 2009, the airline recorded some of its best financial performance. Let’s hope this happens again!

Overall Thoughts

Royal Jordanian are an airline I have fond memories of as I flew multiple flights with them back in 2007 and 2008. I really need to get back to Jordan, a country I thoroughly enjoyed visiting.

As far as oneworld airlines go, they tend to be overshadowed by some of the larger carriers. However they more than hold their own against the big boys and if you get a chance, fly them.

What do you think of this Embraer E2 order from RJ? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

Like planes? See my “Does anyone remember” series.
Flight reviews your thing? Mine are all indexed here.
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Featured image by Fabrizio Gandolfo on JetPhotos.net via Wikimedia Commons.
E195 image via Aviation Spotting.