On top of the big benefits changes coming to the US Airways credit cards to align with what Citibank offers to American Airlines co-brand credit card holders, it appears that they’re making additional updates to the card at least based on a letter I’ve just received in the mail. Last week I wrote about the rebranding of the Barclaycard Arrival World Mastercard as Barclaycard Arrival PlusTM World Elite MasterCard®. They made the card chip and pin and made it a World MasterCard which is the higher-end branding that comes with some incremental benefits, including additional travel benefits. I got in the mail a piece yesterday letting me know that my US Airways Premier World MasterCard® would become a World Elite MasterCard as well. (Click to enlarge) You’ll notice that Suzanne Rubin, President of the American…
About Gary Leff
You Can Still Sue Your Favorite Hotel Program!
The Supreme Court Has Made it Very Difficult to Sue an Airline Frequent Flyer Program The Airline Deregulation Act reserves exclusive jurisdiction over the airlines to the federal government, and pre-empts states from imposing any regulations of their own. When the federal government deregulated the airlines they didn’t want states stepping into their wake. And in fairness, 50 different regulatory schemes in 50 states would be a significant burden on the industry (although in fairness one could point out that airlines generally comply with myriad laws in the countries to which they fly). States can’t regulate airlines, and it turns out that as a result they cannot regulate airline frequent flyer programs (which provide flight benefits, travel discounts, or rebates for purchase of travel). But that creates a vacuum because the federal government through the…
American AAdvantage is NOT Collecting Fuel Surcharges on Finnair Awards
This is a minor misunderstanding but I thought I’d offer a slight correction to a meme that seems to be going around. American AAdvantage began collecting fuel surcharges for flights on British Airways when it entered into a joint venture with BA. Up until that point you could redeem American miles for travel on British Airways without paying fuel surcharges — but you could not redeem miles for travel between the US and London on BA. (The work around was Canada, the Caribbean, or Mexico.) Fuel surcharges can add $600 and up to the cost of a frequent flyer ‘free’ award ticket. British Airways and Iberia have the same corporate parent, and Iberia is a part of the joint venture across the Atlantic as well. American started collecting very modest fuel surcharges for travel on…
Americans Are Overwhelmingly Against Use of Cell Phones on Planes. Should They Be?
The public comment period for the FCC proposal to lift the 23 year old ban on inflight cell phone use has closed, and public comments are overwhelmingly against a change. The FCC Chairman believes that the safety rationale for the ban no longer exists. Airlines should be able to ban the practice, or find accommodations like a no cell phone use seating section. But it’s hard to justify government making the use of inflight cell phones illegal without a compelling safety issue. The FCC voted 3-2 to consider lifting the ban. With such a tight majority favoring even consideration of an end to the ban, public opposition could sway them. And even if the FCC lifts the ban, the Department of Transportation which regulates airlines could still act. As, of course, could individual carriers. Some…
Big Changes Coming to the US Airways Credit Card
US Airways Premier World MasterCard® When US Airways and American are finally combined into a single airline, it will no longer be possible to get the US Airways cards. These cards will become American cards, and existing cardholders get to keep them. But no one new will be able to apply for the Barclaycard offering. That also means we know that the last chance for the 50,000 point signup bonus after first purchase will be when the two frequent flyer programs become one. My advice is to get the bonus points if you can, it’s an opportunity that will go away, and the points will add on nicely to American AAdvantage balances (this card doesn’t conflict with getting signup bonuses for Citibank-issued American AAdvantage cards). We do not know when the airlines will actually combine.…
Intercontinental & Holiday Inn’s Program Revamps Its Award Night Rules — Here’s What You Need to Know
Earlier in the day I noted that IHG Rewards Club had changes its rules for discounted award nights so that you could only make two award bookings at a single hotel at the discounted price. IHG Rewards Club, formerly known as Priority Club, is the points program for Intercontinental hotels, Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, and related brands. They offer a select group of hotels at a discount of just 5000 points per night on a regular basis. These are available for a short booking window, and the best value hotels sell out quickly at these prices (since they otherwise might cost 30,000 or 40,000 points per night). You have to act fast to get these rooms. And those that do act fast often redeem points to cover any possible night they might need. And IHG…
The New Website That I’m Following and That You Should Get to Know
Condé Nast Traveler‘s long-time consumer Consumer editor Wendy Perrin wrote about the launch party for her new endeavor, at WendyPerrin.com. She’s taken a position at TripAdvisor as ‘Travel Advocate’ and is also launching her own travel site, and I was able to hop up to New York on Friday afternoon to join the festivities. The Andaz 5th Avenue (regular readers know, my all-around favorite Manhattan hotel) and Singapore Airlines’ James Boyd hosted the event. Now, I’ll admit that part of the attraction was that the event was held at the Andaz. There are a lot of suites at this hotel, and I’ve had good luck on short one-night stays being upgraded to a suite. I know that when the property first opened there were frustrated Diamonds not getting great upgrades, so the previous general manager…
IHG Changes PointBreaks Terms, 300 Free Miles, and the Cheapest Deals on Hotel Suites (Bits ‘n Pieces for May 19, 2014)
News and notes from around the interweb: When IHG Rewards Club announces their discounted short-term 5000 point per night ‘PointBreaks’ redemptions, you need to act fast as the most popular hotels sell out quickly. Lots of folks put down points to cover any possible night they’d need, making separate reservations. IHG is pushing back on this, and changing their terms to say you can only book 2 reservations per hotel using PointsBreaks during each offer period. The idea is to prevent folks from sitting on (or bartering) reservations. A pain for some, will help avoid too many cancellations for participating hotels, and should help others to get in on the deal too. 300 free Lufthansa Miles & More miles for adding your frequent flyer account to Facebook. New website for getting the best deals on…
The 10 Airline Frequent Flyer Programs That You Should Know About Now
Airlines devalue their miles. Your points will never be worth more in the future than they are today. You should earn miles, and then redeem them, ideally within the same ‘period’ or under the same award chart. That way you don’t get hurt by increasing award charts. Earn miles, redeem them, and then earn some more is a much better strategy for most people than saving up miles now for some future point in your life when you’ll take advantage of them. That said, I don’t worry too much about devaluations although I do not like them. And the ‘game’ or hobby is far from over. You just need to diversity. If all of your points were with United, and you like partner airline awards, then you are not a happy mileage earner. But if…
How to Book 4 Premium Cabin Seats — And How to Avoid Fuel Surcharges
ck asks Hi can you list which airlines fly London/new York and the best way to access them using points, and minimising the fuel surcharges? Eg fly united metal but use krisflyer points, or never use BA points for a BA flight. Also, which airlines release 4 seats in premium cabins. Thanks for the question, I’ve covered these things over time so let me pull some of it together. Last fall I did a series on the airlines routes that make 4 premium cabin award seats available: How to Find Business Class Award Seats for the Whole Family Book Award Travel For Your Whole Family to the Middle East and Indian Subcontinental Using Delta Skymiles American’s Fantastic First Class Availability to Asia for the Whole Family Fuel surcharges are the bane of any frequent flyer’s…
