Playing United’s Optathlon Game/App for upgrades and discounts

By woozy | August 11th, 2010 at 1:56pm

So I got this email the other week from United on a promotion to win a millions miles in a sweepstakes and at the same time win prizes instantly including 10% off flights. I decided to check it out as I could use the 10% off a trip I plan to take to Asia.

The link takes you to United’s “Optathlon” website to play simple action games. You can also download them as apps for your mobile phone (more on that in a moment). It really doesn’t matter how well you do (at least to my knowledge) but just that you play the game. At the end of each game you have a chance to enter their sweepstakes to win a grand prize of one million miles. I never think I can win these things so I was really interested in a shot at an instant winner prize of a 10% e-certificate off United flights where you can try once per day. I’m happy to say after my fifth day of trying, I finally got the message that I was an instant winner of the 10% coupon! Not huge savings, but hey – a win is a win, and if you’re considering a trip to Asia in my case that’s $120-$150. You also get free entertainment value vegging out on a semi addicting game trying to beat the outrageously high scores of others that probably are spending way too much time playing. (Ok, i admit, I wasted maybe a half hour or more trying to crack the Top 100 in the “Line Jump Hero” game before giving up. I was close.)

As of this post there are only two games:

“Legroom Legend” is a game where a bratty kid throws stuff at you from the seat in front of you. The object is to kick them on your tray table. (It’s reminiscent of the classic bouncing babies or fireman game). With the right timing, you can get the objects on the tray in fewer kicks. I was a bit tired of this game after few tries.

“Line Jump Hero” is a strange but fun game where you’re scooting on your suitcase to launch over a line of people Evil Knievil style. The object is to jump as far as you can. You pick up speed by pressing the right arrow keys at the right time (think Guitar Hero or Dance Dance Revolution) and then maneuvering mid-air to hit objects that further propel you and extend your airtime. Hitting these objects is more by chance than skill so there’s a lot more luck involved in this game. Your score is the combo of 3 jumps. I found this the more frustrating yet addicting game.

These games are available on both iphone and android devices. I can’t speak for the iphone, but on the Droid it’s a memory hog taking up a whopping 28MBs! (almost as much as Google Earth). It also utilizes quite a bit of resources. If you have a newer Android phone like a EVO 4G or Droid 2 I’m sure you’ll be fine. If not, expect long load times. Somehow the developers fell short on best practice of making this an efficient mobile app. As of this post, the Android Market shows less than 500 downloads with poor ratings with people thinking the app is malicious.   You can’t blame them for thinking that.  The 3rd party app developer is list as the author instead of United.

Ok the bad aside, the mobile apps do offer additional prizes you can’t win on the website version of the games – free upgrades and passes to the Red Carpet Club.   The intent seems to be to for travelers to play the game while waiting for their flight at the airport. If you are an instant winner, you show the screen to the gate agent to redeem your upgrade! If this game catches on, it will be funny to see everyone in the United terminals across the country trying to win before boarding their flight.

Play the United Optathalon games thru 10/31/10 at: www.optathlon.com
Or Download the mobile app on itunes or Android Market

Double Miles and Making A Run For Status on United

By woozy | December 15th, 2009 at 1:05pm

Recently my friend Michelle sent me the trailer of a new romantic comedy movie, Up In The Air, where George Clooney stars as a business traveler obsessed with accumulating mileage and points on airlines and travel loyalty programs to obtain status and rewards.  This is totally her.  And so are some of her colleagues that worked for the same global consulting firm.  Since leaving her company in July she’s been traveling a lot less.  With the year coming to a close, she realized she was coming up short in securing the high level status with some of her programs.  How important is status to her?  This Thanksgiving she flew from New York(JFK) to Vietnam(SGN) so she could retain the holy grail of status on United Airlines, aka “1K.”  While she did fully take advantage of her travel to Vietnam as a tourist, her destination choice was influenced by the total mileage (nearly 20,ooo miles round trip), and of course the fare in relationship to the distance.  What’s more is she was credited with twice the mileage she actually traveled due to the double elite qualifying mile promotion. As it turns out, several other frequent fliers friends that did the same thing.

After posting a Facebook status update contemplating one last flight for the year, these friends who are so high on elite status were all over me, trying to convince me I had to have it as well.  Because I had been traveling quite a bit this year I decided to look into it.  Unfortunately, two of my big trips this year were on rewards miles which obviously don’t count towards accumulating miles.  In addition, as more of a leisure traveler, the only thing I had been loyal to was my hard earned dollar, more or less choosing the airlines with the cheapest fares.  As I had suspected, I had spread my travel among the airlines leaving me short on every loyalty program.  I was closest to achieving Elite status on United Airlines, however still needed a good 9,000 miles to make Premier.  From SF, that’s a trip to London and back.  But then Michelle reminded me of United’s end of the year double bonus miles promotion.  With American also running the same promo, you received double mileage (or segment) credit for travel completed by December 15th.  The only secret to this, as with all United’s mileage promo’s,  is that you have to go to their website and register for the promotion BEFORE you book your flight.  And that is regardless if you’re an existing member.  It’s not automatic.

So now all of a sudden a flight from SFO to JFK and back was going to yield over 10,0oo miles!  After I found a flight for $230 including tax, it became a no brainer to book especially with plenty of things to do and people to see in NY.  Last week I completed this quick trip and I now officially have Premier status on United through 2010.

