United
Airlines
|
American
Airlines
| |
January
|
Premier Qualifying Miles – 7,726
Premier Qualifying Segments – 4
Redeemable Miles – 15,452
|
Elite Qualifying Miles – 54,942
Elite Qualifying Segments – 11
Redeemable Miles – 46,158
|
February
|
Premier Qualifying Miles – 12,924
Premier Qualifying Segments – 8
Redeemable Miles – 27,146
|
Elite Qualifying Miles – 20,692
Elite Qualifying Segments – 8
Redeemable Miles – 58,952
|
March
|
Premier Qualifying Miles – 21,961
Premier Qualifying Segments – 12
Redeemable Miles – 43,922
|
Elite Qualifying Miles – 11,712
Elite Qualifying Segments – 4
Redeemable Miles – 17,568
|
April
|
Premier Qualifying Miles – 16,382
Premier Qualifying Segments – 10
Redeemable Miles – 35,622
|
None
|
Totals to Date
|
Premier Qualifying Miles – 58,993
Premier Qualifying Segments – 34
Redeemable Miles – 122,142
|
Premier Qualifying Miles – 86,346
Premier Qualifying Segments – 23
Redeemable Miles – 122,678
|
May
|
DFW-HNL
|
DFW-OKC DFW-TUL DFW-SFO-JFK |
Remainder Needed
|
Premier Qualifying Miles – 41,007
Premier Qualifying Segments – 86
|
Elite Qualifying Miles – 13,654
Elite Qualifying Segments – 67
|
Monday, April 30, 2012
Journey to Top Elite Status on American and United Airlines UPDATE April 2012
After traveling this past month that had me travel every week. I had nothing planned on
American (revenue ticket) but used AA miles on a week-long Cathay Pacific trip to China at the end of the month. I did 2 turns to Hawaii on United the first half of April. I also had a DFW-HNL trip plus DFW-ITO on United...
here's my progress to American Airlines Executive Platinum Status and
United Premier 1K status for 2013 benefits so far through April 30th.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Up to 25,000 Bonus Miles on United Airlines PROMO
United Airlines is running a "Map Your Dreams" promotion in which the lucky recipients of the targeted offer can earn up to 25,000 bonus award miles based on future travel on United.
The most common offer is:
Here's the fine print of the offer:
The most common offer is:
- 1 Roundtrip: 5,000 Redeemable Miles bonus
- 2 Roundtrip: 10,000 Redeemable Miles bonus
- 4 Roundtrip: 25,000 Redeemable Miles bonus
Here's the fine print of the offer:
1. Offer valid only for original recipients of email or direct mail invitation.
2. To qualify, register for the offer before travel, then purchase and complete paid qualifying roundtrips to any destination worldwide on United– or United Express®–operated flights.
3. Ticketing period: 04/15/12 through 07/15/12.
4. Travel period: 04/15/12 through 07/15/12, excluding 07/03/12–07/05/12.
5. On specific number of paid qualifying roundtrip flights (as outlined in the offer) members can earn 5,000 bonus award miles, 10,000 bonus award miles or up to a maximum of 25,000 bonus award miles.
6. Bonus award miles do not count toward Premier® status and do not apply to class-of-service, Premier bonus miles or promotional Premier qualifying miles (PQM).
7. Offer is not valid on United-marketed codeshare flights operated by other carriers.
8. Offer is not valid on government fares.
9. A roundtrip is defined as travel from an origin city to a destination city with return travel beginning in the destination city back to the origin city.
10. Offer is not combinable and can be earned a maximum of one time. Bonus is credited 6–8 weeks after promotion end date of 07/15/12.
11. E-Ticket® purchase required. Tickets purchased in the US through United Reservations are subject to a $25 ticketing fee, and tickets purchased at airport ticket counters are subject to a $30 ticketing fee. Fees subject to change.
12. Flight activity must be posted to the member’s MileagePlus account in order to qualify for this offer.
13. Offer is subject to change without notice. Other restrictions may apply.
14. Miles accrued, awards issued and bonus offers are subject to the rules of the United MileagePlus program. For complete details about the MileagePlus program, go to united.com.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Star Alliance Mega-Trip 2012: Cathay Pacific Lounge (The Arrival)
Star Alliance Mega-Trip 2012
I had hoped for an early arrival into Hong Kong so I could check in with Asiana Airlines and get my boarding pass to Tokyo via Seoul about 12 hours later. It did appear online that the earliest I could check in was 8PM for my 1AM flight but I will try to see at the transfer desk if I could get my boarding passes at least and also check in my luggage. If it is not possible, I will leave my luggage with the left luggage service at HKG and then take the Airport Express into the city to grab a Hard Rock Café Shirt and also to take the ferry into Macau to get a shirt there as well. This would allow me to visit Macau 2 times: both my first and last as it is apparently THE PLACE to gamble and I have no desire to return soon.
