an upgrade at the days inn edmonton (and giving second life to dying towels)

a random post while on the road. everytime i make a trip out to calgary longer than a weekend, i tend to spend a day or two in edmonton. it breaks up the long stretch of days without people to see during the day and i get to see a few friends up here as well.

i try to stay in the downtown region because it's close to my friends, a short walk down to the bar/restaurant scene (whyte ave, akin to calgary's 17th avenue), and because it's a reasonably safe place to be.

the last time i went up there, i posted about where i was thinking about staying, and ended up opting for the days inn via hotels.com. there's a starwood property in the heart of downtown, but at $200 + $26 parking a night + tax, i felt the better deal was just to stay at the days inn again for roughly $111 + tax. no points or anything other than a hotelrewards credit valued at 10% off.

i don't have high expectations for the days inn chain. i just know that they're usually clean, basic, and comfortable enough. and given the price of the hotels around the area, i was happy. i was even happier with the free parking as well. so when i checked in, i was surprised to have gotten an upgrade. and such events always require pictures:

regular bed. firm but comfortable.

a kitchenette with fridge and microwave -- not something that comes standard here

a semi enclosed work station. i didn't check if the couch was a pull-out for more people

the sink outside the bathroom -- it seems like the typical arrangement for the days inns that i've been in

a cute rag is included in the room -- a cut up cloth that is now branded as the cloth that can do anything. i think of blanky from the brave little toaster

 

 

 

 

i've decided that i'm going to push for spg platinum this year. so intsead of spending two nights at the convenient days inn, i'm going to venture east of the happening part of whyte avenue to stay at the four points edmonton south for another stay credit tonight.

"i have no idea where that is," my friend tells me last night as we walk along whyte avenue, between dinner at da-de-o's and drinks at oxygen. his arms are spread wide for emphasis: "it's far from here. it's like the badlands! i don't even know if there's anything out there there!" with that in mind, i'm looking forward to being pleasantly surprised.

links from the web -- june 15, 2013

1) canadian kilometers writes about the $20 trick in vegas to get a free upgrade. this is a well-written about trick that i honestly don't know if i have the guts to try out for myself. but he tries it by slipping a $20 in his passport photo page, and innocently asking for a complimentary room upgrade to a higher floor. and it works. i'd rather get the complimentary upgrade because i've earned it with status, though.

2) hack my trip has a screen shot of the new united interface that gate agents use. it appeals to the airline enthusiast in me to figure out how they determine if involuntary denial of boardings (bumps) are required.

3) on an older note, there was a wonderful post done by a united gate agent in 2006 which described the rules as to how he would assign operational upgrades in the case where planes were oversold in the back but not in the front, or at least how they were processed. it would appear that the common held belief that schmoozing up to the gate agent makes an upgrade no more or less likely. upgrades, as he explains, are done solely to help the  company.

4) late on this, but view from the wing notes that you can get free virgin atlantic silver status. they don't have any meaningful partnerships which would impact my own travel. if they were a part of an alliance, then i would probably sign up as it would likely give me an increased free luggage allowance on those member airlines. but because they're not, and because there are no free miles being handed out here as well, it's an offer that i'll just let sit. (the benefits of silver status are here, and there is note that there may be a partnership with delta in the works).

5) from my favorite canadian deals blog, smartcanucks links to a 15-20% off coupon for all purchases at the hudsons bay company valid until sunday, jun 16, 2013. i remember how when i was growing up, that was the only place where i used to shop. pretty much now, it's still the only place i go to for household stuff.

on the road to status: sfo/hnl edition. the journey home

closing out this trip, there were two things that made the journey home especially easy and more comfortable. we were scheduled to go from hnl-sfo-yvr on a red-eye. it was booked this way (compared to direct on air canada) for the extra milage, and because i had to make use of a previous travel voucher from united.

