Monthly Archives for September 2015.
September 1 we lost the ability to redeem American miles for travel between the mainland US and Hawaii on Hawaiian Airlines. We could still book awards that include Hawaiian for travel with the islands, and to international destinations beyond Hawaii.
It turns out though — and not part of American’s announcement — including Hawaiian Airlines to destinations beyond Hawaii will require redeeming a separate award.
British Airways is putting a Boeing 777-300ER on their San Diego – London flight effective March 27. That means they’ll have a first class cabin, which they didn’t before. And first class award availability is really good on the route once that happens.
IHG Rewards Club launched a new top tier elite level with a silly name and a new membership card.
On the back of the card is a new phone number, dedicated to top tier elites. Only they printed the wrong number on the card. Not only that — of course it worked out this way — it was the number to a sex chat line.
Not as many airlines offer round the world awards as used to — but several do, including airlines you probably have access to miles with.
Generally you can fly on an airline and its alliance partners, making several stops, with the caveat that you have to fly literally around the world (crossing both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans). It’s more expensive than a simple roundtrip award, but for the number of places you can visit it can be a strong value.
My best advice for the greatest frustrations with airlines.
This past weekend I wrote about the JetBlue passenger who urinated on fellow passengers as the aircraft prepared to land n Portland.
The New York Times features a Q&A with me that’s pretty much, what do you do if this happens to you? What recourse do you have?
Ted Reed , “Why Dump Smisek?” considering that United is hardly the first airline to fly a route at the behest of a politician, or more broadly to bestow favors and favored treatments on politicians.
I think it’s wrong to excuse the behavior because ‘everybody does it’ but it turns out to be far more common than you’d think.
I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
Supposedly then-Priority Club (now IHG Rewards Club) and their associated brands like Holiday Inn and Intercontinental recorded customer service calls to their 800 number — as most companies do — but between March 1, 2011 and July 18, 2012 they allegedly didn’t inform callers they were doing so.
And now they’ve settled a class action where folks completing quick eligibility forms are expected to get $100.
Starwood is a 20% bonus on purchased points. Starwood points are the most valuable loyalty currency, and there’s leverage in any bonus they offer, however I don’t think this offer is cheap enough to justify buying.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
