United Airlines CEO Jeff Smisek presented today at the Deutsche Bank Aviation and Transportation Conference. Some key nuggets of his presentation (a .pdf of his powerpoint is available on the United website): They’re paying just 2% more for jet fuel than they were in 2008, and they’re profitable. I wonder what the point of ‘fuel surcharges’ is then, they should have been able to build ‘jet fuel’ into their base costs. Of course it’s partly just a convenient quick and dirty way of adjusting prices across-the-board for a market rather than filing whole sets of new fares in each market. Reducing capacity. Of course the merger was going to shrink compared to United and Continental, no matter what sorts of protestations were offered before the merger closed. 90 million members of MileagePlus. I had heard…
Monthly Archives
Monthly Archives for September 2012.
Bits ‘n Pieces for September 6, 2012
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…
Revenue-Based Frequent Flyer Programs are Bad for the Airlines (and Consumers)
In my post about Delta’s slow lurch towards a ‘revenue-based’ frequent flyer program, commenter Ian asks Gary, your post has raised a question I would love for you to answer, especially considering JetBlue and Virgin America recently introducing frequent flyer/loyalty programs which are revenue-based. If you were running a airline would you advocate a revene-based program? Are revenue-based programs the future of all legacy airlines? It seems this might earn an airline more money. As a frequent flyer who mostly benefits on the margin I do not like revenue-based programs but don’t know if I can argue with the business case It turns out that this is actually easy. Revenue-based programs are a Very. Bad. Idea for an airline that already has a large, more traditional frequent flyer program. Understand that JetBlue has the revenue-based…
Delta Offers the Dumbest Excuse from a Frequent Flyer Program, Ever?
Delta made some (relatively minor) changes to its award chart this week, with no notice whatsoever, either before or after the fact. The price of some awards just changed, the award chart was updated with new numbers as though they had always been that way. Wandering Aramean flags that Delta has now offered an explanation for not giving their customers advance notice of the changes. It works like a pricing change, so legally, we’re not allowed to notify folks in advance. See, the government requires them to obfuscate changes and ensure that their customers are surprised to learn that the awards they’ve been saving up to redeem for have gotten more expensive! I have some questions that I would love for Delta’s Tai Hsuan Foundation College of Acupuncture & Herbal Medicine law school graduate attorneys…
Did You Win a $250 Fairfield Inn Gift Card?
Marriott’s Fairfield Inn & Suites offered up (2) $250 gift cards to give away to my readers in celebration of their Silver September national vacation giveaway. I posted this over Labor Day Weekend, about a slow a time for internet traffic as anything but Christmas, and yet still about 1000 entries came in. For each entry, folks were asked “What do you look for in a business hotel?” And two winners were drawn at random thanks to random.org. Chuan said, “Complimentary wifi.” Sam said, “Wi-fi and free breakfast.” Congratulations to Chuan and Sam, you’ll get a followup email shortly to make sure you each receive your $250 gift card. And thanks to Fairfield Inn & Suites!
Does Today’s Mileage Crediting Glitch Offer a Glimpse into Delta’s Future Revenue-Based Frequent Flyer Program
Earlier in the year there were significant rumors that Delta would be moving to a revenue-based frequent flyer program. There have been job postings describing positions to drive a change to a revenue-based program, and a leaked memo about no longer displaying distances flown on trips and replacing it with a calculator of how many points a customer would earn based on the price of their ticket, along with eventually aligning the mileage cost of award tickets with the price that the tickets are selling for on a given day. I understand that when word of these potential changes leaked, that a firestorm was let loose in Atlanta. They were freaking out at Delta headquarters. And then things went silent. The rumors were that they were going to be releasing details on the new program…
My Labor Day Barbecue Pilgrimage to Lockhart, Texas
Best barbecue in Texas: This was a trip I’ve been intending to make for about the last two years, and yet something always seemed to get in the way. Often it was an international trip, or it was dead of summer and I didn’t want to be in Texas because of the heat. And though it was hovering around 100 degrees much of the weekend, it was also Labor Day. And that’s the barbecue holiday of the year, so it seemed like the perfect time although I suppose I worried that others would see it the same way. First stop was Franklin Barbecue which is actually in Austin. Arriving just before opening, there was already a line. It was a young crowd, people brought coolers ready to hunker down and wait for the barbecue. At…
Last Day to Enter Fairfield Suites Gift Card Giveaway
I’m giving away (2) $250 gift cards for use at Fairfield Inn & Suites properties in celebration of their Silver September national vacation giveaway. See details and enter by 5pm Eastern today. All you have to do is click on the official entry post and leave a comment that answers the question, “What do you look for in a business hotel?” You can enter once each 24 hours, so if you entered before consider doing so again. Got questions about this contest? Email them to me, as they may get lost in contest thread entries otherwise.
Bits ‘n Pieces for September 5, 2012
News and Notes from Around the Interweb: It’s not just pilots who fly drunk. An Emirates flight attendant has been let go after testing eight times the legal alcohol limit for flight attendants. She wasn’t originally scheduled to work the flight, had been out until the early morning drinking, when she was called and asked to sub-in. She was new with the airline and thought it best to agree (plus her judgement was likely impaired when she did..). Her defense, though? She did a great job! In fact, “one of the passengers praised her for being helpful and attentive.” I bet she was. Barbara Peterson manages to fly Ryanair without paying any extra fees and shares how she did it. As expected, the judge in American’s bankruptcy case has ruled that the airline can impose…
Milepoint Premium Membership is Back (with a Limited Time Offer)
Milepoint, the frequent flyer community that I helped to found a year and a half ago, is again offering its ‘premium membership’ package — a way of supporting the community while also receiving a rich package of benefits that most consider more than worth the cost. The current offer is $59, which covers a year of premium membershipship and includes one year of ad-free viewing on Milepoint.com and: Points and elite status: 2,000 United MileagePlus miles Hyatt Gold Passport Platinum status through Feb. 2014 or 2,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points if you are already a Hyatt elite member Upgrade to National Car Rental Emerald Club Executive Status Several additional freebies: One Free Gogo Inflight Internet 24-hour pass Free 1-year subscription to InsideFlyer.com Free upgrade to AwardWallet Plus account and a free AwardWallet OneCard Free 3-month…
