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Amex Platinum Cardholders, Listen Up: 2-for-1 Domestic Tix Ends

One of the perks of carrying the American Express Platinum Card is the ability to buy two tickets for (roughly) the price of one for domestic flights on major US carriers. Cardholders can purchase up to eight ticket pairs a year under the "Domestic Companion Airfare Program" as long as they fly round trip together with a companion on the same itinerary.   

I think the program should be called the "Companion Domestic Airfare Program," since the "domestic" refers to the kind of airline ticket and is not a descriptor of the word "companion"; two people related or not, living together or not, can take advantage of the 2-for-1 offer.

Be that as it may, here's the important news: Amex is quietly discontinuing that program as of Nov. 15, 2008, though you may purchase future reservations beyond that date as long as you reserve by mid-November.

I will tell you that although I've carried a platinum Amex card for years, I didn't even know about the twofer program until a few months ago when a friend mentioned it to me.  I pay the pricey $300+ annual fee for the silver card because I value the access it provides to Northwest, Continental, American, and Delta airport lounges when I fly those airlines.  To join each of those airlines' lounge programs separately would cost more than $1,200 a year.

After learning about the twofer program, I tried three times to take advantage of it; I succeeded once. The downside: You must book weeks in advance, and there's no guarantee there will be seats available under the program.  I tried to buy two tickets for travel between Minneapolis-St. Paul and Boston more than six weeks ahead of time and was told no tickets by any routing were available.  And Amex also extracts a fee for booking each ticket pair.

However, I recently succeeded in buying two tickets between Minneapolis-St. Paul and Chicago through Amex.  The tickets cost me about $100 more than if I'd purchased them individually through the usual channels, but even so, I saved a couple of hundred dollars. 

My guess is that the program was a terrible hassle for Amex.  I'm sure I wasn't the only one who got cranky with telephone agents when I first called and learned I had to book weeks ahead and, even then, I couldn't be sure I could be accommodated.  The airlines only made a certain number of tickets available to Amex for this program, and I'm betting inventory was a constant headache.

Bottom line: If you're an Amex "member" with a platinum card and you know two of you want to travel together within the US in the coming months, make your move now to try to secure tickets before Nov. 15th when this particular card benefit evaporates. 

Dateline Cape Town, South Africa: The Floating Fruits of Co-Founding Microsoft; Paul Allen's Yacht Almost Upstages Hotel

When my television crew and I checked into South Africa's Cape Grace hotel on the Cape Town waterfront recently, the exterior of the hotel was dominated by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's mega-yacht moored just outside.  You could almost exit the front door of the hotel and run right into the hull of the Tatoosh, a 303-foot-long behemoth that ranks as the 24th-largest yacht in world.  It was parked parallel to the hotel, almost another wing of the luxury hostelry.  And it was so huge, that even from the hotel's rooftop, my wide angle lens could barely capture the entire craft.

Allen himself wasn't in attendance; local gossip has it that he rarely sails aboard but will often fly to meet the German-built yacht at ports of call around the world.  Prior to arriving in Cape Town for a spell, the Tatoosh was moored off the Kenyan city of Mobassa (September), St. Jean Cap Ferrat on the French Riviera (August), and Athens, Greece (July). 

If you're curious as to how I know the various locations of Allen's yacht, it's not because the billionaire has ever invited me aboard.  I know the yacht's whereabouts thanks to a website that offers a nautical verson of of the sport of trainspotting.  Fans of big yachts all over the world prowl their local harbors and post sightings of yachts on Yachtspotter.com.  I'm told it drives owners of big boats who prefer privacy nuts; they're not thrilled that anyone in the world can find their yachts with simply a couple of clicks of the mouse.

The Tatoosh may not be in the top ten of the world's largest floating palaces, but you wouldn't know it to look at it.  On the rear deck are two small helicopters--yup, there are two helipads up top.  Two tenders cling to the side of the yacht: a 42-foot motorboat and a 32-foot sailboat.  (There was another powerboat on an upper deck in Cape Town, as you can see in the above photo; that's not standard equipment.)  There's a swimming pool on the second of the four decks, and the yacht also boasts a dive decompression chamber, an infirmary, gym, and movie theater. And of course a sauna and Jacuzzi. 

The yacht was built in 2000 and generally winters in the Caribbean and then spends the rest of the year roaming European and African spots favored by the wealthy.  If you'd like to hitch a ride aboard the Tatoosh, I'm told that when Allen is in Cape Town, he's known to hang at the Cape Grace's whiskey bar called Bascule that features more than 460 different whiskies from around the world. Buy him a rare pour and maybe he'll invite you aboard.

What American Television Shows Do You See When You Travel?

One fun aspect of traveling is seeing what American television shows are hits in other countries.  After all, many foreigners form their opinions about the United States partly based on portrayals of life in the US in movies and on television.

This past summer, for example, there were two American television shows that were among the top ten most-watched shows in France: "House" and "CSI Miami." (The movie "Lethal Weapon 3" also was in the top ten.) 

In Germany and Italy, no American-produced television series made the hit parade, but in Spain, "CSI" and "The Simpsons" are among that country's top ten shows.  Movies "The Scorpion King," "The Mummy Returns," and the 2005 release "Cursed" were big hits, as well. 

Footnote: The Beijing-based Olympics did skew summer viewing somewhat, supplanting shows that might have otherwise made the top ten.