There was a lounge rest area, luggage hold area, small dining area, a few cubicles, and a café area. There were 3 PCs (with printers) and 3 MACs were available for use. I took the time to use the wifi and make a few phone calls. Then I printed off a 3 day itinerary from Frommer’s for touristy ideas for my 3 days in Tokyo along with directions to/from the Conrad.
t.
Conrad Tokyo
Cathay Pacific Lounge (The Arrival)
I had hoped for an early arrival into Hong Kong so I could check in with Asiana Airlines and get my boarding pass to Tokyo via Seoul about 12 hours later. It did appear online that the earliest I could check in was 8PM for my 1AM flight but I will try to see at the transfer desk if I could get my boarding passes at least and also check in my luggage. If it is not possible, I will leave my luggage with the left luggage service at HKG and then take the Airport Express into the city to grab a Hard Rock Café Shirt and also to take the ferry into Macau to get a shirt there as well. This would allow me to visit Macau 2 times: both my first and last as it is apparently THE PLACE to gamble and I have no desire to return soon.
I
went to the lounge and was shocked to find out that I left my boarding pass
from my Dragon Air flight at the transfer desk.
Luckily, the agent was able to locate me in her computer system based on
what flight I was on and I still had the lounge invite from my inbound
flight. I presented her with my AA
Executive Platinum card (after she asked for my Cathay Pacific Marco Polo card
that I do not have) and was allowed in immediately. I was a little surprised to see how small it
was. The buffet selection was not
extensive: soup, bread, salads, fruit, chips, peanuts, cookies, and a few
sandwiches. The drinks included coffee,
tea, Coke, Sprite, and Coke Zero. Later,
I was presented a menu for the mains offered: noodles, Japanese Bento box,
fried fish with potatoes, and penne pasta.
I was also a choice of juices: watermelon (my choice), carrot, apple, or
orange.
I
went with a little bit of salad and break to started, followed by the server
bringing me noodles and later the fried fish entree. While the food was not bad, it was not to my
taste exactly. I was very pleased with
the BBQ pork served at the G16 lounge the last time I was at HKIA heading off
to LAX. They had 8 shower rooms
available but no separate bathroom facilities (make sense due to maximizing
space).
There was a lounge rest area, luggage hold area, small dining area, a few cubicles, and a café area. There were 3 PCs (with printers) and 3 MACs were available for use. I took the time to use the wifi and make a few phone calls. Then I printed off a 3 day itinerary from Frommer’s for touristy ideas for my 3 days in Tokyo along with directions to/from the Conrad.
 |
| Buffet Area |
 |
| Fish Entree |
 |
| Sandwiches and Chips |
Based
on the way the scheduling of the Friendly Limousine Service (big bus) worked, I
will take the Airport Express train to Tokyo station and then go on foot/taxi
to the Conrad. For the return, I will
take the first bus service to the Airport for my departure. This being my first time in Tokyo, I am very
excited to be visiting it as it has been on my list of places to visit for the
longest time.
Star Alliance Mega-Trip 2012: Business Class on Dragon Air to HKG
Star Alliance Mega-Trip 2012
I
woke up at 9:15AM for my 11:25AM flight to Hong Kong and luckily had most of my
luggage packed the night before so the only things left were easy to pack. I arrived at the airport at about 10:20AM and
immediately went to desk 75 for the Dragon Air Business Class Check-in. Checking in, getting my boarding pass, lounge
invitation, and having my luggage checked took about 5 minutes. I did comment to the agent that my inbound
luggage took forever despite having priority tags and she told me that they
would let the station manager know about the issue. I also inquired about the agents about not
being able to tag my luggage to my destination last time and she told me that it
should not have been an issue.
Going through immigration and to the departure area took about 5 minutes due to the fact that the officers took forever flipping through my passport. She saw that my China visa had expired and wanted to make sure I did not over stay my 60 days within the country. Security check was not a hassle since I did not have any liquids and I took my lap top out. At 10:30AM, I was at the departure area waiting on my plane B-HTG as passengers were still alighting. The boarding time was scheduled for 10:45AM and we stated boarding20 minutes later.
t.
Conrad Tokyo
Business Class on Dragon Air to HKG
Going through immigration and to the departure area took about 5 minutes due to the fact that the officers took forever flipping through my passport. She saw that my China visa had expired and wanted to make sure I did not over stay my 60 days within the country. Security check was not a hassle since I did not have any liquids and I took my lap top out. At 10:30AM, I was at the departure area waiting on my plane B-HTG as passengers were still alighting. The boarding time was scheduled for 10:45AM and we stated boarding20 minutes later.
