The Upgrd Podcast

The Upgrd Podcast episodes:

• 09.12.2015

  UPGRD 97: Finally a Change We're Gonna Like

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast Welcome to another episode of the UPGRD podcast. In this travel podcast we discuss the recent change in management at United with Jeff Smisek's departure and a new CEO appointment.  Are you a past...

  
• 05.15.2015

  Upgrd 95: Seven AAighty Seven

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast We're back! And this week our miles and points experts discuss the inaugural American Airlines 787 flight from Dallas to Chicago. We talk about the best business class seats, the airplane and the events...

  
• 10.14.2012

  Upgrd 94: Captain Denny

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast In this frequent flyer podcast we are joined by Captain Denny to discuss customer service, the Captain Jason Dahl scholarship and frequent flyer news.  Disclaimer: The views expressed are the personal opinions of the...

  
• 02.23.2012

  Upgrd 93: Airline Predictions 2012

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast Our frequent flyers review our airline predictions from last year and prognosticate on upcoming airline and hotel promotions and changes in 2012. Although our crystal balls were somewhat clouded in 2011 a little bit...

  
• 02.03.2012

  Upgrd 92: Adiós SpanAir

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast Join our frequent flyers as we discuss the closure of SpanAir, the bankruptcy proceedings of American Airlines, and recent hotel and airline promotions including: Delta may make run at US Airways US Airways evaluates...

  
• 12.03.2011

  Upgrd 91: Airline Mileage Devaluation

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast In this week's frequent flyer travel podcast we discuss the recent airline news and changes many airline mileage programs including: US Airways 100% mile bonus is back United and Continental get single operating certicate...

  
• 10.27.2011

  Upgrd 90: End of Year Mileage Planning

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast In this frequent flyer podcast we discuss Matthew's secret connecting city, some special offers, and then answer listeners questions. Topics include: Sale on Delta Club Passes and United Club Passes Hilton's reward booking "problem"...

  
• 08.14.2011

  Upgrd 89: Method to the Madness

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast In this week's frequent flyer podcast, we are joined by Nicholas Kralev to discuss his new book Decoding Air Travel. We discuss how you can construct your own airfare by looking at the airline...

  
• 07.27.2011

  Upgrd 88: Credit Card Churning

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast In this week's frequent flyer podcast we are joined by Rick, frugal travel guy, to discuss churning credit cards for the most frequent flyer and hotel points. Listen as we discuss: How you can...

  
• 06.19.2011

  Upgrd 87: Social Flights

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast In this week's frequent flyer podcast we are joined by Allen of Corporate Flight Management to discuss their new program socialflights.com. On social flights, individuals can group together to secure a corporate jet to...

  
• 05.24.2011

  Upgrd 86: Springtime Travel

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast In this episode of our frequent flyer podcast we welcome Seth from The Wandering Aramean blog to discuss: A recap of the Frequent Traveler Awards and Luncheon Lufthansa A380 SFO inaugural Starwood SPG new...

  
• 04.11.2011

  Upgrd 85: Our Travels

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast In this episode of our frequent flyer podcast we discuss some recent trips and airline news including: Captain Denny flight with a number of travelers from Flyertalk Behind the scenes tour at SFO before the...

  
• 03.16.2011

  Upgrd 84: So Much News

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast In this week's frequent flyer travel podcast we catch up on the current mileage redemption, elite status, and airline industry news. We discuss: Free Star Alliance Silver Status (offer now dead) - what did...

  
• 03.02.2011

  Upgrd 83: Getting Bumped

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast In this week's month's quarterly podcast we discuss taking a bump on oversold flights and the compensation involved. We discuss: Air New Zealand SkyCouch US Airways Bump Compensation woes Getting your name on the list...

  
• 02.18.2011

  Upgrd 82: Airline Predictions 2011

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast Following on from our review of last year's predictions, we are back to discuss out frequent flyer predictions for 2011. Unfortunately due to some breaking news during recording, the episode is cut a bit...

  
• 02.05.2011

  Upgrd 81: Not so Psychic

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast In this week's frequent flyer podcast we take a look back at our predictions this time last year including The United Airlines unlimited domestic upgrade program (UDU) The merger of United and Continental Airlines...

  
• 01.12.2011

  Upgrd 80: And...We're Back!

