brunei extravaganza: part 1 -- exiting london, global entry strategies, and secondary searches

i had the chance to actually travel the itinerary that i booked and wrote about, heading from london, ontario to singapore, and then back again to vancouver. i see these trip reports all the time. i didn't have the foresight to actually take enough pictures to make it trip-report worthy, but i figured that i might as well post the pictures anyway.

this will be broken into parts.

part 1: yxu-ord, ord-hkg-sin

yxu-ord
i had to book a cab to head from the london hotel to the airport. in london, you can either go by the regular metered cabs or the chartered cabs. the chartered cabs run based on zones and are easier to get. they are also the only ones that are allowed to pick up passengers from the airport. the driver assured me that the rates are roughly the same except it's less stressful to be charged based on zones because you weren't constantly worried about the lights. i didn't really care -- i spent $50 to get to my hotel, and i spent another $50 to get to the airport.

london airport is a cute, small airport. it is reminiscent of the old brunei international airport where all the boarding gates share the same seating area. the check-in counter for united was manned by air canada. united runs the crj's between london and chicago twice daily, and these planes don't have business class. for that matter, air canada typically runs non-business class planes between the two cities. so when i walked into the premier check in lane, it felt a bit odd, especially since there was a long line for the economy lane.

the flight boarded quickly and left on time. it was uneventful. there was no need to take a picture of an economy class seat.

ord (5 hour layover)
typically traveling from either calgary or vancouver, i've become used to the pre-clearance facilities. in chicago, i ended up clearing US immigration there. i used my global entry access, but because i was carrying food (granola bars, lots of nuts), i checked yes to the question where they asked if i had any food with me. tip: their computer system cannot differentiate between you checking yes to food versus livestock, and i think firearms. and it was very clear that the border agent didn't know the system either. he kept asking why i checked "yes" to having livestock with me. i kept telling him that i answered yes only to food but he didn't believe me.

it was the very first time in my adult life that they sent me to secondary. which consisted of an x-ray. where they indeed found my granola bars that i kept for airplane snacks. and they let me keep it.

if i were to have done it all over again, i would have just stood in the regular line because at 7am, the lines aren't all that long. and i don't think i would have been sent to secondary.

i had to exit the secure zone, transfer terminals, and re-clear security. i went to the united lounge in concourse C (of terminal 1) while i waited for the flight. i honestly wished that i could have went to a different airline lounge, but the terminal was pretty much a united-only zone. so no luck.

flight ua895 began boarding on time, and left on time. next post: my 16 hour journey to hong kong.

an important rule of award travel: check back frequently for new availability

the most important rule, of course, is when you don't like the answer you're getting, you should hang up and try your call again. because more often than not, the agent isn't very clear on the rules themselves. or they are overly hopeful that the system will passively work out the kinks to your reservation without any further encouragement.

the scenario
i had booked an aeroplan award to asia. the itinerary at the time was:
london, ontario to chicago (yxu-ord) on united (ua), economy
chicago to singapore on united, business class (with same-plane stop in hong kong)

on the return, i had:
singapore to hong kong on singapore airlines, economy class
hong kong to beijing on air china, economy class
beijing to vancouver on on air canada, business class

i paid 125,000 miles and $323 in taxes for that ticket.

what made me think about changing my flights
my dad was playing around with some of his award tickets, and he said that he had lucked out and found business class space for his air canada award flight. because he had paid for a business class redemption, they were able to upgrade him on the same flight for free.

i was telling this to my friend over dinner one night, and he said that i should keep on checking back. he said that business class space opens up over time and that i should keep on looking for business class space on the return. "you already paid for it," he reminds me.

and so approximately two weeks before my departure date, i took another look. and then i found this for the return:
singapore to osaka on singapore airlines, business class
osaka to seoul on asiana, business class
seoul to vancouver on air canada, business class

the times were a bit different, and it let me eliminate the need for a hotel in singapore on my return. and i was okay with that.

on making changes, and on following the golden rules:
i immediately called aeroplan, and they were able to protect space and make the change for me. i paid an additional $102 in taxes and $94.50 in change fees. it didn't change over right away. they said "ticketing" needed to confirm it. they didn't call me back like they were supposed to. apparently, they were just sitting on it. for a whole week. and the award space was showing up as gone. so i called back to make confirm what had happened. the second rule happens even after you book your flight or make changes: keep checking to make sure they actually made the changes. just because you give them your credit card and just because you lose the points in your account, it isn't a guarantee that they book the tickets. you would think that it is, but it isn't.

