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CO Reward Travel FFMs now greatly inflated



 
 
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  #1  
Old April 20th, 2006, 04:47 PM posted to rec.travel.air
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default CO Reward Travel FFMs now greatly inflated

To keep itself going the same route of Delta or NW, the standard reward
travel is almost nonexistent now -- as I learned this year, beginning
to use the million FFMs accumulated when I fell off the Platinum wagon
for the first time in 7 years.

For most reward travel, the required miles for "standard travel" such
as 120,000 FFMs for first class, now requires 240,000 FFMs for the
"Easy Pass" on most itinearies.

So, when I found a Free Business First roundtrip from EWR to HKG in
November, for 120,000K miles I was quick to grab it, because the fare
is $4,800 if I pay for it! And even if I pay for a coach ticket and
use
the FFM for upgrade to Business First (considered it), it would not be
nearly as attractive as paying 120K for the free roundtrip!

That's where the interesting part of CO's inflated scheme comes in.

My desired roundtrip is ATL to HKG via EWR. So, to complete my
roundtrip, for the same 120K miles, I have to find a connection from
ATL to EWR, and EWR back to ATL.

CO's rule now is that I can attach the one-way reward travel ONLY
if they exist in the "standard reward" category, even though I had
already paid the miles for First Class. :-)

As of now, I found an ATL/EWR standard reward COACH (but no
First Class) for the front portion -- which will automatically be
upgraded to First without charge, when the "stardard reward"
miles for First opens up for that date.

Meanwhile, there is no standard miles reward travel from EWR to
ATL on my return day, even though there are 8 flights on the web
on that day, on nearly completely empty planes!

The reason I knew about the empty planes was that I found a
nearly unheard of one-way fare of $109 from EWR to ATL on a
flight that fits my itinerary. But the PAID ticket cannot be
attached
to a Reward ticket either, so I have to either (a) take a chance
that a "standard reward" ticket opens up for EWR to ATL , or
(b) pay a much higher fare for the same flight when it gets closer
to November, or (c) buy the cheap ticket as an "insurance", and
pay the change-itinerary fee for a future flight if my FREE (paid
for) EWR - ATL leg becomes available in "standard reward
travel" for either coach OR First Class!

I took option (c), even though I may have to throw away the ticket,
because even now, the refundable ticket for the same one-way is
$274, and the one-stop fare (via IAH) is $473 and $513. Further-
more, a one-way fare is often more expensive than a roundtrip!

I purchased the $109 ticket last week -- which was how I found
out I had a complete choice of seats on the empty plane!

As I looked at the CO web this morning for the same flight, it had
already gone up to $114 -- still an excellent fare for that leg. I
am sure it'll continue going up as November, the day of the flight
appoaches.

I had already paid inflated Reward Travel tickets on several other
flights this year.

This is to let the FF travel on CO with FFMs to use that their
miles are not worth nearly as much as it used to.

-- Bob.

  #2  
Old April 20th, 2006, 10:09 PM posted to rec.travel.air
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default "YAWN......" (WAS: CO Reward Travel FFMs now greatly inflated

".........yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawn"......."blah...blah. ..blah"...."......zzzzzzzz
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz........"

--
Best
Greg


"ODORIFEROUS Reef Fish" wrote in message
ups.com...
To keep itself going the same route of Delta or NW, the standard reward
travel is almost nonexistent now -- as I learned this year, beginning
to use the million FFMs accumulated when I fell off the Platinum wagon
for the first time in 7 years.

For most reward travel, the required miles for "standard travel" such
as 120,000 FFMs for first class, now requires 240,000 FFMs for the
"Easy Pass" on most itinearies.

So, when I found a Free Business First roundtrip from EWR to HKG in
November, for 120,000K miles I was quick to grab it, because the fare
is $4,800 if I pay for it! And even if I pay for a coach ticket and
use
the FFM for upgrade to Business First (considered it), it would not be
nearly as attractive as paying 120K for the free roundtrip!

That's where the interesting part of CO's inflated scheme comes in.

My desired roundtrip is ATL to HKG via EWR. So, to complete my
roundtrip, for the same 120K miles, I have to find a connection from
ATL to EWR, and EWR back to ATL.

CO's rule now is that I can attach the one-way reward travel ONLY
if they exist in the "standard reward" category, even though I had
already paid the miles for First Class. :-)

As of now, I found an ATL/EWR standard reward COACH (but no
First Class) for the front portion -- which will automatically be
upgraded to First without charge, when the "stardard reward"
miles for First opens up for that date.