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast Happy New Year from all of us on the Upgrd Podcast. In this week's frequent flyer roundtable we discuss the recent irregular airline operations due to weather and some recent trips including: Matthew's first...

  
• 12.17.2010

  Upgrd 79: Airline Mergers 2010

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast In this frequent flyer podcast we discuss travel news and recap the mergers between Delta / Northwest and Continental / United. We discuss: The new slimline seats on Lufthansa Keep your passwords safe on...

  
• 12.08.2010

  Upgrd 78: Frequent Flyer Questions

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast In this week's frequent flyer podcast we answer listener questions, questions from airlineanswers.com and talk about some recent news including: in free american express spending Aeroplan to require segments for status on AC New...

  
• 12.03.2010

  Upgrd 77: Holiday Travel Gifts

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast In this week's travel gift podcast we discuss some recent news and ideas for the hard to buy for traveler including: Matthew on abcnews. American Express $25 Small Business Promotion Mark's Tech Travel Gift...

  
• 11.18.2010

  Upgrd 76: Good Looking Cheeseburger!

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast In this airline meal inspired podcast our talk comparing United and Continental quickly devolved into a chat about food. In addition our frequent flyers discuss: The recent updates to the combined United/Continental mileage programs...

  
• 11.11.2010

  Upgrd 75: Our Recap of the Frequent Traveler Awards

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast Last week many of attended the frequent traveler awards in Houston. In this week's frequent flyer podcast our panelists discussed the event itself as well as the results. We also discussed: Free Gogo Wifi Charging...

  
• 11.04.2010

  Upgrd 74: Mean Airways

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast This week our frequent flyers discuss the meanest of the mean - or at least one person's interpretation of this. In addition we discuss Mean Airlines What About American Airlines? Missing Hot Nuts Delta...

  
• 10.13.2010

  Upgrd 73: Delta Is [Blank]

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast In this week's travel podcast we are joined again by our newest blogger Gene to discuss the new Delta Airlines now that the Northwest merger has been in progress for some time. Play along...

  
• 10.06.2010

  Upgrd 72: Flying In India

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast Continuing on from our discussion of hotels in India, we discuss Indian airlines including Kingfisher, Jet Airways, and Air India.  David joins us again to discuss travel in the region along with some other discussions...

  
• 09.25.2010

  Upgrd 71: Frequent Traveler Awards

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast In this frequent flyer episode we are joined by Reb, who along with Gary are two of the organizers of this year's Frequent Traveler Awards. Voting is currently open (vote here) and winners will be...

  
• 09.03.2010

  Upgrd 70: Hotels In India

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast In this week's frequent flyer podcast we are again joined by David who last joined us to discuss El Al. We continue our discussion of Indian hotels with David's commentary on the hotels he...

  
• 08.25.2010

  Upgrd 69: Marriott Rewards Take Two

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast In this week's frequent flyer podcast we revisit the Marriott Rewards hotel loyalty program as Kevin wanted to clarify some mis-information in our last Marriott Rewards podcast on the subject. We discuss: Fozz's recent...

  
• 08.19.2010

  Upgrd 68: Air Rage

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast We recorded this frequent flyer podcast last week when Steven Slater was still in the news. In addition to this old topic we discuss: Bankruptcy of Mexicana Freedoms of the air, including some current...

  
• 08.11.2010

  Upgrd 67: Inflight Power and Wifi

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast On this week's frequent flyer podcast we have a quick chat about recent award bookings and the inflight power and wifi options for the big four carriers in the USA. Links to the inflight...

  
• 08.01.2010

  Upgrd 66: Full Body Scan

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast On this week's travel podcast we catch up on the news and discuss the TSA full body scanners with Grace. We discuss: United Airlines' discounted coach class awards Changes in United management with Jeff Foland...

  
• 07.14.2010

  Upgrd 65: Marriott Rewards

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast In this week's frequent traveler podcast we return to hotel loyalty programs and hotel elite status - this week focusing on the Marriott Rewards program.  Most of our panelists do not recommend the Marriott...

  
• 06.21.2010

  Upgrd 64: Travel Gifts

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast In this week's frequent flyer podcast Mike, Matthew, Gary, and Matt discuss: American Airlines Your Choice program Triple Elite and Redeemable Miles on DL and AA Delta in the news again ... for fighting...

