Reader Mark F. emails to let me know I haven’t covered a quirk or glitch that causes American AAdvantage to charge too much in fuel surcharges. Becoming aware of this glitch will save you hundreds of dollars the next time you redeem American AAdvantage miles for flights on their partner British Airways. Like almost all British Airways partners, American collects fuel surcharges for award tickets when traveling on British Airways (and to a much lesser extent, Iberia, but not transatlantic joint venture partner Finnair). There was a false rumor last year that American was going to start collecting these junk fees on all partners. Thank goodness that turned out to be false. Because these junk fees total hundreds of dollars of cash outlay when redeeming a supposedly ‘free’ award ticket. Oneworld partner LAN does not…
About Gary Leff
Is a Burger Appropriate for a First Class Meal?
Lucky wrote about British Airways adding a burger to their first class menu. This is somewhat controversial because, A burger strikes some people as hardly befitting international first class. It can be tough to do a good burger in the air. It can be tough for British Airways to do decent food even on the ground (please see “Concorde Room“). The idea of a British Airways first class burger is an interesting one. The Concorde Room burger is indeed awful. I’ve ordered it, but I’ve not taken more than a bite or two. ANA used to do a great job with their burger (snack) in first class This is something people actually wanted and talked about. That such a thing exist is proof enough that it is possible. But airplane burgers usually do not look…
30% Off Silvercar, $50 Off First Rental, and $25 Credit for Being Referred
I’m a fan of Silvercar, the new rental car outfit that’s so far only in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Austin, and Dallas although rumored to be expanding. They offer only Audis, and the rental ‘includes everything’ – GPS, wireless internet, SiriusXM radio, and even toll tracking (you pay only the actual cost of tolls you use) plus refueling at market rate (you don’t refill the tank and you’re charged the actual cost of gas plus $5). I first wrote about $9 Audi Rental Cars from Silvercar, noting that one-day rentals start at $59 and there’s a $50 off first-time customer code. With my first rental experience which I reviewed, I also discussed the $25 credit for being referred by someone (the referrer also gets $25): How I Made $12 on My Audi Rental Car and…
The UAE as an Uplifting Place of Opportunity
There are a lot of awful places in the world, if what we mean by awful is offensive to Western standards of people with Western standards of living. If you have a US income, even a very average one (and on the whole travelers tend to be better off than non-travelers), then seeing comparative extreme poverty is tough. Isn’t this awful! It shouldn’t be this way! And hearing stories about rights abuses is hard, too. Child labor was common in the U.S. and other Western nations until standards of living were higher, automation also replaced the least-skilled labor. Laws play a role here, although they generally lagged the economic reality on the ground. Lucky thinks the UAE is a far more depressing place than India. Many countries with “visible” poverty have a huge gap in…
Over a Million People Now Have Global Entry, But the Program Doesn’t Work Right for Everyone
The Government Accountability Office produced a study of trusted traveler programs that they released on Friday. We learned that there were a little over a million people enrolled in Global Entry as of January, and just under a million enrolled in NEXUS at that time. GAO found a backlog of pending applications, about 90,000 at one time needing review, and no plan in place to improve efficiency. GAO also found that trusted traveler interviews didn’t consistently follow published guidelines, and raised questions about denial rates. GAO and the Department of Homeland security disagree on the need for scripted interview questions. While the US works on reciprocity with other countries for trusted traveler programs, they aren’t very careful about documenting other countries’ procedures for clearing people. CBP has discussed information about other countries’ operational procedures for…
How to Earn 1 Million Miles for Less than $1000… and Dog Poop.
News and notes from around the interweb: Dog poop forced a US Airways flight to make an emergency landing Yahoo Travel covered blogger Frequent Miler‘s successful quest to earn a million miles in a month. Enter my giveaway to win 4 out of 12 American Airlines lounge passes Which gift cards can still be loaded onto Bluebird at Walmart? An update on recent changes. Please update your bookmarks and e-mail address book for this blog. The Starwood Preferred Guest American Express is back via existing member referral with its 30,000 point signup bonus. Apparently the offer will be publicly available in 4 days and I will when it is. Starting July 1, all Intercontinental hotel properties worldwide will begin awarding 10 IHG Rewards Club points per dollar spent, like other full service hotels in the…
Reciprocal Upgrades: The Next Stage of American and US Airways Integration is Coming
A couple of weeks ago I wrote that reciprocal upgrades would be coming in a few weeks to American and US Airways. I’ve seen a lot of speculation from different quarters this week about June 11th announcements about the next phase of integrating American AAdvantage and US Airways Dividend Miles. Now JonNYC points to a knowledgeable account that June 11th will be the first day for reciprocal upgrades of American elite members on US Airways flights, and US Airways elite members on American flights. June 11th is the date for reciprocal LFBUs. All AA elites on USAir won’t be charged sticker equivalent (per Dividend Miles program rules) while USAir elites (outside of Chairman’s Preferred – EXP equivalent) will be charged $35 per 500 mile segments (per AAdvantage rules). There’s a lot of information packed into…
Free Unlimited Boingo Internet Benefit Now Live for American Express Platinum Cardholders
Back in March American Express announced that Platinum (and Centurion) cardholders would get unlimited Boingo internet hot spot access. American Express, of course, is an advertising partner of the blog. Boingo offers over 700,000 land-based hotspots worldwide, and American Express planned to offer access for up to 4 devices. The closest approximate of cost from Boingo for such a plan is $60 per month, and the benefit has been slated to start June 1. Apparently it’s now live. Sign up at amex.boingo.com. You’ll be asked to enter your American Express card number to verify eligibility. I entered my Platinum card and then was allowed to register. If you already have a Boingo wireless internet account, it won’t automatically be cancelled just because you have this new free unlimited service, so you’ll need to handle that…
Comment Here for a Chance to Win (A Bunch Of) American Airlines Lounge Passes
Last month I was giving away 25,000 American AAdvantage miles and a whole bunch of lounge passes. Citibank offered them up to me to share with readers, highlighting their classy move to reach out to American Express Platinum cardholders. Platinum cards no longer offer American or US Airways lounge access, and Citibank is the sole issuer of cards that offer lounge access with the new American Airlines. Citibank has the most generous credit card signup offer in the market with a 100,000 mile signup bonus for their Executive Card which bundles lounge access. It turns out that they sent me a whole bunch of extra club passes, more than I needed to fulfill the last contest, so I’m giving the extras away here on the blog!
What Part of Suite Upgrade Don’t You Understand?
I’m need to buy Lucky who writes the One Mile at a Time blog, this t-shirt. He shared his experience checking into the St. Regis Abu Dhabi, a Starwood hotel. First he was (incorrectly) told that his American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts booking wasn’t entitled to a Platinum upgrade. Then he was told that even though the hotel was selling more than 9 St. Regis suites, that none were available. He tweeted the hotel and Starwood Preferred Guest, and he was given one of those suites. Here’s how to ask for – and get – a hotel upgrade. Burj al Arab
