If you thought I was being hyperbolic when I explained Air Canada’s major devaluation of elite status as the airline thinking their elites were over-entitled and they were determined to do something about it… Thread Tripping highlights PR comments from the airline that make my point for me. Truly, I don’t recall ever seeing such revealing honesty from an airline. We should simultaneously applaud the lack of spin, and avoid the airline. Unfortunately for our friends up North, their options for a network carrier are quite limited. I’m going to be blunt: we are not a charity. …It’s not a secret that we would prefer our customers sitting in the [business class] cabin to have paid for it. And the reason why they don’t want elites sitting in empty premium cabin seats: 1) It cheapens…
Monthly Archives
Monthly Archives for October 2014.
Understanding Your Credit Score: And How It Can Be Worth Millions (of Miles)
One of the most-asked questions about credit cards is how does it affect your credit score, and of course the implied followup, do you care? And it’s been awhile since I wrote a post on understanding your credit score. I’ve signed up for scores of cards over many years and I still have an excellent credit score, it was nearly 800 FICO on the three major credit bureaus when I went to get my mortgage. In part because of signing up for more cards, rather than in spite of it. I first discovered rewards credit cards in 1997. I signed up for a US Airways card, enticed by the bonus. I decided I didn’t want to pay an annual fee for a credit card back then. My income – and thus my spending – wasn’t…
HOT Business Class Fare: Bangkok – Beijing Under $400 Roundtrip
While probably of limited use to most of my readers, who are US-based, there’s a business class fare of less than $400 roundtrip between Bangkok and Beijing on oneworld member Malaysia Airlines (via Kuala Lumpur). On the other hand, many readers do book awards to Asia and may find some use, and certainly it’s great to see good fares at the end of the year when folks need to requalify for status. It’s certainly helpful for those looking to requalify on tier points in the British Airways Executive Club. One-way is even cheaper, but roundtrip is less than half a one-way. The least expensive place to book should be the Malaysia Airlines website, but it’s bookable most anywhere. It’s widely available. Sample itinerary: The pricing breakdown: That’s about 7000 miles roundtrip in business class. (HT:…
Here’s My Elite Status Update.. And Why I Chose Each Travel Program
I share my thoughts and advice on loyalty programs all of the time, I thought it would be useful — and only fair — to also share what I do and let you evaluate whether I practice my own advice. At the same time, where I focus my own stays (and how much I’m traveling) may help put my advice in context and illuminate how I think about travel. Ten months into the year it looks like I’ll fly about 200,000 miles and I’ll have stayed in hotels about 40% of the year. Not all the miles and nights are elite qualifying. I’ve been flying a bunch of British Airways-issued short haul award tickets on American and US Airways. Add in three major Asia Pacific first class award trips, and one-third of my miles are…
The Importance of Innovation: Why I Love Elephant Jumps
Back in April I wrote that Elephant Jumps Thai restaurant in Northern Virginia is cooking at a whole different level (and implored that you should go now). While I thought it was really good four years ago, it was more or less just at the top tier of Thai restaurants. But it started getting even better 18 months ago. And since then my meals there have helped me understand the difference between a good restaurant and a great one and what makes a restaurant really worth going back to. They don’t just reproduce the same thing, day in and day out. They strive to do better. They research. They experiment. They innovative. In other words, (1) they have a personality, and (2) they improve. When I go into Elephant Jumps, my strategy is – in…
Huge Win! New Speakers Added to Frequent Traveler University DC
Frequent Traveler University, December 3-5, Hyatt Regency Crystal City (near Washington’s National Airport) I wanted to share an update on the lineup for December’s Frequent Traveler University. Chris Guillebeau, host of the annual World Domination Summit who shared his story completing his question to visit every country in the world at Frequent Traveler University last April, had his book on quests debut at number 3 on the New York Times best seller list. He combined travel acumen with a passion for life and experiences. Nomadic Matt will help round out the presentations, Frequent Traveler University isn’t just about earning the most points so you can use them for luxury travel, Matt is one of the really knowledgeable people about how to stretch your dollars when you travel, getting the best deals on everything. And we’ll…
The Secret Sauce: How Your Airline/Hotel Credit Card Actually Works
A question I got yesterday in the comments prompted me to put together a post explaining how airline credit cards work — how co-brand credit card deals get put together by banks, airline or hotel company, and payment network like Visa or MasterCard. (With American Express, the card issuer and payment network is usually the same.) I thought some readers would find it interesting to discuss a bit about ‘how the sausage gets made’ and what that means for which banks will issue which cards for which airlines and hotels going forward. Reader Win asks, @Gary, how are co-branded card perks determined and paid for, and what do you think might happen in the American Airlines card space, considering the legacy vs. primary issuers, the merger, etc.? How Airline Credit Cards Work: it’s Big Business…
Boeing Sales to Iran, Life Advice, Jet Lag and Weight Gain, and the TWA Terminal at JFK
News and notes from around the interweb: Someone was foolish enough to ask me for life advice, and just crazy enough to publish it. Hopefully appropriate caveats are offered at the outset of the piece. Photos of the abandoned TWA terminal at JFK (With apologies, I can’t seem to track down which reader was kind enough to share this with me.) Boeing’s first sales to Iran since 1979. Alaska Airlines is now apparently willing to match status from other airlines up to their top tier MVP Gold 75K and no longer just to MVP Gold. Even bacteria gets jet lag. And that may explain some of your weight gain. (HT: Alan H.) You can join the 40,000+ people who see these deals and analysis every day — sign up to receive posts by email (just…
Cadillac Test Drive Miles Promotion Pulled Early: What Happened?
At the beginning of the month I spoke with American AAdvantage President Suzanne Rubin and Cadillac’s Chief Marketing Officer Uwe Ellinghaus about the new marketing tie up between the two companies. American launched Cadillac tarmac transfers for their top ‘Concierge Key’ customers making tight connections at certain airports. And they shared that a promotion was coming, offering 7500 American miles for test driving a Cadillac. I noted at the time that, Suzanne said that the offer would last about two months, but both she and Ellinghaus said they were going to evaluate how the promotion worked in deciding when it might end and whether to continue it. The promotion first went live on October 15. As of yesterday, the promotion has closed. Thanks for your interest. The Cadillac test drive program is now closed. The…
A True Thank You for Sharing Your Comments, Here’s What It’s Meant
You’ve been sharing your feedback (good and bad!) with me — as well as your questions, insights, and wisdom — for a very long time. Nearly 150,000 times. And I thank you from the bottom of my heart for that. You’ve posted many more times to this blog than I have, and I appreciate the chance I have to interact with you… here in the comments, in person at events or when we run into each other during our travels, and by email. I appreciate you more than you’ll ever know. You’ve helped keep me going for the past twelve and a half years. And for any of you that are interested, I’ll guess that I will write my 10,000th post sometime in late January or early February. You can join the 40,000+ people who…
