The Upgrd Podcast

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 taking over the combined frequent flier program after the United Continental merger The TSA full body scanners and protection from them United Airlines' problematic website And a man taken off the plane for allegedly asking if there would be a meal on his flight. Please leave comments below!  

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 program, unless you are staying there due to contractual obligations. While it falls towards the bottom of our list of programs to obtain status in - there are still some situations where it makes sense. Listen in to hear more about the Marriott Rewards program and other topics including: Double EQMs and Triple RDMs from RDU, STL, PIT, and BNA Aegean joining Star Alliance Your Hometown, Your Airline segment continues with recommendations for Australian flyers Marriot Rewards program including their Silver, Gold, Platinum and Platinum Premier status levels and more... If you have any Marriott Rewards tips, tricks, or clarification please let us know. We'd also love to hear from some current Australian flyers on their recommendation where to credit miles. Please leave your comments below.  

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 ... again Your Hometown, Your Airline: San Jose, California A few traveler tips for New York City And our picks for great travel gifts for your favorite frequent flyer: From The Crew Lounge: Jonathan's travel steamer instead of ironing, similar to this Jiffy Steamer Briggs and Riley luggage with built in garment bag Perry Ellis toiletry bag Tumi travel wallet For additional power outlets when traveling something similar to this travel power strip with USB Wireless internet for your wired hotel with any number of available wireless pocket routers A Kindle for reading on the go along with a Kindle case with pockets Matt's continued recommendation for the Sennheiser PXC 250-II noise canceling headphones Universal plugs for traveling similar to these Brookstone power adapters Got any other gift suggestions? Let us know in the comments below. We'll be back in two week's time with our next episode.   The above affiliate links help offset costs of website hosting and podcast production.

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 recent Continental announcement allowing upgrades on award tickets for credit card holders Our "Your Hometown, Your Airline" segment is back - this time focusing on New York City Matt has an editorial on fortress airline hubs. Is his defnition correct?  If so, do these need to be treated as monopolies? and other frequent flyer discussions Please take our survey so we can cover topics you want to hear. Click Here As always, please leave any comments or questions below. Thanks for your patience waiting for this episode! We will be recording every other week for the summer due to travel schedules.

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 publishing of this episode and secondly for my pronunciation of Eyjafjallajökull. We discussed: Irregular Airline Operations (irrops) What to do when your flight is delayed or canceled When to start rebooking And some overnight accommodation options Please share with us your irrops stories and let us know what worked in the past for you.

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 "Elite" status Rapid Rewards email mailing list bonus credits Business Select And other Southwest promos including car rentals and more    

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 success thus far this year the people of SLC and Matthew did an intro video to the ITA booking website. More screencasts to come as the camera video is hard to see. Please send in your questions for future episodes as we start back on a regular podcast schedule this week.   Open low bandwidth video Open higher bandwidth video     $(function() { var player = $f("player", "/flowplayer/flowplayer-3.1.4.swf", { plugins: { rtmp: { url: '/flowplayer/flowplayer.rtmp-3.1.3.swf', netConnectionUrl: 'rtmp://s2rilkqmgxi19l.cloudfront.net/cfx/st' } }, clip: { provider: 'rtmp' } }); var player2 = $f("player2", "/flowplayer/flowplayer-3.1.4.swf", { plugins: { rtmp: { url: '/flowplayer/flowplayer.rtmp-3.1.3.swf', netConnectionUrl: 'rtmp://s2rilkqmgxi19l.cloudfront.net/cfx/st' } }, clip: { provider: 'rtmp' } }); // setup button action. it will fire our overlay $("#btn1").overlay({ effect: 'apple', onLoad: function() { player.load(); }, onClose: function() { player.unload(); } }); $("#btn2").overlay({ effect: 'apple', onLoad: function() { player2.load(); }, onClose: function() { player2.unload(); } }); });   Please use the above streaming link buttons - if you need to download for offline viewing : Upgrd 60

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 mileage runs FlightCaster for ontime flight predictions Please comment below or email us your tech tools for making traveling simpler and more rewarding. We will be recording our next podcast live in LA next weekend. Stay tuned for more info on the upcoming show.

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 by themselves The flight attendants in trouble for photos then ended up on a porn site (nsfw) and a prostitution ring American Airlines Awards including American Airlines Awards AAdvantage All Airline Awards (Partner Award) OneWorld Award Send in your questions and let us know what you would like to hear on a future episode!  

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. We discussed: Damian joins us to discuss his very recent experience in LOT business class Standby on United Airlines US Airways open to merger - anyone want an airline? United Airlines finalizes 787 order Program options for Qantas travellers International Star Alliance partners and domestic USA lounge access and Ben's additional prediction of the possible demise of DEQM