I’ve made mentions already that new Star Alliance member EVA Airways has outstanding award available. But I haven’t really spelled out just how good it is. I had no probably booking five people back to the US from Hong Kong via Taipei shortly after New Years (albeit not all on the same flight). And I had no problem booking folks back from Thailand in July last week as well. EVA Airways offers a top notch business class product. The title of this trip report, I think, encapsulates their service: Dom Pérignon Service on Eva Airways Business Class. And their Boeing 777-300ER features business class seats similar to Cathay Pacific’s (and to Delta’s new Pacific route only business seats, American’s new 777-300ER business seats, and the US Airways seat). So it is a good business class…
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2500 Mile Discount on American AAdvantage Awards Booked Online
Back in March, American introduced an award map to help members find available award seats. You enter your starting city and the number of miles you want to spend. It will show you the places you can go. They’re promoting it with a 25,000 mile a day sweepstakes, the sort of thing I find generally uninteresting. I know there are lots of lucky people out there, I don’t generally enter these which probably also explains why I don’t generally win either. But what’s worth noting is the award redemption rebate which is paired with the sweepstakes and more or less buried in the fine print. Once you watch their video about the award map, and click through to open up the map, you are given the chance to register for the sweepstakes. That also makes…
Lots of Good Hotel Values Announced for July/August 5000 Point PointBreaks
Via Mommy Points, Priority Club has announced the hotels that will be offering discounted award nights (“PointBreaks”) for just 5000 points per night for stays between July 1 and August 31. What seems to happen with each set of hotels is that a bunch are announced, then the good ones get pounced on, and then those hotels worth redeeming for get removed within a day or several days. By the end of the PointBreaks period very few hotels that anyone would want are left. Nonetheless, award nights at just 5000 points (as opposed to, say, 25,000 or 30,000 points) is a great deal. And the nights are generally cancellable. So if you think you even might need one of these award nights, it’s worth locking in. And you can use the cash and points trick…
Aeroplan Award Price Increases, Better Expiration Rules, and New Bonuses
Air Canada’s Aeroplan came out with announcements of several changes to its program this morning. They’re improving points expiration rules, going revenue-based for awards that don’t have the same capacity controls as ‘classic’ (and partner) awards do, increasing the price of premium cabin international awards to several destinations, and introducing a new status program for points earning members (in contrast to the airline elite status program based on flying). Overall I like the changes to expiration, the status benefits for mileage earning seems an interesting concept though isn’t especially rewarding, and I view the award chart changes as a significant negative. Elimination of Seven Year Expiration Rule You need activity in your Aeroplan account each year to keep miles active. But regardless of activity, any miles unused seven years from the time they were accumulated…
Bits ‘n Pieces for June 27, 2013
News and notes from around the interweb: A simple comment on my blog may win you Hyatt points and Vegas experiences A resort fee that isn’t a resort fee, meant to cover the cost of something that is free to begin with. The Hyatt Visa is surprisingly valuable for status in Las Vegas. Food guru slams British Airways salmon salad: ‘the driest thing I’ve ever eaten’ Starwood points transfer to LAN kilometers now at 1 to 1.5 rather than the previous 1 to 2. I wrote about this when it appeared to be changing at the end of April.
Slow Steps Forward In Using “Science” to Regulate Onboard Use of Electronics
The Associated Press‘ Scott Mayerowitz writes about how a ‘delay’ actually constitutes (slow) progress in eliminating bans on passenger use of electronics below 10,000 feet. An industry-labor advisory committee was supposed to make recommendations next month to the Federal Aviation Administration on easing the restrictions. But the agency said in a statement Friday the deadline has been extended to September because committee members asked for extra time to finish assessing whether it is safe to lift restrictions. … “It’s good to see the FAA may be on the verge of acknowledging what the traveling public has suspected for years — that current rules are arbitrary and lack real justification,” Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., one of Congress’ more outspoken critics of the restrictions, said in a statement. She contends that unless scientific evidence can be presented…
My Upcoming Hilton Award Reservation is Really, REALLY Confirmed
Hilton was updating systems on Saturday which made it impossible to book award nights. While I did burn points in advance of the dramatic HHonors devaluation that went into effect in March, I also wound up with a decent balance of several hundred thousand points left over. And I consider them stranded or secondary points — points I am not trying to conserve and don’t value especially highly. I used to save them for trips to places like the Conrad Koh Samui which has now gotten 90% more expensive. So when I’m faced with an expensive short stay, where I just need a room, and I can get somewhere close to half a cent a point in redemption value then I’m interested in burning Hilton HHonors points rather than spending cash. That was the case…
When You’re Tempted Not to Hang Up, Call Back… Hang Up Call Back Anyway
Hang up, call back. The four most important words in travel. For some, perhaps, the four most important words in life. I know this lesson. I share this lesson. But I don’t always practice it. And I know better. Call center agents vary tremendously in quality. The airline computer systems they are working with vary tremendously in quality. When things aren’t going smoothly — when they are taking longer than they should, when an agent isn’t understanding your request, when they are not coming back with the correct answers right away, hang up and call back. Sometimes it’s tempting to ignore the rule. You’ve been on hold for awhile, you don’t want to do it again. Surely your request is straightforward and for something you’re entitled to. It has to be better just to keep…
How Bad an Airline is United? Just Ask its CEO
Jeff Smisek promised frequent flyers “changes we’re going to like.” And I don’t think Continental, now doing business under the name United Airlines, gets enough credit for two of the things that are actually good since the merger between the two airlines — The elimination of “Starnet blocking” or “throttling” (United used to tell customers that award seats on partner airlines weren’t available even when the partners were offering the seats but when United didn’t want to pay for them) Much more generous “award routing rules” or the ability to fly just about any way you want between two cities based on what seats are available with miles instead of being highly limited in what flights can be used. The reason they can’t really get the credit they deserve for these two items is because…
When Is It a Good Idea to Redeem Your Miles for Merchandise?
USA Today‘s Charisse Jones has a piece on the things you can do with your miles besides taking flights. There are the obligatory examples of using miles to purchase “Tumi luggage and MacBook Pro computers” as well as spending them at auction for experiences like Rod Stewart concerts. The piece offered two of my thoughts. “More options are good for frequent fliers,” says Gary Leff, co-founder of the frequent-flier community Milepoint.com, who’s noticed the trend building over the past three or four years. “Not everyone wants to fly throughout the year for business and be rewarded with another flight. Sometimes they’d just like to stay home and use their miles for a retail treat.” … Unique experiences, however, could be perceived as a better deal, Leff says. “When you’re leveraging the connections, the sponsorship, or…
