I've been chastised for not blogging this week (combination of illness and real-life intrusions) so I figured it was time to bang out something on the Texas Senate run-off.
Prediction: Cruz wins, big. I'm also starting to think there's a distinct possibility Sadler loses. This would be crushing for the Texas Democratic Party. If they can't move their base to vote for legitimate candidates then they are probably looking at just sitting back and hoping the 'brown wave' really does a.) finally happen and b.) really break their way.
More importantly, today is Saint Arnold's Divine Reserve 12 release day. Since it's been about a year and a half since the good folks at SA have resleased a Divine series, as of the time of this writing the lines are already long. If you're not already in line at the Midtown Spec's then you might want to consider alternative locations.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Early voting day one: Harris County
Probably not enough data to suggest a trend but interesting nevertheless:
According to data provided by Harris County Clerk Stan Stanart's office the total Republican early vote numbers are as follows:
Republican:
8,231 - In person voters
14,750 - Mail-in ballots returned (25,007 sent out)
Democratic:
1,537 - In person voters
6,621 - Mail-in ballots returned (13,458 sent out)
If these numbers hold this is going to be a VERY low turn-out election.
However, I would expect these numbers to pick up as the week goes on, but I'm unsure of how far they can realistically be expected to increase given the low voter attention being paid to this election.
According to data provided by Harris County Clerk Stan Stanart's office the total Republican early vote numbers are as follows:
Republican:
8,231 - In person voters
14,750 - Mail-in ballots returned (25,007 sent out)
Democratic:
1,537 - In person voters
6,621 - Mail-in ballots returned (13,458 sent out)
If these numbers hold this is going to be a VERY low turn-out election.
However, I would expect these numbers to pick up as the week goes on, but I'm unsure of how far they can realistically be expected to increase given the low voter attention being paid to this election.
Friday, July 20, 2012
Making sure you know which side is "right"
CBS does some interesting framing on the (sadly, already started) gun-debate following the Colorado tragedy:
Gun Control Debate Returns After Colorado Shooting. Brian Montopoli, CBSNews.com
In the story CBS takes quotes from several pro-gun control advocates, all made out to be sensible people just wanting to have a conversation to stop people from dying. Here's an example:
So reasonable, so concerned that justice be done. The one person who CBS chooses to quote that's anti-gun control? Different story:
Yeah, crazy, wild-eyed. Of all the people CBS could be bothered to find (or, more realistically, be bothered to Google search given the quote was lifted (with poor attribution) from the far left-leaning Huffington Post) you'd think they could have found someone who's possibly with the NRA, or perhaps even Dudley Brown, a gun-rights advocate based in Colorado. At least ABC had the decency to mention him.
Not CBS though, they choose to go for the crazy. On the side that, to them, is the 'wrong' side.
See, it's not too hard to make sure that you're issue is on the 'right side of history'. You just have to make sure you only tell 1/2 the story. Gold star to CBS for following the playbook to a T here.
Gun Control Debate Returns After Colorado Shooting. Brian Montopoli, CBSNews.com
In the story CBS takes quotes from several pro-gun control advocates, all made out to be sensible people just wanting to have a conversation to stop people from dying. Here's an example:
"The shooter should be brought to justice and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," Rep. Carolyn McCarthy of New York, a Democrat whose husband was killed in a mass shooting on a train, said Friday morning. "But we as a nation should also not continue to ignore avenues to prevent tragedies like this from happening in the future."
So reasonable, so concerned that justice be done. The one person who CBS chooses to quote that's anti-gun control? Different story:
Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas, a Republican, said the story made him wonder, "With all those people in the theater, was there nobody that was carrying a gun that could have stopped this guy more quickly?" (Gohmert also tied the tragedy to the "ongoing attacks on Judeo-Christian beliefs.")
Yeah, crazy, wild-eyed. Of all the people CBS could be bothered to find (or, more realistically, be bothered to Google search given the quote was lifted (with poor attribution) from the far left-leaning Huffington Post) you'd think they could have found someone who's possibly with the NRA, or perhaps even Dudley Brown, a gun-rights advocate based in Colorado. At least ABC had the decency to mention him.
Not CBS though, they choose to go for the crazy. On the side that, to them, is the 'wrong' side.
See, it's not too hard to make sure that you're issue is on the 'right side of history'. You just have to make sure you only tell 1/2 the story. Gold star to CBS for following the playbook to a T here.
Why I think United handled the "4 mile award ticket" situation correctly.
Much news over the weekend surrounding a computer "glitch" that allowed some United Mileage Plus members to book award tickets to/from Asia for four (4) miles plus applicable taxes (around $35 bucks). Depending on what side you fell this was either the greatest mistake fare in history or the greediest attempt at customer dishonesty in recorded history.