Meanwhile, there is no standard miles reward travel from EWR to
ATL on my return day, even though there are 8 flights on the web
on that day, on nearly completely empty planes!

The reason I knew about the empty planes was that I found a
nearly unheard of one-way fare of $109 from EWR to ATL on a
flight that fits my itinerary. But the PAID ticket cannot be
attached
to a Reward ticket either, so I have to either (a) take a chance
that a "standard reward" ticket opens up for EWR to ATL , or
(b) pay a much higher fare for the same flight when it gets closer
to November, or (c) buy the cheap ticket as an "insurance", and
pay the change-itinerary fee for a future flight if my FREE (paid
for) EWR - ATL leg becomes available in "standard reward
travel" for either coach OR First Class!

I took option (c), even though I may have to throw away the ticket,
because even now, the refundable ticket for the same one-way is
$274, and the one-stop fare (via IAH) is $473 and $513. Further-
more, a one-way fare is often more expensive than a roundtrip!

I purchased the $109 ticket last week -- which was how I found
out I had a complete choice of seats on the empty plane!

As I looked at the CO web this morning for the same flight, it had
already gone up to $114 -- still an excellent fare for that leg. I
am sure it'll continue going up as November, the day of the flight
appoaches.

I had already paid inflated Reward Travel tickets on several other
flights this year.

This is to let the FF travel on CO with FFMs to use that their
miles are not worth nearly as much as it used to.

-- Bob.



  #3  
Old April 21st, 2006, 03:44 AM posted to rec.travel.air
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default CO Reward Travel FFMs now greatly inflated


Gregory Morrow wrote:

I know I am a worthless troll and a stalker of Reef Fish, but I just can't
help it. I don't have a life, and this is the best I can do. Be a nuisance.
--
Best
Greg


Reef Fish" wrote in message
ups.com...
To keep itself going the same route of Delta or NW, the standard reward
travel is almost nonexistent now -- as I learned this year, beginning
to use the million FFMs accumulated when I fell off the Platinum wagon
for the first time in 7 years.

For most reward travel, the required miles for "standard travel" such
as 120,000 FFMs for first class, now requires 240,000 FFMs for the
"Easy Pass" on most itinearies.

So, when I found a Free Business First roundtrip from EWR to HKG in
November, for 120,000K miles I was quick to grab it, because the fare
is $4,800 if I pay for it! And even if I pay for a coach ticket and
use
the FFM for upgrade to Business First (considered it), it would not be
nearly as attractive as paying 120K for the free roundtrip!

That's where the interesting part of CO's inflated scheme comes in.

My desired roundtrip is ATL to HKG via EWR. So, to complete my
roundtrip, for the same 120K miles, I have to find a connection from
ATL to EWR, and EWR back to ATL.

CO's rule now is that I can attach the one-way reward travel ONLY
if they exist in the "standard reward" category, even though I had
already paid the miles for First Class. :-)

As of now, I found an ATL/EWR standard reward COACH (but no
First Class) for the front portion -- which will automatically be
upgraded to First without charge, when the "stardard reward"
miles for First opens up for that date.

Meanwhile, there is no standard miles reward travel from EWR to
ATL on my return day, even though there are 8 flights on the web
on that day, on nearly completely empty planes!

The reason I knew about the empty planes was that I found a
nearly unheard of one-way fare of $109 from EWR to ATL on a
flight that fits my itinerary. But the PAID ticket cannot be
attached
to a Reward ticket either, so I have to either (a) take a chance
that a "standard reward" ticket opens up for EWR to ATL , or
(b) pay a much higher fare for the same flight when it gets closer
to November, or (c) buy the cheap ticket as an "insurance", and
pay the change-itinerary fee for a future flight if my FREE (paid
for) EWR - ATL leg becomes available in "standard reward
travel" for either coach OR First Class!

I took option (c), even though I may have to throw away the ticket,
because even now, the refundable ticket for the same one-way is
$274, and the one-stop fare (via IAH) is $473 and $513. Further-
more, a one-way fare is often more expensive than a roundtrip!

I purchased the $109 ticket last week -- which was how I found
out I had a complete choice of seats on the empty plane!

