American Express tells me that their Membership Rewards program will be adding Aer Lingus as a 1:1 points transfer “at the end of this month.”
Here’s what that will mean for your redemptions
Hilton is running double points through September 9. That alone is probably the best current hotel promotion. Hotels are generally full and at historically high rates, so they haven’t needed to offer generous promotions.
What’s interesting is that there’s a new opportunity to double dip. You can earn Hilton points, more points with Hilton’s double points promotion, and through October 31 you can also earn 2500 Lufthansa Miles & More miles per stay.
Gulf News is reporting that an off duty pilot “threatened to blow up an Airbus A380” while a passenger on the Emirates flight. The pilot also assaulted a crew member.
He was eventually restrained with plastic handcuffs — but not before he was able to grab two beers from the galley while being pursued (he managed to down one of the beers)
CBS ran a story on people using wheelchairs to get priority access at airports — even when they don’t need assistance. If you need assistance contact your airline in advance and they’ll arrange for a wheelchair.
There are three potential benefits I see to this strategy, all involve boarding the aircraft early.
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.
When hotels change brands, it often happens suddenly. Paid reservations are generally honored. Award reservations are sometimes honored. In either case, though, elite members of a loyalty program should not expect new management from a new brand to honor the benefits guests were entitled to in that other program.
Sometimes hotel chains do a good job re-accommodating guests with points bookings that are displaced. Sometimes they don’t do a very good job. However even when they do it can be stressful for the guest. And for employees.
American Express is running a 30% bonus on transfers from Membership Rewards to Virgin Atlantic through September 12. It only appears when logged into your American Express Membership Rewards account, so it’s possible that members with certain cards won’t have this bonus offer available.
There are some amazing award values even though Virgin Atlantic is a generally weak program, you can hold awards before even making your instant transfer to lock in success.
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 passenger on United’s flight 1697 from New York LaGuardia to Chicago O’Hare this morning reports that the 11 a.m. Airbus A319 departure was overbooked. United solicited 10 volunteers, offering each $800 travel vouchers.
The plane boards full, the door is shut, and the safety video begins. However the passenger says “I hear [one flight attendant] say to other [flight attendant,] ‘They’re bringing the jetway back out.’”
A couple of years ago Atlanta fired the General Manager of its airport. They didn’t provide much of a reason, and it seemed strange considering the success that the airport had.
The General Manager had plenty to say, though. He claimed he was fired for refusing to go along with corruption. Contracts were expected to be awarded to politically connected companies, not to the best companies or to those offering the best prices.
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 »
