On the heels of United’s dramatic devaluation that goes into effect February 1, many folks are seeing their United miles are no longer so great for booking partner awards (although they’re still non-crazy for booking partner awards in business class). First class awards on partners are where the real changes come into play. A first class award, say Washington Dulles to Munich and back on Lufthansa, goes up from 135,000 miles to 220,000 miles. And of course first class awards on Lufthansa have become really tough to get. A couple of years ago they were everywhere, now they’re usually only bookable within two weeks of travel. Lufthansa has reduced the number of first class seats it flies and have severely restricted the ability for partner frequent flyer programs to book those seats. Since they’re tough…
About Gary Leff
Why You Should Go to the Bathroom Before Boarding Your Flight
Boarding lasts 20 minutes or so, if you’re in the gate area at the start of boarding and you have to ‘go’ you really should do it before getting on the plane. Sneaking into the lav while passengers are trying to get down the aisle slows things down. Sure, sometimes it’s necessary — maybe your inbound flight was late and you make it to your connecting gate just before they’re going to shut the doors and you have to go. But here’s the risk. If you do it right before takeoff, and it takes you awhile. . . Female passenger left trapped in lavatory on British Airways plane as it sped down the runway and took off: A female passenger found herself trapped in the lavatory on board a British Airways plane as it hurtled…
British Airways’ New Do It Yourself Electronic Baggage Tags
British Airways is testing new electronic baggage tags that will save time at the airport, like you can via a mobile boarding pass, without the need for waiting in lines to get help from people even when checking a bag. The initial test is being done this month on London Heathrow – Seattle flights with Microsoft employees. Unsurprisingly, they’re using Windows phones for this test but they’ll support other platforms going forward. Participants will use a specially adapted version of the British Airways app that will automatically update the bag tag with a unique barcode containing new flight details and an easy-to-see view of their bag’s destination – just by holding the phone over the barcode. You get a digital bag tag which you affix to your bag, and place your phone up to the…
35% Bonus on Purchased Alaska Airlines Miles
Alaska Airlines is offering up to a 35% bonus on purchased miles through December 20. Special offer: up to 35% Bonus Purchase miles between November 4 and December 20, 2013 and get up to 35% more miles! Buy 5,000 – 19,000 miles: get a 20% Bonus Buy 20,000 – 34,000 miles: get a 30% Bonus Buy 35000 – 40,000 miles: get a 35% Bonus At the top bonus band you’re effectively buying miles at ~ 2.2 cents apiece. You can also buy 25,000 Alaska miles at 2.1 cents apiece via Starwood’s point sale though those points won’t post nearly as quickly since they first need to be transferred from Starwood to Alaska. You can buy up to 40,000 miles per transaction but can make as many purchase transactions as you’d like but make sure to…
25% Transfer Bonus from American Express to Emirates From Tomorrow Through November 22
A week ago I reviewed American Express Membership Rewards adding Emirates as a points transfer partner. Emirates adds fuel surcharges to award tickets, something that was relatively new and driven by their partnership with Qantas. So like many non-U.S. frequent flyer programs their awards can be pricey. And their award chart isn’t cheap for many long haul destinations, especially if you want to redeem for their legendary first class. You can redeem for for Emirates first class (their A380 has a shower!) for fewer miles with a roundtrip award booked through Japan Airlines (a Starwood Preferred Guest transfer partner) and for fewer miles in many cases and for one-way awards without fuel surcharges via Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan (also a Starwood transfer partner). Still, adding a good option for Emirates redemptions with American Express points…
20% Off United January-March Coach Award Travel Between the U.S. and Europe
United is having a 20% off sale on coach award tickets to Europe. You need to book by November 19 for travel between January 13 and March 11. Basically book now for flights during United’s low season to Europe — after the New Year’s travel bump and before transatlantic travel picks up again. This offer applies from the U.S. or Canada but excludes Hawaii and includes travel to all of Europe. Partner flights aren’t eligible for the discount. Roundtrip travel is required, stopovers are not permitted, but open jaws (e.g. fly into one city and back from another) are. United sees planes flying with empty seats, so getting some revenue from MileagePlus even at a discount is win-win. This is becoming a common time period for United to offer a discount. They offered 25% off…
Oneworld Airline Iberia Adds Draconian Seat Selection Fees
The Spanish Iberia, a member of oneworld and owned by the parent company of British Airways, has introduced new seat selection fees that would make the chintziest of low cost carriers blush. Now, British Airways is no slouch in the advance seat selection fee arena. BA charges even business class passengers who are neither elites nor traveling on a flexible ticket to select their seats prior to online check-in. An upcharge for business class passengers to choose their seats! And many low cost carriers charge to choose an economy seat in advance. If you’re flying Spirit Air or Allegiant, and you want to pick you seat from the seatmap before check-in, it’s going to cost you. Of course, since it costs everyone else too and folks flying those carriers tend to be price sensitive many…
What Mileage-Earning Debit Cards are Left, and How You Can Take Advantage of Them?
Bank of America Appears to Be Getting Out of the Mileage-Earning Debit Card Game Frequent Miler reports that Bank of America will end the Alaska Airlines debit card program on May 31. Separately, Hack My Trip suggested that this Sunday may be the last day to apply for one. Of course if you get the card you’ll only have a little more than six months to take advantage of it. And it’s hardly the most rewarding product to begin with. You earn 1 mile for every two dollars spent. But having options to earn miles via a debit card is valuable because there are a whole bunch of transactions for which you can use a debit card but not a credit card. Why Most Banks No Longer Offer Mileage-Earning Debit Cards The Durbin Amendment to…
Is Alaska Airlines the Real “Friendly Skies”..?
United brought back it’s “Fly the Friendly Skies” slogan, but redefined it to mean that their features likes routes and seats – rather than people – are friendly. Alaska produced a video showing their people being friendly and helpful, and indeed in my experience their people generally are. Their flight attendants aren’t Singapore’s or ANA’s. But relative to North American standards they’re quite good. This appears to be a six year old video, but it was new to me, and thanks to Roger K. for sending it along. The video is set not to allow embedding but you can view it here. I was surprised to see a flight attendant in the video actually helping a passenger get their carryon bag out of an overhead bin. Shocking. The scenes are as much their people helping…
Are Airline Scales Systematically Cheating Passengers With Overweight Baggage Fees?
Although airlines are regulated exclusively by federal law under the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, they aren’t exempt from all state laws — US Airways has been fined for state liquor law violations in the past, and occasionally there are state weights and measures investigations that find airline luggage scales to measure improperly, exposing carriers to state fines. Arizona found several inaccurate luggage scales in Phoenix and Tucson. (HT: mapsmith on Milepoint) These scales get a ton of abuse. No doubt they aren’t all consistently well-maintained and adjusted. I’m quite sure the phenomenon isn’t limited to Arizona. I’m actually rather surprised there hasn’t been an airline whistleblower working with a plaintiff’s attorney, as given the money involved in checked baggage fees and overweight baggage fees to the extent that scales are systematically off due to…