As I looked at the CO web this morning for the same flight, it had
already gone up to $114 -- still an excellent fare for that leg. I
am sure it'll continue going up as November, the day of the flight
appoaches.

I had already paid inflated Reward Travel tickets on several other
flights this year.

This is to let the FF travel on CO with FFMs to use that their
miles are not worth nearly as much as it used to.

-- Bob.


  #4  
Old April 27th, 2006, 05:53 AM posted to rec.travel.air,rec.scuba
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default CO Reward Travel FFMs now greatly inflated


-hh wrote:
Bob Ling Reef Fish wrote:
...
I had already paid inflated Reward Travel tickets on several other
flights this year.


To have credibility, I always tell it like it is. I kick the asses of

dumb asses like hh Hugh Huntzinger the Army peon when he
dissed CO and other FF Programs out of his ignorance.

I corrected others (Vitaly Shmatikov; aka VS; Paul Tauger,
aka Ptravel; and others when they unfairly knocked CO and
didn't have the facts).

It's called "Tell it like it is".


This is to let the FF travel on CO with FFMs to use that their
miles are not worth nearly as much as it used to.


That was to SHARE the information with other CO Frequent
Flyers many of whom do not have the MILLION FF miles I have
accumulated to spend on "reward travel".


"Told Ya So" (sic). Last summer, I said that this was likely to
happen:


The inflation on FFM requirement had already started LONG before
last summer. I found out LONG ago when I used the FFMs to
upgrade my coach roundtrip to Hong Kong to Business First.

So what? It's STILL light-years ahead of hh counting the few miles
he get from using his credit card -- to nickel and dime $20 vs $40,
and even found some mickey mouse program to plot a line. LOL!!

Meanwhile I was telling him what a FOOL he was because I was
talking about BIG BUCKS (BIG FREE BUCKS) when I accumulate
about 500,000 FFM for my Platinum flying -- which has the nominal
value of $20 x 500 or $10,000 freebie in CO FFMs.


Date: Sat, 06 Aug 2005 20:48:26 -0400
Message-ID:

(a partial header for Bob to research, instead of a convenient URL ;-)


But of course back then, Bob vigorously disagreed. Gosh, he even got
abusive and tried to hurt my feelings.


"abusive"? To the "Supreme Hypocrite" of rec.scuba? LOL some more.

Hugh Huntzinger overlooked that the very example I used to illustrate
CO's inflation in mileage requirements for a FREE roundtrip Business
FIrst from ATL - EWR - HKG roundtrip was the holding out of ATL/EWR
roundtrip portion, but the Business First roundtrip EWR-HKG cost me
120,000 FFMs, which as the nominal equivalent of $2,400, for a $4,800
ticket.

Quite a bargain I would say. Actually worth $40 per 1000 FFM instead
of the usual $20.

The hold-out cost me only $109 to buy the EWR-ATL return portion, as
my insurance that I will have a connection back. A piece of peanut in
the scheme of the overall roundtrip Business First to Hong Kong!

In short, while the CO miles are worth LESS, for the reasons and
examples
I gave, they are still worth FAR more than the charge-card peanuts
Hugh only knew, but not the FF perks in freebies.

Cost benefit analysis is not exactly the forte of this Army Peon, who
exemplified the saying that "Military Intelligence is an Oxymoron".
- -

BTW, trying to cash in CO FFM's on partner airlines for international
seat upgrades can be a real hassle too.


Really now? I had no trouble cashing in my miles to get TWO
open jaw tickets on Korean Airlines from Atlanta to Auckland NZ
in January 2006, back from Sydney to ATL in February, on my
Australian cruise from Auckland to Sydney.

I also COULD have used my miles on Qantas. But I dislike Qantas.

Last month, I had no trouble getting First Class Reward Travel
(freebie)
all the way from ATL to SEA on CO and SEA to Fairbanks, Alaska on
Alaska Airlines, for a mere 90,000 FFMs, halfway between Standard
and EasyPass.


We recently found that KLM
doesn't keep waiting lists for CO codeshare customers, so you're
expected to be willing to telephone their service center daily to see
if they're released any seats overnight to be available to purchase as
an upgrade.


-hh


That's KLM's problem isn't it? Besides, with no status on CO such as
yourself, why should you expect CO to do anything for your KLM flights,
codeshare or not?

Hugh, what was this

"Told Ya So" (sic).


you were bragging about now?

