About six weeks ago I explained how to manage your British Airways Avios award bookings to make sure you get your elite status benefits. The idea is that when you book an award using British Airways Avios (and short-distance non-stop awards are a fantastic value in the British Airways program, any flight under 650 miles in length costs just 4500 points each way), your BA frequent flyer account number gets added to the reservation. But you might be a US Airways or American Airlines elite frequent flyer. So you will need to get to know the Royal Jordianian website.
About Gary Leff
More American Meal Changes: Warm Nuts Are Leaving Some Flights, But Warm Cookies Are Safe For Now
Last month I shared American’s new meal service standards which begin September 1. Basically, as much discussed, US Airways gets a bit more generous with meals and American gets less generous. The two airlines are sort of meeting in the middle. The first step was more meals on US Airways. That happened back in April. Now we’re getting cutbacks on the American side, as part of aligning service between the two airlines. That’s not new information, I encourage you to see the full details on which flights will and will not have food going forward, plus what standards will apply when they do. Basically flights need to be ~ 1150 miles or 2 hours 45 minutes to warrant a meal, unless it’s an “exception market” like Charlotte or Philadelphia – Minneapolis and Dallas – Detroit.…
Signing Up for and Cancelling TV Service to Earn (Hundreds of) Thousands of Miles
You can earn 25,000 American Airlines miles for signing up for DirecTV. You can also earn 30,000 United miles for DirecTV. Both offers have been extended through October 1 (they were scheduled to expire in July but keep getting extended). You need to choose a ‘select’ package or above and take a 24 month agreement. While the offers specify ‘new customers only’ I spoke to one participant at the recent Frequent Traveler University event in Seattle that had earned well into the six figures in miles by signing up for DirecTV offers. Digging into the terms, the eligibility is: Customers who have a current DIRECTV account, or have been a DIRECTV customer within the last 24 months are ineligible. Mileage is posted after the account is kept current for 60 days, and then you have…
Am I Wrong About United? Financial Results Getting Better
I’ve been hugely critical of United Airlines’ operation, so in the interest of fairness it’s worth pointing out that second quarter financial results were much improved. Cranky Flier had a good, albeit too-enthusiastic take on United’s performance in the second quarter. They made $900 million for the quarter, a huge departure from the first quarter in which they lost $600 million. The second and third quarters are the strongest for the industry. Everyone else is making today. And United still substantially lagged. American, which suffered far greater effects from Venezuela. But this is a big deal for United anyway, even if they aren’t outperforming the industry, because another quarter like the first one (which was never in the cards) would have meant the Board of Directors would be pretty much forced to oust current executive…
Best Travel Camera, a New Revenue-Based Innovation, and the End of a Loyalty Progam
News and notes from around the interweb: How to choose the right camera for your travel photography Back to school airline mileage shopping portal bonuses Revenue-based dating Stouffer’s ending its Dinner Club points program. Can’t say that I was a member of that one. (HT: Jules) You can join the 40,000+ 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 deals. Don’t miss out!
When Will US Airways and American Let You Combine and Transfer Miles Between Accounts?
In response to news that US Airways and American Airlines won’t actually combine to become one airline until late 2015 (at the earliest), Stuart Falk asks, In the light of this when would you expect one would be able to transfer miles between programs? They may or may not make it possible to transfer points between US Airways and American frequent flyer accounts before programs get combined. US Airways/America West allowed it. Delta/Northwest did too. And so did United/Continental.
American Reserving Fewer Seats for Elites on Some Aircraft
JonNYC reports at TravelingBetter that American has opened up more economy seats for non-elite to assign for a fee on their MD80 and Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. These are seats that previously could only be booked by elites and full fare customers (for free). To determine the demand of Q block seats, American Airlines is conducting a test and has adjusted the Q block levels on LAA S80 and 777-300 equipment types in all markets, effective July 29, 2014. These changes allow our non-elite customers the opportunity to purchase Main Cabin Extra seats that in the past have been blocked for elite customers. “Q block” refers to what an agent sees on the seatmap. If a seat shows up as ‘Q’ that means it is available for assignment to elites and full fare customers. An assigned…
American and US Airways Won’t Combine Until Late Next Year — At the Earliest
I finally had a chance to listen to American’s second quarter earnings call. I’m over a week late to that party, but it’s been a very busy week. After American’s formal remarks, there were a few questions that touched on the integration and mentioned the frequent flyer program (which they see as a key competitive differentiator and how they’ll win competitive business). There was a recurring implication that the US Airways and American programs wouldn’t be combined imminently. I had long assumed that we’d be looking at a cutover to a single program in late February or early March of 2015 — because cutovers usually happen during that travel lull, and because there’s a strong desire to see integration happen quickly, to begin to recognize the ‘merger synergies’ that were the argument for the merger…
Starwood Bonus to Celebrate the 200th Four Points Hotel
This strikes me as a bonus offer meant to get your client or employer to spend a little more on a room to give you a little more. There are apparently now 200 Four Points hotel properties, and Starwood is offering this bonus. Here are the terms and conditions. You have to book rate plan FP200 and stay by December 31. Not all properties are participating. Check rates under this rate plan and also without it to see how much extra you’re paying for breakfast and bonus points. This will only make occasional sense. I’m generally seeing higher rates, but in some cases only a few dollars higher. You’ll need to value the breakfast at some amount for this to work out. In general 200 or 400 bonus points is not at all enough to…
Free Beer!
Rocketmiles will buy you beer if you book a stay by August 4 in a ‘US Brewing Hub’ through this link. They define a brewing hub as: Portland Denver Minneapolis Brooklyn Seattle St. Louis Milwaukee I suspect there are some cities that might lay down some hate over this. How do you feel, if yours was left out? Customers must be 21 years of age or older and have a U.S. address to receive the beer. You can only earn this once, and after your stay you’ll get your beer. The terms and conditions of the offer recognize that not only was August 1 International Beer Day, but they also claim it was “International Girlfriends Day”. If traveling with one, Rocketmiles recommends sharing your beer with her. I followed up to clarify with Rocketmiles about…
