Perched atop an angular modern pillar at the edge of an Arizona parking lot is an impressionist piece of prairie trash that cost the local taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars. Collectively, this pricey piece of modern art is known simply as, Momentum (at least when it isn't being called mean nick-names by spurned locals).
Unveiled in 2008, the metal sculpture was intended to reference nearby Tumbleweed Park with its artistically-styled tumbleweed held 10 feet off the ground on a futuristic pedestal. The pedestal itself stands atop a squat block of carved concrete completing the entire piece. The work was commissioned from a Denver artist who costing the city $100,000 in tax dollars. After seeing the rather short result of the city council's choice, the public was less than impressed.
The piece was given silly nick-names such as "rat's nest" and "hairball" and general displeasure ensued. Even some city council members spoke out, remarking democratically that the artwork was not quite what they were expecting from their grant.
Regardless of the feelings behind the $100,000 tumbleweed, it remains to this day, reminding commuters arriving to the public transit park and ride just how most of their tax dollars blow away in the wind.
Okay, I promise I'll eventually stop talking about this Korean Air nut incident. Just not now... because the story is just too good to ignore. Forget the drama between Alaska and Delta in Seattle, or the Qatar Airways A380 delivery chronicles... this is better than everything else combined!
To start, for those of you that have been living under a rock, see these previous posts:
-- Korean Air Flight Delayed Over Nuts
-- Korean Air Executive Resigns Over Nuts
-- Why Is Korean Air’s #NutGate Causing So Much Controversy?
-- Korean Air Purser Speaks Out About Nut Outrage
-- Korean Air Could Be Fined $2 Million Over Nut Lady
The post Sales Of Macadamia Nuts In Korea Have Increased How Much?! appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
I’ve written about the Ritz-Carlton Rewards co-brand credit card occasionally over the past couple of years. There have been a couple of really outstanding offers for it, like 70,000 points and no fee the first year, and 140,000 points while paying the steep $395 annual fee even the first year. But I hadn’t seen either […]
The post 140,000 Point Signup Bonus for Ritz-Carlton (Marriott) Credit Card appeared first on View from the Wing.
News and notes from around the interweb: My suggestions of the best rewards cards for travelers over at WendyPerrin.com. Tips for travelers ahead of the busy Christmas rush (my Fox News Happening Now segment from last Wednesday). Spirit won’t refund a deployed Navy quartermaster. She gets a flight credit minus a change fee. Because that’s […]
The post The Latest on Best Rewards Cards, Holiday Travel, Spirit Air Military Rage, and 2000 Hotels in China! appeared first on View from the Wing.
No, really.
And maybe this is because all I do in life nowadays is tell people not to get CapitalOne cards, but the Chase Freedom® is really the much better option if you're looking for a no-annual fee card that you can actually use on travel you want to take.
I don't know how y'all spend the holiday season, but if you visit family like I do, you may also be watching a lot of football. Which is great.
I love football.
What I don't love is Samuel L. Jackson coming on TV every seven minutes and asking my aunts, uncles, and grandparents what's in their wallet.
The post Everyone Reading This Should Get The Chase Freedom appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
With IHG Rewards Club leading the pack in announcing their first quarter 2015 promotion, it's pretty normal for other hotel programs to follow with their promotion details pretty quickly. After all, they don't want to lose business due to another program's promotion.
While we don't know the details of Hyatt's promotion yet, we do know when it will take place. Per Gold Passport Concierge:
"Great news! A new Hyatt Gold Passport promotion – tailored just for you - will launch in January and we hope you’ll participate. Be sure to register for this new promotion beginning January 12, 2015 to learn what your exclusive offer is, and begin earning thousands of bonus points on stays through April 30, 2015. Check your inbox in January to learn more."
The post Hyatt Gold Passport Promotion Coming January 12, 2015 appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
Lufthansa's uber-top tier status is HON Circle, which can be earned by accruing 600,000 elite qualifying miles over the course of two years.
The status comes with quite a few benefits, probably the most significant of which is access to the Lufthansa First Class Lounges and Lufthansa First Class Terminal regardless of which class of service you're flying.
So a HON Circle member can book a cheap economy ticket from Frankfurt to Munich and spend all day in the First Class Terminal in Frankfurt, if they'd like. As a matter of fact, I know several HON Circle members who spend their weekends exactly that way. ;)
The catch is that while HON Circle status gets you access to Lufthansa's First Class Lounges, it doesn't get you access to the first class lounges of partner airlines.