Since
I had visited the generic airport lounge the last time I departed from the
airport, I decided I would skip this time since it was nothing special. While it is small, it does have a decent
selection of snacks and drinks. The wifi
was lacking/not connectable the last time I visited them and there was not a
dedicated restroom at this lounge. I
wanted to keep the lounge invitation as a souvenir so I skipped the lounge and
decided to wait out the time in the general boarding area.
There
were 7 passengers in business class with me. Normally, the Airbus 320 aircraft
(Dragon Air owns 11) holds 8 passengers in Business Class. Once on board, I noticed that we were on a
bigger aircraft… the Airbus 321 (Dragon Air has 6 of these) with an expanded
Business section on 24 aircrafts.
Everyone in Business Class literally had their each own personal row/2
seats on the aircraft and with enough space to spread out. Pre-departure beverage included Dragon
Sunrise (mixed drink), orange juice, or water along with a wet napkin. We were offered newspapers and the head
purser came by to greet everyone in the cabin.
We
departed at about 20 minutes later as we waited to take off. The meal service was a choice of braised beef
with rice or grilled chicken breast. They were served a fruit plate and a
choice of roll or garlic bread. I chose
the beef and it was better than the bland fish dish I had back in October but
this time it was a bite on the salty side.
I watched an episode of Modern Family during my meal and chatted with
the flight attendants a little while. All I get is a bag of snack mix or nuts on a short domestic First Class US flight on American or United... so a full meal on a short flight is great in my books. We
arrived into Hong Kong a few minutes late and were parked at an apron position. We were shuttled by bus into the immigration
area and I proceeded to the transfer desk to see if I could get my boarding
passes for my evening flight to Seoul and then to Tokyo.
One
of the agents working at the desk told me that the Asiana representative will
be back at 2PM so I had to wait about 30 minutes. Hong Kong airport has free wifi so that
helped me pass the time to update my iphone/ipad apps, check my emails, and
play a turn on my Words with Friends games.
At about 2 PM, I proceeded to the desk and the Asiana representative was
there. She printed out my boarding
passes, gathered my claim tags from my Dragon Air luggage and had another agent
retag them with the Asiana Luggage priority tags. She told me I had to wait about 8 PM to see
what the departure gate would be for the flight and confirmed that I wanted
aisle seats on both the flights. I was
presented a lounge invitation for the CNAC lounge across from G16 (Dragon Air)
Lounge.
Based
on reviews I read online, that lounge is nothing special and I will likely use
the other lounges instead (Singapore, Thai, and United) and possibly the Plaza
Premium that I get with my Priority Pass.
Then I was on my way to the immigration, arrivals hall and headed down
to Terminal 2 to use Cathay Pacific’s The Arrival Lounge. That marks my #2 visit to HKIA (within a
year) and I only need only one more to enroll in the HKIA frequent visitor card
program so I can skip the general immigration line in the future. I only regret not researching about it before
and going through immigration and back the last 2 times I was there in
September and October of 2011 and thus would have access to the card now.
Star Alliance Mega-Trip 2012: Business Class on Dragon Air from HKG
Star Alliance Mega-Trip 2012
The business cabin had 7 passengers with 1B being empty. The purser did come by to greet each passenger individually and passed out the menu for the breakfast option. We were also offered a pre-departure beverage of smoothies, orange juice, or water. I went with the smoothie and was given a moist towelette with it.
We landed right on time and it was a short walk to customs and immigration. I had to wait about 30 minutes for my bags and even though it was tagged as First Class… I did not get my bags first and even after I got it, I had to run it through a scanner. The customs officer asked me to open my bags and after looking through it, I was out finally to the arrivals hall an hour after landing.
t.
Conrad Tokyo
Business Class on Dragon Air from HKG
The business cabin had 7 passengers with 1B being empty. The purser did come by to greet each passenger individually and passed out the menu for the breakfast option. We were also offered a pre-departure beverage of smoothies, orange juice, or water. I went with the smoothie and was given a moist towelette with it.
This
A320 flight had a flight time of 65 minutes and the breakfast service was
immediate after we reached a cruising altitude.
We had both a Chinese and Western option. The Chinese one having noodles with shrimp
and dim sum while the Western included omelet, chicken sausage, spinach, and
potato wedges. They both were served
with a fruit plate and a choice of croissant or a papaya/pineapple pastry. I felt that the egg and sausage was
flavorless so I had to asked for chili sauce to make it taste better and to go
down easier. I had more of the smoothie
and some water and after the meal service, some Hong Kong style mile tea.
We landed right on time and it was a short walk to customs and immigration. I had to wait about 30 minutes for my bags and even though it was tagged as First Class… I did not get my bags first and even after I got it, I had to run it through a scanner. The customs officer asked me to open my bags and after looking through it, I was out finally to the arrivals hall an hour after landing.
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