Last summer, American informed its frequent flyers who still had old (pre-July 1989) miles that those miles would be ‘converted’ into ‘new miles’ with a 25% bonus on November 1. Some members sued over the changes, since those old miles were never supposed to expire and American had agreed to continue to honor the award chart that was then in effect. The American Airlines bankruptcy judge dismissed the lawsuit over the conversion of old miles. The Supreme Court ruled in American Airlines vs. Wolens that consumers could sue an airline in state court for breach of contract. In that case, American Airlines frequent flyers sued the airline over July 1989 changes that imposed capacity controls and blackout dates on awards, and implemented mileage expiration rules. The American AAdvantage terms and condition stated that the airline…
About Gary Leff
The Credit Card I Really Want — But Cannot Get
The information related to this credit card has been collected by View From the Wing and has not been reviewed or provided by the product’s issuer. I’ll admit that I like to consider myself a rational maximizer, I don’t usually get emotional about things that ‘shouldn’t’ matter to me, I even self-deceive with a mental model of myself as a refutation of Veblen. While I do enjoy first class travel, I enjoy it most because I can obtain it cheaply, I don’t drive a new or high-end luxury car. And yet there’s an entirely irrational desire that I have to get a credit card that’s probably much more expensive than it’s worth to me. And I suspect I really want it because I cannot get it. No, I don’t mean the American Express Centurion (Black…
What Makes a Great Airline Lounge, and What are the Bare Minimum Standards?
A Boston Globe piece, tied partially to the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse in Boston, outlines the different features that lounges offer. The piece begins with a description of what I see as the top two lounge experiences: When Gary Leff, cofounder of the frequent flier community Milepoint.com, departs from the Lufthansa First-Class Terminal in Frankfurt, his rental car is valet parked, and a personal assistant arrives to take his passport and process immigration, while he is escorted through a short and very discreet security line. The major stresses of flying now allayed, Leff can savor his waiting time before the flight. He can enter a cigar bar with a selection of 80 whiskies, lie on a comfy leather sofa in his own napping room, or take a bath in an oversized tub. “When it’s time to…
Expect Fewer Flight Delays as Air Traffic Control Furlough Ends
Back in February I argued that it wasn’t necessary to cut air traffic control in order to meet the legal requirements of the sequester. I argued that the Administration also already had the legal authority to exercise its discretion in order to minimize the impact to sequester cuts on air traffic control. Unfortunately, air traffic control slowdowns would be a ‘visible impact’ of the sequester, and so they were being ginned up for potential political gain — to argue that the sequester (and government spending cuts generally) are too painful, and to force Republicans to cave on taxes. Some commenters argued that it wasn’t possible to cut the FAA budget without furloughing air traffic controllers, since the FAA budget was so heavily skewed towards payroll. That argument turns out to be inaccurate, since new legislation…
Bits ‘n Pieces for April 28, 2013
News and Notes from Around the Interweb: Club Carlson has announced hotel category changes. The category that each hotel is assigned to determines how many points the property will cost. It appears that about 100 hotels will be getting more expensive for redemptions, while about 150 hotels will be getting less expensive. The changes go into effect May 1, so you have through April 30th to book hotels at the old rate if you wish. Not really travel-related except that I’ve already seen this around the world in my travels: McDonald’s is considering all day breakfast and also delivery. One of the great mysteries of life and unsettle-able debates is what time McDonald’s stops serving breakfast. That argument could finally be settled. Hard to imagine margins high enough to justify delivery, at least without a…
Big Credit Card Signup Bonuses are Here to Stay
Back in December I laid out the argument that big credit card bonuses are here to stay. The crux of the argument was that big bonuses are necessary to cut through the clutter and get consumer attention and action, and that the bank have gotten savvier overall in how they hand out these bonuses — that they’re marketing spend that’s among the most effective things they can do to attract new customers, most of whom they believe will be profitable. And it turns out that credit card executives, more or less, agree with me. Mommy Points offers a great summary of what credit card executives see as the future of big bonuses and how they award miles and points, based on their comments yesterday morning at the Randy Petersen Travel Executive Summit. Top leadership from…
Why the Hyatt Regency Pier 66 is My Most Vexing Hotel
I have family in South Florida and I visit often, and those trips are very much all about spending time with them and not where I’m staying. If there’s ever a time on “leisure” (pretend those are ‘air quotes’) that I don’t spend much time in the room, it’s when I’ve with family. So it doesn’t matter much that the hotel options in my prince point tend to be entirely pedestrian. I really like the Hyatt Place in Delray Beach as an alternative to my usual Marriott or Renaissance in Boca Raton. And yet I seem to keep going back to the Hyatt Regency Pier 66… and not because I need Gold Passport stay and night credit, either (I’d just stay in Delray Beach). Other family tends to stay there for other proximity reasons, and…
Hilton HHonors Guts Discounted AXON Awards for American Express Cardholders
Mr. Pickles posted the letter he received from American Express about upcoming June 15 changes to Hilton AXON awards, the discounted four-night awards offered to co-branded Hilton American Express cardholders. Starting June 15: Category 5 hotels go up from 125,000 to 130,000 points (normally 120,000 to 160,000). Category 6 hotels go up from 125,000 to 160,000 points (normally 120,000 to 200,000). Category 7 hotels go up from 145,000 to 190,000 points (normally 120,000 to 240,000). Also beginning June 15 these awards will be bookable for the new category 8, 9, and 10 hotels. Category 8 will cost 220,000 vs. 160,000 to 280,000. Category 9 will cost 260,000 vs. 200,000 to 320,000. Category 10 will cost 300,000 vs. 280,000 to 380,000. You can book category 5, 6, and 7 hotels at current rates before June 15.…
Which Loyalty Programs are the Best? 3 Million Frequent Flyers Speak their Minds, Here are the Results!
This evening the 25th annual Freddie Awards ceremony was held at USA Today headquarters in Northern Virginia, with several hundred frequent flyer loyalty program executives in attendance. The Freddies have been called the Oscars of the loyalty industry, and are certainly the most significant award for frequent flyer and frequent guest programs. I’ve had the honor of managing the nominations and voting process for the past several years, and I was thrilled this year to see nearly three million people participate in the voting — nearly double last year, an increase driven in part by the introduction of a mobile-friendly voting platform. The Freddies are voted on by the members of these programs, representing their selection of programs that provide them with the greatest value. That’s sometimes frustrating for me, because the choices of 3…
Bits ‘n Pieces for April 25, 2013
News and Notes from Around the Interweb: US Airways is partially matching United’s move by increasing domestic change fees to $200. This match makes it more likely that American and Delta do as well, but there’s no hurry in a decision for any carrier. If Delta and American do not, and United and US Airways see any booking away effect, they could pull back. But if they don’t pull back, either Delta or American may follow suit — and if one does, the other is unlikely to remain the last carrier at a standard $150 in my view. Back in December I flagged Southwest’s plan to charge a fee on tickets not flown and not cancelled prior to flight. This new no show policy has been announced for purchases May 10 onward and travel beginning…