1) tsa pre-check -- it works as advertised. more importantly, it works for nexus card holders on specific airlines traveling even on international itineraries. when they scan your boarding card, you'll hear either 3 beeps (tsa pre-check) or 1 beep (regular screening). i remember the line in SFO: the regular line extended beyond the roped area, the premier access line was still at least 20 people deep (although within the roped area), whereas the tsa pre-check line had one person in front of me. on top of the speed advantage, we:

• did not have to remove shoes
• did not have to remove belt and jacket
• did not have to take out computer and liquids. 

pre-check was equally as fun in honolulu, although not as needed. that being said, we were leaving on an earlier flight (9pm). in the past, on my 10 or 11pm flight, i have seen lines extending almost to the entrance of the actual airport itself.

apparently, you can still be randomly chosen to be sent to regular screening lines. i don't know if that is done randomly when scanning your boarding pass, or upon boarding pass issuance (i.e., by not placing the "tsa pre-check" logo on top of your boarding pass). but even if you were sent to the regular screening lines, you've at least cut the line by a significant degree.

2) economy plus access -- every inch counts. i knew that the loads coming to honolulu were a lot higher than the loads exiting. so it went without saying that i would not be getting any economy plus seats when going to hawaii as a lowly star gold member. but on the way home, i knew that the loads were a lot less busy. i was hopeful for e+ seating.

in honolulu, the lounge agent helpfully offered it to me when asked, but because it meant giving up the duo seats that we already had (in a 2-5-2 configuration) for an aisle and a middle (in that same 2-5-2 configuration), we opted to keep our seats. in san francisco, things were a bit different.

"so just to let you know, star golds no longer get complimentary access to economy plus seats." when she said that, i was kind of expecting that she wouldn't give us the extra inches of legroom for free. "i'm just letting you know so that if another agent refuses you in the future, that's why." but then she smiled and typed a bit in the computer. "but here are your new boarding passes!" it's nice to get a gift like that to make the process of coming home from hawaii just a little bit easier to take.

the joys of an upgraded room

the starwood preferred guest by american express is a nice credit card to have. i've already described its benefits in previous posts somewhat, so i won't talk about it again here. however, one of the benefits i found out about by accident two years ago was the fact that it upgrades your status to preferred plus. the three main status levels are preferred (i.e., entry level), gold, and platinum. on the starwood site, it doesn't talk about preferred plus at all. asides from having an spg-affiliated credit card, you can also get the preferred plus status by having various corporate affiliations or by being a member of your local auto association.

searching the web reveals a little bit about the preferred plus level. according to the starwood lurker on milepoint (the company representative on a frequent traveler message board), it essentially gives you gold status minus the 50% bonus points. in other words, you are entitled to:

• space available room enhancements (upgrades)
• 4pm late check-out where feasible
• a welcome gift (of bonus points or beverages etc.)

the problem with having an unpublished tier and an unpublished benefit is that whether you actually receive the benefit is hit-or-miss at the hotel. you can't pull out an official webpage or show the check-in agent your membership package that explains the benefits when those same benefits are denied. you simply have no ground to stand upon. for example, i've never gotten a welcome gift. i've been told that i was only allowed a 2pm late checkout instead of 4pm. i'm 50/50 for room upgrades. the reason for striving for gold status (or higher) is so that i can get more consistently delivered benefits that come with being a frequent stayer.

the sheraton bellevue on this trip gave me an enhanced room. they put me on a higher floor, which i suppose counts as being enhanced. the stay before that, they had upgraded my room to a sheraton club room, which meant that i had access to the sheraton club lounge with free breakfast and internet. that was a very much appreciated room upgrade that had a quantifiable monetary value.

the last time i was at the four points seattle downtown, they didn't do anything to my room. what i paid for was exactly what i had gotten: a regular room on a lower level. when we arrived today, we indeed got a room upgrade to a pseudo-suite -- all that was missing was a wall to the bedroom:

a living room with a hide-a-bed

a sink, microwave, and a fridge in the cabinet below. had we known we were getting an upgraded room, we would have bought more cold snacks from the QFC next door!

our bed with another tv, just in case your eyes weren't good enough to see the other tv located 12 feet away

the nice, spacious bathroom with two separate entrances

now that's a benefit worth striving for. as the boyfriend says, "this room is bigger than our apartment." and indeed he's right ...