and the agent, on wednesday (departure date for the award was sunday), kept telling me to wait a few more days. "ticketing" would work it out by then. she found award space on a different routing, all in business class, but less convenient timing, and she asked if i wanted to switch to that one instead. she couldn't guarantee me that the same problem that happened with my original change wouldn't happen again. so then i chose to employ the first golden rule in a different form: keep asking for a manager until you get one. i think i ended up saying, "thanks, can i please speak with your manager?" five times in tandem until she finally relented. the manager came. and then it was fixed.

the value per aeroplan point went up!
so what happens to the overall value of the award? initially, i had calculated an award value of 4.13 cents per aeroplan point redeemed. for an additional $196.50 in taxes, i got a fully business class itinerary. the asking price was $6530 on united's website using similar airlines. i paid out $519.50 in taxes and change fees for my "free ticket", so really, i saved $6,010.50. because i spent 125,000 points, each point was then calculated to be worth 4.81 cents per mile. a slightly better valuation.

if you think that business class tickets are overpriced, you may choose to value it at 75% of the revenue ticket cost. in this case, my overall rate of return drops to 3.60 cents per mile. still not too bad.

lessons learned:

1. check back frequently to see if more business class reward space opens up
2. check back frequently to make sure that your tickets are actually booked if changes need to be made
3. managers tend to have more power in getting things done than the first person you speak with on the phone

links from the web: 10 free airmiles, 100 free hyatt points, aeroplan decreasing earnings on united flights

1) taken from smart canucks, you can fill in this 5-question survey re: transportation options in the greater toronto area for 10 airmiles. this is limited to the first 12,000 respondents. it's easy and probably not intended for everyone to do, but i couldn't say no to a freebie. the direct link is here.

2) from view from the wing, hyatt is offering a free 100 points to celebrate chinese new year. the direct link is here. it's good until february 15, 2014.

3) canadian kilometers notes that aeroplan has now decreased the number of miles earned on united flights. united flights used to earn at least 100% across all fare classes, but effective april 1, 2014, the cheapest fares go down to 50%. on the upside, those who are willing to spend money on the more expensive classes and products (including business and first) will receive higher earning rates. the net impact for me: future possibilities of earning status on air canada just became that much harder. the most important thing is that asiana doesn't follow suit. at the time of writing, so far, they haven't.

50% bonus base miles on all american airlines and us airways flights until march 2, 2014

everyone knows that american and us airways are merging. we know that us airways is maintaining its own frequent flyer program before merging with american. we know that until march 1, us airways will exit the star alliance on march 30, 2014 and then join the oneworld alliance on march 31, 2014. at some later date, the programs will be merged into the american program. it's a unique proposition because this means that effectively, all star alliance miles can be credited towards a oneworld program.

in my e-mail, i received an offer from american airlines. for every us airways flight that you credit towards the aadvantage program, you will receive a 50% bonus on the base mileage (or minimum mileage, if applicable). this is only for flights operated by us airways and its subsidiaries. it is also good for flights marketed by american airlines but operated by us airways. registration prior to march 2, 2014 is required. the bonus is applicable for flights taken between january 13, 2014 and march 2, 2014. so it's best to register anyway just in case.

on the us airways website, there is a reciprocal offer for crediting american airline operated flights to the us dividend mileage program. same terms and conditions. registration is required and can be done so here.

what this means is that until march 2, 2014, when flying on either of these carriers, you get a 50% bonus. i think it's a great deal if:

• you currently have no status and will likely not achieve status for the year
• you currently have star alliance status and have enough travel planned to be able to safely divert some star alliance miles into the aadvantage
• you do not receive much of a elite bonus when flying us airways

i probably won't be taking advantage of this offer given that none of my destinations are really us airways destinations. also, i always cut it close when qualifying for star gold status with asiana airlines, so i can't really afford to lose out on any of those extra qualifying miles. despite that, i'm sure that this promo will be helpful for some.

so i bought my way to starwood platinum status last year ...

last year, despite a car accident washington state, i decided to run for platinum status with starwood. i had planned an 8-stay mattress run between seattle and portland but that was cut short after just two nights. so i was left with a 6 night deficit.

