Monthly Archives for December 2021.
A woman traveling through Dallas Love Field had $100,000 seized by Dallas police. She wasn’t charged with any crime, but the money is being taken from her. The Dallas Police Department mistakenly claimed that it’s illegal to carry more than $10,000 cash on a domestic flight without declaring it first.
A new credit card rewards consumer protection law has been signed by the governor after passage this summer. Starting one year from now it will help customers who cancel a card – or have a card closed on them by the issuer for lack of use – to still use their points.
American Express has a rare transfer bonus to Singapore Airlines. And Singapore has a promotion that awards Star Alliance Gold status for transferring points. The two taken together represent a great deal for premium cabin long haul award travel. But there are a few cautions.
It’s not ‘unfair’ of Delta, they can reward whatever they wish. There’s no bait and switch here. In that sense it’s “reasonable.” But defenses of Delta complaint ‘not baiting and switching’ with a recommendation that consumers accept the move.
Realize the bundle of value that Delta is offering on the cheapest fares is falling, and factor that when comparing their alternatives
Nigeria has banned Emirates from flying to Lagos and will only allow the Dubai-based carrier to fly to Abuja once a week. This is protectionist retaliation against the U.A.E. because Nigeria’s own Air Peace is not being granted its requested slots at Sharjah airport.
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.
There’s good reason to think that Omicron spreads more rapidly than previous versions of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. That would be both because of inherent transmissibility and because of greater likelihood of breakthrough infections for those that have had Covid-19 before as well as those fully vaccinated (and even boosted) against it, though boosters do appear to provide greater protection than mere vaccination.
With Omicron appearing headed towards dominance in parts of Europe, outcompeting Delta, and with cases rising rapidly we are facing a conundrum.
An African American man on a Delta Air Lines flight went on a rant about being enslaved by white men, before assaulting a flight attendant and an air marshal on board the Washington – Los Angeles plane on Thursday evening.
After being attacked, the air marshal called for passenger assistance and together got the situation under control – zip-tying the man – as the aircraft diverted to Oklahoma City.
Delta devalued SkyMiles awards twice during the pandemic and now calls it a sale when they offer 350,000 and even 400,000 mile-plus business class roundtrips to Europe. They’ve also gutted international upgrades with top elites getting confirmed from coach to premium economy only and no longer business class.
The other shoe has dropped at the reverse end of the spectrum, mileage-earning on the cheapest fares. For new tickets purchased (as of December 9, 2021) and travel starting January 1, 2022, Delta’s basic economy fares will no longer earn miles or elite status credit. Period.
New long haul routes are exciting! American Airlines will fly from New York to Doha this summer. That’s great for AAdvantage elites looking for an upgrade. For most others, Qatar Airways remains the better airline of choice.
They’re adding this flight at a time they’re announcing they lack enough widebody aircraft to fly their summer Europe schedule, so they’re cancelling plans for many flights. They’re blaming Boeing’s production problems, and ignoring the decisions they made during the pandemic that put them in this bind.
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 »
