Travel: Norwegian launches Hawai’i Celebration promo

I love airports with free Wi-Fi.

Those of you who have to fly through Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International will now be able to tap into free Internet. 

Travellers previously had to pay $5 to access the Wi-Fi at the Atlanta airport.

It now can handle up to 15,000 users at once.

Norwegian bonus

Norwegian Cruise Line has launched its Bermuda, Bahamas and Florida bonus days. 

Guests who book a cruise vacation from now through Saturday, June 14, can receive up to $100 per stateroom to spend on board. This is fairly standard bonus with balcony and suites getting $100 and inside cabins getting $25. 

Hawai’i

Norwegian Cruise Line is launching its Hawai`i Celebration, offering cruisers a once-in-a-lifetime Hawai`i vacation. 

For the first time, Norwegian is featuring an extensive package complete with roundtrip fair from major cities across the US with transfers, two-night pre-cruise accommodations in a beach-front Waikiki hotel, seven-day cruise aboard the recently refurbished Pride of America, three specialty dinners once onboard and more. This Hawai’i Celebration package starts from $1,999 per person and is available for the month-long celebration through June 30, 2014.

Guests booking the inclusive Hawai`i cruise vacation package will receive roundtrip fair and a relaxing, two-night stay in a deluxe ocean view room at the luxurious Waikiki Beach Marriot Resort and Spa in Honolulu, complete with a beautiful lei greeting and complimentary transfers from the airport to the hotel and from the hotel to the cruise pier. 

Once on board, guests will enjoy three dinners for two at popular specialty restaurants, including the line’s signature steakhouse Cagney’s; guest-favourite Jefferson’s Bistro; and the traditional Italian restaurant La Cucina. 

In addition, cruisers will receive a special delivery of gourmet chocolate-covered strawberries, along with 20 complimentary professional photos capturing their favourite on board memories, and more than $300 worth of e-coupon savings to use at the onboard shops, spa, fitness classes and more.

Frequent flier programmes

JD Power rated the US airlines frequent flier programmes on a scale of 0 to 1,000. 

The top airline that flies to Bermuda is JetBlue with a rating of 707, then, in order, United Airlines (691), delta (686), American (685) and US Airways (642). 

The report measures customer satisfaction with airline loyalty and reward programmes based on six factors (in order of importance) — ease of redeeming points/miles; reward program terms; account maintenance/management; ease of earning points/miles;
variety of benefits available; and customer service. 

The primary ways customers earn points with their programme are airline flights (85 per cent); travel through programme partners (55 per cent); credit cards (46 per cent); car rental (34 per cent); and hotel stays (32 per cent). 

Triple points

JetBlue is offering triple points on all flights to or from Washington-National Airport. 

The deal starts on June 19 and runs through August 30. Registration must be completed by July 29. 

Marriott

The hotel chain is offering new members of its reward programme a certificate for a free night after two separate stays. The deal is good for new members after November 4, 2012. 

You have to earn your certificate within 120 days of signing up. This is good for the following Marriott brands:  JW Marriott, EDITION, Autograph Collection Hotels, Renaissance Hotels, AC Hotels, Marriott Hotels & Resorts, Courtyard by Marriott, Fairfield Inn & Suites, SpringHill Suites, Residence Inn, TownePlace Suites, Gaylord Hotels and Marriott Vacation Club brands.