Monthly Archives for February 2019.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
A 32 year old woman had boarded JetBlue’s Fort Lauderdale – Las Vegas flight 7 on Wednesday when she discovered she was seated next to a child and — according to the arrest report — declared this wasn’t going to ‘expletive’ work because she’s been drinking all day. Things went downhill from there.
Two British Airways flights were cancelled at the same time on St. Lucia. Crew were sent to hotels. Some passengers were sent to what could technically be called hotels, while others were left overnight at the airport without information or assistance. British Airways apparently even sent several passengers to a brothel for the night.
The passengers sent to the brothel were presumably offered additional premium services for an upcharge. The increasingly ancillary fee-minded British Airways may get new ideas to bring home to London Heathrow, already one of the most commercialized airports in the world.
More consumers are receiving card offers in the mail — up “from 54% to 67% over nine months last year” including an increase in applications from consumers with annual incomes between $20,000 and $50,000.
Fewer card applications, an increase in reaching down to lower income and possibly lower credit score consumers, combined with data like auto loan delinquencies at their highest level since 2010 (during the Great Recession) seem to raise some economic flags.
Back in December Delta introduced the ability to upgrade with miles any time — from purchase leading up to travel. Your miles are worth only about a penny apiece and they charge you the difference in fare between what you bought and the price of the more premium option.
At the time, and leading up to when this was launched, I suggested that this could replace traditional mileage awards — where there are capacity controls, the airline makes seats available for upgrade they don’t expect to sell, and you pay a fixed (discounted) mileage price for those seats.
Coming back into the US frequent flyers know the drill. We clear immigration, pick up our checked bags and walk them through customs, and drop them back off if we’re connecting. Don’t take photos. You -have very few rights here.
But did you know that most Americans can be stopped and questioned about their reasonable presence when they’re grocery shopping, going to the gym, or walking their dogs?
There’s a new website managed by OneTrust that lets you check if your information was part of the Marriott data breach.
In all 383 million records were hacked including 5.25 million unencrypted passport numbers, 8.6 million payment cards (most expired). Marriott has not revealed whether the notes they’ve taken on you were revealed.
US airline trade group Airlines 4 American confirms that it has “approved a new international standard that will allow for ‘unspecified’ and ‘undisclosed’ in addition to ‘male’ or ‘female.’”
Effective June 1, 2019 this accommodates passengers who have an ‘X’ on their IDs for gender. This is currently an option for state IDs from Arkansas, California, Colorado, Minnesota, Oregon and Washington, D.C.
French Polynesia is one of the toughest awards to book, because service is limited. There aren’t a lot of options for getting there, even if you’re willing to connect. The major carrier is Air Tahiti Nui, which serves Los Angeles – Papeete. Air France also operates that route three times a week. United flies three days a week from San Francisco and has good award space in coach. Hawaiian flies Saturday service from Honolulu.
Whether or not business class awards are possible is a yes/no proposition (usually no). There’s not a lot of tricks to make it happen. Although right now Air Tahiti Nui which is an American Airlines and Delta partner is making great business class award space available for two passengers between Los Angeles and Papeete, Tahiti for October through December.
Hyatt just announced their new promotion and it’s surprisingly good. February 15 – May 15 members earn 1000 bonus points per night (1500 bonus points at Hyatt House and Hyatt Place brands) starting with your second stay.
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 »