I've been flying freebie, First Class and Business First, domestic and
international, THIS YEAR, at only slightly inflated charges. I still
have
PLENTY of CO FFMs to do plenty of CO Reward travels -- whose
freebie are worth tens of thousands of USD.

What have you got to show for your flying and charging it on your
credit cards? LOL!

Learn a little bit about Cost Benefit Analysis, hh -- that'll help
stretch
your peon salary in the Army to better use in your recreational travel.

-- Bob.

  #5  
Old April 27th, 2006, 02:55 PM posted to rec.travel.air,rec.scuba
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default CO Reward Travel FFMs now greatly inflated

Bob Ling Reef Fish wrote:
[yammer, yammer]



Bzzzzzzzzzzzzt!!!1!!! Fish On! :-)


That was to SHARE the information with other CO Frequent
Flyers many of whom do not have the MILLION FF miles I have
accumulated to spend on "reward travel".


Something you can't effectively use ... is worth nothing.


"Told Ya So" (sic). Last summer, I said that this was likely to
happen:


The inflation on FFM requirement had already started LONG before
last summer.


Yes, I pointed that out too...last summer.


Date: Sat, 06 Aug 2005 20:48:26 -0400
Message-ID:

(a partial header for Bob to research, instead of a convenient URL ;-)



The world's self-proclaimed "Google Expert" can't find this post.


... the nominal equivalent of $2,400, for a $4,800 ticket.

Quite a bargain I would say. Actually worth $40 per 1000 FFM instead
of the usual $20.



A product is only worth as much as you're willing to pay for it.

As such, this is the logical fallacy of a "false economy".



In short, while the CO miles are worth LESS...


See, despite your "spins", you actually do admit that I was right.


...they are still worth FAR more than the charge-card peanuts
Hugh only knew, but not the FF perks in freebies.


That's irrelevant to you being wrong here, Bob.

For those who missed this, the question of the goodness of different
Rewards Cards depends strongly on how many dollars you can put through
the card...Bob's logical fallacy is that that which is good for Bob
cannot be universally applied as "good" for everyone else.

For example, Joe Sixpack median American family ($43K/year) don't have
large amounts of disposable income to put through any CC, so they need
to watch out for the fee-required Reward CC's that can become a
"suckers bet" when the rewards won't even cover the annual fee. YMMV,
but this point appears to be roughly $500/month after you generalize it
to get rid of first year gimmicks, etc.


BTW, trying to cash in CO FFM's on partner airlines for international
seat upgrades can be a real hassle too.


Really now? I had no trouble cashing in my miles to get TWO
open jaw tickets on Korean Airlines from Atlanta to Auckland NZ...


Irrelevant: tickets aren't upgrades.

Last month, I had no trouble getting First Class Reward Travel
(freebie) all the way from ATL to SEA on CO and SEA to Fairbanks,
Alaska on Alaska Airlines, for a mere 90,000 FFMs...


Irrelevant: tickets aren't upgrades.


Besides, with no status on CO such as yourself, why should you expect
CO to do anything for your KLM flights, codeshare or not?


The question of status is irrelevant: the programs generally require
you to burn miles and they usually want some cash from you too.



-hh

  #6  
Old April 28th, 2006, 01:41 AM posted to rec.travel.air
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default CO Reward Travel FFMs now greatly inflated


-hh wrote:
Bob Ling Reef Fish wrote:
[yammer, yammer]



Bzzzzzzzzzzzzt!!!1!!! Fish On! :-)


That was to SHARE the information with other CO Frequent
Flyers many of whom do not have the MILLION FF miles I have
accumulated to spend on "reward travel".


Something you can't effectively use ... is worth nothing.


You should have paid more attention! For this year alone, based on
CO Platinum and FFM upgrades of Reward travel benefits:

January: FREE ATL-Auckland Reward travel on Delta/Korean Air
February: FREE Sydney - ATL Reward travel on Korean Air/Delta
Reward travels were on CO FFMs.
Feb. (forgot to mention this) FREE upgrade to First Class on all
segments of ATL/CZM. No FFM required: Platinum.
Mar: FREE First Class: CO from ATL-SEA; Alaska Air: SEA-Fairbank
on Reward travel with CO FFMs.

I had already booked FREE roundtrip EWR-HKG Business First on
reward travel using CO FFMs.

There are others. Worth nothing?


... the nominal equivalent of $2,400, for a $4,800 ticket.


That's the cost of the EWR-HKG Business First in Nov. 2006.


