Domestic upgrade priority on American Airlines is based on: Elite status level Whether the passenger is connecting off another American flight Whether the passenger is full (Y or B) fare Time of request Time of check-in does not matter for domestic upgrades. When you check in, your upgrade request time carries over from the list prior to the airport — even though you are asked whether or not you want to be added to the airport standby list for an upgrade. Prior to August 1, international upgrades were different. If you did not clear an upgrade in advance, the “time of request” tie-breaker for an upgrade was based on time of check-in rather than time of original request. Getting Status is reporting that American’s international upgrade priority changed on August 1, aligning with domestic upgrade…
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Club Carlson Gifting Concierge (Black Card) Status to Nordic MegaDO Participants
MegaDO frequent flyer trips are billed as once in a lifetime types of experiences, the kinds of things you don’t get to experience anywhere else. Last fall the group chartered United’s first 787. Folks got to sit in United CEO Jeff Smisek’s chair. They had a barbecue on the tarmac in Houston. Last January in Dallas American Airlines set up flight simulator time, and the group practiced a water evacuation into a pool. Some participants even changed into American Airlines first class pajamas first. In addition to all the pre-announced activities, there are often surprise and delights that come along after folks have booked. The next (sold out) MegaDO is the Scandinavian event in September. Participants already knew they’d be gifted Club Carlson Gold status, but they got an email letting them know that Club…
Bits ‘n Pieces for August 1, 2013
News and notes from around the interweb: Two months of free Hulu Plus 250 free Virgin Atlantic miles for downloading their shopping toolbar Extra person charges for having more than 2 people in a hotel room are quite common in Europe. So I thought it would be useful to share this discussion of how to use points for your family to stay in one room in Europe. Starwood’s fall promotion is double points between September 1 and December 15 plus 2500 bonus points for every five nights during that period (up to 10,000 points for 20 nights). Registration, which is not yet open, will be required. TSA Union Says Frequent Security Lapses Are “A-Plus” The AP‘s David Koenig writes about ‘gate lice’. The Starwood American Express 30,000 point offer may be coming back? I’m beginning…
When the Government Once Opposed an Airline Merger — it was US Airways and the Same Arguments Were at Play
Accompanying Barbara Peterson‘s critical take on airline consolidation in Conde’ Nast Traveler is an interesting infographic that’s worth perusing. One item in particular stood out to me as likely incorrect, but that turns out to be accurate, and offers some interesting historical perspective on the current American-US Airways deal. When I saw the above graphic, and that claim that ‘0’ mergers had been rejected by the government as anti-competitive I knew that was wrong — because the Department of Justice announced that it would sue to stop the proposed United-US Airways merger in July 2001. Except the infographic is right, reading the statistic on the left it refers to ‘the first decade after deregulation’ so only extends through 1988. And the statistic on the right — 0 mergers fought by the government — is accurate…
Review of the Hyatt Regency Coral Gables, My Current Pick Near the Miami Airport
About a month ago I had to be in South Florida for business and stayed for the first time at the Hyatt Regency Coral Gables. It served my needs perfectly on a one-night stay near the Miami airport and near my morning meetings, and I’ll be staying there again in a few weeks. This wouldn’t be my choice for an airport overnight. It’s not close enough to the airport and there’s no shuttle. But it’s the perfect hotel for me if I need to be in the area of the airport, in and around Coral Gables, the next day. And it’s the perfect hotel for me if I’m coming into Miami late, renting a car, and and have business in South Florida the next day. It’s close enough to the airport, but it’s a hotel…
Buy One-Way Star Alliance Award Tickets at a Discount: Avianca LifeMiles 100% Purchase Bonus Back for August
Avianca is back with a 100% bonus on purchased LifeMiles through August 30. That brings the price of purchased miles down from 3 cents to 1.5 cents apiece — which is cheaper than purchasing US Airways under their 100% bonus. Lifemiles seems to run these bonuses quite frequently. You can buy up to 75,000 miles under this offer and will receive 150,000 miles. The most miles you can buy in a calendar year is 150,000. (That means if you max out this bonus that’s also your limit for the year.) The rules say you have to have been enrolled in the prior prior to August 1 to take advantage of the offer. They say that each time they run this bonus, which is why I suggest enrolling in the program even speculatively just in case…
100% Bonus on Purchased US Airways Miles is Back for August – Not Targeted This Time
US Airways is running tiered bonuses for mileage purchases through August 31. For purchases of 50,000 miles you get 50,000 bonus miles, and your 100,000 miles cost you 1.88 cents per mile. The American Merger and Star Alliance Awards US Airways has been dubbed the ‘consolidator of Star Alliance premium class seats’ (credit to eponymous coward) since seats that aren’t expected to be sold (distressed inventory) tend to be offered as awards, and US Airways has been the most aggressive about letting members straight up buy those seats cheaply via purchased miles — even putting awards on hold before buying the miles (which post instantly). Here’s my guide to using US Airways miles to book awards. It’s an open question whether the merged American-US Airways will similarly become oneworld’s official consolidator once US Airways joins…
San Francisco Airport Cracking Down On — Arresting — Rideshare Drivers
Reader Drew passes along an article about San Francisco airport officials arresting rideshare drivers. In the past month, San Francisco International Airport officials have been citing and arresting drivers from mobile-app enabled rideshare companies that pick up and drop off passengers, an airport spokesman said. Airport spokesman Doug Yakel said there have been seven citizen arrests issued to “various offenders” since July 10. The airport had issued cease and desist letters to several rideshare companies, including Lyft, Sidecar and Uber, in April. The arrests are for trespassing, although legal technicalities aside I’m not sure how the concept of trespass can make sense for someone dropping a passenger off at an airport. And I’m curious how they know a driver is on a trip with Uber rather than making a trip through their normal pre-scheduled car…
Bits ‘n Pieces for July 31, 2013
News and notes from around the interweb: The Managing Editor of Executive Travel tries out “hang up, call back” and — to her surprise — it works! My Globetrotters on Twitter interview. Get a 10% off American Airlines discount code A country’s decision to require a visa reduces tourism by 70%. Southwest fined $200,000 for not making enough DING! fare sale seats available on February 14 (even though those seats didn’t sell out, meaning consumers who saw the sale and wanted the seats could get them) and for failing to make advertised fares to Branson, Missouri available on January 30 (Southwest attributes to a one-time technical glitch). Thank goodness the Department of Transportation is looking out for consumers. Passenger flying Delta from Seattle to New York JFK abandons four bags instead of checking them to…
New Study Proves Premium Cabin International Awards Offer the Best Value for Miles, and Merchandise the Least.. But Doesn’t Understand Why That Is
The authors of a well-known but highly flawed annual award availability study have a new study out that’s much better. It’s titled Premium Class Rewards Provide Best Value for Frequent Flyers. The conclusion is right, though I certainly stopped to wonder, we needed a study to know that? How they reached the conclusion, though, is quite wrong. Like with their award availability study, they refuse to pick up the phone. All of their data comes from award searches online. This time, though, they limited themselves to the United website which is actually pretty good and has access to most partners online. They Don’t Know How Much an Award Costs Two-cabin first class roundtrip to Hawaii is 80,000 miles roundtrip. However, the study confuses roundtrip and one-way award costs (perhaps because the United award chart shows…
