My trip report from the American Airlines 787 inaugural flight yesterday from Dallas to Chicago and back in both economy and first class. I flew to Dallas the night before, took part in some festivities, and then got up early for the revelry and excitement..
The US Bank Korean Visa increased its signup bonus. That’s great because Korean miles are really valuable, and because Chase points also transfer to Korean so it’s easy to get more. Here’s how to use them.
Shortly after Hyatt introduced a lucrative partnership with MGM hotels giving them a footprint in Las Vegas and members an option to earn and redeem points, earn elite status, and receive status benefits at casino resort properties Starwood introduced a more limited partnership with Caesars. You can earn up to 10 elite night credits per year with Caesars properties (but not stay credits) While there’s reciprocal earn and burn there wasn’t reciprocal elite recognition That’s now changed. Starwood Platinum members who are register for the SPG/Total Rewards partnership can sign up for VIP Access with Caesars. To sign up, show your Platinum card at the Total Rewards Center at Planet Hollywood, Caesars Palace or The Cromwell in Las Vegas. Here are the benefits: VIP line access for hotel check-in VIP line access at participating restaurants…
A collection of interesting links you’ll want to see, many you’ll want to click.
In late April American flight 3215 operated by an Embraer E140 regional jet from Westchester, New York to Chicago O’Hare flew without a working lavatory. “The captain was apologetic, and furious, when he told the passengers that American couldn’t get maintenance to come out and fix the toilet,” said the passenger, whom the Tribune did not identify on her request. “The pilot said he wanted to wait, but they (the airline) told him to leave now or they would cancel the flight,” the passenger added. It turns out that the FAA requires lavatory access within two hours of a ground delay and to meet the needs of disabled passengers on widebodies. Beyond that operating without functional lavatories is at the discretion of the airline. In this case American viewed the options as: Cancelling the flight…
GringoLoco sends me to this Los Angeles Times article on the political fight over how the value of aircraft are assessed for California property tax purposes. That’s right… airlines (including cargo operators) pay about $80 million per year in business property taxes. This is based on the value of the aircraft and the amount of time the planes are in the state, and the taxes are paid to 11 different counties. County tax assessors value the aircraft, and estimate the time each aircraft spends in their county. …one “lead county” [is designated] to appraise the fleets of each firm. The lead county crunches the numbers for its assigned carriers — Los Angeles County handles American Airlines and FedEx, for example — and distributes its findings to the other counties, which calculate the time each plane…
The Park Hyatt Hadahaa Maldives is remote. The resort is its own island. So you’re going to be eating on property. Here’s what they have to offer you, and how much it costs.
A collection of interesting links you’ll want to see, many you’ll want to click.
ISIS has re-opened the Ninawa International Hotel in Mosul. Isis has purportedly opened its own luxury hotel in Iraq’s second city Mosul for members of the extremist group to stay in while visiting. The property is well-regarded on TripAdvisor. ISIS has invested in refresh and renovation. Cleaning staff are washing windows, as well as painting, decorating and gardening. The black flag of the Islamic State was raised in the forecourt of the hotel and coloured balloons were released in celebration. The 262-room hotel is thought to be the first accommodation of its type in the self-proclaimed caliphate and will also cater for weddings. In ISIS style, the building’s elaborate exterior decorations have all been taken down, the ballrooms boarded up and the bars now alcohol-free. Photos from Twitter: No word on what it takes to…
American Airlines sent out a press release this morning that I found rather confusing. It begins, American Airlines is putting entertainment options in the hands of more customers by launching its streaming video service on more than 200 additional aircraft in its domestic mainline fleet. They go on to talk about ‘seat-back video’ and ‘streaming’ together. American isn’t going to add seat back video to their fleet of MD80s with early generation gogo internet, those planes are on the way out. American’s new A319s and A321s come equipped with seat back video already. The new 737s entering the fleet do as well. Here’s the new American interior standard for domestic narrowbodies: New Boeing 737 Airbus A319 Airbus A321T The press release gets even more confusing, talking about not just streaming and seat back but even…
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 »