  
• 06.07.2010

  Upgrd 63: Reboot

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast The Upgrd Podcast episode 63 is now online with a full crew in attendance. Mike, Matt, Matthew, Josh, Ben, Gary, Fozz, and Hunter discussed: The Continental and United airlines merger and proposed livery The...

  
• 04.30.2010

  Upgrd 62: Eyjafjallajökull

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast Last week we were joined by Damian while he was stranded in BWI awaiting a return flight to Europe during the Eyjafjallajökull volcano disruption. Two apologies are due, first for the late editing and...

  
• 04.22.2010

  Upgrd 61: Southwest Airlines

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast This week we discuss our two favorite airlines: Southwest Airlines and US Airways. Join us as we discuss the double elite qualifying mile promotion from US Airways and talk about Southwest's Rapid Reward Program. Rapid Rewards A-List...

  
• 04.12.2010

  Upgrd 60: Los Angeles

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast Thank you for your patience as we edited our most recent frequent flyer videocast. We met in Los Angeles a few weeks ago and discussed: the news (current at that time!) our first class upgrade...

  
• 03.21.2010

  Upgrd 59: Flyer Tech

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast We discuss some of our favorite travel websites this week. Specifically we discuss: TripIt for travel itinerary organization FareCompare for price comparison including their flyertalk tool designed for finding fares that might make good...

  
• 03.09.2010

  Upgrd 58: American Airlines and OneWorld Awards

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast This week we continued our series on redeeming miles for awards - this time on American Airlines and its partners in OneWorld. We discuss: The unfortunate news of someone joining the mile high club...

  
• 03.01.2010

  Upgrd 57: LOT o' Mail

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast This week we answer some frequent flyer questions, both our own and from listener mail. In addition we tried something a little different, recording the whole discussion from the time people joined the call....

  
• 02.21.2010

  Upgrd 56: Asiana, Aeroplan and Star Alliance Awards

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast We continue our discussion of Star Alliance Awards this week looking at Aeroplan, Asiana, ANA and using your American Express Membership Rewards miles for redemption. In addition we discuss: ANA's website and using their Star Alliance award...

  
• 02.21.2010

  Upgrd 56: Asiana, Aeroplan and Star Alliance Awards

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast We continue our discussion of Star Alliance Awards this week looking at Aeroplan, Asiana, ANA and using your American Express Membership Rewards miles for redemption. In addition we discuss: ANA's website and using their Star Alliance award...

  
• 02.15.2010

  Upgrd 55: United, US Airways and Continental Awards

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast This week we continue our award redemption series by discussing Star Alliance carriers including United Airlines, US Airways and Continental Airlines.  In this episode we discuss: American Airlines new stand by policy JAL's final decision...

  
• 02.09.2010

  Upgrd 54: Award Bookings

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast In this first podcast of a series on airline award bookings we discuss the basics of how we use our miles and an overview of different award types. In future podcasts, over the next...

  
• 01.28.2010

  Upgrd 53: BMI Diamond Club Gold Status

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast This is probably the shortest elite status podcast ever but we covered some listener questions about BMI Diamond Club. Since we recorded this last week there have been some changes - Fozz will be posting...

  
• 01.17.2010

  Upgrd 52: Planespotting

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast This week we are joined by Phil from nycaviation.com to discuss planespotting in and around the airport. NYCAviation is an airline news and resource organization geared towards enthusiasts. for the past 6 years, they...

  
• 01.13.2010

  Upgrd 51: Psychic Predictions

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast This week's frequent flyer podcast covers some news and our predictions for 2010. If last year's predictions are any indication only thing I can predict with certainty is how broken our crystal balls are....

  
• 12.28.2009

  Upgrd 50: The Big Five Oh

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast As 2009 comes to a close we record our thoughts on the year and review our predictions from January.  Due to the holidays we were unable to get everyone online at the same time....

  
• 12.19.2009

  Upgrd 49: The Big Announcement

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast This week we are joined by Sara from theflyingpinto.com blog and Bobby from upupandagay.com. Both are bloggers working in the airline industry who have a special announcement about a new Upgrd podcast coming up soon....

  
• 12.11.2009

  Upgrd 48: Blogging for Nuts

  By Upgrd Podcast - Upgrd Podcast Last week we recorded episode 48 where we discussed some recent blog posts including: Matthew's recent bumps Josh finally finding good food Machu Pichu Damian's upcoming cruise trip report and Fozz's trip to the...