David Bernstein passes along a link to a law firm that’s interested in suing British Airways Executive Club over fuel surcharges. Lieff Cabraser is investigating charges that British Airways imposes excessive taxes and fees when members of its frequent flyer reward program redeem accrued travel miles for a reward ticket. British Airways states members may purchase “free” airline tickets with points through its Executive Club rewards program. However, it also imposes fees for “taxes and other charges associated with Reward travel.” These other charges purportedly include items priced at a greater and excessive amount than when customers purchase BA tickets without using any reward points. In certain situations, customers have complained that the cost of their “free” frequent flyer ticket was nearly the same as, or in excess of, advertised fares on the same British…
Monthly Archives
Monthly Archives for July 2012.
Reader Question: Stopovers on US Airways Awards
Reader C.M. asks: Are Genoa and Istanbul both considered part of the same region (Europe) for USAirways? I was trying to book a multi destination trip, with one stop Genoa… (Phoenix -Genoa / Genoa – Istanbul / Istanbul – Phoenix) It was bookable on the United website, but the USAirways agent told me that Genoa and Istanbul are in the same region (Europe) and therefore not bookable as one ticket. She could see the availability, but checked with the help desk and said they could not book it. The agent (and their help desk) misunderstood the airline’s award rules. To answer your question, yes, both cities are in the same region (Europe). But the rule is you cannot have a stopover when an award is WHOLLY within the same region (ie you start in Europe…
The Idiocy of the Families Fly Together Act of 2012
Airline advance seat assignments are something that many people value, as evidenced by the fact that people are willing to pay for them, and elites consider it a benefit worth their loyalty when they receive the ‘best’ coach seats without paying a premium. And clearly enough families consider them to be important such that Mommy Points is wondering whether government should get involved to make airlines give those assignments to parties traveling together, for free and a member of Congress is grandstanding on the issue to boot. Most airlines offer advance seat assignments. If you can’t get seats together, book a different flight where you can. If there are seats together at a price premium, pay the premium to the extent it’s worth some amount of money to sit together. This may sound cold-hearted but…
Bits ‘n Pieces for July 18, 2012
A survey of news and offers for the morning: A Skywest pilot, wanted for murder, tried to steal a regional jet to escape authorities. He creashed it on the ground instead. (HT: Seacarl on Milepoint.) bmi’s partnership with Virgin Atlantic ends August 31. It was a foregone conclusion that you would no longer be able to earn and redeem between these two airlines once British Airways acquired bmi. Wyndham Rewards is offering quadruple miles or points beginning with your second stay booked between July 17 and September 13 , 2012 and completed by September 20. The promotion is valid for up to four stays (stays numbered 2 through 5) and up to 3 rooms per stay. Registration required. Wandering Aramean flags that Alaska Airlines is offering 15 minutes of free Gogo inflight internet on all…
50% Bonus on Transfers from RBC Rewards to British Airways
Finally one for the friendly folks up North: a 50% bonus on transfers from RBC Rewards to British Airways Avios through July 31. With our 50% bonus offer, you can get 1.5 Avios for every RBC Rewards point you convert from now through July 31st, 2012. Simply get your membership information ready and call 1-800-769-2512. This exclusive offer is only available to RBC® Visa Infinite‡ Avion®, RBC Royal Bank® Visa‡ Platinum Avion and RBC Royal Bank Visa Business Platinum Avion cardholders who convert a minimum of 10,000 points. This has apparently been available since July 1 but I wasn’t aware of it until now. It’s sort of surprising that you have to call to make this redemption. But then Marriott still wants you to fax hotel receipts in order to get missing stay credits. So…
Is That a Needle in My Turkey Sandwich?
I come off a bit too flip in CNN.com’s coverage of the needles in Delta food incident. Frequent flier Gary Leff, who rakes in more than 100,000 miles each year, said he’s taking a “wait and see attitude” but isn’t planning to change the way he thinks about airline food. “I mean, this isn’t going to be the first thing ever found in airline food and certainly not the first thing found in restaurant food,” he said. Leff is a frequent domestic flier for work and redeems his miles for international vacations, sharing his cheap travel expertise on his blog, View from the Wing. He expects others to be bothered by this incident “for about 15 minutes,” Leff said. He referenced a number of occasions when unwanted ingredients or objects have been discovered in foods…
50% Off Gulf Air Award Tickets
Via Notiflyer, Gulf Air is offering 50% off award redemption mileage costs for all of their flights between July 20 and August 20. Members can redeem miles at a 50 percent discount on all coach and Falcon Gold flight awards across Gulf Air’s network. For example, members can redeem 24,000 miles instead of 48,000 miles for a coach class flight from Bahrain to anwhere Gulf Air flies in Europe or the Far East. The same flight in Falcon Gold will be reduced to 48,000 miles from 96,000 miles. Now, I wonder how many of you have Gulf Air accounts, let alone balances in those accounts. But it’s worth noting that they’re a points transfer partner with Hilton, Priority Club, and Club Carlson. It’s still in most cases a better value to save your hotel points…
How I Would Have Handled United’s Hong Kong Award Pricing Mistake
We know now that United doesn’t plan to honor the 4 mile award redemptions. I don’t really blame them. There were millions of dollars on the line. I do think it’s a sticky situation for folks that already started their trip, and may already be in Hong Kong or beyond. Are they stranded? Will United honor their return? I have to think that those tickets won’t be cancelled. What about folks with travel in the coming days? Remember that United hasn’t actually contacted folks who booked the tickets yet, they’ve only posted on frequent flyer forums, they do not know whether any particular flyer is aware of their decision nor does any particular flyer know what will happen to their ticket. And since they’ve said that everyone will be given the choice of cancelling without…
Airline Mobile App Features of the Near Future
Via AAdvantageGeek, American is testing buy on board food pre-purchase via its mobile app. That’s great, and I hope that will include the ability to make ‘free’ purchases for Executive Platinums, American is especially generous with their top tier elites allowing them a complimentary food item and complimentary cocktail by virtue of their status when they’re sitting in back. American is also …examining ways to improve some its existing mobile capabilities including offering “much deeper functionality around booking and changing existing reservations”, Leibman explains. “All of these things we have to varying degrees, but those areas are example of things that are on the slate to continue to evolve.” Another potential upgrade under consideration is improving mobile mapping functionality so customers could determine the number of miles they’re accruing for a particular trip. That’s all…
100% Bonus on AviancaTaca Lifemiles Points Transfers Through July 31
Yesterday I posted about new Star Alliance member AviancaTaca making their award chart available online. Last month I explained how that program provides some real value, even for folks living in North America: a favorable award chart, cash and points awards, no fuel surcharges, and frequent bonus offers for points purchases. Now through the end of July the AviancaTaca Lifemiles program is offering a 100% bonus on transferred miles. That represents the ability to purchase miles at 1.5 cents apiece, provided you or someone you know has an account with miles in it already. From July 16th to July 31st, for every 1,000 miles you transfer to the account of a relative or friend, we will double the miles transferred to your friend’s account. Pay USD $15 plus local taxes per each block of 1,000…
