Alaska Airlines is increasing the price of some awards effective January 14 on its own flights and at this point not on partners. And the bulk of those changes are in the price of “rule-buster” (or extra availability) awards. Earlier this year I declared the death of the ‘double miles’ award, the idea of spending “double” so that any member could get any seat on any plane. Only American still offers this, and I predict that will not last. “Last seat availability” potentially trades off with a paying customer, it’s expensive for an airline to offer, and mileage programs have been bumping those prices up. Here Alaska is doing it even more than they already had done before. For Domestic (48 US states plus Alaska) awards they are increasing just the price of these last…
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The Hyatt Gold Passport Devaluation is Really Just a 4% Hit to the Cost of Award Nights
The Hyatt Gold Passport award chart devaluation was big news this week. Coming after a huge devaluation from United and an interim devaluation from Delta, because they couldn’t wait for their June 1 and onward devaluation to take full effect, and in the context of this year’s total gutting of Hilton HHonors, I was prepared to hate — though possibly overreact — to what Hyatt has done. My major reaction was likely because the biggest increases in award nights, while centered on only 13 hotels, are increasing the costs of the precise hotels that I want to redeem for. And of course they’re increasing the cost of upgrades on paid nights as well. But if we’re going to understand what Hyatt has actually done, I think it also makes sense to look at the overall…
UK Girl Passes Through Turkish Immigration With Her Toy Unicorn’s Fake Passport
No idea how I managed to miss this. A couple were left stunned after their nine-year-old daughter managed to pass through Turkish customs officers – with a passport identifying her as a UNICORN. Emily Harris had taken a toy passport she had made for her toy unicorn, Lily, on holiday with her. And when the family passed through customs at Antalya airport to start their one-week holiday, flustered mum Nicky accidentally handed over the toy’s passport instead of Emily’s. …passport officials had even STAMPED the unicorn’s passport, granting it access to the country. …”The picture ID wasn’t even of Emily, it was of a pink unicorn. Original photo credit B. Matthews/Caters (HT: Reid) You can join the 30,000+ people who see these deals and analysis every day — sign up to receive posts by email…
Will the Next Great Investment Idea Be Found on Your Next Long Haul Flight?
Turkish Airlines thinks they can make you millions. Or at least they can take money from companies that want your millions, selling your time at a premium on the theory that you’re bored with little to do but pay attention to their pitch. This is a great idea, because startups that have been pre-screened by inflight entertainment companies always produce superior returns. And because the best investment decisions are often made at high altitudes, where you can’t ask any questions of the company making the pitch. Before your next award flight to or through Istanbul, remember: you were warned. (HT: @teamrainey) You can join the 30,000+ 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…
The 13 Hotels Most Impacted by Hyatt’s Award Chart Devaluation
When I wrote about Hyatt’s award chart changes yesterday, I noted that (in addition to increased prices for premium rooms, and especially for upgrades on paid stays), there were really only six hotels that were going to see really bad price increases. Those are the six hotels that will go from the current top award category six into the new top award category 7. Those hotels will go up 36% in price for a standard room (45% for a suite). Park Hyatt Beaver Creek Park Hyatt Milan Park Hyatt Paris Vendome Park Hyatt Sydney Park Hyatt Tokyo Park Hyatt Zurich In addition, the new Park Hyatt New York will open at category 7. These are the hotel price increases that hit me the most, I love Hyatt Gold Passport for their aspirational redemptions. These hotels…
US Airways-American Airlines Merger: Ten Things to Expect Next
Now that the Department of Justice has settled its anti-trust suit with American and US Airways, what can we expect to happen as frequent flyers? The deal is expected to close in December. US Airways will leave Star Alliance, quickly, and join oneworld. We don’t have a timeframe yet but it should be within a few months. That means if you want to book Star Alliance awards using US Airways miles, you will want to book those very soon. And any changes, once US Airways leave Star, will need to be onto airlines that are in oneworld instead. Once the two airlines are both in oneworld, they will also implement a partnership with each other, and they will likely make it possible to move miles back and forth between US Airways Dividend Miles and American…
Details of the US Airways/American Airlines Anti-Trust Settlement That Allows the Merger to Proceed
Here’s what US Airways and American gave up in order for the Department of Justice and states to withdraw their anti-trust suit against the proposed merger. They will give up 52 slot pairs at Washington National Airport (and gates and related facilities). There will be 44 fewer daily departures (out of a combined 290 that US Airways and American now operate) with the rest of the slots being the ones JetBlue already leases getting sold. They also have to keep small community service for a period of time. They will give up 17 slot pairs at New York LaGuardia Airport (and gates and related facilities). They anticipate 12 fewer daily departures (out of a combined 175 that US Airways and American now operate). Southwest will get to buy the slots it leases from American currently.…
American/US Airways and the Department of Justice Settle
So says Bloomberg. Will the deal look like this? You can join the 30,000+ 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!
Believe it Or Not, Some People Will Benefit from Lower Award Prices from United MileagePlus
Oddly enough, with United’s big devaluation that goes into effect February 1, there are actually some awards that are getting cheaper. Did you know that even the price of some first class partner awards have gone down? After the devaluation announcement, after looking at the increases that United is pushing through (including of its standard award chart), I compared United’s new award chart to American’s and Delta’s. These comparisons were of awards to and from North America, though. Flyers in some other parts of the world, traveling to some destinations, will actually see decreases. Most of my readers are based in North America, so lot of good that does you, right? Well, sometimes putting together complicated award trips all over the world you might find yourself needing a one-way award flight between Central Asia and…
Up to 2500 Bonus Miles (10x Per Dollar) Through American’s Shopping Portal
The American Airlines AAdvantage Shopping portal is offer a holiday shopping bonus that will give you an extra 10 points per dollar at each spending threshold. There is no minimum spending requirement on a given purchase, they will take your total spending between November 12 and December 2 and add it together to see what threshold bonus you qualify for. No registration is required. Some current lucrative offers are Magazines.com at 20 miles per dollar, Nordstrom and Sephora at 12 miles per dollar, and Restaurant.com gift certificates at 11 miles per dollar. You can join the 30,000+ 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…
