And I pointed out that if you get a NEXUS or SENTRI card (intended for frequent travelers to Canada or Mexico, respectively) you can save 50% because those memberships cost only $50 for five years — just $10 per year — with all the same benefits as Global Entry. No, it doesn’t make any sense. Customs and Border Patrol officials have said as much, but the generous policy continues.

The catch is that you need to conduct your interview at a select number of CBP offices. While you can do a Global Entry interview at many airports across the U.S., these NEXUS and SENTRI locations are much fewer. For example, most NEXUS enrollment locations are in Canada or at border crossing stations. The only U.S. airport that participates is Seattle-Tacoma. Fortunately, anyone can enroll as long as they can make it to Sea-Tac for their interview, including during a connection to another flight (as long as you don’t mind re-clearing security).

One benefit of the American Express Platinum Card is that it includes a credit to cover the cost of Global Entry. But others preferred the extra benefits of NEXUS/SENTRI for frequent trips to our northern and southern neighbors. In the past, you could usually get American Express to cover that cost instead — after all, it’s half as much.

Well, now American Express has shut down this alternate option, in theory although I haven’t tested it in practice. The letter I got in the mail yesterday was pretty clear:

With the Global Entry Fee Credit benefit, we will apply a $100 credit to your account when you charge the Global Entry membership application fee to your Business Platinum Card®. Additional Business Platinum Card members on your account are also eligible for the $100 statement credit, but only when the Global Entry application fee is charged to their individual cards.

…

Please be advised the benefit applies to the “Global Entry” program. Other program applications, including but not limited to, NEXUS, SENTRI, and Privium are not eligible for the statement credit.

I’m not exactly sure why they want so hard to exclude these other options, but it might have something do with covering their asses if something goes wrong and a person has difficulty claiming their credit or requests two credits. Another possibility is that the CBP has specifically asked them to direct people toward Global Entry. I know they are working hard to boost enrollment, and the TSA might be part of that effort, too, to get as many people as possible into PreCheck.

If, like me, you already have Global Entry (e.g., from an airline loyalty program) you can easily get that credit applied to the application for a spouse or friend. It’s just taken off the bill, and no one checks who actually applied. But the credit is still one per cardholder. If you have additional cardholders, each one needs to make their own application. This is still a good way to get Global Entry and a host of other travel benefits. Each additional card costs $175. Correction: $175 gets you THREE additional cards, which is a great deal.

Even if you only get one additional card, after subtracting the $100 cost of Global Entry, that’s $75 to get benefits like Priority Pass Select membership, access to American Airlines or Delta lounges when traveling with those carriers, elite status and discounts with Avis, National, and Hertz, and the ability to book through the Fine Hotels and Resorts program. Pretty much the only benefit that doesn’t carry over is the $200 annual airline fee credit, which is limited to the primary account holder. If you get three additional cards (say, two parents plus a spouse) then you get three $100 credits for Global Entry, benefits for everyone, and all for less than $60 per person.

The post American Express Refuses Credit for SENTRI and NEXUS appeared first on Hack My Trip.

Each carrier has its own rules, which I summarize at the end of this post. In the meantime, I’ll use United Airlines as an example just to explain the process.

This is my third year as a Premier 1K with United Airlines. I am embarrassed to admit I have not successfully used a same day change or same day standby very often. A major reason was that I don’t usually have that option. I pick good flights that I don’t want to change, or I go to places that don’t have frequent schedules. But sometimes I did want to change my flights, and because I didn’t understand the process very well, I was never successful until recently.

United distinguishes between a same day change, which is confirmed, and a same day standby, which only means you’re on the list and will clear if seats are available. In both cases, you can only make your request within the 24-hour period before your originally scheduled departure (i.e., after online check-in opens), and the new flight you want must also be within 24 hours.

Cost of a Same-Day Change

United charges $75 for non-elite and Premier Silver members to change their flights. They call this a “same-day flight change” but the fee applies whether you do a confirmed change or a standby (the fee is only imposed if the standby is successful). Premier Gold, Platinum, 1K and Global Services members can change or standby for free.

Requesting a Same-Day Change

Changes can be made over the phone or online (use the “Change Flights” option on your reservation) and require that the same fare class be available. This means if you are on a cheap G or N fare, there needs to be space in G or N. You can find this information easily using ExpertFlyer, KVS Tool, or United.com’s expert mode. This is great when you want or need to know your plans before heading to the airport.

