I grew up on United Mileage Plus and so I admit it’s probably just familiarity that makes United’s ways of doing things ‘make sense’ to me, and other carriers’ practices seem odd. Take prioritizing upgrades, there’s a seeming rationality to status, followed by fare basis, and then final tie-breaker of time added to the list. In contrast, Delta will treat full fare passengers of any status above their top tier members on a discount fare. At Delta, you aren’t their loyal customer, you’re your fare on any given day. At least that’s how it strikes this United-centric flyer. And Delta’s program really doesn’t work for me, being based in DC, since at my home airport there are so many folks flying on government fares. Those government fares, in spite of being heavily discounted, are treated…
Monthly Archives
Monthly Archives for October 2010.
Lufthansa Offers 5000 Free Miles to Doctors
Lufthansa will reward doctors with 5000 miles for registering and agreeing to help out in a medical emergency. In the past I’ve always seen offers of thanks to folks who have volunteered when needed (or handwringing about airlines that wouldn’t even bother with a thank you). This is the first I’ve seen of an airline proactively rewarding doctors in advance, before any help has been provided. Perhaps the offer — of something that seems free, in exchange for a remote chance of help being needed — will get doctors to pre-commit. This makes sense if doctors are reluctant on the spot to speak up and volunteer. Perhaps the pre-commitment is cheap to buy but powerful in the rare event that it’s needed. (Via @Airfarewatchdog)
American AAdvantage Fuel Surcharges on British Airways Redemptions … More Expensive Than I First Realized
On October 1 I wrote about American Airlines beginning to add fuel surcharges to awards redeemed on British Airways. Previously, AAdvantage members couldn’t earn or redeem miles on British Airways between the US and the UK at all. So members would fly from Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean. And there was no restrictions on flights beyond London, such as to Africa. But there were no fuel surcharges. Now, there are more available routes for redemption but all of those routes (including those which were previously available) are significantly more expensive. How much more? I find a US – Europe roundtrip in a premium cabin will often total nearly $600. Now the regular taxes are a bit over $200 anyway, that darned U.K. premium cabin departure luxury tax. But the fuel surcharges are a killer. And…
United Mileage Plus One-Way Awards on Partner Airlines Are Here!
Much discussion on Flyertalk apparently United’s one-way awards now include Star Alliance partners. And the real concern — that roundtrip awards including stopovers would go away, as they did when American implemented similar one-way awards with partners — hasn’t happened, at least yet. So far there are still roundtrip awards that allow a destination and a stopover, and one way awards that do not permit stopovers. So that just means more options, which is better. One-way partner awards can only be booked by phone (so other than 1k members have to pay a telephone booking fee), the website only offers US Airways and Continental award availability anyway. This is a huge improvement, a huge benefit, and one I’m looking forward to. Many United partners have much better availability than United does, especially for premium cabin…
Modest Detente in the TSA’s War on Water?
Roadwarriorette culls together some TSA blog posts to update on changes to the War on Water. Deodorant. Stick deodorant is fine in any size and does not have to be in your Ziplock. Gel and aerosol deoderant mus be 3.4 oz or less and must be in the liquids bag. (Source: TSA blog) Makeup. Common size facial cosmetic and medicinal products in a tube, for example mascara, lip gloss, and lip balm are not required to be placed in the 1 qt. bag. May I just say, hallelujah. (Source: TSA blog) Contact solution. According to the TSA site: You may bring all prescription and over-the-counter medications (liquids, gels, and aerosols) including petroleum jelly, eye drops, and saline solution for medical purposes. So, let’s just go with it. It still needs to be in a resealable…
Liveblogging the StarMegaDO and the Frequent Traveler Awards
Both the StarMegaDO and the Frequent Traveler Awards will be live-blogged here on Boarding Area. Bookmark or subscribe to an RSS feed for http://boardingarea.com/starmegado2/ .. because it’ll be interesting to follow for sure. What’s the MegaDO all about? Well, last year’s started in Chicago—gave the road warriors an education in how airlines work. At each stop, airline executives greeted them with singers and dancers, mechanics and pilots, ample food and drink and tours of engine shops, training facilities, airplanes and hangars. Like kids on a school field trip, they filed through crew briefing rooms at UAL Corp.’s United Airlines in Chicago, quizzed maintenance experts at Continental’s engine shop in Newark, practiced flight-attendant skills at Lufthansa’s training center in Frankfurt and were photographed sitting in various aircraft cockpits opened for them at hangars. They asked airline…
Top Travel Websites
Back in June I highlighted ten indispensable websites to improve your travel life. Now Wendy Perrin has a column in the November Conde Nast Traveler on Magic tools to save you money and time. And her list is actually better than mine. First because I said my list was a top ten, but only actually gave nine. And second because hers is more than ten. There’s actually much overlap between our lists, she highlights sites like ITA Software, Autoslash, Awardwallet, and EVReward, all of which I use almost every day. And I’m especially flattered that her list includes one of my sites, not this blog unfortunately (!) but my fee-based award booking service: BookYourAward.com Tearing your hair out trying to use your frequent-flier miles or credit-card points for international flights in first or business class?…
Delta Bonuses for Transferring Miles Between Accounts or in From Other Programs
Delta is offering several bonuses (registration required) for transferring points into a Skymiles account. 50% bonus for transfers between Skymiles accounts through November 30. It costs about a penny a point to transfer (plus $30 transaction fee), so with a 50% bonus you’re buying miles at about two cents apiece. Not worth it just to add more miles but if you’re topping off an account towards a specific award could be helpful. 35% bonus on transfers from Diners Club through January 15. Bonuses are always good but I value the flexibility of my Diners Club points, I wouldn’t transfer them into Skymiles just for the bonus. But if you’re doing the transfer anyway, getting more miles for doing so is of course better. 25% bonus on transfers from hotel programs through December 31. Most hotel…
Will Southwest’s Move into Atlanta Signal the End of Checked Baggage Fees?
Tommy passes along an article on Southwest’s plans for Atlanta, which suggests that Atlanta could become the carrier’s biggest city. His note with the link? “The end of bag fees.” Intriguing argument, one not made in the piece. But Southwest merger partner has over 200 flights daily in Atlanta, Southwest has only about 10% more than that in its biggest city, Las Vegas. If Southwest goes to war in Atlanta, and maintains its baggage fee stance, and if that shifts customers away from Delta then one possible competitive response is for Delta to drop baggage fees. Hard to imagine they could do so just in Atlanta. If they did it systemwide other majors would surely have to follow. So far, so good. And I’ve long suspected that while baggage fees have added some revenue to…
Outstanding Accor Hotels Sale
Outsourced to Lucky: Accor’s annual 50% off sale is back for the next few days. Bookings must be made between October 27 and November 1 for A-Club members, and between October 29 and November 1 for non-members. The promotion is valid for stays between December 12 and February 12. This is about as gimmick-free of a promotion as you’ll find. They take the best flexible rate and charge you half of it. The only catch is that the rate is non-refundable. Combined with this Flyertalk discussion on how to get free Platinum status in their loyalty program, this is an exceptionally interesting promo.
