Monthly Archives

Monthly Archives for September 2020.

Fare Alert: US to Europe From $82 [$1 Base Fare]

by Gary Leff

statue
Sep 18 2020

Star Alliance member TAP Air Portugal, known for its cheap business class fares, has deals right now from the U.S. to Europe starting at just $82 one way and $229 round trip. And that’s not just East Coast to Europe, but even from San Francisco as well.

And while most people in the U.S. cannot travel to most destinations in Europe now, at least without quarantining on arrival (U.K.), this fare is available through next summer and at these prices it may be worth taking a flyer.

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Four Reasons ‘Payroll Support’ Is Really A Bailout For The Airlines

by Gary Leff

Sep 17 2020

Politicians from both sides of the aisle, along with the President, have publicly supported a second airline bailout in the form of a ‘clean extension of CARES Act payroll support.’ That would mean another $25 billion over 6 months to the airlines in exchange for holding off on employee furloughs.

However this hasn’t happened because it’s caught up in negotiations over a larger package, that some observers say is now unlikely to happen. Since furlough restrictions expire after September 30, some airlines are expected to let go of workers starting October 1. That’s seen as a deadline for Congress to act (or for the President to take some form of executive action, as he’s suggested he could).

October 1 isn’t really a hard deadline, though.

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After Just 3 Days, Delta Ups The Mortgage On The SkyMiles Program By 38%

by Gary Leff

delta program
Sep 17 2020

On Monday Delta announced that they were mortgaging the SkyMiles program, taking out a $6.5 billion loan secured by their frequent flyer program and its revenue stream As part of the deal they had to disclose a great deal of the inner workings of the program including where members are located and how much they’re spending on Delta American Express credit cards, along with how much they’re generating in revenue selling miles to members.

Just three days after announcing this deal they’ve announced an upsizing. Instead of borrowing $6.5 billion, they’re going to borrow $9 billion.

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Earn 100,000 Avios Plus A Rebate Up To $600 a Year, Too

by Gary Leff

airplane cabin
Sep 17 2020

I like the British Airways Visa Signature® Card a lot more than I did before Chase updated the card with new benefits. This is the first card that ever had a six figure initial bonus offer in the U.S., it has a companion award ticket you can earn make it worth considering, but it’s the rebate up to $600 a year when you book award tickets that’s most enthralling.

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Hawaii Will Allow Visitors Without Quarantine Starting October 15

by Gary Leff

hawaii
Sep 17 2020

In mid-March Hawaii’s governor asked tourists not to come to the islands and then on March 26 imposed a 14 day quarantine on all arriving visitors. They couldn’t legally ban people from coming, but they could impose public health restrictions.

We’ve seen re-opening dates of August 1, and September 1, and now Hawaii is saying that visitors will be able to travel to Hawaii without 14 day quarantine starting October 15. In liqu of quarantine passengers will have to present a negative Covid test taken within 72 hours of arriving.

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10,000 Mile Bonus For One-Way Star Alliance Award Booked With TAP Air Portugal Miles

by Gary Leff

Sep 17 2020

There are a significant number of readers with Star Alliance Gold status and a lot of miles in the TAP Air Portugal Miles & Go program since they were selling miles for $0.0087 apiece as part of their mileage subscription program and matching status earlier this year.

TAP’s Miles & Go is running a mileage bonus (rather than a discount) on all Star Alliance partner flights. They will award “Club TAP” mileage subscription members with a 10,000 mile bonus for booking a one-way award on Star Alliance and other airline partners.

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