Quite a bargain I would say. Actually worth $40 per 1000 FFM instead
of the usual $20.



A product is only worth as much as you're willing to pay for it.

As such, this is the logical fallacy of a "false economy".


That speaks TONS about Hugh Huntzinger's "Army Intelligence" oxymoron.

For YOU, you can figure out what's the cheapest flight, on any
airline you can fly, to buy a roundtrip ticket in coach from EWR
to Hong Kong (HKG), and then compare it to one FREE ticket,
in Business First on CO, then come back and tell us more about
your "false economy". That ticket costs $41.72 USE in taxes,



In short, while the CO miles are worth LESS...


See, despite your "spins", you actually do admit that I was right.


You are FOS! They are worth LESS relatively speaking (which
was MY point of the post), yet they are worth MUCH MORE than
Hugh ever realized, in his very limited experience in air travel,
or cost benefit analysis.

That kind of rhetoric in sophomoric obfuscation attempt by Hugh
is deja vu all over again -- as Yogi laughs hysterically.



For those who missed this, the question of the goodness of different
Rewards Cards depends strongly on how many dollars you can put through
the card...Bob's logical fallacy is that that which is good for Bob
cannot be universally applied as "good" for everyone else.


That's the illogical extension of Bob's logical and careful
cost-benefit
analysis, which is well-beyond the comprehension capability of an
army peon who has very limited air travel experience AND almost no
skill in cost-benefit analysis.


For example, Joe Sixpack median American family ($43K/year) don't have
large amounts of disposable income to put through any CC, so they need
to watch out for the fee-required Reward CC's that can become a
"suckers bet" when the rewards won't even cover the annual fee. YMMV,


Hugh Huntzinger is describing himself as Joe Sixpack.

Joe Sixpack COULD have flown enough cheap flights on CO so that
the FFMs earned is actually greater than the cost of the ticket! How
would someone like Hugh Huntzinger know? Go to google and look
up my ATL to HNL trips for $309 USD. Just ONE such trip would
have paid for the annual fee, in FFM equivalent, not to mention the
free trip (roundtrip air) to Honolulu!


but this point appears to be roughly $500/month after you generalize it
to get rid of first year gimmicks, etc.


Thus speaketh Joe Sixpack with beer dripping from his chin. For
several years, my annual 400,000 FFM on CO (Platinum bonus of
125% on every air mile) would have earned the equivalent of $8,000
while my CO expenditure for paying for those miles flown on CO
was hardly even noticed by me in my Annual VISA charge tally.



BTW, trying to cash in CO FFM's on partner airlines for international
seat upgrades can be a real hassle too.


Really now? I had no trouble cashing in my miles to get TWO
open jaw tickets on Korean Airlines from Atlanta to Auckland NZ...


Irrelevant: tickets aren't upgrades.


FREE tickets (Reward travel) doesn't count as "cash in"? You have to
resort to upgrades only because you DON'T have enough FFM for
the free tickets, stooopid!

Last month, I had no trouble getting First Class Reward Travel
(freebie) all the way from ATL to SEA on CO and SEA to Fairbanks,
Alaska on Alaska Airlines, for a mere 90,000 FFMs...


Irrelevant: tickets aren't upgrades.


FREE tickets (Reward travel) doesn't count as "cash in"? You have to
resort to upgrades only because you DON'T have enough FFM for
the free tickets, stooopid!


Besides, with no status on CO such as yourself, why should you expect
CO to do anything for your KLM flights, codeshare or not?


The question of status is irrelevant: the programs generally require
you to burn miles and they usually want some cash from you too.



-hh


The only cash are a few bucks in government taxes for the free tickets!

Yeah, the $41.72 USD (total taxes) for a roundtrip FREE Business First
ticket between EWR and Hong Kong is going to deplete my bank
account. LOL!

-- Bob.

  #7  
Old April 28th, 2006, 02:20 AM posted to rec.travel.air
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default CO Reward Travel FFMs now greatly inflated

Bob Ling Reef Fish runs with the bait, writing:
-hh wrote:
Bob Ling Reef Fish wrote:
[yammer, yammer]

Something you can't effectively use ... is worth nothing.


There are others. Worth nothing?


So a retiree with absolutely no schedule restrictions was finally able
to burn some of his miles. BFD when he's whining about how his "costs"
went up.


... the nominal equivalent of $2,400, for a $4,800 ticket.


