4th of July trip update

Update: my email to United Customer service is answered!  In fact, I received a phone call (which I believe is the first time that United CS has reached out this way - typically it's through email).

Along with a refund of my original ticket, they also included a voucher for future travel.  Very nice of them to recognize what happened and try to make it better.  It doesn't completely make up for losing time at home but I can look for another weekend to travel coming up.  The CS agent also described the cancellations as a possible "schedule reduction".  If that's the case, then someone at United isn't thinking: why would you do that on a holiday weekend??

My 4th of July trip home that wasn't

Very rarely do I get frustrated about air travel in general. There are often variables that can't be controlled and generally I've had great success with getting to places around the world (case and point last November when we went around the world with no cancellations/delays).  This weekend, though, was an exception.

I was due to fly home for a family get together, picking up my grandparents along the way since they can't drive.  We had planned this trip for some time and with holiday flight costs being high I carefully planned to take advantage of the time.

The NJ transit train to Newark went quickly and so did check-in via Pre Check.  I was just about ready to do the bus transfer to Terminal A when Tripit showed that my flight to Milwaukee was cancelled.  Just like that.  No bad weather at the time.  Beautiful sun on the horizon.

I hopped off and went back into Terminal C and the customer service desk which honestly was a terrible idea.  There were only 5 of us in line and four agents.  Except the four agents became three and 45 minutes later I was still in the same spot in line with about 100 people having joined.  I decided United phone support was probably going to be faster and made the call.  20 minutes later a nice agent answered but I found out quickly she was not at all informed.  Example (in paraphrase):

Her: Hm, yes, so, let me see what I can do to get you to Milwaukee.  Right now I'm not seeing anything until July 3rd.
Me: O'hare or Cleveland would be options but I looked already and didn't see any airlines showing to Milwaukee.
Her: Hm, ok, sir. Well.  Would Austin work for you on the 2nd?
Me: Austin? As in Texas?
Her: Yes.
Me: I don't think that's a possibility.  How do I get to Milwaukee from there?
Her:  Oh. Ok. Well, let me look.  Hm.  Well, sir, how about LAX, is that close for you?
Me: LAX?  Los Angeles?  No, that is not a close option. I would have to fly across the country and back.
Her:  Oh, ok, sir.  Let me see...

Needless to say this was quite a poor experience.  And I don't blame United for the plane issue since this is a holiday weekend with many people traveling, though I'm perplexed to know why they would cancel three out of five flights to Milwaukee.  They can do better.  I'm really bummed that my grandparents and I couldn't get up north after all this planning.  Hopefully I can find a time in the coming weeks to go back.

Hyatt Credit Card Signup bonus changing 6/29/17

One of the better credit card signup bonuses available for the last number of years has been the Hyatt Card from Chase.  By signing up and meeting the spend requirement you receive two free nights that can be used at any Hyatt worldwide.  This includes Category 7 properties such as the Paris Vendome or my preferred hotel in Europe, the Park Hyatt Zurich.

It appears this bonus is changing 6/29/17 - per CC Guide.

Changing to points will mean less value since the point value to redeem for Category 7 rooms will be more than the bonus change.

Take advantage now and sign up before the two free nights deal is gone!

Breaking News: Qatar to buy stake in American?

Just reported, Qatar Airways has expressed interest in buying up to a 10% stake in American Airlines.

More to come...

Update: An excellent article providing more analysis of this news is available here.

Castles and Scotland

One of my still to do items in the UK is to visit Hadrian's wall - while I've shared this in a prior post, I also enjoy finding and visiting castles.  I've never been to Scotland though recently found an excellent resource if you're looking for castles to visit in northern England:

From the Culture Trip: Castles

Flying into Heathrow for these is still a bit expensive for both miles and/or regular tickets. It may be easier to find a deal to get you into Manchester or Edinburgh and then drive to many of the locations.