Monthly Archives

Monthly Archives for November 2004.

Qantas Guts its Frequent Flyer Program

by Gary Leff

qantas
Nov 24 2004

The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting that Qantas has gutted its frequent flyer program. First, the minor positives: some short-haul awards, such as Sydney-Melbourne in Coach, will become less expensive (20,000 points down to 16,000 points). They’re also introducing one-way awards and the ability to transfer points to eligible family members. Alas, those are the limits of the positives. Upgrades can no longer be confirmed at booking — they’re day of departure only — and they’re no longer available on discount fares, either. Elimination of upgrade credits. Instead members will receive 5000 points for every 450 Status credits earned. An increased cost for many premium class awards. Business class from Sydney to Los Angeles and Sydney to Singapore each went up 20%. First class from Sydney to Heathrow went up 28%. First class from Sydney…

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Kafkesque

by Gary Leff

airplane
Nov 23 2004

Steven Aftergood writes in Slate about the growth in rules dubbed “Sensitive Security Information” as a result of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 — government rules that we have to follow but aren’t allowed to know the details of. “Before the Law stands a doorkeeper” begins Franz Kafka’s famous parable, which tells of a man who seeks “admittance to the Law” but who is denied access by the doorkeeper—something he did not expect. The Law, he thinks, “should surely be accessible at all times and to everyone.” Federal employees can’t be prosecuted for revealing the contents of such information (only fired), but they’ve been threatened with prosecution nonetheless. And the TSA has used federal funding as a carrot and stick to impose secrecy rules on local police departments. “If I hadn’t seen this contract…

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Mileage audits… on the rise?

by Gary Leff

airplane
Nov 23 2004

This morning’s New York Times carries a piece by Christopher Elliott on airline audits of frequent flyer accounts. Suspicious activity can cause an airline to freeze an account and investigate. The piece suggests that audits are on the rise, but provides no evidence of this other than that audits happen. It speculates that airline financial problems have spurred more audits, but I know of no carrier that sees auditing of accounts as a meaningful new revenue source. Instead, if audits are becoming more common it’s likely due to technology. If you don’t provide your frequent flyer number on an airline reservation at booking, and then after the flight submit the boarding passes to the airline you flew as well as their partners, the various carriers are much more likely to catch that now than they…

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New RSS Feed URL

by Gary Leff

rssfeed
Nov 21 2004

The old one was glitchy at best, this new one should work better for those who use blogreader type programs: http://blogs.flyertalk.com/viewwing/index.rdf

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Spend your miles NOW (and earn more…): why mileage award prices will rise now and in the future

by Gary Leff

Over a year ago I posted on Flyertalk.com a fairly lengthy explanation of why I thought that the mileage required for most airline awards — especially premium class international awards — would go up over time. In light of Northwest’s recent announcement that its best awards would cost 25-40% more next year, I thought it prudent to recreate the argument here … So that folks can attenuate their strategies accordingly, before more airlines follow suit (which they will). The August 2003 issue of Inside Flyer had a cover story (subscription required) on making your miles last into retirement, essentially creating a mileage 401(k) plan. With all due respect to the folks at the magazine, this strikes me as the worst possible mileage strategy. Miles are worth more now than they will be tomorrow and the…

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30% Off at Polo.com

by Gary Leff

Just found this: Between Saturday November 20th and Tuesday November 30th simply enter promotional code NOVEMBER within your shopping bag to receive 30% off the entire site. If you use the promotional code during our PRIVATE SALE period (November 20th through Monday, November 22nd), your 30% off will be applied to already reduced prices. Also, you’ll enjoy FREE SHIPPING on all orders over $150.

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Inexpensive Washington, DC Hotels

by Gary Leff

Special hotel rates are available through March 31 in conjunction with the movie National Treasure. Rates at Washington, DC’s Grand Hyatt start at $99. Other hotel deals are available as well, such as $109 at Melrose. The Grand Hyatt’s standard rate hovers around $300 per night, though it dips down so around $229 on lower occupancy nights — so $99 is an excellent deal. However any night where the $99 rate is available I’m almost certain that there’d be Priceline availability as well. A four-star bid in the Capitol Hill/Convention Center zone should yield the Grand Hyatt for $65-$70 on those nights.

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