Sometimes United will open up lots of availability in the last 24 hours before departure, making it easier to accommodate a confirmed change. For example, if there are two seats left in economy class you might see two seats in every fare bucket (Y2 B2 … G2 N2). However, be careful when you search for available space. If there is availability in the G bucket on the first segment and not the second, your results will say G0 for both. If you are willing to confirm a change just on one or two legs and keep the same connecting airport, then you should search one leg at a time.

I look at availability information for two reasons. First, is there space in my current fare class (usually G or N)? Second, if I have multiple options then which ones still have first class seats available?

Finally, United allows you to change your connecting airport (if you have one) as long as your origin and destination remain the same and the entire itinerary can be confirmed on new flights (or if you’re only changing one segment). You are not allowed to move to a new airport in the same region, so you can’t switch from SFO-EWR to SFO-JFK. But the ability to change or even remove connections is very convenient. When a change is made, you should also be moved onto the upgrade standby list for the new flight.

Requesting a Same-Day Standby

If a change cannot be confirmed due to lack of availability in the necessary fare bucket, then you have two options. First, you can pay the difference in fare and get a confirmed change. I’ve never done this. Second, you can request a standby. This requires you to be at the airport and obviously it only works for moving to earlier flights. In my experience it often won’t clear until shortly before departure.

But here’s a helpful tip for those with elite status: Standbys are processed first by elite status and then by the time you were added to the list. In theory, I could walk up to a nearly full flight as a Premier 1K and jump to the front of the line even if there are a dozen people with lower or no status already on the list.

Not that I’ve ever done that.

Because a standby is not confirmed, you can only request a new flight to your connecting airport or to your final destination. Why? If you were originally flying EWR-ORD-SEA and wanted to change to EWR-DEN-SEA, United doesn’t want you to standby on the first flight, show up in Denver, and find out that there is no available space to get you home to Seattle. They want to know you have a confirmed flight waiting for you.

But you could keep the same routing and standby on an earlier flight, hitting all the same connecting airports and using standby one leg at a time.

Complications With United Express

My biggest problem with requesting confirmed changes has been United Express. I mentioned that United often opens up availability in every fare bucket to facilitate confirmed changes. United Express does not (in my limited experience). This makes it very difficult to request a same day change on any itinerary that includes a United Express segment because you can only alter the mainline segment.

I had an experience last year trying to fly home from Springfield, MO, that demonstrates how frustrating this can be. In retrospect I should have gone to the airport, requested a standby to the earlier flight (by six hours) and then requested another standby or change in Denver. But I didn’t want to return our rental car, find out our standby didn’t clear, and be stuck at the small airport for six hours.

We stayed in town instead, and our original flight was delayed by four hours. I don’t really know how the backend systems work, but if United Express had opened up space like United did, then maybe I could have confirmed our change the night before and gotten home 10 hours earlier.

Strategies for Mileage Runs

Assuming a confirmed change can be made, it works out very well for maximizing a mileage run. These are becoming increasingly difficult as airlines limit the number and location of connections in an domestic itinerary. But just as a same day change can be used to remove or change a connection, it can also be used to add one.

Recently I flew SEA-IAD-IND-EWR-SEA. It was a good mileage run already since IND required a lot of backtracking, but more connections would have been nice. United generally won’t allow you to book those connections to begin with, yet it was very easy on the return. I ran into Carl at the United Club in Newark, and he pointed out that EWR-IAH-SEA was available later that evening with space still available in first class.

Had I requested a same day change I could have added an extra 872 miles to my itinerary and stood a good chance of getting a complimentary upgrade, too! Unfortunately, the tight connections in most mileage runs I book don’t allow me to make these kinds of changes on the outbound journey.

Policies on Other Carriers

Some of these fees may be waived depending on your elite status. See my elite status comparison tables for more information on which programs waive fees for which members.

American Airlines and Delta Air Lines have rules very similar to United Airlines. American charges $75 while Delta charges $50. You can move to a new flight with the same origin and departure airports, the same day of departure, and a new routing (as long as you can confirm the change on all segments). If you fly standby, you must keep the same routing. Confirmed changes are limited by fare availability and standby (for the same fee) is an option if the change cannot be confirmed.

The real catch is that American allows you to make a requests within 24 hours of the originally scheduled departure for a new flight before or after the original departure time. Delta only allows you to make your request on the same date, but you can make your request as early as 12 AM the previous day if you have a redeye flight that departs before 2 AM.

Alaska Airlines has a good policy, charging $25 for a same day flight change. The request must be made within six hours before the new departure time and it must be on the same date as the original departure time (with some wiggle room to allow for those late-night departures between midnight and 4 AM). I view this as customer-friendly, but it is probably hard to move to an early morning departure if you want to go to bed early the night before.