That's the cost of the EWR-HKG Business First in Nov. 2006.


Irrelevant: you were spending "play money" from perks that you can't
spend any other way. When have you ever actually spent this much of
your own REAL money on an airline ticket in this price range? As I
said:

"A product is only worth as much as you're willing to pay for it."

Its just like that Mercedes that you "owned" that was actually
purchased with "company funds". You're such an insecure little poseur.


For YOU, you can figure out what's the cheapest flight, on any
airline you can fly, to buy a roundtrip ticket in coach from EWR
to Hong Kong (HKG), and then compare it to one FREE ticket,
in Business First on CO, then come back and tell us more about
your "false economy". That ticket costs $41.72 USE in taxes...


I can probably do it for $41.72 too, assuming that I wanted to burn
some of my miles to go to Hong Kong, and I was as flexible in my
schedule as a retiree.



In short, while the CO miles are worth LESS...


See, despite your "spins", you actually do admit that I was right.


You are FOS! They are worth LESS relatively speaking (which
was MY point of the post), yet...


Less is less. The rest is bull**** double-talk.



Go to google and look up my ATL to HNL trips for $309 USD.


Irrelevant, since these don't exist today under today's higher fuel &
ticket rates.

For
several years, my annual 400,000 FFM on CO (Platinum bonus of
125% on every air mile) would have earned the equivalent of $8,000
while my CO expenditure for paying for those miles flown on CO
was hardly even noticed by me in my Annual VISA charge tally.


Good for you. My point was merely that what you can do with your
resources was beyond the fiscal reach of Joe Sixpack to duplicate.


BTW, trying to cash in CO FFM's on partner airlines for international
seat upgrades can be a real hassle too.

Really now? I had no trouble cashing in my miles to get TWO
open jaw tickets on Korean Airlines from Atlanta to Auckland NZ...


Irrelevant: tickets aren't upgrades.


FREE tickets (Reward travel) doesn't count as "cash in"?


Not when the subject is the difficulties in buying an upgrade.


You have to resort to upgrades only because you DON'T have enough FFM for
the free tickets, stooopid!


I don't care if I have as many miles as you or not. But I do know that
being the loudmouthed coward that you are, you're not willing to risk
betting US$10,000 of your own money that I don't have at least 100K
miles on an airline FFM program.


-hh

  #8  
Old April 28th, 2006, 03:33 AM posted to rec.travel.air
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default CO Reward Travel FFMs now greatly inflated


-hh wrote:

So a retiree with absolutely no schedule restrictions was finally able
to burn some of his miles. BFD when he's whining about how his "costs"
went up.


Hugh, you are a Clueless Newbie in rec.travel.air.

I have been accumulating AND using about the same number of
CO FFMs each year since CO has its Platinum Program, which
happened to nearly coincide with my early retirement in 1999.

And that's about 400,000 - 500,000 miles each and every year,
not counting my wife's FFMs in the same program.


... the nominal equivalent of $2,400, for a $4,800 ticket.


That's the cost of the EWR-HKG Business First in Nov. 2006.


Irrelevant: you were spending "play money" from perks that you can't
spend any other way.


What a pitiful newbie. I've had 4 roundtrips to Hong Kong since my
Platinum status with CO. Whether I paid to purchase a ticket (and
get the FFMs) or pay with FFMs and get no FFMs -- it's all real
money.


Its just like that Mercedes that you "owned" that was actually
purchased with "company funds". You're such an insecure little poseur.


Really? That's a piece of LIBEL, Hugh. I have purchased 3 new
Mercedes SL since 1981, all in CASH (no installment payment).
The first was a 1982 380 SL, in 1981. I had the cost of the car
written off in 1 year and 3 months (for business use when I was on
sabbatical leave). I was audited by both FED and State IRS on
the write-off, and it was 100% legit. Every penny for the car
came from my own pocket. It was the year of the tax shelters and
other tax-write-off laws curtesy of Uncle Sam. I told my friends
in Chicago School of Business (where I was a Full Visiting Prof.
on sabbatical) that if I had the cash to purchase a Rolls Royce,
I would have done it -- and have it written off the same way.

It's called tax-planning and cost-benefit analysis, Hugh. Something
you would never understand nor have the cash to do -- the same
way as your ignorance about FFMs.

I purchase my next two new SLs, another 380 and a 560, with
cash, except the tax write-off took a bit longer.

