I asked on Twitter: Delta says their spiffy new award calendars are so good you don’t need an award chart anymore — even though having a functional award calendar in no way precludes showing an award chart as American AAdvantage and United MileagePlus both do… and even though many of Delta’s partners aren’t available online through their award calendar. But there’s no such thing as an upgrade calendar at Delta.com. Why did they get rid of the upgrade chart? How much does an upgrade cost? How would we know how many miles to save if we wanted to upgrade a future trip we haven’t booked yet? If they’re going revenue-based, how will that work for upgrades — do we have to pay the difference in miles between the fare paid and the current business fare?…
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American Discounted Off Peak Awards Now Let You Book US Airways Flights
American’s award chart for flying its own aircraft (as opposed to oneworld and other partners) includes discounted, off-peak economy awards. Reduced mileage awards are also available to: Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela at 15,000 miles each way (instead of 17,500) Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay at 20,000 miles each way (instead of 30,000) Europe at 20,000 miles each way (instead of 30,000) Japan, Korea at 25,000 miles each way (instead of 32,500) Starting today, it seems, US Airways flights can be included and priced at off-peak pricing on the AA.com website. Here are the dates eligible for this discount for each region: Of course US Airways does not fly to Asia and their South/Central America destinations are limited compared to American’s route network. Let’s look at Charlotte – Mexico City, starting September 7 economy awards…
Congressman Who Used to Post on Flyertalk: It was a Threesome, But Not With a Lobbyist…
The Congressman whose posts on Flyertalk are being used in a sexual harassment suit against him by a former staffer has filed his formal response to the suit. The frequent flyer forum postings were certainly interesting musings, sometimes lascivious boastings that were probably not believed by most at the time they were posted (and before he was a Republican Member of Congress from Texas). In the Congressman’s legal response, he: Admits he finds redheads attractive, though claims staff didn’t have to be “on redhead patrol” to keep him out of trouble as the suit alleges. Admits telling staff about being propositioned for a threesome, but denies the woman suggesting it was a lobbyist. Denies having sexual fantasies and dreams about the former staffer that is suing him. The entire pleading makes for an interesting read…
Just 3 Trips for a Companion Pass Plus Expedia Fabricates Terms and Conditions?
News and notes from around the interweb: Fantastic post. I agree 100%. Expedia cancelling discounted hotel bookings based on made-up terms and conditions. Maybe we should re-direct our ire and accusations of bad conduct away from the United Denmark fare, and to what would appear to be actual bad behavior.. 3 Southwest roundtrips earn Atlanta residents a companion pass When an airline promises ‘a major announcement’ it usually means nothing. A gambling resort will be coming to Seoul’s Incheon airport. (HT: Alan H.) My thoughts on the Expedia-Orbitz deal, via Associated Press Gary Leff, a travel blogger and co-founder of frequent flier discussion website MilePoint, said for most consumers, the deal won’t make a big difference. He recommends that consumers use online travel agencies to comparison-shop, but unless there’s a reason — such as an…
100 Free American AAdvantage Miles (Keeps Your Miles From Expiring, Too!)
This offer came out a month ago but if you didn’t take advantage of it, you still can, it is still available: American AAdvantage will give you 100 miles for joining PointsHound, the hotel search website. I’ve written about PointsHound in the past, and used it when they had rates that allowed you to earn miles in the airline of your choice for making a hotel booking and still earn hotel points, elite credit, and receive elite benefits from the applicable hotel loyalty program. In addition to the 100 American AAdvantage miles for signing up, PointsHound will give you 2000 bonus American miles for your first booking (in addition to the points you’d otherwise earn through the site) made by March 31 for stays completed by January 31, 2016. A total of 2100 bonus miles…
The Tragic Mistake the Pilots of the TransAsia Flight Made Shortly Before Crash
Days ago we learned of the crash of a TransAsia flight from Taipei to Kinmen which hit a bridge and landed in the water. This was a horrible event, and it’s tough to shake the images we saw caught on a dashcam. Since the aircraft and its recorders were recoverable, we already know much of what happened. With the caveat that there are still unanswered questions, and a final report will ultimately likely explain even those, it appears that: There was a malfunction with the aircraft’s right engine. The pilots shut down the left engine. So they were essentially operating without either engine. One presumes they intended to shut down the right engine, which was neither necessary nor desirable to do in any case. Data from the ATR 72-600’s flight data recorder (FDR) and cockpit…
The Strangest Gift I’ve Ever Received Just Came in the Mail from Citibank
One of my first projects after graduating college was marketing a program where the low hanging fruit was just fixing the processes for responding to people that were interested. They’d see the program on a poster, call up and ask for information. Since there wasn’t really anything to send out yet to people wanting more information, they got mailed… a poster. Not every project I’ve worked on has required a rocket scientist to leave better off. I was brought back nearly two decades to the project when I checked my mailbox today and found a thank you gift in the mail from the Citi Executive / AAdvantage Card. This is the premium American AAdvantage co-brand card from Citibank. It comes with Admirals Club membership and lets you earn 10,000 elite qualifying miles after $40,000 spend…
Chef of San Francisco Centurion Lounge is Out After 3 Months
I’m a huge fan of American Express Centurion lounges. They’re orders of magnitude better than what’s offered by US airlines. They’re stylish and offer good (complimentary) food and beverages. They even pair with a local celebrity chef for each lounge, as well as with a celebrity mixologist. I was fortunate to attend the pre-opening dinner of the San Francisco lounge back in November. Unquestionably the food presentation was going to be at the top of its game, three-Michelin star chef Christopher Kostow was there supervising. SF Eater reports that Kostow and American Express have split after the lounge had been open only a few months. (HT: Daniel W.) According to a statement from American Express, the decision to depart the project was ‘mutual’ so that “he can focus on other projects.” Kostow declined to comment…
Southwest is Devaluing AGAIN — But They Won’t Tell Us How
A year ago Southwest devalued their points, a mere 2.5 years into their revenue-based Rapid Rewards program. Now they’re about to do it again — but so far it’s a secret how they plan to do it. News went out yesterday: This is what we know.
The DOT is Now Investigating United’s Cancelled Mistake Fare. Here’s Why United Will Prevail.
Earlier in the week flights originating in the UK were pricing in Danish Kroner at a price that’s pennies on the dollar what they normally run. You could fly from the UK to pretty much anywhere in the world in business or first class at price hovering around $100 or less. This wasn’t a United-specific glitch, but United.com was the most common place to buy these tickets. United voided these tickets. Via commenter Elo, the Department of Transportation has posted an update on the United Danish Kroner fares. I have several thoughts on this: This was an obvious mistake. United addressed it in less than 12 hours. They shouldn’t be ethically obligated to honor these tickets. The Department of Transportation stuck themselves in the middle of these fares. Previously, airlines often honored mistake deals (either…
