When Delta runs a sale on both paid and award tickets it underscores:
The Suntrust Delta Debit card was a lucrative mileage-earning tool for a long time. I’ve been writing about it since 2009.
Since it’s been a debit card that earned 1 mile per dollar charged, it’s been useful to many in the past buying money orders and depositing those back into a bank. And it’s been a highly efficient way to earn miles for paying taxes since debit transactions incur a miniscule flat fee while credit cards incur a pretty hefty percentage of the total payment.
Representative John Mica (R-FL) has introduced legislation to cap checked bag fees at $4.50.
He’s grandstanding. Because people don’t like paying checked bag fees. So he proposes to eliminate them. To borrow a line from Milton Friedman, Southwest notwithstanding, “there’s no such thing as a free checked bag.”
A year and a half ago Hyatt introduced a new top redemption category 7 costing 30,000 points per night. They also increased the price of category 6 hotels from 22,000 to 25,000 points per night.
This year the Park Hyatt Maldives jumped up to category 7. So in two years it went from 22,000 points a night to 30,000 points per night, a 36% increase.
American Airlines returns to Sydney with a flight December 17. The Los Angeles – Sydney service, operated by a Boeing 777-300ER, will become bookable this Sunday.
The Southwest Airlines – Chase relationship was up for renewal. That’s a big deal for cardmembers, and also for folks with Chase Ultimate Rewards points because those points transfer to Southwest.
Back in April Southwest engaged an investment bank to evaluate options. I wrote at the time that I expected Chase to retain the card “because it’s more valuable to them than a new bank [because of their installed cardmember base], and because they have the resources.” And indeed Chase has secured a multi-year extension of the Southwest co-brand.
New York and Philadephia – Amsterdam is running as low as $545 roundtrip. Other cities — like Dallas, Chicago, Miami, and Los Angeles — are available for slightly more.
“[T]he nation’s airlines will begin installing awkwardly placed bumps in every airplane seatback this week because it reportedly brings great pleasure to them.”
I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
I want to take issue with the claim by Delta’s Anthony Black that mileage prices are like airfares and so there shouldn’t be a posted award chart or advance notice of changes.
First of all, frequent flyer miles aren’t supposed to be mere rebates in the form of an airline’s currency, they’re supposed to be a reward for loyalty. That’s why mileage tickets used to be so much more flexible than paid tickets, they were a thank you for past business.
Perhaps more importantly though award prices aren’t like paid ticket prices, and certainly miles aren’t really like money.
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 »
