Live flight data

Although I regularly use flightstats, I confess it hadn't occurred to me to check the site for widgets. A post by mj speaks on travel alerted me to it.

Here is a selection of some useful ones.

Flight information is provided by FlightStats, and is subject to the FlightStats Terms of Use.

North America Airport Delays

Flight information is provided by FlightStats, and is subject to the FlightStats Terms of Use.

Europe Airport Delays

Flight information is provided by FlightStats, and is subject to the FlightStats Terms of Use.

Oceania Airport Delays

Flight information is provided by FlightStats, and is subject to the FlightStats Terms of Use.

Update on Hilton HHonors No Blackouts

In the couple of weeks since I previously blogged about Hilton HHonors No Blackout Dates award issues (see here and here), discussion on Flyer Talk has uncovered yet more problems.

So far the following exceptions have been identified, none of which made it into Hilton's No Blackout policy announcement (not even as fineprint).

1. Exempted hotels - eg Conrad Maldives
2. Exceptional demand dates
3. Hotels that are new to the Hilton family chains - exempt for 90 days
4. Hotels can require a large deposit that is non-refundable if you cancel the award

There is a further out, which is written into the policy, if no "Standard" rooms are available for purchase the No Blackout policy does not apply. Some hotels have no standard rooms.

For those too lazy to click on the policy announcement above, here is what Hilton HHonors says about the No Blackout policy.

No Blackout Dates

The Hilton Family of Hotels has announced No Blackout Dates for all members
of its HHonors guest reward program effective February 1. As long as a standard
room is available, members will be able to confirm that room using their HHonors
points at more than 2,900 Hilton Family hotels worldwide.

"Our goal is always to make traveling easier for our guests, and No
Blackout Dates is a significant way to offer our loyal members more flexibility
to use their points on their schedule," said Adam Burke, senior vice president
of customer loyalty for Hilton Hotels Corporation. "Members have always
considered Points & Miles a highly valuable benefit that distinguishes us
from the competition, and combining this unique offering with No Blackout Dates
reinforces HHonors as the world's most rewarding and flexible hotel loyalty
program."

Unlike some other hotel programs:

• HHonors program has no capacity controls. All standard rooms are available
  for rewards, not just a limited number each night.
• HHonors does not require additional points to avoid blackout dates. Some
  hotel programs black out reward rooms and require their customers to redeem
  significantly more points to bypass those blackouts.
• With HHonors, there are no exceptions. Every Hilton Family hotel worldwide
  offers No Blackout Dates. Some competitive programs exclude selected properties.

Hilton HHonors remains the only hotel loyalty program that offers guests the
ability to earn both Points & Miles® for the same stay at more than 2,900
hotels worldwide. Other global programs require members to choose between hotel
points OR airline miles, while HHonors members enjoy the benefits of both
currencies. Members also enjoy multiple ways to earn Points & Miles,
offering more flexibility and a faster way to earn HHonors rewards.

Hmmm. 2 of the 3 bullet points appear not to be met in some cases. As for extra points to avoid a blackout, Hilton goes one step further and requires a large cash advance which is refundable only on checking out.

On line check in (OLCI)

The Cranky Flier noted a new feature offered by Ryanair following their website changes over the weekend, on line check in (OLCI) up to 5 days before departure, and wondered what the point of it all is.

I've wondered as well, ever since Air New Zealand rolled out OLCI at time of booking for their domestic flights (subject to a few conditions) last March. Yes, Air NZ allows you to check in up to 12 months before departure. Presumably they expected the increased numbers of no shows and passengers requiring changes after checking in would be more than offset by efficiency savings at airport check-in. I'm not yet convinced this is the case - 12 months is a long time for changes in plans to happen, and if passengers lose the print out (or fail to save the generated pdf) they will still need to check in at the airport (either at a counter or using a quick-check machine). Anecdotally I've noticed an increase in the number of passengers being paged for boarding.

