Each year, for five years now, IdeaWorks has published a study (.pdf) on which airlines offer the best award availability and each year Scott McCartney picks it up approvingly in the Wall Street Journal without a recognition of its flaws. Roughly speaking this year’s piece finds that: Overall airline award availability is getting better despite an improving economy (more seats sold). Low cost carriers are better for flyers looking for award seats than legacy airlines. International airlines are better at offering award seats than US ones. But the only way it reaches these conclusions is by assuming away virtually everything we know about how these programs actually work. Nowhere in the study do they account for the value or quality of what the low cost carriers like Southwest Airlines are getting you for your miles.…
Monthly Archives
Monthly Archives for May 2014.
Two Tools for Generating Spend, Getting More Compensation from Airlines, and Some Mileage Bonuses (Bits ‘n Pieces for May 8, 2014)
News and notes from around the interweb: The Suntrust Delta debit card has been a strong part of my mileage-earning portfolio. Unfortunately you can no longer obtain one online or even in many cases in-branch. However some people are still getting Suntrust to agree to issue them a card when requesting one via online chat. Outsource your claim for compensation from an airline (HT: Reid) Up to 2000 free points for joining SAS EuroBonus New benefits for SAS EuroBonus Diamond members. Something we usually see when a new airline joins the oneworld alliance — earn double American AAdvantage miles when flying new oneworld carrier SriLankan Using Paypal loadable cards and the Paypal debit card to generate spending. This is one many steer away from because Paypal does shut down accounts, and can hold onto money…
US Airways Has Started Adding Fuel Surcharges Onto Award Tickets (Sometimes)
On April 29th I wrote that US Airways wasn’t adding fuel surcharges to British Airways awards. I said to ‘Act Now’ because since the news was ‘out’ the situation wasn’t likely to last. And indeed, US Airways has sent a memo to agents telling them about the fuel surcharges. Auto-pricing may not include the charge, but tickets that go to the rate desk will certainly have fuel surcharges included. Most US Airways award tickets which include travel on British Airways now include fuel surcharges, which can be as much as $900 on a roundtrip transatlantic award and $1500 on a roundtrip US – Africa award. US Airways was supposed to add fuel surcharges to these tickets from the get go, as soon as they entered the oneworld alliance on March 31. But as with many…
American Spokesperson Blasts BoardingArea Blogger, Throws Partner Airline Under Bus
Etihad’s big announcement about the most luxurious travel product in commercial aviation has been all the rage. I’d love to fly it, but the truth is I’m not going to. It’s way too pricey for me and at this point there’s no reasonable way to access it with miles. I’m not going to tell you ‘get this and that credit card and you’ll be 3% of the way there.’ No, it’s just out of reach of most of us. Sure you could manufacture $1 million of spend on a 2% cash back card.. but even then there are things most of us would do with that $20,000 other than fly a single 7 hour flight from London to Abu Dhabi. But Lucky who writes the One Mile at a Time blog wants to make a…
1000 Bonus US Airways Miles Per Roundtrip on New New York Flights
US Airways Dividend Miles is offering 1000 bonus miles for each American Eagle roundtrip between New York LaGaurdia and 10 cities through June 30. Registration required. Charlottesville Albemarle, VA (CHO) Louisville, KY (SDF) Dayton, OH (DAY) Norfolk, VA (ORF) Greensboro/High Point/Winston-Salem, NC (GSO) Richmond, VA (RIC) Knoxville, TN (TYS) Roanoke, VA (ROA) Little Rock, AR (LIT) Wilmington, NC (ILM) You can earn the bonus an unlimited number of times, and one-way travel earns 500 miles (so roundtrips aren’t required). US Airways-coded flights earn the bonus as well. You can join the 40,000+ people who see these deals and analysis every day — sign up to receive posts by email (just one e-mail per day) or subscribe to the RSS feed. It’s free. You can also follow me on Twitter for the latest deals. Don’t miss…
Etihad Unveils Luxurious New 9 Bedroom Villa on Select Aircraft
