Clifford Winston, who knows as much about the US air transport system as anyone in the country, had an op-ed last week in the New York Times arguing that foreign airlines should be allowed to operate routes in the U.S. They should. But the benefits Winston claims are far exaggerated. If there are underserved routes that could be operated profitably by new airlines, why does he think that incumbent airlines aren’t flying them? In fact he focuses on routes that have been losing service, cutbacks that have been made precisely because existing airlines found it unprofitable to operate those routes. It may well be that when the US market gets opened up to competition, that a lot of foreign investment floods the market in spite of the likelihood of losing money. US consumers would benefit…
Monthly Archives
Monthly Archives for November 2012.
Bits ‘n Pieces for November 26, 2012
News and notes from around the interweb: The Flight Deal Blog has great coverage of super-cheap South America airfares on TAM such as San Francisco – Santiago for $474 and Miami-Buenos Aires for $350. Head for Points outlines changes to the Air Berlin transatlantic schedule. One of the very best uses of British Airways Avios points are redemptions on oneworld partner Air Berlin, since those flights don’t incur fuel surcharges (thus saving hundreds of dollars on transatlantic award tickets). Very Good Points offers good advice for dealing with medications while traveling. @jamucsb points to a story of extreme couponing turning violent.
Reflections on Starting a Small Business in Miles and Points
Back in July I spoke at Chris Guillebeau’s World Domination Summit on a panel about Chris’ new book the $100 Startup. What I didn’t realize is that the panel was taped and the session is available on Vimeo. This isn’t a miles and points talk, rather I spoke along with several other folks who were case studies in the book about starting up a business on your own without capital, about the challenges of making it work. In my own case I was a bit different than the others on the panel, since my startup award booking service is a part-time endeavor, I didn’t quit my job — a great approach for the more conservative types out there, pursue your passions on top of your employment rather than taking the risks of plunging into it…
Don’t Miss the Very Best Deals
Make sure you’re kept up to date, many of the best opportunities are short-lived. You can follow me on Twitter Or friend me on Facebook There’s also an RSS feed for this blog, so you can subscribe via your favorite blog reader. And you can have each day’s content emailed to you overnight, just enter your email address in the box on the left hand side of the page. Never miss out on a deal or advice on getting the most for your miles! And however you’re reading the blog, I just appreciate it that you do, many folks have stuck with me now for the full ten years I’ve been writing about travel, points, and upgrades.. and that’s incredibly humbling.
Earning Miles from Flowers (at a Lower Cost Than You Thought Possible)
Do you cherish Doggie Howser, M.D. as much as I do, but think he’s just too expensive? Fortunately jfhscott reminds me about a 1-800-Flowers discount that still allows earning miles: Skyselect sells $50 gift cards to 1-800-Flowers for $29. The current offer runs through November 27 but these sales are run consistently (so another should likely be along shortly after this one is done). You can only use one card per transaction (account login required). But this amounts to a $21 discount on 1-800-Flowers purchases. And here’s the kicker: If the base price of an order before shipping is less than $50, miles don’t seem to be awarded, but if the base price is over $50 then miles seem to be awarded on the full cost of the order (not on the amount over the…
How to Find The Very Best Specialists to Guide You Through Your Travel
The December issue of Conde’ Nast Traveler carries their annual list of the world’s top travel specialists. Online travel agencies have revolutionized the way that travel is booked, certainly something is lost in the process but for the median airline ticket it’s overkill to pay a human to do things for you. For higher end trips, for complicated trips, for experiences there’s little that can replace an expert with local knowledge, contacts, and an understanding of how to deliver more than a mass product. And several individuals are recognized in the magazine for their ability to consistently deliver on those things for clients. I’ve been honored to be selected for the list for the work I do as part of my award booking service, for the third year in a row. Wendy Perrin curates the…
Earn Miles for FedEx Shipments
The ‘other Gary,’ this one of Free Frequent Flyer Miles, does a great job of updating his site with the latest frequent flyer offers by category — whether it’s miles for checking accounts, cell phones, shopping, or other activities. He updated the site today with a note that US Airways has an offer of miles with first Fedex shipment from a new account. So I checked out the rest of his ste and found FedEx offers from four airlines: Kinko’s and FedEx: Earn 500 American Airlines miles for your first order of $100 or more using File, Print FedEx Kinko’s, which seems to be a system designed for businesses for printing stuff in bulk. Details. FedEx offers 1 Hawaiian Airlines mile/$1 spent plus some discounts for shipping with them. FedEx offers 250 miles U.S. Airways miles for your first shipment, and 1 mile/$1 spent on eligible FedEx shipments.…
Bits ‘n Pieces for November 23, 2012
News and notes from around the interweb: Million Mile Secrets says that through Monday, November 26th this link will still work to get 50,000 points as a signup bonus for an American Express Business Gold Rewards card (after $5000 spend within 3 months, no fee the first year). [Offer expired] Mr. Pickles recounts how you used to be able to buy diamonds at costco.com with Visa or Mastercard, and then return them in-store for cash, in order to earn miles. And there’s still an incredibly generous return policy at Costco for used and beaten up items, apparently. Joe Brancatelli has basic principles for selecting an airport hotel: choose the one that’s connected to the terminal (avoids delays of the shuttle bus), choose the newest one (since one-night stays generate much more wear and tear), avoid…
Free Delta Skymiles for Social Media Checkins
Lots of folks have been earning lots of points from social media checkins, by signing up with Topguest and linking a Foursquare account and then identifying your location with participating loyalty programs like Priority Club and Doubletree hotels (Hilton HHonors). There’s lots of discussion on Milepoint of folks who may have checked in a few too many times, perhaps without being anywhere near the locations they were checking in at, and got warning emails from Topguest as a result. Now there appears to be a new option for earning free miles for social media checkins. Via this Milepoint thread, Tripanomaly will give you 80 Delta Skymiles “just for sharing your location at a Delta Airlines terminal, departure gate or any of our listed partner locations.”
Bits ‘n Pieces for November 22, 2012
News and Notes from Around the Interweb: Effective December 1, British Airways subsidiary OpenSkies will be a oneworld affiliate member opening up mileage earning and redemption and reciprocal benefits on that airline’s flights from Newark to Paris-Orly (and beginning March 1 New York JFK – Paris-Orly as well). Rapid Travel Chai reports that Xiamen Airlines has joined Skyteam. Along with China Eastern and China Southern that positions the alliance strongly in China. Star has Air China (and soon Taiwan-based EVA Air and Shenzhen Airlines), oneworld has (Hong Kong-based) Cathay and Dragonair. The next major alliance ‘get’ would be Hainan Airlines. One Mile at a Time notices that Hawaiian Airlines has updated their award chart for Virgin Atlantic again. Earlier in the week they posted a massive price increase. Now they’ve clarified that award pricing is…