Cranky Flier has me thinking a bit more though. Given there are no ID checks for domestic travel in New Zealand, what is the boarding pass required to do? (1) It reminds the passenger of the flight number and departure time (the gate number is not available when OLCI'ing a long way before departure). (2) The printed barcode provides a quick way for the gate agent to confirm the passenger has boarded - however this can also be done by typing the seat number. (3) Possibly used for tracking of checked luggage? I'm not sure on this as it has been many years since I've checked bags when flying Air New Zealand. (4) It provides proof of eligibility for using the lounge (though a non-foolproof method in the case of OLCI as frequent flyer status or airline club membership may change between check in and departure).

That is all, at least for Air NZ. The boarding pass is not needed to clear security. There is no stub retained by the gate agent for reconciling passenger numbers. The boarding pass is not used to identify where passengers are (except possibly for those checking in manually at the airport).

Are there other airlines that allow OLCI so far before departure? The ones I am aware of that are more than 24 hours before departure are

• KLM - up to 30 hours
• Cathay Pacific - up to 48 hours
• Singapore Airlines - up to 48 hours
• Ryanair - up to 5 days
• Air New Zealand - from time of booking.

Note rules may vary slightly in respect of connecting or return flights, some destinations/origins may not allow OLCI, and some passenger types are not eligible for OLCI.

Simple explanation of frequent flyer accounting

Ahead of a probable spin-off of the Qantas frequent flyer program (FFP), the Qantas half year results investor briefing includes several pages on the FFP. Skip to page 45. It has a clear explanation of how airlines make money and account for their FFPs.

More BA baggage woes and some other bad BA news

British Airways is yet again in the news for a poor baggage situation at London Heathrow (LHR). Apparently only T4 is affected. With limited capacity to handle baggage by hand, there are restrictions in place. These vary by day, whether originating in London or transitting, by class of travel and elite frequent flyer status. So for the latest check the BA website here.

In short, some passengers are limited to carry on only. Fortunately this increased to 2 bags earlier in the year. Unfortunately we still have the liquids restrictions.

I do wonder though how much thinking went into this statement.

On Thursday 21 February, transfer passengers through London Heathrow Terminal 4 should not bring luggage to be checked in as they will not be able to travel.

So someone flying on BA from Sydney (leaves shortly as I write this and arrives on Thursday 21 February) and transferring through T4 can or cannot have checked bags? Isn't it a bit late to advise these passengers now? In general transferring passengers have the least flexibility in terms of being able to convert to carry-on only for luggage.

I think the rules BA has established for allowing checked baggage in the short term until the situation is resolved, while no doubt well meaning, are rather too complex to be well understood. Be prepared for longer than normal queues at check in, and also at security.

For once it appears the airline is not to blame for the problem which is attributed to computer errors and thus responsibility of airport operator BAA (source BBC News). Still one can't help but wonder why BA seems to attract so many problems compared with other airlines.

It was only a few hours ago I speculated that BA's latest announced fuel surcharge increase was being timed to get all their bad news over well ahead of T5 opening in 5 weeks time. BA have also been in the news recently for losing a major court case on overcharged fuel surcharge (yes ironic timing leading some to wonder how much of the latest increase is to pay the refunds of the lost case). They are also threatened with strikes by pilots and cabin crew (more on this soon).

Update on Hilton customer unfriendly shenanigans

An update on the 3 issues mentioned in my previous blog entry.

Based on information received to date, the no blackout issue appears to be fairly widespread. It may be that the rollout of the new policy has not gone right. Some readers may recall there was little advance notice of the change - perhaps it was announced prematurely. So I'm somewhat optimistic this will be resolved satisfactorily, eventually.

For the other 2 issues (inflexible flexible rates and deposit required on awards) so far only 2 hotels have been identified (but there may be more) and not on every date.

I'll keep you updated as I get more news. You can also follow the discussion on Flyer Talk's Hilton HHonors forum.