Earlier in the week I arrived at Washington’s National airport to find a couple of things different than what I expected over on the far US Airways concourse. First, Five Guys Burgers was closed. Lots of changes coming to the dining scene at National airport, but Five Guys was there, and it’s coming back, how important could the renovation of the Five Guys space really be? Second though was much more significant. US Airways brought in over 100 World War II veterans to DC on a day trip. The entire terminal stopped, stood silently, until each veteran came off the aircraft — and gave each one a massive round of applause. Surviving World War II veterans, coming to DC to visit the World War II Memorial? That was a pretty non-partisan issue in DC this…
Monthly Archives
Monthly Archives for April 2014.
He Who Smelt it Dealt It, Southwest Labor Problems, and DFW Showers (Bits ‘n Pieces for April 4, 2014)
News and notes from around the interweb: Southwest’s labor problems stem from lower profit margins Emirates will begin flying an Airbus A380 Dallas – Dubai starting October 1. That means onboard showers in first clss, people. Japan Airlines miles (Starwood Preferred Guest transfer partner) are often the best for roundtrip Emirates redemptions. Alaska Mileage Plan miles are great for one-way awards (and no fuel surcharges). How to change your frequent flyer number attached to oneworld airline reservations. Delta is adding ice cream to transatlantic coach flights. DFW will also be getting more customs officers.. over the next 12 to 18 months. That’s to help with extremely long lines during peak times, and is way too far off. Thank goodness for Global Entry. Air France’s new slogan: “France is in the air” .. so that’s what…
Singapore Airlines’ New Sweepstakes
Singapore Airlines’ new Travel in Luxury sweepstakes is probably worth entering (I never win anything..) for the chance to win a pair of business class tickets to Singapore and a Shangri-La hotel stay alone. But there are two things that I find more interesting than that. The daily mileage prize you can enter to win by answering trivia questions. (That should be an easier win, since it takes more effort and there are more prizes.) Domestic connecting flights are being offered on Virgin America rather than United. It seems as though Singapore Airlines — down to just one U.S. alliance partner with US Airways’ exit — really just isn’t besties with United Airlines. Then again, United pulled Singapore Airlines award availability off its website and blamed the change on Singapore. So if I were them…
Summer Business Class to Europe for Less Than $1500 Roundtrip
There’s a real business class fare war to Europe going on right now, mostly initiated by United, for business class travel out of many airports that aren’t United hubs (or co-terminals with United hubs, and except on specific routes that are pretty unique to Delta like New York JFK – Venice). So you can buy business class tickets for less than $1500 roundtrip this summer — about what you’ll pay for coach for summer travel in many cases. Fly from cities like: Allentown, PA Westchester, NY Boston Baltimore Fort Lauderdale Las Vegas Orlando Seattle Honolulu Portland San Jose Orange County To cities like Rome, Milan, Venice, Paris, Amsterdam, Florence, Nice, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Barcelona, and Madrid. Key information: Book on Orbitz, or at United.com Must purchase at least 60 days in advance (not a problem, since…
The US Airways Lounge at LaGuardia Is No Longer the Worst Club in North America
Three years ago I declared the US Airways lounge at New York LaGuardia to be the worst lounge in North America. This was a chair in that lounge: Since that time, US Airways traded many of its takeoff and landing slots at LaGuardia with Delta in exchange for slots at Washington’s National airport and cash. Delta renovated the old US Airways club, and US Airways opened a new club to support its scaled-down operation at the airport. And the new US Airways club is much, much better than before. There are even modest snacks, like bagels, available. There’s ‘premium’ wine to order (although I don’t really consider Santa Margherita all that premium or worth $12 a glass. There’s a paid snack menu to order off of as well. And there’s a great view of airport…
WORST CASE SCENARIO: You Save Money on Airfare With Throwaway Ticketing, and Then…
Someone I know might have been flying on a throwaway ticket over the past few weeks. This is one of the best, most useful techniques for saving money on airfare. Sure, flying to Chicago might be really expensive, but connecting in Chicago enroute to Milwaukee is downright cheap. You buy a one-way ticket to Milwaukee, get off in Chicago, and save money. That’s great until… either you have to check bags (those will go on to Milwaukee) or your flight is cancelled. The airline rebooks you. On a non-stop flight to your destination. That’s the risk. That happened. And not the checked bag part. The airline sent a flight cancellation notice, and it was my job to call and I found that the reservation had already been rebooked. To a city that was in the…
Amex Everyday Launches With a Party in New York!
The new Amex Everyday cards went live with applications early last week. The official product launch, though, was yesterday. And I happened to be in New York, so I stopped in on the party. I’m not sure whether it’s super cool or if it makes me an incredible geek for wanting to and being able to crash an Amex party. There are two new cards: Amex Everyday: no annual fee, full Membership Rewards card; 20% bonus on all spend when you make 20 charges in a billing cycle; 2x points at US supermarkets (on up to $6000 of spend per year); 10,000 points after $1000 spend in 3 months Amex Everyday Preferred: 15,000 point signup bonus after $1000 spend in 3 months; 3x at US supermarkets (up to $6000 spend per year) and 2x at…
Be Careful Not to Book the Wrong Date Buying Airfare on the US Airways Website (and an Award Booking Trick)
Reader Nick passed along his experiences trying to buy tickets on the US Airways website. I too am learning the ins and outs of Usair.com and found a small glitch that I thought I would share in hopes of preventing others from making the same mistake. I was looking for a flight from Denver to Hartford on Sunday night April 6th or early in the morning on the 7th. I noticed that US Air offers a 1:20am flight to Charlotte that offered a decent connection. I decided the flight would work well as I could spend all day Sunday in Denver and head home super later Sunday night, but technically “Monday morning”. I plugged in Monday 4/7 as my travel date I found the 1am departure and ended up booking a ticket for Tuesday! …Basically,…
The Supreme Court Limited Your Right to Sue a Frequent Flyer Program: What It Means to You
When the Supreme Court took up the case of the Rabbi whose frequent flyer account was closed by Northwest Airlines because he complained too much, I asked reader, attorney, and Supreme Court watcher Eric M. Fraser to offer his perspective on the case. He joined us again as the case went to oral argument. And I’ve asked for his contribution now that the Supreme Court has ruled unanimously against the consumer in his quest to sue Northwest (now Delta) under state law interpretive rules of contract. Eric M. Fraser is an appellate and antitrust attorney with Osborn Maledon. He is an active flyer and closely follows View from the Wing. * * * The Supreme Court of the United States released its decision and opinion in Northwest, Inc. v. Ginsberg. The Supreme Court held in…
The Cheapest Item in the Minibar, 3000 Bonus Miles for a 1 Night Stay (Bits ‘n Pieces for April 3, 2014)
News and notes from around the interweb: Vodka is surprisingly cheap in hotel minibars: “much cheaper than peanuts and, in some cases, even water.” Ryanair CEO apologizes for a quip about sex with the Queen. Rocketmiles will give new customers 3000 bonus miles even for a one night hotel booking as long as the stay is completed by April 30. Cleveland (is asked to eat) rocks! As though United de-hubbing the city didn’t hurt enough, just two months later they’re cutting even more routes from the city. 1500 miles for signing up for airberlin’s topbonus program. (HT: Ben) Scott Mayerowitz on how to save money on your summer vacation hotels. You can join the 30,000+ people who see these deals and analysis every day — sign up to receive posts by email (just one e-mail…
