Monthly Archives

Monthly Archives for May 2004.

Free stuff

Free Maker’s Mark golf balls, free coffee sample, and free condom sample, free oyster sauce, and free floaty pen. And then there’s free after rebate: TS1100 Spillproof 104-Key PS/2 Keyboard for $6 – $6 rebate, penny shipping and Air Duster (10 ounce can for $5 – $5 rebate, penny shipping.

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Sabre Reinvents its Architecture

A computer reservation system offers 79 million fares and 6 million schedules. It processes 1.2 million fare changes each day. Sabre alone processes 48 million transactions a day, including all shopping, pricing, and and availability queries. ComputerWorld offers a glimpse into the challenges that Sabre faces in handling all of this computing at a reasonable cost. In order to rein in escalating processing costs and offer customers more options, Sabre is completely overhauling the software used by airlines, travel agents and passengers to find and book flights. In stages, Sabre is replacing its old mainframe assembler code with modern languages running on cheap commodity computers and open systems, including Linux. … Three forces hugely increased the processing demands on Sabre systems over the years. After airfares were deregulated in 1979, travel agents began shopping based…

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Weekday Vegas Deal at the Bellagio

The Bellagio is offering Sunday-Thursday rates from May 31-September 9: Deluxe Room $139/nt (including lakeview upgrade at no charge) Bellagio Suite $299/nt Penthouse Suite $499/nt (Includes limo service, VIP check-in and fresh flowers in room)

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50% Off La Quinta Stays

Make reservations on the La Quinta website or call their reservations line at 1-800-531-5900 and use promotional code SWA50 for a 50% discount on La Quinta stays between now and March 31,2005. The discount comes from a card sent out by Southwest Airlines with the following terms and conditions: Offer is based upon availability and is valid on one paid stay only per customer. A stay is defined as one or more consecutive nights at the same property. Offer not valid with any other discount, promotion or with use of a free night certificate. With the discounted rate, Rapid Rewards members who are also La Quinta Returns members are able to receive 0.5 credits per qualifying stay. Not sure how they will limit anyone to one paid stay per customer, as the discount doesn’t say…

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What I Would Do If I Ran Independence Air’s Marketing

United is bringing out the big guns in DC in anticipation of Independence Air’s launch. They’re running huge promos like their Round-the-World promo and 15,000 bonus miles. They’re sending out e-mail hit pieces to their membership. And all Independence Air has done is complain to the government. I walk into bars and hear people talking about United’s round the world promo. It has an incredible aspirational value that gets average folks talking, and that’s without my being in the conversation at all. I wonder what Independence Air is paying to be the official airline of the Redskins. That’ll get some notice, but it’s pretty ephemeral. They need to offer a clear value proposition and hammer that value proposition home. Always low fares on brand new jets The most flights out of Dulles, taking you where…

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