News, Notes, and Offers from Around the Interweb:
- US Airways is offering double elite qualifying miles on Shuttle flights (between Washington National, New York LaGuardia, and Boston Logan) through October 31, registration required.
- Aegean Airlines Miles&Bonus — an especially useful Star Alliance program because of how easy it is to gain and keep status — used to be somewhat difficult on the redemption side. They’ve eased up a bit and now allow changes to the date and time of an award after booking, and also cancelling the award and redepositing miles, for 20 euros. That’s especially important to me now that I’m an Aegean Airlines Gold member (for life?).
- American Express will give you $100 off a $1000 purchase on SAS. Book by November 30, registration required.
- Ryanair’s CEO probably burned up all the press he could get threatening to charge passengers to use the lavatory, so he calls some of his customers stupid. In the process he’s probably giving ideas to Ben Baldanza…
- If you don’t get to hear Obama speak at the Democratic convention, US Airways will let you leave Charlotte today. Of course, since National Journal and The Hill think the speech was moved to a smaller venue because they couldn’t fill the original stadium, rather than due to weather, perhaps US Airways is betting few will take them up on the offer. (HT: @crucker)
The AMEX promo is targeted
NJ did not say they thought the venue was changed because seats could not be filled according to your link.
@Dan – it’s the National Journal, they didn’t offer their opinion or conclusion, they just led with official denials that that’s what’s happening. Which is, in effect, the same thing as saying that’s what’s happening. Welcome to DC.
The piece then called B.S. on the denials (“While that may be true, it’s equally true, according to another top organizer, that questions were raised last week about covering empty seats out of fear the stadium would not be filled.”)
They then reported on a plan, in response to those concerns, to bus in people from surrounding states to fill the stadium.
That’s the plan that was bailed on with the move to the smaller venue.
Which is all beside the point in sharing the US Airways story, just a bit of context for how these sorts of stories are written.
Other than the routes only served by the airline, I don’t get why people bother with Ryanair. When you add fees for breathing, checking in luggage, etc, you are financially better off with Ryanair’s competitors or the premium airlines.
Wish you wouldn’t spoil your blog by repeating crazy right wing conspiracies. Really a shame.
@Bangkokiscool – it’s just politics, what inside-the-beltway trrade pubs are reporting, and for what it’s worth I’m not a Republican…
@bangkokiscool: Birtherism may be a crazy right wing conspiracy. The enthusiasm gap isn’t. Saying it is just shows that you are not a serious person.
Hope you don’t mind a comment/question about miles. . . there doesn’t seem to be any way — other than flying or getting a Aegean credit card (would that be backed by the ECB by the way?) — to move miles into my Aegean account (e.g. MR, UR, SPG, Diners, etc). I’d really like to use 12,500 miles for a ow on SX for TLV-ZRH-STR. Am I overlooking something or other options? Thanks.
I think claiming an event was cancelled because of low ticket sales rather than threatened severe weather, when it was in fact, you know, RAINING like crazy, is unhinged. I don’t mind the occasional policy discussion like why DOT should not regulate mistake fares or service to small towns, but repeating BS like the line about the DNC evert is unfortunate.
@Bangkokiscool – They worried about how they were going to fill the stadium, long before weather was in the forecast. That’s why they set up buses from four different states to bring people in in the first place. And then the forecast became one of the things that made them worry further that they wouldn’t fill the venue. The rain was a convenient reason to move it.
I don’t think this actually demonstrates an enthusiasm gap between the President and Mitt Romney, there’s not a ton of enthusiasm among the Republican base for their nominee. There’s definitely a gap between 2012 and 2008 for Obama.
But all this really demonstrated was poor planning on the part of the DNC, they weren’t going to be able to fill 70k seats in Charlotte without manufacturing butts for those seats. It was a bad idea, and failing to fill the stadium would have looked bad even if it didn’t actually mean anything.
I don’t think any of the above is ‘unhinged.’ Don’t you think it’s pretty unhinged to suggest that this analysis in unhinged? 🙂
Gary, ok I get a little unhinged sometimes. I stand by my original sentiment that the DNC had to cancel especially in light of the Indiana state fair disaster last year. Keep up the good work and more Asia tr reports please! I flew on OZ new F this weekend and I’ll be interested in hearing your impressions.
@Bangkokiscool – I haven’t done the brand new F on Asiana. I’m looking forward to it. My most recent OZ F was a couple years ago in what was then called new F. Asia in November though, CX and KE in F…
could there be a business opportunity in showing up to a ryan air boarding gate with a laptop and portable printer, offering people to print their boarding passes for less than what ryanair charges? Heck, contract with the airport and put in some kiosks with printers, let people print a page for, say, $10 each. For what Ryan air charges to print boarding passes, one could pay for an airline club entry, use their business center to print the boarding passes.