Last week, I had thoughts about trying to level up to Premier Exec after another friend, Lisa (also with 1K status) exposed me to the art of mileage running.  But that seemed to extreme to me and it was too late to employ the tactics.  Most mileage runners fly in and out of destinations and make multiple stops just to accumulate miles.   If I’m spending money on a flight, I’m stopping over and enjoying the destination.  I considered a simple flight to London and back, which would have done it, but despite the reasonable fare I decided the cost would still have outweighed the benefits. I figured I would stand at Premier and spend my money on xmas gifts and gadgets. Maybe next year Premier Exec or 1K!

As of this post, if you’re thinking about making a last ditch mileage run, this is the last day to travel and accumulate double bonus miles!   Good luck!

The RyanAir Experience – Part II

By woozy | June 5th, 2009 at 11:49am

So what is it like flying RyanAir? For one, it’s a familiar pre-boarding experience that you’ll recall from the Southwest Airlines of old – seating is on a first come first serve basis. We got to the gate 45 minutes before our flight and there was already a huge queue.  Past the gate is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve seen as anxious passengers make a mad dash on the tarmac for the airplane to secure their seat.

On board is a totally different experience as well. We already know they’re the “Low Fare Airline.” But how cheap are they? Continue reading this post »

Haggling for a Gorrillapod in Rome

By woozy | May 30th, 2009 at 4:00pm

During an off day from work, me and a few mates had a look around Rome as they set up for the final stage of the Giro d’Italia. We spotted a few street vendors and Adrian decided he needed a tripod for his camera. At first he wanted the compact tripod that looked exactly like the one I have which I believe I bought in Chinatown for $1 US. The vendor wanted 5 euros. We advised him on the more robust and versatile Gorillapod, a gadget worthy of any traveling photographer. 8 euros was the ask. The smaller one retails for about $22 US so we knew it was still a good deal. Nonetheless in the spirit of negotiating with a street vendor we talked him down. Here’s the video…

It remains to be seen if Adrian got a lesser quality knock-off but if you’re in the market and near the Colosseum in Rome, you can pick one up for half the price! Or if you want to make sure you get an original made by Joby, you can pick one up at Amazon.com or thru the GadgetTraveler Store.

The RyanAir Experience – Part I

By woozy | May 25th, 2009 at 1:04pm

I had been told (more like warned!) by many travelers about flying RyanAir, the low cost airline that flies routes in Europe starting a 1 Euro, and sometimes even for 0! The catch is they charge you for almost everything – baggage, drinks, and even for certain check in processes that would otherwise be free on other airlines. Their model seems to be to generate as much revenue on everything but the airfare. Well, on my flight from Stansted to Rome I finally got to experience the airline myself and decided to document it with a little video.

Below is the complete raw footage (we might edit later with subtitles as the conversation is a bit inaudible at times. Plus I wasn’t really concentrating too hard on filming (especially after the agent at the desk requested I not film her in my documentary).  To set this up properly, know that the company prepaid for me to check in two bags and we were absolutely polite and cordial as can be to the agent – so there was no antagonistic play whatsoever, at least until she started giving us the run around. I am the last one of the group to check in…

In the end, Adrian took my rollerbag as a carry on as he just had his MacBook with him (which could easily fit in the bag if necessary) and we saved 130 quid from the extra weight they were going to charge us.

The moral of this story is don’t check in bags at RyanAir. I later found out that the agents were paid on commission and further they are working on doing away with all desk agents. I guess that explains a bit. But is it an excuse for being rude and showing lack of customer care?

Stay tuned for The RyanAir Experience – Part II…

Watch movies from your iPod/iPhone on your inflight screen

By woozy | May 20th, 2009 at 7:16am

It’s cool to be able to watch videos on your iPod or iPhone when you’re on the go.  This is great for air travel, especially when the inflight movies suck or when you rather not use your laptop (or decide not to travel with one).  Over longer duration, obviously battery life is a concern.  Well on some airlines, it’s actually possible to not only charge your device, but actually play the video on your personal video screen.  United and a few other airlines announced the implementation Continue reading this post »

Flying With Your Bike: Comparing Airline Bike Fees

By woozy | May 3rd, 2009 at 10:54pm

Anyone who has flown over the past year undoubtedly has noticed a trend with the airlines not only placing greater restrictions on baggage allowances but charging fees for checked bags. For those that travel with their bike no doubt are feeling an even greater pain with insane fee hikes.

As a cyclist and triathlete of over 18 years I’ve seen US airlines go from being totally free to fly with your bike to today’s charging of fees so outrageous high they exceed the cost of the fare you purchased for your seat on the plane. I was unpleasantly surprised to find this out after I booked a flight on United to Australia this past February. Continue reading this post »

Mobile Phones and 3G in Australia – “Yes” to Optus

By woozy | February 23rd, 2009 at 9:32pm

Yes 3G lets you know your location

If you’re traveling anywhere outside your domestic mobile phone provider coverage it’s gonna be expensive.  As I always do when I travel to another country, I came to Australia with the intentions on getting a SIM card from a local provider for my phone and buying pre-paid calling plan.  In Australia, there are four major players when it comes to 3G mobile networks: Vodaphone, Next G (Telstra), 3 (Hutchison), and Yes Optus.  By all accounts, they are more advanced than the US so I was excited to try one of them out.  Which one to go with could have taken me forever to figure out. Luckily, I got the scoop from a fellow techie from Sydney while on the plane flight over.  Continue reading this post »

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