Most of the Boarding Area travel bloggers, Mommy Points, View From the Wing, & One Mile at a Time have all reported that United is taking a 3-tier approach to the situation:
(From UA Insider on FlyerTalk)
In other words, United NEVER OFFERED these flights at 4 miles.
That's kind of a big deal, because if they had advertised the fares at 4 miles (in a way similar to the $64 NYC-ORD mistake fare from a week ago) then, according to the DOT regulations, they would be on the hook for honoring the price. As it is, until the mistake was discovered and broadcast wildly across the Internet, the purchasing customer would have had no expectation of receiving the ticket for such a small price. If you didn't know about it and went online to book the fare it would show you the typical round trip pricing (currently the "saver reward" {typically the lowest price} to HKG is 32,500 for coach, 60,000 for business while first class can be had on a regular reward for 160,000 {no saver for FC, costs are one-way}). These are the same prices (Your mileage may vary, depending on starting city) that users would have seen when they booked this mistake fare.
Realistically then, this is the price that they should have been willing to pay. That one guy figured out there was a glitch, and that the travel blogging industry and message boards went mad passing that glitch around are irrelevant at this time. By clicking on the button at the advertised rate the customer was de-facto agreeing to the published rate, acting like United was somehow obligated to honor the mistake rate is disingenuous at best.
The second area of customer complaint is that it took United a long time to say anything. Yes, it did, and it will take all airlines longer to respond to major issues in lieu of the "passenger bill of rights" that regulates them to the whims of the DOT with severe penalties for non-compliance. I'm sure there were negotiations, legal review and all kinds of discussions happening between United and the DOT until the final solution was agreed upon.
So now United has come out and realized that, no matter what they do, they're going to make some enemies with people who really want to keep their something for nothing. I think they're doing the right thing by honoring people who are already in the air, cancelling those who didn't have the miles in the first place, and offering free cancellations for those who do. It's really the best that they can do in this situation, which is ultimately going to be another huge black eye for COdbaUA (as it's called on the message boards).
So that's that then, and I imagine someone in United's IT department is either brushing off their resume right now, or is in for a very bad bonus at the beginning of next year.
Two tangents:
Customers saying they're going to file a DOT complaint: Good luck with that, because it appears to me that the "advertised rate" that you signed on to was correct. I highly doubt anything will come of this.
Travel bloggers: There's some discussion about the travel bloggers who broadcast this fare and whether or not they were in the wrong. I don't have any problem with a travel blogger posting about the fare but, and I haven't read all of the posts so I don't know if this happened, IF a blogger knew this was an obvious mistake and encouraged people to run out and jump on it then I'm thinking that crossed the line. Travel boards are both good and bad, and travel bloggers too. I'm not sure if this discussion is ever going to be fully developed but a lot of these travel bloggers make money from the companies they choose to blog about. It's been widely reported that United has disengaged themselves from the monetization of bloggers. What impact that has on how they cover the airline is open to interpretation. And so it goes.
Most of the Boarding Area travel bloggers, Mommy Points, View From the Wing, & One Mile at a Time have all reported that United is taking a 3-tier approach to the situation:
(From UA Insider on FlyerTalk)
Here's the rub: From what I can tell, AT NO TIME did United ever advertise these award flights as being priced at 4 miles. The advertised rate was always the regular amount of miles that it would take to fly this route. As a result of a computer glitch, the incorrect miles were charged to some accounts.
- For those customers who had sufficient mileage in their account for the correct award amount, the correct amount of miles were deducted at the time of redemption. Any customers who do not intend to use the published number of miles for their ticket may cancel their reservation without paying a fee and we will refund all miles, taxes and fees.
- For those customers who did not have sufficient mileage in their account for the correct award amount, the correct amount of miles could not be deducted at the time of redemption. These tickets have been canceled for non-payment and all taxes and fees have been refunded.
- For those customers who have already begun travel, or are ticketed to begin travel on or before July 21, we will not cancel these tickets and will allow travel to be completed in full. This is intended as an accommodation to those customers whose travel is already underway or the departure date to begin travel is imminent.
In other words, United NEVER OFFERED these flights at 4 miles.
That's kind of a big deal, because if they had advertised the fares at 4 miles (in a way similar to the $64 NYC-ORD mistake fare from a week ago) then, according to the DOT regulations, they would be on the hook for honoring the price. As it is, until the mistake was discovered and broadcast wildly across the Internet, the purchasing customer would have had no expectation of receiving the ticket for such a small price. If you didn't know about it and went online to book the fare it would show you the typical round trip pricing (currently the "saver reward" {typically the lowest price} to HKG is 32,500 for coach, 60,000 for business while first class can be had on a regular reward for 160,000 {no saver for FC, costs are one-way}). These are the same prices (Your mileage may vary, depending on starting city) that users would have seen when they booked this mistake fare.
