News and notes from around the interweb: Here primarily for your safety: Virgin America’s flight attendants will vote this summer on unionization Innovate or die? That scary near-collision between a United 737 and an ExpressJet ERJ-145 last month. In many ways it amazes me that the manual process we use for air traffic control doesn’t lead to more problems than it does, and also that we still centralize air traffic control with such a human process. Innovation carries risks, too: Credit card chip and PIN vulnerabilities. Some things in life are (almost) free: How to earn miles buying gift cards and get the money back into your bank account. But alcohol should be free: Uber in London is delivering free Cuba Libre cocktails on demand tomorrow. Get your elite status for nothing and your double…
Monthly Archives
Monthly Archives for May 2014.
The Saddest Tourist Destination in the United States Has Just Gotten Even Worse
I genuinely didn’t think my opinion of Atlantic City could get worse. But they are apparently trying to take the home of an ill senior citizen, son of a murdered holocaust survivor, in order to help a failing casino in some unspecified, Underpants Gnome way. Now, I grew up on Long Island but didn’t spend summer weekends in the Hamptons. My family went to the Jersey Shore. We used to take the North Jersey Coast Line to Point Pleasant. I have wonderful memories growing up of the beach in New Jersey, although I don’t remember the train as being especially reliable. I loved it when my train broke down on the way back to New York once, I think I was 7 and I was happy waiting for the next train to come by and…
Wyndham Changes its Hotel Award Categories Tomorrow, Better Act Fast and Book TODAY
A couple of months ago Wyndham devalued points transfers to miles without notice. Last year they devalued their hotel redemptions. So it’s with some trepidation that we await tomorrow when they will apparently be shifting around which hotels fall into the various redemption categories. No advance list of hotels changing categories has been shared. (In the past it’s taken member outrage to wrestle a list of changes in advance, so perhaps that explains why we got only about a day’s notice, buried in an email, that they’d be changing hotel category assignments again.) If you have designs on any Wyndham hotel redemptions, better make them today, just in case. You may not like what tomorrow brings. You can join the 40,000+ people who see these deals and analysis every day — sign up to receive…
Huge 200% Bonus on Purchased Avianca LifeMiles Through Friday Only
Last December Avianca’s LifeMiles (one of the unknown frequent flyer programs you should pay attention to) offered triple miles on purchased miles for one day only. It was a targeted promotion, but many people who called were able to successfully take advantage of the offer that hadn’t been targeted for it.. GlobetrotterHQ reports that this offer is back through May 23. Again, it’s targeted, but some may find it worth calling to try to take advantage of even if they didn’t receive an email about the offer (and hang up, call back). It’s available over the phone (and in person) only and not online. Only one purchase can be made during this promotion Min 1000 miles; Max 20,000 miles purchased Must have received the email Cannot exceed 150,000 purchased miles in a year (includes bonuses…
My US Airways MasterCard Got Upgraded
On top of the big benefits changes coming to the US Airways credit cards to align with what Citibank offers to American Airlines co-brand credit card holders, it appears that they’re making additional updates to the card at least based on a letter I’ve just received in the mail. Last week I wrote about the rebranding of the Barclaycard Arrival World Mastercard as Barclaycard Arrival PlusTM World Elite MasterCard®. They made the card chip and pin and made it a World MasterCard which is the higher-end branding that comes with some incremental benefits, including additional travel benefits. I got in the mail a piece yesterday letting me know that my US Airways Premier World MasterCard® would become a World Elite MasterCard as well. (Click to enlarge) You’ll notice that Suzanne Rubin, President of the American…
You Can Still Sue Your Favorite Hotel Program!
The Supreme Court Has Made it Very Difficult to Sue an Airline Frequent Flyer Program The Airline Deregulation Act reserves exclusive jurisdiction over the airlines to the federal government, and pre-empts states from imposing any regulations of their own. When the federal government deregulated the airlines they didn’t want states stepping into their wake. And in fairness, 50 different regulatory schemes in 50 states would be a significant burden on the industry (although in fairness one could point out that airlines generally comply with myriad laws in the countries to which they fly). States can’t regulate airlines, and it turns out that as a result they cannot regulate airline frequent flyer programs (which provide flight benefits, travel discounts, or rebates for purchase of travel). But that creates a vacuum because the federal government through the…
American AAdvantage is NOT Collecting Fuel Surcharges on Finnair Awards
This is a minor misunderstanding but I thought I’d offer a slight correction to a meme that seems to be going around. American AAdvantage began collecting fuel surcharges for flights on British Airways when it entered into a joint venture with BA. Up until that point you could redeem American miles for travel on British Airways without paying fuel surcharges — but you could not redeem miles for travel between the US and London on BA. (The work around was Canada, the Caribbean, or Mexico.) Fuel surcharges can add $600 and up to the cost of a frequent flyer ‘free’ award ticket. British Airways and Iberia have the same corporate parent, and Iberia is a part of the joint venture across the Atlantic as well. American started collecting very modest fuel surcharges for travel on…
Americans Are Overwhelmingly Against Use of Cell Phones on Planes. Should They Be?
The public comment period for the FCC proposal to lift the 23 year old ban on inflight cell phone use has closed, and public comments are overwhelmingly against a change. The FCC Chairman believes that the safety rationale for the ban no longer exists. Airlines should be able to ban the practice, or find accommodations like a no cell phone use seating section. But it’s hard to justify government making the use of inflight cell phones illegal without a compelling safety issue. The FCC voted 3-2 to consider lifting the ban. With such a tight majority favoring even consideration of an end to the ban, public opposition could sway them. And even if the FCC lifts the ban, the Department of Transportation which regulates airlines could still act. As, of course, could individual carriers. Some…
Big Changes Coming to the US Airways Credit Card
US Airways Premier World MasterCard® When US Airways and American are finally combined into a single airline, it will no longer be possible to get the US Airways cards. These cards will become American cards, and existing cardholders get to keep them. But no one new will be able to apply for the Barclaycard offering. That also means we know that the last chance for the 50,000 point signup bonus after first purchase will be when the two frequent flyer programs become one. My advice is to get the bonus points if you can, it’s an opportunity that will go away, and the points will add on nicely to American AAdvantage balances (this card doesn’t conflict with getting signup bonuses for Citibank-issued American AAdvantage cards). We do not know when the airlines will actually combine.…
Intercontinental & Holiday Inn’s Program Revamps Its Award Night Rules — Here’s What You Need to Know
Earlier in the day I noted that IHG Rewards Club had changes its rules for discounted award nights so that you could only make two award bookings at a single hotel at the discounted price. IHG Rewards Club, formerly known as Priority Club, is the points program for Intercontinental hotels, Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, and related brands. They offer a select group of hotels at a discount of just 5000 points per night on a regular basis. These are available for a short booking window, and the best value hotels sell out quickly at these prices (since they otherwise might cost 30,000 or 40,000 points per night). You have to act fast to get these rooms. And those that do act fast often redeem points to cover any possible night they might need. And IHG…