So, where did you get your pitiful LIES about my Mercedes purchase
with company funds? I don't bother to sue you for your LIBEL only
because you wouldn't have enough money to be worthwhile for the
hassle.

However, if you can collect or borrow money from others to make a
WAGER to put your money where your mouth is about my mercedes
(even one penny of it) was paid by "company funds"? Name your
amount, and you'll LOSE all of it! We can get a lawyer to draw up
the contract for the wager, if you can scrape up say, $50,000, about
how much I paid in cash for the SL 380 in 1981?


For YOU, you can figure out what's the cheapest flight, on any
airline you can fly, to buy a roundtrip ticket in coach from EWR
to Hong Kong (HKG), and then compare it to one FREE ticket,
in Business First on CO, then come back and tell us more about
your "false economy". That ticket costs $41.72 USE in taxes...


I can probably do it for $41.72 too, assuming that I wanted to burn
some of my miles to go to Hong Kong, and I was as flexible in my
schedule as a retiree.


What a lame comeback. You can't afford any trip to Hong Kong.
The tax for your flight to Cayman Brac (what a dump) probably
exceeds that, and you have to empty your cookie jar to pay for
the coach ticket.


For
several years, my annual 400,000 FFM on CO (Platinum bonus of
125% on every air mile) would have earned the equivalent of $8,000
while my CO expenditure for paying for those miles flown on CO
was hardly even noticed by me in my Annual VISA charge tally.


Good for you. My point was merely that what you can do with your
resources was beyond the fiscal reach of Joe Sixpack to duplicate.


But if you're not the DUMB Joe Sixpack, you would have learned how
to do it on a smaller scale. Instead, you do your fallacious cost-
benefit babble, robbed YOURSELF of all the freebies for which you
were entitled AND capable (if you weren't so stupid), and come to
this newsgroup to display your total ignorance about travel.air!



BTW, trying to cash in CO FFM's on partner airlines for international
seat upgrades can be a real hassle too.

Really now? I had no trouble cashing in my miles to get TWO
open jaw tickets on Korean Airlines from Atlanta to Auckland NZ...

Irrelevant: tickets aren't upgrades.


FREE tickets (Reward travel) doesn't count as "cash in"?


Not when the subject is the difficulties in buying an upgrade.


I never brought up that subject. You were the one who brought it up
because you don't have enough FFMs for a free ticket! A pretty
dumb way to argue that a FREE ticket with FFM is not a "cash in".


That's why I had already said:

You have to resort to upgrades only because you DON'T have enough FFM for
the free tickets, stooopid!


I don't care if I have as many miles as you or not. But I do know that
being the loudmouthed coward that you are, you're not willing to risk
betting US$10,000 of your own money that I don't have at least 100K
miles on an airline FFM program.


-hh


100K miles? Accumulated over 30 years? No wonder you're so sour
and ignorant about FF Programs.

Well, that certainly won't be enough for the 120,000 FFMs I paid for
my Free Business First roundtrip to HKG from EWR.

You mean you HAVE US$ 10,000 to your name to make a wager?
Would you like to wager it on your LIBELOUS claim about my
purchase of my mercedes with "company funds"?

Hugh, I've seen a few Clueless in this ng, and some of them are not
even a Newbie like you, but you certainly displayed enough of your
ignorance and stupidity to claim the Champion Clueless Newbie
of rec.travel.air in 2006 -- Hugh Huntzinger.

-- Bob.

  #9  
Old April 28th, 2006, 04:21 AM posted to rec.travel.air,rec.scuba
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default CO Reward Travel FFMs now greatly inflated


Last month, I had no trouble getting First Class Reward Travel
(freebie) all the way from ATL to SEA on CO and SEA to Fairbanks,
Alaska on Alaska Airlines, for a mere 90,000 FFMs...


I just booked 2 R/T Tkts: YVR-SYD (Vancouver Canada-Sydney Australia) for
100,000 NWA FFMs each

R


  #10  
Old April 28th, 2006, 12:08 PM posted to rec.travel.air
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default CO Reward Travel FFMs now greatly inflated

Bob Ling "Reef Fish" wrote:

Hugh, you are a Clueless Newbie in rec.travel.air.


You've resorted to namecalling; how nice. According to Bell's Law,
this means that you've run out of substantiative things to say, which
means you've admitted that you've lost the arguement.

Even if being "new" was true, correlation does not mean causation.