US Airways has the worst policy in my opinion, charging $75 to “MoveUp” a domestic flight or $150 for an international flight. The new flight must be within six hours of the originally scheduled departure, be on the same day, have the same number of stops, and have availability on all connecting flights. Standby is free, but only if there is no availability. If a seat is available, they’ll make you pay to confirm it rather than let you wait around hoping no one shoes up. You also cannot standby if you have connecting flights. Maybe things work differently in practice, but the way the rules are written makes me wonder how often people actually succeed.

The post How and Why to Request a Same Day Change appeared first on Hack My Trip.

To orient you, I’m using a new tool called PromoSimple to collect entries and generate prize winners. When 10 people enter a contest, it’s easy to pick a winner. When 100 people enter, it’s a lot more complicated. If it’s not working correctly, I apologize, but I’ll try to fix it as quickly as possible. I have bigger prizes in store and want to iron out the kinks first.

Everyone needs to enter a valid email address so I can have one simple way to contact the winners. This gets you one entry. You can also get two bonus entries if you like Hack My Trip on Facebook or follow me on Twitter, but these are optional.

You have today and tomorrow to enter, until 11:59 PM on Friday, May 24. Winners will be selected over the weekend. Those winners will have until 11:59 PM on Wednesday, May 29, to accept their prizes.

The post Giveaway: Three 10% Off AA Coupons and Free GoGo Pass appeared first on Hack My Trip.

Some things, like staffing shortages and warnings of delays are nothing new. I’m not sure that I would ever show up two hours early as some officials in Atlanta are recommending. But then again, there’s a reason I don’t fly Delta. I almost flew through Atlanta this year — almost — before I paid extra to travel direct on American instead.

What’s more significant are some of the things the airlines are doing to prevent these issues from occurring in the first place. United has for weeks been using a new boarding system at some of its hub airports, though I have yet to see it rolled out at other locations like Seattle. With five separate lanes for five separate boarding groups, it does an excellent job of preventing line jumpers.

I’m not all that upset if one or two people from Group 4 try to board with Group 1, but if everyone does it then the gate turns to chaos. Last year’s flight home from Maui comes to mind. One clever trick was to put Group 1 and Group 2 facing the gate and then Groups 3, 4, and 5 to the side. Such clear separation makes it easier to keep everyone organized.

United will also be switching the way it assigns boarding groups in the economy class cabin. (Groups 1 and 2 are mostly elite flyers and credit card holders.) People with window seats will board first, then middle and aisle seats — instead of the previous back to front regardless of where you sat in the row. This is good because it means people from every row can board at once without blocking the aisles.

Something to keep in mind not just for United but for nearly any airline is that you are always invited to bring other family members and companions with you in line. I can’t count how many emails and tweets I get asking if someone who has status can still share their elite benefits with someone on a different reservation. The number of companions still matters (e.g., a Premier Silver member on United can only share their baggage benefit with one companion, while higher tiers can share with eight.) However, as long as they are traveling with you your elite benefits should carry over for those segments only.

I have often called up United’s reservations desk and asked them to move a friend or family member to EconomyPlus. If they’re continuing on to a different destination, they’re out of luck on that segment, but still good on the ones they share with me. If they’re checking a bag, all segments have to match since the bag is checked to the final destination. I routinely dragged them with me through the premium security line before I had Global Entry. And while I usually keep Megan on the same reservation to make sure we’re upgraded together, not separately, United will let you sponsor anyone for a companion upgrade at the gate.

For more on these topics, check out my posts on Complimentary Premier Upgrades for United, as well as the separate post I wrote specific to companion upgrades. Those of you on other airlines will just have to wait for me to write something up, but this idea of sharing benefits for companions on a separate itinerary will probably hold for them, too.

This is also a good opportunity to remind you of Global Entry and PreCheck. Global Entry has a high upfront cost of $100, but it’s good for five years. At $20 a year, it’s the best way to get near-100% success on PreCheck for domestic and some international flights. It reminds me of airport security when I first started flying twenty years ago. If you’re able to complete your interview at one of the specially designated border stations, a NEXUS or SENTRI card is only $50 ($10 per year) and carries all the same benefits as Global Entry. Seattle participates, so just make it your next layover.