The Etihad 3-bedroom first class Residence was apparently just a trial balloon. Word has leaked from the Pan Arabia Enquirer about the new 9-bedroom villa: Passengers flying with Etihad Airways soon won’t have to worry about baggage allowance – they’ll have an entire house to fill thanks to the Abu Dhabi-based airline’s luxurious new first class offering. Located on the upper deck of Etihad’s newest fleet of planes, The Villa comprises a double bed, en-suite shower and nine-bedroom villa with living room, kitchen, study, maids room and infinity pool with Jacuzzi. This 3000 square meter villa also features a 24-seat private cinema and “underground parking facility with space for up to 10 cars.” This puts Meridien Airlines’ first class hot tub to shame. Let’s see what Emirates announces today in response! (And whether the Dubai-based…
Department of “Oops” – American Airlines Scheduling Department Edition
When mistakes happen “to infinity” you know it’s bad…! DFW – PVG Schedule Error Issued: 2May14 Be advised that American Airlines flight 127 DFWPVG and 128 PVGDFW were cancelled in error with our most recent schedule change on May 4, 2014. The flights will be reinstated on Sunday, May 11, 2014. American will reinstate the flights following the reloading of the flight schedules. Flights impacted are: Flight 127 DFWPVG departing on Tuesdays and Thursdays from August 17, 2014 through infinity Flight 128 PVGDFW departing on Wednesday and Fridays from August 19, 2014 through infinity Please do not cancel 127/128 WK segments in the passenger itinerary until the replacement segment has been added. American will reaccommodate the flight(s) in the original inventory. Please check your schedule change queue from May 4th notification. The agency is responsible…
How to Secure First Class on a Qantas A380, the $3.7 Million License Plate, and Another Reloadable Card that Earns Miles (Bits ‘n Pieces for May 7, 2014)
News and notes from around the interweb: Qantas is moving from daily service between Dallas and Sydney (with a stop in Brisbane on the flight from the US to Australia) on a Boeing 747 to 6 times weekly service on an A380. That’s fewer flights by dropping Tuesday service, though more total seats. Here’s How to Redeem Miles for Qantas A380 First Class Between the US and Australia. VisaBuxx is a reloadable card meant for parents to control their kids’ spending. There have been options for loading these cards via mileage earning credit card, treated as a purchase, for quite some time. It’s a manufacted spend technique that has lasted for over a decade. The Free-quent Flyer shares where to get them, and current monthly limits. And remember not to use a Citibank-issued card, as…
American Express Adds a 5th Domestic Centurion Lounge to Its Pipeline: Welcome to Miami!
Last month I mentioned that American Express was adding a new Centurion lounge in Miami’s North Terminal where American Airlines operates. That turns out to be true, as American Express is now confirming Miami as a 5th lounge in its domestic US pipeline — after Las Vegas and Dallas Fort-Worth which are both open and San Francisco and LaGuardia which are on the way. American Express Platinum lost access to American and US Airways lounges at the end of March and lost guest privileges at Delta lounges May 1. But they’ve got a growing network of their own lounges, which are generally better than airline offerings. And the card comes bundled with Priority Pass Select, which provides access to a variety of airline lounges (such as Alaska Airlines lounges in the U.S.) and independent lounges.…
Air France Reveals Its New First Class Suite!
It doesn’t even come close to the just-announced Etihad A380 First Class Residence, but Air France has just unveiled its new La Premier First Class Suite. It has curtains. Curtains. It’s not even a suite with doors. I suppose I didn’t take this rendition seriously enough. I like the lighting, though, something that British Airways already does quite well up front. The colors are nice. They’re going with Sofitel bedding. And they’ll have caviar. While it does seem very ‘Air France’ it also doesn’t seem very revolutionary, or for that matter better than what other airlines that continue to invest in their first class experience offer. They’re nowhere near the standard of better Asian or Middle Eastern carriers — though no paying passenger will likely ‘route around’ Air France in favor of Lufthansa or British…