The post Lufthansa Adds United Lounge Access For HON Circle Members appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
Cranky Flier points out that with Delta’s rebranding of their cabins they’re going to be rolling out restrictive ‘basic economy’ fares into more markets. Last week I wrote about Delta’s cabin rebranding efforts, but I failed to really grasp something that is likely going to become a big issue. The lowest fare, Basic Economy, is […]
The post Delta Plans to Expand Use of Their Restrictive No Seat Assignment, No Change, No Upgrade Fares appeared first on View from the Wing.
There are a couple of interesting stories over the past couple of days from planes in China that had the emergency exits opened. As uncivilized as the US aviation industry seems sometimes, it's easy to take for granted that at least most people have flown before. Some frequent flyers are annoyed by once yearly flyers not knowing the drill. But people flying for the first time in their lives are a totally different story, as you can see below...
Via the South China Morning Post, a passenger on a Xiamen Air flight from Hangzhou to Chengdu on Sunday opened the emergency exit door just before takeoff. Apparently he just wanted to "get some fresh air." It was his first time flying, so you can't really hold it against him too much. Amazingly the flight wasn't delayed, despite that having happened.
Fortunately the airline isn't penalizing the passenger, which I appreciate, given that no harm was intended. And thank goodness it was an overwing exit and not an exit with a slide, which would have been a much more complicated (and expensive) repair.
The post PSA: Don’t Open Airplane Emergency Exit For Fresh Air Or To Get Off Faster appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
I just received an email from American AADvantage, Happy Holidays! Our bonus miles gift to you! I almost deleted it because, well, that’s what I do when I’m busy. But I also know I need to read this things on the rare off-change that they’re useful, because.. well.. blog. And it’s free miles for the […]
The post Citibank’s Christmas Present to Me appeared first on View from the Wing.
On one hand I'd like to think this story has run its course. On the other hand, it just keeps getting better and better.
For those of you that have been living under a rock, see these previous posts:
-- Korean Air Flight Delayed Over Nuts
-- Korean Air Executive Resigns Over Nuts
-- Why Is Korean Air’s #NutGate Causing So Much Controversy?
-- Korean Air Purser Speaks Out About Nut Outrage
I'm almost starting to feel bad for Heather Cho. I mean, it's not her fault she was born into such a rich family, was handed a role as senior vice president for an airline on a silver platter, and has probably been taught to treat "lesser" people poorly from a young age... is it?
The post Korean Air Could Be Fined $2 Million Over Nut Lady appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
I’m about to head off on another trip, which I’m somewhat ambivalent about because of how much I’ve been on the road lately. But I’ve also done vacation and I’m much happier to share that trip with you in the coming days. It was a return to cities I’ve been to many times, it was […]
The post Singapore, Cathay, and Qantas First Class.. Some of the Best Meals of My Life, and a Tour of Hyatts in Bangkok, Singapore, and Sydney appeared first on View from the Wing.
Arguably the most high end hotel credit card is back with an increased sign-up bonus.
The Ritz-Carlton Rewards Visa Signature Card is offering a sign-up bonus of 140,00o points after spending $3,000 within the first three months of card membership.
The card does have a $395 annual fee, which isn't waived the first year. For context, in the past we've sometimes seen a 70,000 point sign-up bonus with the annual fee waived, so whether or not this offer is better depends on whether you value Ritz-Carlton Rewards points at over ~0.56 cents each (since you're basically deciding whether you want to pick up an extra 70,000 points for $395).
This card comes with a ton of benefits, including:
The post 140,000 Point Ritz-Carlton Rewards Visa Sign-Up Bonus appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
When United inked a deal with Hertz, giving more bonus miles for Hertz rentals and Hertz status for United elites, Hertz (and its Dollar and Thrifty brands) became United’s exclusive car partner. In other words, the end of United miles for Avis rentals. But United didn’t get the same level of exclusivity from Hertz, it […]
The post Delta Elites Now Get Elite Status With Hertz appeared first on View from the Wing.
In early November I wrote about Alaska's Mileage Plan offering up to a 35% bonus on purchased miles. I figured I'd post a reminder about this promo, since it ends on Saturday, December 20, 2014. So this is the last week you can take advantage of the promotion.
If you max out the promotion you can purchase Mileage Plan miles for ~2.19 cents each. I know that doesn't sound all that low, but there are a few things that make Alaska Mileage Plan and their promotions especially lucrative:
-- There's no limit to the number of Mileage Plan miles you can buy per promotion, so this is one of the few promotions where you can really generate as many miles as you'd like
-- There are some amazing uses of Alaska Mileage Plan miles, especially for travel on Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Fiji Airways, LAN, etc.
-- Alaska Mileage Plan allows a stopover on a one way award, which makes them one of the few programs where that's possible
The post 35% Bonus On Purchased Alaska Miles: Last Chance appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
