The Mile High Club turns 100 in November. Apparently the inventory of the auto-pilot claimed to be the first member in 1916.
The mile high club traditionally involves excusing oneself to the airplane lavatory. If you’re going to have sex in your seat, you can’t really complain when other passengers watch. That’s a lesson model-actress Cara Delevingne apparently needs to learn.
Moshe Orenbuch of Credit Suisse appeared on CNBC’s Power Lunch midweek addressing American Express. His claim is that biggest problem Amex faces is the value of their rewards. He says that they give less cash back, and that Membership Rewards has introduced lower cost options for redemption and so expenses on average have fallen.
Customers see those options and think the rewards have less value. Although the claim that a couple hundred thousand Membership Rewards points gets you a toaster sadly goes unchallenged.
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.
You can travel from New York (both Newark and New York JFK), Chicago, Los Angeles, or San Francisco to any number of cities in Southeast Asia from $504 roundtrip on Cathay Pacific.
There are some amazing places in the world to enjoy a cocktail. Some of my favorites that come to mind include the lobby of the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel at sunset looking out over the Pacific, the beach at the Park Hyatt Maldives (Hyatt Gold Passport Diamonds are offered free cocktails and snacks at sunset) and the club lounge at the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong looking out over Victoria Harbor after dark.
I’ve never considered, however, an airplane lavatory.
I really enjoy flying Hong Kong-based oneworld airline Cathay Pacific on short haul flights, because while they do have a ‘short haul’ business class (which is better than US airline first class) often short flights like the 1049 mile Hong Kong – Bangkok route will be operated by long haul aircraft with fully flat seats (and in either case you get a multi-course meal up front).
Wednesday’s Cathay Pacific flight CX705 was operated by an Airbus A350. And it suffered a 3 hour delay for a rather unusual reason.
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.
The UK has a departure tax (‘Airline Passenger Duty’) that’s high in coach and higher still in premium cabins, and is often referred to as a ‘premium cabin departure tax’ or ‘luxury tax’.
One improvement, implemented a little over a year and a half ago, is that children under 12 flying economy no longer pay this tax. On a London – New York ticket that’s a savings of $96 per child, which really adds up for a family traveling with several kids. However American Airlines is still collecting the tax on award tickets.
Each hotel chain takes a different approach towards pushing members of their loyalty programs to book directly with the chain. They withhold points, and in some cases elite recognition, from members who make their bookings via third party sites like Expedia or with a vacation package (air and hotel, air and car) provider like United Vacations.
One reader booked a fantastic three cabin first class fare with AA Vacations combined with hotel stay at the Andaz 5th Avenue in New York, choosing the hotel because he’s a Hyatt Diamond member. Only he didn’t get the Diamond recognition he expected.
It will be years before Britain leaves the EU, if it leaves at all, and if it does there’s any number of scenarios for what that could look like. But the mere possibility, post non-binding referendum to do so, is having significant effects on the UK economy.
While fuel prices are low and world airline profits are high, British Airways appears to be preparing for the apocalypse with reported changes to business class service:
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 »