Realistically then, this is the price that they should have been willing to pay. That one guy figured out there was a glitch, and that the travel blogging industry and message boards went mad passing that glitch around are irrelevant at this time. By clicking on the button at the advertised rate the customer was de-facto agreeing to the published rate, acting like United was somehow obligated to honor the mistake rate is disingenuous at best.
The second area of customer complaint is that it took United a long time to say anything. Yes, it did, and it will take all airlines longer to respond to major issues in lieu of the "passenger bill of rights" that regulates them to the whims of the DOT with severe penalties for non-compliance. I'm sure there were negotiations, legal review and all kinds of discussions happening between United and the DOT until the final solution was agreed upon.
So now United has come out and realized that, no matter what they do, they're going to make some enemies with people who really want to keep their something for nothing. I think they're doing the right thing by honoring people who are already in the air, cancelling those who didn't have the miles in the first place, and offering free cancellations for those who do. It's really the best that they can do in this situation, which is ultimately going to be another huge black eye for COdbaUA (as it's called on the message boards).
So that's that then, and I imagine someone in United's IT department is either brushing off their resume right now, or is in for a very bad bonus at the beginning of next year.
Two tangents:
Customers saying they're going to file a DOT complaint: Good luck with that, because it appears to me that the "advertised rate" that you signed on to was correct. I highly doubt anything will come of this.
Travel bloggers: There's some discussion about the travel bloggers who broadcast this fare and whether or not they were in the wrong. I don't have any problem with a travel blogger posting about the fare but, and I haven't read all of the posts so I don't know if this happened, IF a blogger knew this was an obvious mistake and encouraged people to run out and jump on it then I'm thinking that crossed the line. Travel boards are both good and bad, and travel bloggers too. I'm not sure if this discussion is ever going to be fully developed but a lot of these travel bloggers make money from the companies they choose to blog about. It's been widely reported that United has disengaged themselves from the monetization of bloggers. What impact that has on how they cover the airline is open to interpretation. And so it goes.
Pre-Check coming to IAH
To be unveiled July 24th according to a Houston Business Journal Report:
TSA unveils new fast screening program at IAH. Molly Ryan, Houston Business Journal
Not ALL UA frequent fliers however, if you're eligible you'll receive an e-mail from United stating so. I've received mine and have already begun to process.
Just another reason to establish some type of status with the airlines if you travel a lot. Despite marginally reducing their presence at IAH, UA still has a LOT of sway there.
TSA unveils new fast screening program at IAH. Molly Ryan, Houston Business Journal
United Airlines frequent fliers are eligible to apply for the program.
The program, called TSA Pre✓™, allows qualified passengers that go through a pre-screening process to go through security gates with an expedited security process. If passengers qualify for the program, they can go through security checkpoints without taking off their shoes and while wearing light outerwear.
Not ALL UA frequent fliers however, if you're eligible you'll receive an e-mail from United stating so. I've received mine and have already begun to process.
Just another reason to establish some type of status with the airlines if you travel a lot. Despite marginally reducing their presence at IAH, UA still has a LOT of sway there.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Wyndham Rewards Summer Promotion: 4X
If you're travelling this Summer and don't already have your hotels booked this is not a bad idea:
The points start multiplying on your second stay, and they can be used for either Wyndham Rewards points or certain partner airline miles.
Link to Registration
I typically find hotel points to be more valuable than airline miles, at 4 times the rewards you can come real, real close to a free night at their lowest tier hotel in two stays. Not that this would get you anything nice (think Knights Inn) If you stayed three or four times you could snag a free night at a Wingate or even a Wyndham. That's not a bad turnaround.
Since I'm building miles now for a reward trip to Sydney in 2013, I'm choosing the airline miles option. It all depends on your travel needs I guess.
(Note: I am NOT financially compensated by Wyndham Rewards in any way, except for being a member. I was not compensated for creating this post. Any conflicts of interest will be disclosed, this is not one of them)
 |
| Wyndham Summer Promotion |
Link to Registration
I typically find hotel points to be more valuable than airline miles, at 4 times the rewards you can come real, real close to a free night at their lowest tier hotel in two stays. Not that this would get you anything nice (think Knights Inn) If you stayed three or four times you could snag a free night at a Wingate or even a Wyndham. That's not a bad turnaround.
Since I'm building miles now for a reward trip to Sydney in 2013, I'm choosing the airline miles option. It all depends on your travel needs I guess.
(Note: I am NOT financially compensated by Wyndham Rewards in any way, except for being a member. I was not compensated for creating this post. Any conflicts of interest will be disclosed, this is not one of them)
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