I love my rollaboard bag. I usually carry a 20″ Briggs & Riley for trips up to 5 or 6 days. But I actually hate to have to use it. That’s because I hate to board 30 minutes before departure. I’d rather stay in the lounge working, and board last instead of first. But even if I’m flying first class I need to board early to avoid being shut out of overhead space. And flying coach? Fugget About It… I hate checking bags of course, both because of the risk that the bag doesn’t make it and because of the time suck on arrival waiting for the bag. Some airports are worse than others of course, the late night Washington Dulles hour-long wait for a bag is just soul-sucking. So there’s little that makes me…
Monthly Archives
Monthly Archives for June 2014.
American’s Reciprocal Upgrades are Good, But Are They Enough? What I Would Have Done Instead
American and US Airways announced reciprocal elite upgrade benefits this week — at checkin within 24 hours of flight. And they let us know the next step is integrating the programs themselves, rather than taking a next step to treat each others’ elites equally while they’re still separate airlines. Upgrades are built on top of existing processes, available only at check-in when they’re offered to anyone elite or not. They’re free for American elites flying US Airways (all US Airways domestic upgrades are free) and they will come at a cost for US Airways Silvers, Golds, and Platinums on American (since American charges elites below top tier for upgrades). This is a positive step, one I expect to see benefits from flying US Airways out of Washington National. I often get offered upgrades at check-in,…
United Just Destroyed Its Frequent Flyer Program as a Way of Rewarding Travel on United
United announced today that they are moving to revenue-based frequent flyer earning next year. They say this is part of making their program better. More faux changes you’re gonna like. Here’s how many miles you will earn for flying United flights and crediting miles to United’s frequent flyer program starting March 1 of next year — based on the cost of your ticket. It’s not actually that simple, of course, since Actual mileage posting will be determined by the actual ticket price, purchased ticket routing, fare class, Premier status, residency and ticket issue date. For tickets purchased in a currency other than US dollars, we will convert the purchase to US dollars and then calculate the number of miles you will earn. Got that? United already devalued their award chart. This change is earning only,…
All American Express Membership Rewards Cards Have a New Category Bonus
I wrote earlier about Uber’s new points earning and redemption tie-up with American Express. Users with an iPhone (who update their app) can now toggle between redeeming American Express points for Uber rides (at one cent per point in value, not a good deal) or earning 2 Membership Rewards points per dollar spent on Uber. I wasn’t sure how this would work. The iPhone app will be required for the option to redeem points instantly for rides. But the release made it sound like this was necessary for earning, too. And if that was the case it might operate like a shopping portal with 2 extra points per dollar regardless of credit card used to pay for the ride. That’s not the case at all. Bonus points earning with American Express Membership Rewards operates as…
From the Maldives to Malaysia: A Boat, Domestic Flight, and Malaysia Airlines Business Class
In this post I’ll take the Park Hyatt Hadahaa Maldives’ boat to the Kooddoo airport, Maldivian Airlines from there to Male, and then Malaysia Airlines business class Male – Kuala Lumpur. And I get the best part was the inflight satay. Previous trip report installments Introduction: Maldives and Malaysia in First Class, How I Booked It and What it Cost Etihad Lounge and First Class, Washington Dulles – Abu Dhabi Premier Inn Abu Dhabi International Airport Etihad’s Abu Dhabi first class lounge, and business class Abu Dhabi – Male Maldivian Domestic Lounge, Flight, and Boat Transfer to the Park Hyatt Park Hyatt Hadahaa Maldives When it was finally time to leave , I made my way … not to the jetty but to the bar, for one final complimentary Sundowner cocktail. We then bid the…
Here’s What Happens When a Blood Bank Takes Marketing Cues from a Frequent Flyer Program
Frequent flyer and frequent guest programs don’t have the only loyalty currencies that devalue. So – it seems – do blood banks. And it turns out they even use the same marketing language to explain their changes. The second paragraph below is priceless. Blood bank points expire, too. Because even non-profits understand “breakage.” While redemption rates are increasing in the New York Blood Center’s program, at least earn rates stay the same, and elite status bonuses frequent donor bonuses remain intact. And they are giving about three weeks’ notice of the changes. So some travel loyalty programs could learn a thing or two from this blood donation center. (Then again, being a member of a few of those hotel programs that make changes without notice is like getting blood from a stone…) With thanks to…
American Express Introduces Earn and Burn Points With Uber
I’m a big Uber fan (“Why Taxis Suck and What You Can Do About It“), although I’m skeptical of their $18 billion valuation. But they’re clearly a big deal. And they’ve now done a deal with American Express: redeem Membership Rewards points at 1 cent per point, or earn 2 points per dollar spent. Existing eligible cardholders will be able to sign up directly for the program within the Uber app with a single tap. …Once they hook up their accounts, users can toggle between either using points or earning points on each ride. This functionality will roll out initially only to the iPhone app and only for US customers. It will be some time before I can try it on Android. I’ve reached out to American Express to clarify: Whether points-earning is available only…
Insights from American’s Suzanne Rubin on What’s Next for the Program
American and US Airways made more program in the integration of their airlines and frequent flyer programs today. They announced a minor alignment of their award charts, increasing a handful of US Airways award prices to match what American AAdvantage already charges. They introduced reciprocal upgrades within 24 hours of flight for US Airways and American elite frequent flyers. And we learned a little bit about their strategy going forward. I spoke with American AAdvantage President Suzanne Rubin to get an idea of what these changes mean, and what to expect next. Here’s my observations about what the announcements mean: The US Airways award chart changes were announced in advance, with changes not taking effect for nearly 3 months. This is the first time I ever remember US Airways making an advance announcement of an…
BREAKING: American and US Airways Begin Reciprocal Upgrades This Week. Here’s How It Will Work!
About a week and a half ago I reported that American and US Airways would begin offering each others’ elite frequent flyers upgrades within 24 hours of departure starting June 11. Now they’ve confirmed it, and the program will indeed start on Wednesday to allow US Airways frequent flyers to upgrade on American flights, and American’s elite frequent flyers to upgrade on US Airways flights. Upgrades are available within 24 hours of departure, when the check-in window opens. US Airways Chairmans Preferred (100,000 mile flyer) elites will get their upgrades complimentary. Silvers, Golds, and Platinums looking to upgrade on American will have to buy stickers to do so, just like American Gold and Platinum members do. American elites looking to upgrade on US Airways will get theirs complimentary, like all US Airways elites have. These…
US Airways Makes Changes to Its Award Chart.. With Notice This Time
US Airways announced two minor award chart changes today. They are set to go into effect August 1. Both changes were to be expected. And they did it with nearly 3 months’ advance notice. They are increasing medium and high-level US and Canada awards to match the prices American already announced back in April. I say this was expected because it’s the new price that was just announced on the ‘other side of the equation’ (American) only two months ago. They’re also increasing the price of US domestic and Canada 3-cabin first class saver awards to match the prices American charges. They actually posted this one prematurely a month ago, and then retracted it. No surprise there. Currently US Airways charges the same 50,000 miles roundtrip for business and for first class on flights within…
