US airlines have been out swinging against the major Middle Eastern airlines Emirates, Qatar, and Etihad — arguing that they are state subsidized and competing unfairly against US carriers, and asking the US to terminate Open Skies agreements that permit unfettered access to US markets. The end of open skies with the region wouldn’t much hurt US airlines, since they offer only limited service to the region. But it would hurt US travelers — precisely because US airlines offer only limited service to the region. And US airlines also don’t serve the secondary and smaller cities India and Pakistan these carriers serve, or for that matter Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. It’s true that the Middle Eastern carriers have grown. And they’ve thrown capacity in several US markets which pushed down fares, and to my…
Monthly Archives
Monthly Archives for February 2015.
Open Citibank Checking Account, Fund With a Credit Card, Earn Points
Years ago you could open a Citibank online checking account and fund it with a credit card. I charged as much as $80,000 in initial funding to these accounts. I earned miles, and wrote a check from my new account to pay off my credit card. Plenty of people did this, and after several accounts Citibank would invite them to no longer fund new accounts by credit card. Chase card charges to fund new accounts are no longer treated by Citibank as purchases. They’re cash advances. Citibank cards have always been treated as cash advances. And Citibank does not accept American Express for funding new accounts. But Doctor of Credit recently pointed out that Barclays charges are coding as purchases. And he verifies that Citi was allowing charges of at least $75,000 when opening an…
American Changing How Elite Upgrade Priority Will Work
American will be eliminating ‘through passenger’ priority for upgrades. The date this change will take place is speculated to be March 11. American’s upgrade priority for domestic flights (which 18 months ago also became priority for international flights) has been: Elite status level Whether the passenger is connecting off another American flight Whether the passenger is full (Y or B) fare [and they haven’t already received a complimentary confirmed upgrade] Time of request There are several things unique about this process. Unlike United and Delta, elites on full fare ticket don’t have a pass to trump the status of other customers. So a full fare American Gold doesn’t receive higher upgrade priority than an Executive Platinum the way they would if flying Delta or United. (It prioritizes loyalty over the course of a year above…
Awesome Offer: 20% Rebate on Nearly All Hyatt Redemptions Through July 31 for Co-Brand Cardholders
Following Hyatt’s announcement of new benefits for Diamond members, they’re out with something for co-brand credit card holders as well. Cardmembers can register to receive a 20% rebate on award redemptions. Here’s how it works: Register by March 31 Redeem any time by — and complete your stay by — July 31, 2015 The rebate will post 4-6 weeks after redemption. Nearly all redemptions are eligible, and there is no limit. That makes those expensive category 7 awards normally 30,000 points per night just 24,000 points (it’s almost like turning back the clock and pretending category 7 didn’t exist). It makes those category 7 suites 38,400 instead of 48,000. Category 7 Park Hyatt Sydney – Save 6000 Points Per Night You can also use it on cash and points awards (you get 20% of the…
Ralph Nader’s Letter to United CEO Jeff Smisek
Ralph Nader — a truly important voice in the 1960s and 1970s, who hasn’t been relevant since 2000 — wrote an open letter to United CEO Jeff Smisek. He criticizes United’s share buybacks, largely as a rhetorical device to contrast his real target: United’s decision to outsource machinist union jobs. (United reached a deal with the machinist union out outsource 1150 jobs at 16 airports, less than the 2000 jobs at 28 airports being discussed at the time of Nader’s letter.) There is much to criticize at United. The outsourcing of baggage handlers and customer service agents may have a negative effect on customers — you might get friendlier but less empowered agents, and baggage could get better or worse. These are complicated issues, and current United management doesn’t have a strong track record that…
Traveling on Separate Tickets: How Checked Bags and Protection During Irregular Operations Work With American and oneworld
Reader Robert wanted to know, I wish to understand how business class flights booked with Avios points and different One World partners can be put together to form a single itinerary with a common luggage limit. Imagine, for the sake of example, that the longest leg is JFK-MAD on Iberia booked by transferring Avios points to Iberia. The other legs are YYZ-JFK booked on American using Avios points at BA and MAD-LHR booked on BA using Avios points at BA. While American no longer ‘through checks’ bags to your final destination when traveling on separate tickets, they have an exception when those tickets are on oneworld alliance airlines. Furthermore, and this is beyond the scope of the question, it’s worth noting that when you’re connecting between American and another oneworld airline, American will treat you…
On Sale Now, Act Quickly: Star MegaDO 6 Charter Trip Now Available
Last Monday I gave the heads up about the next ‘Star Alliance MegaDO’ frequent flyer charter trip. The event will be held in May and the itinerary is Stockholm – Toulouse – London Gatwick and Heathrow. I believe 150 seats in total are on offer for this SAS Boeing 737-800 charter. Past MegaDOs have been covered by the New York Times, by the Associated Press, the Wall Street Journal, by USA Today, by The Economist and more. Read some of the past coverage to see if the events are for you. (The events are crazy fun, with lots of partying onboard as an American Airlines Inflight Disturbance Report attests to.) Here’s the schedule. These events can sell out quickly, for instance the oneworld event sold out in 23 minutes. Prices are: $999 for Economy $1499…
3 Months of Double Miles on Alaska Seattle and Salt Lake Routes
Alaska Airlines is offering double miles on several Seattle and Salt Lake City routes for travel through May 15. Here are the routes: Registration required. I love that as other programs devalue, Alaska sees its mileage program as a competitive weapon. (HT: Frequent Flyer Bonuses)
Amex Loses Another Credit Card Partner, Ways to Earn Miles You May Not Know, and Which Hotels Offer Good Wifi?
News and notes from around the interweb: 4 Ways to Earn Miles You Probably Don’t Know (from me, over at USA Today Travel A searchable list of hotel wifi speed and reliability. An increasingly important factor on which to base your lodging decisions. (HT: Rapid Travel Chai As I’ve written several times in recent months to expect, Amex is losing the JetBlue co-brand in favor of Barclays Scott Mayerowitz profiles the new JetBlue CEO who is making the airline much more like the legacy airlines it used to differentiate itself from. I need to get better with video. A Beginner’s Guide to Using a GoPro Camera on Vacation
Why Prices Have Been High and Awards Tough to Get — And Why That Will Change
Yesterday joe said, Is domestic capacity ever going to increase, even a little? The economy is relatively strong, certainly compared to the past several years. More people are flying. But the number of seats in the air hasn’t kept pace. This means planes are full. That drives up the price of tickets And makes award tickets harder to come by. “Capacity discipline” began with the Great Recession. With airlines losing billions of dollars they faced extreme crisis. Passenger counts were shrinking and so airlines managed to shrink seats. At the same time there were fewer passengers, their costs were higher, fuel was at historic highs and that represents one of the three major expenses of an airline (aircraft and labor being the two other largest). Airlines haven’t made money historically over long periods of time.…
