Back in April of last year, I wrote Five Times Consumers Won Against Frequent Flyer Program Changes. In the aftermath of American’s elimination of stopovers on international awards at the international gateway city and elimination of distance-based awards, I wrote about when consumer uproar caused American to never implement an announced $5 award redemption fee. American’s $5 online award booking fee simply went quietly into that good night. There are plenty more examples of where consumer outrage has led programs to roll back unpopular changes. Here are five:
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1150 Free Miles, Drastic Cuts in Thai First Class, and Lighting Money on Fire
News and notes from around the interweb: Thai Airways is getting a bailout a bailout from its military government. They’re being forced to cut unprofitable activities. Its plans include ending Moscow, Madrid, and Johannesburg service. They’re getting rid of 44 planes but will still take delivery of 20 Airbus A350s through 2019. (Mostly they’ll drop A340-600 and 747 aircraft — which have international first class.) They claim they’ll be profitable in 2016, but then they have to claim that.. to the military government.. Air travel in Thailand is up, driven not by Thai Airways but Nok and Thai AirAsia. Etihad has acquired 75% of Altalia’s MilleMiglia frequent flyer program. They’ve made a big investment in Alitalia, but one common strategy for the airline is to exercise outsized control in a carrier beyond what their initial…
If Your Plane’s Wing Catches Fire, Do This.
If you’re sitting in the window seat and flames start to appear to be coming off the wings of your Airbus A320, is the correct thing to do: Inform a flight attendant Scream Pray Take out your cell phone and start shooting video? Number 4 is of course correct. Although I would venture to add that if you’re uncertain what it means, it can’t hurt to do number 1 as well. A passenger onboard three year old airline VivaColombia flight from Bogota to Medellin took this video. (HT: Joel G.) You can join the 50,000+ people who see these deals and analysis every day — sign up to receive posts by email (just one e-mail per day) or subscribe to the RSS feed. It’s free. You can also follow me on Twitter for the latest…
Delta’s AwardChartGATE: Why the Award Chart is the Foundation of Loyalty
When I first graduated college I became a frequent flyer. I was flying for work. I was flying home to see my family. I was flying to see my college girlfriend. So I joined the programs of the airlines I’d fly, and they’d send me stuff in mail. I’d flip through it. A common feature of those mailings, along with various partner offers, was the award chart. I knew that a domestic coach ticket was 25,000 miles. Cash was tight back then, I didn’t make very much, and I used a few of those — like when my grandmother passed away when I just turned 24 and I needed to get on a plane right away. It had never even occurred to me that I could use my miles to fly to Australia and in…
There’s a Lot of Speculation About Delta Moving to 1 Cent Per Mile Value. Don’t Believe It.
Yesterday MJ On Travel captured what many are speculating, including in the comments to my post about Delta removing award charts from its website. I’m pretty sure I know what the Delta award chart of the future is going to look like. The thing is, I don’t even care. I don’t think Delta hates me or doesn’t respect me. They’re an airline, not my wife. I just think they’ve moved on. The idea many people expect is for Delta to go revenue-based on the redemption side, with one point earned equal to one cent in airfare like the Capital Ones of the world. Some are even ok with the idea. I do not see the problem with DL moving to a 1 Point = $0.01. With the revenue-based point earnings, it becomes like a variable-rate…
Is Delta Removing Award Charts the Worst Thing Any Frequent Flyer Program Has Done, Ever?
Pizza in Motion asks whether Delta pulling its award charts off of its website (and changing technical settings to prevent search tools like archive.org from displaying them) is really that evil?. He manages a defense of Delta. I believe that taking information and tools away from members to know how much awards are ‘supposed to’ cost — making it harder to know how many miles to save for a dream trip, to know when prices increase, or to know when awards are being priced incorrectly — is about the worst thing I’ve seen from any single airline’s frequent flyer program. Sure, airlines have gone out of business taking their miles with them (my Mexicana Frecuenta account speaks to that). But that wasn’t the frequent flyer program which did it. And LatinPass became GlobalPass, insisted that…
The Southwest Companion Pass Lawsuit, the Numbers Behind the A380’s Failure, and United Almost Ready to Launch its 2013 Website!
News and notes from around the interweb: Last day to enter by leaving a comment in my big hotel points giveaway courtesy of the Mobile Suites app. Lawsuit against Southwest Airlines over the Companion Pass: Man sues because his purchases on the Southwest co-brand credit card made after his statement cutoff date in early December didn’t post until January 2015 — and didn’t count — even though his spending occurred in 2014. The new United.com, that was supposed to launch in 2013, may launch in summer 2015. “”We didn’t want to be date-driven.” Hotels putting RFID chips in their towels. Some may know when you take the towels off-property. Time for another towel amnesty? The homeless couple that live at Heathrow. Of course there’s about fifty homeless living at Frankfurt. Over the summer I asked…
Federal Investigation: United Airlines Offering Flights in Exchange for Political Favors?
Bryan S. shared this piece about federal prosecutors investigating United Airlines operating twice-weekly Newark – Columbia, South Carolina service for the possible private benefit of the David Samson, who served as Chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey between 2011 and 2014. The United flight, convenient to Samson’s weekend home, offered service departing Thursday evening and returned to Newark Monday morning. Samson is said to have referred to this service as “the Chairman’s flight.” It was a money loser. The service was cancelled three days after Samson stepped down from the Port Authority. Federal prosecutors have demanded that the Port Authority turn over records related to the personal travel of the agency’s former chairman, David Samson, as well as his relationship with Newark Liberty International Airport’s largest carrier, United Airlines, according…
Delta Just Eliminated Their Award Charts Without Notice. Here’s Why That’s a Blow to the Heart of the Program.
It’s getting harder and harder to give the folks at Skymiles benefit of the doubt. What would you think of a program that: Without notice removed its published award prices from its website Told you that whatever price you were quoted at a given time was ‘the’ price Wouldn’t give you a target for how many points you’d need to save up for your dream trip? That’s what Delta just did.
Data Shows What Credit Score You Need to Be Approved for the Best Rewards Card
I receive compensation for many links on this blog. You don’t have to use these links, but I am grateful to you if you do. American Express, Citibank, Chase, and other banks are advertising partners of this site. I do not write about all credit cards that are available — instead focusing on miles, points, and cash back (and currencies that can be converted into the same). [Offers on this page are expired] Reader Joey M. pointed out to me that Credit Karma has a lot of data that it makes available about its member base. They know what cards members have, and what their credit scores are, and that allows us to get a window into what sorts of credit profiles are necessary to be approved for various credit cards. Many factors go into…
