You know what really grinds my gears? This article from CNN.com

by Aaron Hotfelder on

A recent article on CNN.com discusses the trend of middle- and high-schoolers who are traveling to more and more exotic destinations. While the piece is well-intentioned, I still find its tone, and the kids it describes, vaguely annoying. Here’s why.

A spokesperson for a student travel agency says that teenagers today “want that notch on the belt. They want to say, ‘I’ve been to Ghana.'” Notice what the teenagers don’t apparently want to say, which is: “I want to go to Ghana.” The main purpose of their trip, it seems, is to be able to say they’ve been there. Of course, adults do this too.

“With colleges becoming so competitive, kids are trying to build their resumes.” Hey kids, guess what! You’re kids! You need to build your resume the way a fish needs a bicycle.

“Before Ashley began traveling, she wanted to be a nurse, but now she says, ‘I’m a French major. I’d like to work in an embassy.'” Guess what, Ashley. Everyone wants to work in an embassy when they start traveling. Then they realize it’s a job just like any other.

“[O]lder teenagers use the community service they did in Africa as fodder for college essays.” Let me guess: that week you spent in Ghana on your parents’ dime, like, totally changed you. You identified with so many poor people that you’ve already asked your parents to pay for another trip back to Ghana.

“Typically these trips cost thousands of dollars. But the price tags seem more palatable now that many U.S. sleep-away camps charge $4,000 for three weeks in a bunkhouse.” The article continues: “A 32-day trip to Europe offered by Westcoast Connection/360 Student Travel is $9,399… Closer to home, the June 27-August 14 session at Camp Mataponi — for girls on Sebago Lake in Maine is $9,300.” When I went to summer camp– not that long ago actually– I think it cost $150 for a week. And it was an awesome time. Any parent who pays $9,300 for their kid to go to summer camp ought to be committed.

Despite the above cynicism and apparent “everything sucks” attitude, I think it’s great when young people travel. But not when they’re trying to “build a resume,” not when their parents have to pay $10,000 for their trip, and not because they think it’ll impress their friends. Go, but go for the right reasons. Come to think of it, this applies to adults as well.

Read the article on CNN.com here.

Upgrade your Priority Club account with free Ambassador Status

by Grant Martin on

If you travel with any regular frequency, hopefully you’ve started stockpiling rewards points. Whether these are frequent flyer miles with an airline or reward points with a credit card or hotel chain, it’s surprising how quickly things will add up when you’re on the road.

Most rewards programs have tiers of earning and rewards — American Airlines, for example has Gold, Platinum and Executive Platinum. At each of these levels, one earns and can redeem their awards at different rates. The problem is that you have to travel a certain amount to obtain each level. In AA’s case, you have to fly 25k, 50k or 75k miles to reach these tiers, so most people won’t reach these levels and be able to reap the benefits.

Occasionally, however, one can sneak into higher brackets by participating in a promotion or being granted “status” by a customer representative. In the case of a new Priority Club promo code that came out, this is the case.

Priority Club is the frequent traveler rewards program of the Intercontinental Hotels system, home to Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Crowne Plaza and a few other, smaller chains.

Apparently by going to the secret promotion link and plugging in code 5446 you can catapult from your lowly plebeian status all of the way up to Ambassador Status in one, swift, ordinary-traveler-smiting move after staying in an IC hotels group three times before June 30.

And what do you get with this hifalutin Ambassador Status? According to members of the underground, you get “5,000 bonus points along with the usual perks of the Ambassador Status – Weekend Night Certificate, Guaranteed room upgrade to superior, Extended check-out (4 p.m.), Special check-in desk, Gold Elite Reward Status, and fresh fruit and mineral water upon arrival”

Not a bad deal for three nights in the next few months.

I’m not really sure how widespread or publicized this promo goes, or whether it was ever meant for the general public. So if you do decide to indulge, register as soon as you can before they yank the promo.

The $50 Paypal rebate on Northwest is back

by Grant Martin on

Earlier last year I posted an article about a new promotion between Northwest Airlines and Paypal, where if you pay for your ticket with Paypal you get a 50$ rebate after a few weeks. It worked pretty well, I flew a couple of routes and I got my money back long ago.

It looks like they’re running the promo again, maybe to stir up more interest in Paypal’s payment engine. The promo website says that you must book before March 27th and fly between April 1 and June 14. Easy enough.

And now some words for all of you afraid to use Paypal: It’s not that difficult. You don’t need to sign up for any crazy service (imagine my arms waving wildly in the sky), jump through any hoops or sell your soul to the devil. At the end of the booking process, you select Paypal as an option, click through a few links and drop your credit card number in. The rebate will be stored in an online account which you can directly deposit into your personal bank account or have sent to you in a check.

Still concerned? Let me know. I’ll book your ticket using Paypal, send you a check for twenty bucks and spend the other thirty dollars on sandwiches. Delicious, delicious sandwiches.

Travel Alert! $50 off Expedia coupon code

by Grant Martin on

[Edit — this deal has expired! Congrats to those who got in!]

Tooling around for hotels in Japan (I still haven’t found anything, Firestone) this morning, I stumbled upon a mistake discount code good for Expedia.com

Code ELITEPLUS50 takes 50$ off per night for what appears to be any hotel room in the database over 50$. I’ve been pandering around all morning pricing out various rooms over various periods. For starters, my girlfriend is leaving town early Monday morning next week, so I booked a hotel room for under 10$ near the airport so we can wake up as late as possible.

Hotels in Chicago, Tokyo and everywhere else I looked seem to work as well.

It crossed my mind that I could enroll in one of those hotel rewards jobbers and try too book a month straight of 4$ hotel rooms. Show up the first day, get the key and let the points roll in. After a month or so, show back up and check out.

But I suppose that would be unethical, wouldn’t it?

So if you do make use of this coupon code, try to keep it under control. I have a feeling once Expedia gets around to finding out their error that the code won’t last more than a couple of hours anyway. Happy booking.