As a premise to my post I advise you to watch “Up in the air” with George Clooney. The movie itself is good and with a nice script. I’m not going to tell more about the movie…watch it
I fly a lot but never looked into collecting miles. So, I decided analyse the companies I usually fly with and what they are doing to keep me faithful. I usually fly with Virgin Atlantic, Aerlingus and BMI.
- Excellent service and good planes but most importantly they allowed me with not effort to register my previous flights (last 6 months) and collect points for these flights. Still waiting from an answer from their costumer service regarding collecting miles from a partner flight that changed in the last moment and the tool could not detect my reservation. They set the expectations that an answer can take a month… This is not a race so I’m in no hurry if it is solved. I’ll fly with Virgin as often as I can and the lounge is London is the best I’ve seen.
- I usually divide my flights in Europe between BMI and Aerlingus. I think their program can be very good, they are part of Star Aliance, have lots of partners and decent lounges. The program itself is divided in levels. The first level you can reach out fairly easily and as soon as you are there you get free food and that hooks you and makes understand the advantages of the program. However, they will not be my first choice… Why? I had many flights to claim in the last 6 months and their answer was.. “Send us the boarding passes”. I sent them all the reservation numbers, flight numbers etc. Reservations are not enough??? Can´t they find me in the system?? I was really chocked with their answer as I could not claim flights! I will only fly with them in case there are no Virgin Atlantic flights.
- They are the only company that does direct flights from Dublin-Lisbon-Dublin so.. I’ll keep flying with them when I go home. Now their loyalty program: It´s by far the worse! I registered for their loyalty program just after 2 transatlantic trips to the City of Mexico and San Francisco (over 3 years ago). Back then, they also requested the boarding passes, that obviously I did not have and could not claim anything. I was very upset but registered anyway since I knew I would fly home and to other locations in Europe. Their point system is terrible, very hard to get to the next level and does not hook you at all. The level itself allows you “nothing” apart from lounge access (that they now sell to everyone!). Their range of partners is very limited. I also highlight that the dedicated area in the website is confused and poorly managed
I have to say, their loyalty programs also reflect the opinion I have from the brands themselves:
Virgin: Young and dynamic. They know their space and are moving fine
BMI: Re-structuring but still wit many old fashioned mechanisms, They need an update
Aerlingus: Still old fashioned, with nice people, but needs to be part of an alliance, be more dynamic and step up for the challenges of a new world.
To finalize, I know these companies try to position themselves differently but being low costs or not, a good loyalty program can hook you for good.
2009 is over and another downturn is behind our back (we hope!). Last year I set up my resolutions and this year I’ll do the same…
Personally, I can say it was a great year with very strong professional development where the challenges were overcome successfully. I’ve done a bit of traveling across Europe and the US, met new friends and learn a bunch of new things, both professionally and personally.
It’s time to set personal and professional objectives for 2010:
Visit family and friends (Portugal) more often; I’m keeping this one…
Travel to Asia or the Caribbean (Who knows, maybe both?); I’m keeping this one…
Master a new language (Russian); I’m already in Trinity College (lower intermediate level) and I’ll keep working on this one;
Keep working hard.. keep getting results ;
Eat less fried food; This is going to be hard..
Run more, specially when playing football;
Post more on my blog; I’ll keep this one as I failed miserably in 2009
Eat Nando’s more often with my friend Keith ; It’s the exception to the eat fried food objective
Have fun!
I wish you all an excellent year of 2010 full of adventures and success!
EDIT: In case you need tips for your 2010 resolutions check This year I will… Some are quite good
A few months have passed since I last posted in my blog and I apologize for that.
I’ll come back to this topic later but take this as an introductory post on Cloud Computing.
Cloud Computing is a concept that 10 years ago seemed a dream because of very slow internet connections, today is a very solid reality. It is amazing to see productivity gains, amazing collaboration potential etc. With cloud computing and SaaS (Software as a Service) you can take full advantage of a service without having to maintain all the technology behind it. It’s like going to a pub, enjoying a draft beer without having to worry about goes on in the background.
Below, in a glance, the potential that Google Apps can bring to your business…
Did you know that the name “Cloud Computing” is based in the cloud symbol that is used to represent the Internet in flow charts and diagrams
I recon that jpprufino.com is not the easiest name to remember but unfortunately joaorufino.com was taken. Recently I managed to buy joaorufino.com and now you can access the blog using both addresses.
(I know these are not great news but it makes me happy)
“Two heads think better than one”. I truly believe in this saying and I think brainstorms can bring several creative ideas and new ways to approach problems.
It is true that not all brainstorms are successful and they can get very messy and turn into arguments. If you respect some basic rules you can increase the probability of success and avoid unnecessary discussions.
Prepare the room. I personally like white boards, post-its and different color pens. Cut all communications to the outside world (that includes notebooks and mobile phones!) and provide water as people need to vocalize their ideas ;
Set your expectations clearly and give an introduction of what you plan to achieve.
Have a moderator (that is not a contributor). His/her goal is to keep people focused on the problem at hands;
Get a heterogeneous group and I always think small groups are better to manage (around 10 people)
Give a few minutes for individuals to think on their own ideas and write them in a post-it and explain the purpose of the color pens (good to divide the ideas into groups). After a certain time, the moderator puts them all together in the board. Encourage people to write all their ideas, even if they can foresee roadblocks to their success
The golden rule is: Do NOT debate the ideas themselves. You can only in witch group they belong
I thinks these tips would help you get one good and creative idea for your problem.
Hello! My name is João Rufino. I'm a Portuguese citizen working in the IT sector in Ireland. Hope you enjoy my blog as I'll share some ideas about several subjects and bit more about myself. If you're interested to learn more about me feel free to check the More About Me... section ;)
Disclaimer
This is my personal blog. The views and posts expressed across this domain are mine alone and not those of my employer.
/brainstorm.gif "Brainstorm: credit to: www.clipartheaven.com")
![Deutsch](http://www.jpprufino.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/flag_de.png")