i called the sheraton portland airport the monday of my accident to tell them that i wouldn't be able to make it in that night. given that it wasn't a prepaid rate, they were kind enough to cancel the reservation without penalty despite being past the cancellation period. i called the four points by sheraton portland east to ask if i could cancel my award stay for the following day, despite being past the cancellation deadline. they kindly agreed to refund me the points as well.

however, a few days later, i realized that the four points had charged me a $135 no show rate while giving me a stay credit at the same time for it. i called in to the office and it was eventually all sorted out. i was certain that they'd also reverse the stay credit, but they didn't.

so i was in this odd position of only needing 5 extra stay credits in the month of december to earn platinum status. and i decided to go for it.

total cost:

• i stayed at various hotels within my own cities (vancouver and calgary). i did not include the cost of time, nor did i include the cost of "embarrassment."
• each paid hotel night cost roughly $130 on average after taxes. i had one category 3 hotel stay at 7,000 points. i stayed six nights (thus six stays) in total just in case they decided to reverse that extra stay credit (which they didn't end up doing). because i get a 2% rebate on my no-fee mbna mastercard, the cash portion went down to $637. 
• when redeeming for category 2 hotels, you can easily get a 3 cent per point return. therefore, 7,000 points is equal to $210.
• total cost: $847.
• i also took into consideration the fact that throughout the year, i split up numerous trips into multiple stays (e.g., two different hotels over the weekend instead of staying all throughout).

utility of the mattress run:

• two of those nights were for date night purposes with the +1. by staying in downtown calgary one night, we went out for drinks without having to worry about the $60 cab fare home. we enjoyed the free breakfast in the lounge which i would value at $10 each. we also enjoyed the free evening appetizers which i would value at $5 each. total value for that night out was $90.

benefits:

• i was one night away from their 2013 third trimester promo bonus (double points, and 2,500 points until december 15). so for two of my nights, i got 492 double points and 2,500 bonus points, for a total of 2,992 points.
• all of my extra stays were either sheraton or westins. as a gold member, i received 250 points for each stay except for my last one, where i opted for a movie instead (valued at $16.79). if we value the movie at 500 points, that means that i received 1,750 points.
• all of my stays received a base 3 starpoints per dollar spent before taxes. i received 1,755 starpoints.
• i think i received an extra 118 starpoints out of error. but i honestly am not motivated enough to go through all my statements to confirm.
• in total, i received 6,497 points, which would be equal to $195.

future quantifiable benefits:

• i expect that i will have 25 stays in the 2014 year, at a 1:1 ratio between hotels that offer a 250 point platinum amenity bonus or 500 point amenity bonus. this is an additional 125 to 250 bonus points compared to the gold amenity. thus, i expect to earn 187.5 extra point being average per stay. this works out to 4,687 extra platinum points this year. that's worth $140.
• there is guaranteed internet access as a platinum. in america, despite having my mobile internet hospot from walmart, hotel wifi is generally faster and more convenient. as a gold member, you can have free internet in exchange for your gold amenity. for westin and sheraton, this is worth 250 points. therefore, for my 12 westin/sheraton stays a year, i will get the equivalent of 3,000 points. this is worth $90. (the rest of my stays are at four points, where they have free wifi for everyone).
• as a platinum, i'll have access to continental breakfast for two as one of my amenity choices, which i don't value very much because i'm not a continental breakfast kind of guy. therefore, i'd take the points instead.
• as a platinum, i have access to the sheraton club lounges where available. sometimes there are great free hot food options during evening hours (sheraton eau claire calgary), usually, it's just free morning breakfast for two. my AAA rate usually gives me free breakfast at the sheratons that i stay at anyway, so this isn't really a benefit to me. the free beverages (i save on buying coffee for two) is probably $5 a night. at 12 sheraton nights a year, that's worth $60.
• total quantifiable benefit: $290, possibly more if i stay at a sheraton that doesn't give me free breakfast with the AAA rate.

qualitative benefits:

• upgrades to best available room, including suites. however, upon check in to the sheraton bellevue just now, they simply put me on a club floor. it's really nothing fancy.
• access to the platinum concierge service, which i apparently can't use unless i'm overseas.
• access to the platinum call center.

total analysis:
i spent $847. i had $90 in savings, i got back $195 in points, and $290 in other quantifiable benefits. this equates to a $272 investment for a year of platinum. it's not as much as my mileage run 3 years ago that earned me star gold status with asiana airlines. the quantifiable benefits of star gold status were clearly worth it. however, we will see whether the qualitative benefits of starwood platinum status is worth it.