I’ve had surprising luck with business class award space crossing the Atlantic on a flight most people don’t think about, on an airline that’s not a member of any alliance (though they’re expected to join the Avios platform and thus be linked up with British Airways).
Instead of giving you elite status because you’re an elite with another hotel chain, they let you earn status more quickly — fewer nights in a compressed period of time — though they don’t advance you the status while you’re working on the challenge.
That program is no longer a secret, information passed from frequent flyer to frequent flyer, or something you stumble upon if asking Starwood whether there’s a way they can help you move your business to them from another chain.
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.
Monday’s USA Today will feature a staff editorial arguing that the government should ‘ban bumping’ and that “airlines should be required to offer as much money as necessary to deal with overbooked flights.”
They’re featuring my op-ed offering the opposing view,.
United just said they wouldn’t have law enforcement take passengers off flights anymore.
Except — as I called it yesterday — they more or less had their fingers crossed. They said this applied “unless it is a matter of safety and security” And though understandable, I noted that this exception “renders the policy statement meaningless.”
Involuntary denied boarding compensation paid in cash that’s 4 times your one-way fare is clearly not a rebate on your ticket price, it exceeds the ticket price. And yet it isn’t taxable…
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.
American Express losing Costco set off a chain reaction that rocked the credit card world. American Express moved quickly to re-up their co-brand deal with Delta (which was second largest to Costco, Starwood is third). They set a new high price benchmark, that defined terms for Chase renewing United and Southwest and ultimately led to expected higher revenue from a new Citibank-Barclaycard deal with American Airlines.
Given our politics in the U.S. over the last 20 years perhaps it’s not at all strange for the President of Ghana to be complaining to British Airways about specific elements of their service.
Here’s what Ghana’s President told British Airways’ head of sales for the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia when the BA sales officer came to congratulate him on his election:
Carmen Maria Montiel, the 1984 Miss Venezuela and second runner up for Miss Universe, is suing United in what’s surely one of the most bizarre stories of a passenger behaving badly, an airline overreacting and getting law enforcement involved and a pox on both their houses.
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 »
