Two years ago American Airlines joined Delta and United in awarding miles for flights based on the cost of a ticket rather than the distance you fly.
At first you had 3 choices where the cheapest American Airlines tickets still earned 100% of flown miles.
At the beginning of the week we learned about a TSA program, “Quiet Skies” that follows passengers and notes their habits even though these passengers are on no threat list.
TSA acknowledges that this program hasn’t found a single actual threat. Not a single person being followed was determined to be worth any followup.
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.
Departures were delayed at Paris’ close-in Orly airport on Wednesday after two rival French rappers got into a fist fight while preparing to fly to Barcelona. (TIL: there are French rappers.)
This was all caught on video, with rappers ‘Booba’ and ‘Kaaris’ along with their entourages punching and kicking each other with duty free as a backdrop.
When Air Canada announced that it would drop Aeroplan and start a new frequent flyer program, Aimia (the company that owns the Aeroplan) saw its stock fall from about CAD$8.80 down to as low as about CAD$1.50 per share.
Activist shareholders replaced Aimia’s leadership, and they quickly announced aggressive plans to offer a competitive program that might continue to be attractive to customers. That gave the stock a bit of a bounce. But when Air Canada made their offer to buy the Aeroplan program from Aimia, Aimia’s stock shot up.
Though the teen had absolutely no experience piloting any aircraft, he told police that he “didn’t think there was much more to [it] than pushing buttons and pulling levers.”
This gives Aeroplan an airline partner, but Porter Airlines is no Air Canada. They operate of a fleet of 29 Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 turboprops with 74 seats. They fly to 16 destinations in Canada and 7 in the United States (although half a dozen of their routes are seasonal). And it doesn’t appear that they’d even be the exclusive frequent flyer program for Porter, which presumably will continue to operate the VIPorter program.
Air Canada wants to buy back the Aeroplan program, which is spun off into a separate company. The program is owned by Aimia, which also owns 49% of Aeromexico’s frequent flyer program. Either Aimia sells Aeroplan back, or Air Canada starts its own new program in July 2020.
Air Canada and its bank partners in the deal had offered $250 million plus assumption of the program’s liabilities. They had raised their offer to $325 million. Aimia was willing to sell, but they wanted $450 million.
American AAdvantage miles are tough to use for actually flying American. That’s changed somewhat over the past 9 months as American has opened up greater connecting availability in coach and also loosened its routing rules for domestic awards. But premium cabin international travel on American’s own flights remains challenging.
That’s why I highlight when even modest international business class award space opens up. When it does, it’s time to jump.
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 »
