Monthly Archives for December 2021.
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 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 family with a 7 week old baby was kicked off their American Airlines Charlotte to Philadelphia flight on Saturday after a disagreement with flight attendants. They were called ‘rude’ and ‘disruptive’ but it appears to have stemmed from a misunderstanding as the baby’s mother got up from her seat to accommodate another passenger. They reportedly had to wait around the airport for eight hours before being accommodated on a new flight home.
Mid-year Spirit Airlines announced a big expansion in Miami, an American Airlines hub, becoming the second largest airline there. Traditionally they had stuck with lower-cost Fort Lauderdale.
Now they’re making a run at American’s hub in Philadelphia. They’ve just announced 7 new routes, increased service to another and flights to 20 total destinations. Spirit and Frontier together are the next two largest airlines in Philadelphia after American.
Hawaiian, United, American, Delta and Alaska are all running sub-$100 each way Hawaii fares from the West Coast. Southwest Airlines has matched the lowest of these ($62 each way) and that makes their flights available super-cheap on points as well.
You can book Hawaii for just 3154 points each way, or 6308 Rapid Rewards points roundtrip ($5.60 in security taxes each way as well). The best part of Southwest redemptions is that they are fully refundable, you can cancel and redeposit your points at no charge.
American Airlines announced that Doug Parker will step down as CEO on March 31, 2022. He will remain chairman of the board. Current airline President Robert Isom will become CEO and join the airline’s Board of Directors.
Robert Isom becoming CEO points to a more or less a status quo future. And David Seymour was elevated to Chief Operating Officer at the airline after overseeing its disastrous summer 2019 operational meltdown.
Mandy Moore’s father just flew his last flight as a Captain for American Airlines. After 42 years of flying Captain Don Moore reached age 65 and mandatory retirement for a commercial airline pilot.
Most airline sales aren’t really sales, but this is legit. It’s a bit of an odd marketing play, though, since you don’t have to buy a Starbucks drink to get ‘buy one get one’. You don’t get a gift card for a drink when you buy one, get one. There’s no Starbucks tie-in whatsoever except, it would appear, some marketing dollars from Starbucks to cobrand the promotion.
This strikes me as a genuinely good deal if you’re traveling with someone in and out of Alaska Airlines cities.
How much airfare a mile buys is different than ‘how much a mile is worth’. You can’t spend miles on nearly as many things as cash (and get lower value for things other than travel when you redeem that way). You don’t earn interest on your miles. There’s more devaluation risk with miles.
Here’s a stab at quantifying the discounts that you should consider taking when converting ‘how much airfare do miles buy’ into ‘how much are miles worth’?
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.
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 »
