There’s nothing sacrosanct about miles per se. Sure, it doesn’t make sense for a program that gives out points based on how much you spend to call those points ‘miles’. But Capital One does it, so why can’t Delta?
At best miles are a proxy for a loyalty relationship: more miles flown is more of one’s life spent in an airline’s metal tube.
But are miles even the best way to reward frequent airline passengers?
When you ride DC metro, the ads you see aren’t predominantly for consumer products. Most people riding the metro can’t afford to buy weapons systems, but you see ads for jet fighters anyway. The most expensive subway ads are in the Pentagon station and inside Capital South. They’re targeting very expensive ads to very narrow audiences: Defense Department procurement officers, and Congressional staff on just the right committee.
Since government bureaucrats can use their power to reward friends, to secure themselves future employment, or simply take kickbacks, there are a whole set of regulations constraining how government contracts should be awarded. Usually they have to go to the lowest bidder, but there are rules for selecting a higher cost bidder. Were those rules followed to the letter?
We now know much of the changes that American AAdvantage will implement right away (to earning status during 2016 for the 2017 program year) and in a year (to mileage-earning for flights). But there are still areas where we can expect changes and American hasn’t told us what to expect. How they handle those issues will determine the value of the AAdvantage program more than the changes that have already leaked.
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.
There’s a ‘secret club’ of top aviation executives that meets off the record twice a year. It’s a secret society complete with rituals, and several big deals in the industry have been hatched there — and laws have apparently even been broken.
At 3 a.m. on October 19 a pilot of a small plane lost all electrical power. Air Traffic Control lost contact.
After 15 minutes, the Dallas Love Field control tower received a call from 911. The pilot called from a disconnected cell phone.
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 the Park Hyatt New York first opened it was very difficult to get an award night there. The hotel wasn’t completely finished, and the unfinished portion included some of the 12% of rooms that would be considered ‘standard’ and thus eligible for redemptions.
Six months ago it became possible to redeem Hyatt Gold Passport points there regularly.
I finally got to visit, and I was blown away.
The story broke last night at Traveling Better: American AAdvantage is making some changes to the AAdvantage program for 2016 and beyond.
Elite status earning remains very similar to what it is today, dropping ‘points’ as a method of qualifying but adding bonuses for premium fares. The airline will go to revenue-based for mileage-earning in ‘late 2016’. Lots of details here.
While it looks like American plans to follow Delta by introducing Basic Economy Fares (lowest fares that do not come with the ordinary benefits of a ticket on a full service carrier, such as advance seat assignments or the ability to upgrade or even make changes with payment of a fee), there’s some indication that United may follow American’s existing model of selling bundles of benefits with their tickets.
And they want to use miles for inflight purchases and for ancillary services during the booking process.
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 »