Irrelevant: you were spending "play money" from perks that
you can't spend any other way.


What...[snip]


Gosh, notice that Bob didn't answer the point of this statement...he
even deleted it:

"When have you ever actually spent this much of your own REAL money on
an airline ticket in this price range?"


Its just like that Mercedes that you "owned" that was actually
purchased with "company funds". You're such an insecure little poseur.


... I had the cost of the car written off in 1 year and 3 months
(for business use when I was on sabbatical leave). I was audited
by both FED and State IRS on the write-off, and it was 100% legit.
...
So, where did you get your pitiful LIES about my Mercedes purchase
with company funds?


It doesn't matter since in your response, you just admitted again that
it was a "business expense" which happened to trigger your audit. My
'company car' statement was affirmated.

However, if you can collect or borrow money from others to make a
WAGER to put your money where your mouth is about my mercedes
(even one penny of it) was paid by "company funds"? Name your
amount...


Date: Sat, 06 Aug 2005 20:48:26 -0400
Message-ID:


(a partial header for Bob to research, instead of a convenient URL ;-)

Reminder: the world's self-proclaimed "Google Expert" can't find this
post.

Perhaps this is why Bob's been reluctant to go search through his own
old posts to see what he's already admitted in public in the past, and
reverts to bets that his history would show that he would find a way to
welch out of. The simple facts are that IRS tax-writeoffs for vehicles
can only be taken when a vehicle was used for business or charity, and
he's just again said that his audit(s) were due to his car(s) being
claimed as a business expense. Of course, Bob will claim that a IRS
refund based on a business expense doesn't technically count in any
way, shape or form as a payment from a business, even though that's
fundimentally why its been an allowed deduction in the Tax Code. As
the saying goes, "Check".



I can probably do it for $41.72 too, assuming that I wanted to burn
some of my miles to go to Hong Kong, and I was as flexible in my
schedule as a retiree.


What a lame comeback. You can't afford any trip to Hong Kong.


More namecalling (ie, yet another admission that you've lost the
debate).


The tax for your flight to Cayman Brac (what a dump) probably
exceeds that...


Attaboy Bob, you finally got one fact right!

Yes, the airline taxes for flights to the Cayman Islands do exceed
$41.72. My recollections are that they were around $90 per ticket, but
this might have gone up recently. BTW, the Caymans are a lot nicer
now that you're no longer going there ;-)


Good for you. My point was merely that what you can do with your
resources was beyond the fiscal reach of Joe Sixpack to duplicate.


But if you're not the DUMB Joe Sixpack, you would have learned how
to do it on a smaller scale.


Attaboy Bob, you finally got a *second* fact right!


Instead, you do your fallacious cost-benefit babble, robbed
YOURSELF of all the freebies for which you were entitled...


Aw****, Bob.

Sorry, but your assertion is baseless. Gosh, and you were just starting
to doing so well.


FREE tickets (Reward travel) doesn't count as "cash in"?


Not when the subject is the difficulties in buying an upgrade.


I never brought up that subject.


Congratulations on finally getting that straight. See, when you
actually read for comprehension instead of looking to pick fights, you
can actually have a calm, rational conversation.


You were the one who brought it up
because you don't have enough FFMs for a free ticket!


Sorry, but you're jumping to concusions again.
That's merely your assumption.


That's why I had already said:

You have to resort to upgrades only because you DON'T have
enough FFM for the free tickets, stooopid!


And repeating baseless assumptions and claims.


I don't care if I have as many miles as you or not. But I do know that
being the loudmouthed coward that you are, you're not willing to risk
betting US$10,000 of your own money that I don't have at least 100K
miles on an airline FFM program.


To which Bob's response was:

100K miles? Accumulated over 30 years? No wonder you're so sour
and ignorant about FF Programs.


In other words, Bob has declined to accept my offer.

I've previously expressed the opinion that I don't believe its wise to
"hoard" miles, which would generally suggest that regardless of my rate
of accumulation, it would appear that I'm philisophically predisposed
to use the miles that I earn instead of sitting on them.

But cowardly Bob can't ever accept any possible risk of losing a bet,
so he declined. Bob claims he's a gambler, but its all false bravado:
IMO, he would also be unwilling to bet US$20,000 that I haven't
accumulated 200,000+ miles...regardless of the fact that I consider him
to be a bad risk of welching on his bets.


-hh

 




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