Finally, the most important thing I can say is to be aware of TSA and airline policies. So many horror stories are written about people who just didn’t bother to check before getting to the airport. I waited behind an Olympic training team at Colorado Springs as they emptied out their water bottles, threw away their yogurt, and took off their metal jewelry after setting off the metal detector.  Many airlines no longer accept cash on board, so you’ll need a credit card to buy food or entertainment. Some carriers even charge for non-alcoholic beverages. Special requests like vegetarian or Kosher meals should always be confirmed with the operating carrier and not the travel agency that sold you the ticket. The list goes on…

But seriously, enjoy your trip! I always say I’ll stay at home during the beautiful Seattle summers, and yet I still manage to book a flight for every other weekend.

The post WSJ Publishes Its Summer Survival Guide appeared first on Hack My Trip.

Me? I like to examine the fire escape route on the back of the door.

Although I’m not normally testy about the kind of upgrade I get at a hotel, if any, I do realize that there can be significant variation between rooms. Some hotels are long and narrow. If you see one suite, you’ve seen them all. Others have more quirky architecture or are renovated from buildings that had a former life. Many independent hotels are like this. There may be ten of the “same” suite, but each with different floor plans and views.

I like the explore the fire escape route not because I care about how to get out in an emergency but because it is often the most accessible source of this information. If I get a dud suite, it would be nice to know if I was merely unlucky during room assignment or if all suites have a similar flaw.

This morning’s review of the Lorien Hotel & Spa in Alexandria, Virginia, indicated that I was not a fan of the living room if only for the absence of natural light — or at least a warm-tinted lamp. At the Grand Hyatt Seattle, the lighting was fine but I was disappointed by the extremely narrow floor plan.

I’m fairly sure that the Grand Hyatt has more spacious rooms facing Puget Sound, but I was upgraded on an award night to begin with and was satisfied with a room that viewed Capitol Hill to the south and east. (Though I am getting tired of the fact that every hotel room I have ever stayed at in every Seattle hotel has faced the same direction.) It’s a square building, and I was probably just on the side with smaller suites, with standard rooms filling in between the corners.

The situation at the Lorien is more complicated because it has a courtyard and appears to be a split-level design formed by combining two buildings. I began my review by saying that the hotel has a fair number of suites and that other Inner Circle members, like me, had a good chance of being upgraded. I got this information from the fire escape plan. Looking at the map below, you can see that there are at least four other rooms on the same floor that appear to be one-bedroom suites. The key is to look for three rooms since a suite will usually have at least two large ones plus a third for the bathroom.

Some of these suites don’t have a physical door separating the living room and bedroom, but their size and the narrow space between them make me think the particulars of their design just didn’t allow one. I’ll give them a pass.

But if you couldn’t tell what I’m talking about from that picture, I’ve annotated the map below. The circles are color coded to give you some idea of how to look for which are the “best” suites. My metric here has a lot to do with the number and placement of windows.

My suite at the bottom had just one window. There is some box to the left of my room that I don’t recognize and which has no entrances on my floor. Perhaps it’s a maintenance duct or trash chute. It could also be the chimney for the fireplace in the lobby. But it explains why my living room had no natural light.

Rooms with green circles have multiple windows, some on more than one side. These are the rooms I’d prefer to be assigned if I were actually paying for a suite. But again, being given one as a free upgrade I am happy to have had the one I got.

The suite with a red circle may not be a suite at all, but what really concerns me is that there is only one very small opening for a window. That exposed wall can’t be more than half the size of the one in my room. Suite or not, I probably would not want to be assigned to any room with such little available light, especially one next to the stairwell and housekeeping closet.

Why is this useful for anyone other than some obsessed guy like me, who happens to enjoy building diagrams?

Well, if you really aren’t happy with your room, it helps to know what your alternatives are. You might not get a specific room number, but you can at least know that you have the worst of the worst and request something slightly better. It gives some information on tradeoffs. For example, some of the better suites outlined above overlook the street and could have more traffic keeping you awake. Finally, if you’re writing a review of the hotel like I am — or just deciding if you’ll return — you can place your impressions of your current room in perspective.

Some maps don’t have such detailed drawings as the ones here, which indicate windows, doors, and everything else. It might just show a basic outline that provides no information about the walls or contents within. But the more information the better, in my view. Simple pleasures like these maps are one more reason I liked staying here even if they had no bearing on the rest of my experience.

The post Did You Get the Best Room in the Hotel? appeared first on Hack My Trip.

Kimpton’s Lorien Hotel & Spa in Old Town, a couple stops further south on the Metro, was actually $20 cheaper and earned me a second stay toward the three I need to unlock the six free nights I earn as a member of Kimpton’s Inner Circle. (FYI: All three of Kimpton’s hotels in Alexandria make the top five list on Trip Advisor. It’s ratings aren’t perfect, but they are often more right than wrong.)

