Reviews by cinderly

cinderly says "Like Google's nerdy cousin who pays you to hang out with him" about Microsoft Live Search

cinderly — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:36:06 GMT

I decided to give Microsoft's Live Search engine a try when I learned that, if you allow Microsoft to tie your search results to a username, they will reward you with either cash or tickets that can be redeemed for merchandise or airline miles.

So far, the free airline miles for searching and the associated games site have been the best thing about using Live Search. The engine seems considerably less intuitive than Google, although this may be a result of my frequent use of the latter service rather than a flaw inherent in Microsoft's product.

Bottom line: I can often find what I need more quickly with Google, but Live Search pays....

cinderly says "Premium prices, average product" about Alaska Airlines

cinderly — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:25:23 GMT

As a life-long Alaskan, I've been a customer of Alaska Airlines since the days when they gave you gold during boarding. In those days, almost all air travel was costly, but the price bought you a few amenities.

Today's Alaska Airlines is expensive and sub-standard to other carriers on the same routes. While Alaska Airlines' customer service continues to be generally very good, I find that even that is beginning to slip and problems that were once resolved in a five minute phone call can take multiple attempts.

Add in an aging fleet, a sub-par First Class product, and limited service area, and I genuinely fear for the future of my once favorite carrier. I will continue to prefer Alaska to carriers like United and American, but my recommendation can be no better than lukewarm - for travel between Alaska and the continguous 48 states, Delta and Continental are often a better value....

cinderly says "They still love to fly - and it shows" about Delta Airlines

cinderly — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:11:03 GMT

Delta Airlines is now my preferred carrier. Oh, I've liked them just fine for years (first time in First Class was on Delta, back in the days of the "Off We Go" jingle) but they've always been my second choice.

At the beginning of July, I had to take a last-minute trip to the Southeastern United States from Anchorage, Alaska to deal with a family emergency. Last-minute airfare is expensive and often means you're stuck in a middle seat. A generous friend offered me the miles to get there - and Delta had seats available - but only at the "cost" of a First Class award redemption for coach seats.

Because my traveling companion and I were flying Anchorage to Atlanta and back, ours was a multi-leg journey. At each gate, I spoke with the polite agents, explaining my circumstances and asking if there was any way they could honor my award redemption by actually putting me in First.

They did the best they could and reseated us on all but one flight. More importantly, the agents were sympathetic......