Check-in was a breeze, and I was upgraded from a standard room with one queen bed to a Lorien Suite, with a separate living room and a giant bathroom. There are several of these suites throughout the hotel, so I think the odds of an upgrade for Inner Circle members is quite good.

Let’s start with the bedroom, my favorite room in the suite. The lamplight in the evening was warm and the natural light in the morning was more than sufficient. I liked the light blue walls, white furnishings, and comfortable easy chair. It even had a soft, woven blanket if I had wanted to curl up with a book.

Venetian blinds on the windows were high quality and more tasteful than drapes. Blackout drapes were still provided if, like me, you are sensitive to any light when trying to sleep, though an ottoman right below the window made them difficult to close.

The bathroom really drove home the contemporary design of the hotel, which attempted to add a modern edge to the comfortable, plush style like I saw in my bedroom. There was a significant amount of marble with a concrete countertop. Megan would have loved that countertop. I appreciated that even though it was one big room, it was very effectively partitioned to create separate areas for the toilet, sink, shower, and claw foot tub. Nothing was squeezed together.

Enough space between the shower and tub, as well as a lip running down the middle of the room, meant water from the open shower did not create a mess everywhere else. Amenities were provided by C.O. Bigelow, which I recall from my stay at the Andaz Wall Street. They are nice, but the scent is not for me.

Yes, I did take a soak in the tub. It was fairly spacious for a large guy like me. Most hotel tubs are far too small. But it took forever to fill! A low-flow faucet makes sense for showers and sinks — you just need to get wet. But a tub is not about saving water and should have a more robust delivery system.

Despite the tub, my only real complaint about the suite was that the living room was severely under-lit. I understand the bedroom and bathroom are the focus of many suites, but living rooms are often overlooked. That extra space is wasted if I find myself preferring to lounge on the bed where the surroundings are nicer. Rather than the size of the room, how it’s laid out and furnished matter more when creating a comfortable stay.

It may not look so blue in this photo, but the image is more grainy than usual — a good indicator when my iPhone is suffering from low light.

For example, my particular living room did not have any windows. This would not normally be a problem by itself. But the only lighting were a few fluorescent lamps emitting very cool light. This did not work well with the already blue-tinted walls. It was like being inside a dark ice cube, albeit one with very comfortable furniture. Switch out the bulbs for halogens and I think it would be just fine.

Besides a couch, chair, and some nice flowers, there was also a desk and not just Internet access but an actual computer. But first, I had to wade through all the food they left for my welcome amenity. (I was offered a free glass of wine at check in, too, even though I’d missed the usual manager’s wine reception.) I continue to get far more food than I need for just myself during a one-night stay and felt a little guilty leaving half of it uneaten. However, my next stay will be three nights in Miami with Megan. I think we’ll finally be able to make good use of that particular benefit.

As a “hotel and spa” the Lorien is a bit different from other Kimptons. For example, there are no animal print bathrobes, just standard white ones. I did not utilize the spa services on my short stay, but the amenities on the ground floor seemed more welcoming than I have seen elsewhere. There was an inner courtyard with tables and chairs, a small “library” style sitting area off the lobby, and even an outdoor fire pit. I went out there for about an hour to work on the blog, and it was still a little chilly. In retrospect I should have brought that blanket from my room.

I have heard that Brabo, a restaurant attached to the Lorien, is one of the best in Old Town. My friend and I did not eat there since we were looking for something more casual. Instead, we ate at the Brabo Tasting Room next door, which does not take reservations. The food was fantastic: I had a beer and one of the best meatball sandwiches ever.

Despite dozens of trips to Washington, DC, and even a three-month internship, I had never been to Old Town Alexandria before and was excited about the opportunity. Sadly, it rained most of Monday. I still took a quick walk to the waterfront and stopped in a coffee shop for breakfast. This small town probably wouldn’t hold my attention for more than a day, but it could still make for a nice base when visiting the city if you were willing to tolerate the extra commute.

To explore the rest, I’ll have to come back with Megan some time and get a better look. It was charming to see an example of early American colonialism without all the monuments and office towers I’ve seen in places like Washington, New York, Boston, or Philadelphia. We don’t get a whole lot of that out West, where “old” things were built in the 1970s, not the 1770s!

The post Review: Lorien Hotel & Spa, Old Town Alexandria appeared first on Hack My Trip.