Two years ago I wrote about the introduction of the TSA’s “sophisticated behavioral inspections” known as spot that “requires screeners to make quick reads of whether passengers pose a danger or a terror threat based on their reactions to a set of routine questions…” At the time I was very skeptical that this would do anything to enhance security: Four days of classroom instruction and 24 hours of on-the-job training. To do psychological evaluations of passengers in a matter of seconds, after three questions. ..[T]he point here is that the Israeli security model doesn’t scale. Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport processes 12 million passengers a year. Orlando handles about 33 million, and that’s not even one of the ten busiest airports in the United States. When you roll out a project that may work at…
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Delta Puts the Lie to the Skyteam Alliance Value Proposition
I suggested earlier that Delta’s change to elite status mileage earning on partners undermines the idea of a global airline alliance. Beginning September 1, flying on Skyteam alliance partner Korean Air will not earn any “Medallion Qualifying Miles” at all. Which is completely contrary to the consumer-facing purpose of the alliance. It undermines what Skyteam itself markets as a primary consumer benefit. Here’s the Skyteam website‘s highlighted (with a box around it!) claim: This website claim is simply no longer true. It’s stretching the truth with Delta already, since status will require a minimum amount of spending — that partner airline tickets for travel on those partners will not count towards. But starting September 1 it will literally no longer be true since it will not be the case that joining ‘any’ Skyteam program will…
Is the Lufthansa 50,000 Mile Credit Card Offer Expiring This Month?
Noob Traveler says that the 50,000 point offer for the Lufthansa Premier Miles & More World MasterCard® may be going away on June 30th. He says he received an email from Lufthansa to that effect. Barclaycard has upped their signup bonus on the Lufthansa Premier Miles & More World MasterCard to 50,000 points — 20,000 after first purchase and 30,000 more after meeting minimum spend within 90 days. The card comes with a $79 annual fee, and the points are surprisingly useful (though I recommend that even if you do get the card and collect Miles & More points, that you’re 25% better off earning them via the Starwood American Express than through this card). Miles & More is a great way to get domestic premium cabin awards on United (35,000 miles roundtrip compared to…
Hyatt Introduces Points Earning, Redemption, and Elite Recognition at MGM Resorts in Las Vegas
Hyatt MGM Partnership: Hyatt Gold Passport announced this morning that it is linking up with MGM Resorts to provide reciprocal points earning and redemption (starting June 20) and reciprocal elite recognition (coming in August). Details on how each piece of this partnership will work are in various sections of this post. Hyatt Gold Passport members will be able to earn and burn at the 9 MGM Resorts in Las Vegas which participate in the MGM M life program, and Hyatt’s elite members will get elite recognition at those properties. Similarly, MGM’s M life members will earn tier credits and elite members get status recognition throughout Hyatt’s portfolio. Three MGM Vegas hotels that aren’t part of M life aren’t participating, and MGM’s properties outside of Vegas aren’t a part of the deal at this time. It…
Bits ‘n Pieces for June 5, 2013
News and Notes from Around the Interweb: Rocketmiles is offering a 24 hour “double miles” bonus on hotel bookings. Using my referral link (no benefit to me) gets you double the usual signup bonus: 2000 miles with your first booking. As everyone expected when Delta acquired Northwest Airlines, they’re de-hubbing Memphis (promises not to do so notwithstanding). I give folks a hard time about flying the rapidly-devaluing airline associated with the SkyPesos frequent flyer program. And then I remember it could be worse: they could be flying Spirit. Leave a comment for a chance to win a new Briggs & Riley TORQ hard shell bag! Last day to get $35 free for new Uber on-demand car service accounts. You can buy Boeing 777 business class seats, perfect for your living room or office! You can…
Delta’s New Changes Pretend it isn’t a Skyteam Member for Elite Status Earning – But That’s Not Even the Big Story
Lucky thinks it’s a huge devaluation that effective September 1 Delta is reducing elite status mileage-earning on many of their partners, and that you can no longer earn Delta elite status miles on Skyteam partner Korean Air at all. Full qualifying miles will be earned only on Aeromexico, Air France, Alaska, Alitalia, GOL, KLM, and Virgin Australia. Reduced status miles may be earned on: Aeroflot Air Europa Czech Kenya Airways Middle East Airlines Saudia Tarom Aerolineas Argentinas China Airlines China Eastern China Southern Vietnam Airlines Xiamen Airlines And there will be no elite status mileage-earning on: Hawaiian Korean Malaysia Olympic It’s indeed shocking that flying on Korean Air — a member of the Skyteam alliance — will not contribute at all towards status on Delta. Delta is saying that travel with their partners is not…
American AAdvantage 30% Bonus on Transferred Miles Not a Good Deal
American is offering a bonus of up to 30% when you pay to transfer miles from one AAdvantage account to another. The offer lasts through July 1. Limited time offer: Earn up to a 30% bonus for friends and family, when you share miles Know someone who needs American Airlines AAdvantage® miles or could you use some extra miles to reach a travel award faster? You can share miles between family, friends or colleagues and the recipient will earn up to 30% in bonus miles. Sharing miles just became more valuable, so make the most of this limited time offer, now through July 1, 2013. The bonus gets progressively larger the more miles you transfer: Let’s take the biggest possible bonus as an example. If you transfer 50,000 points there’s a bonus of 15,000 —…
Elephant Jumps Thai in Northern Virginia Getting Even Better With New Dishes
About two and a half years ago I first wrote about my favorite Thai restaurant in the DC suburbs, Elephant Jumps in Merrifield. Regular readers know this place and word has certainly spread. I understand that some of the bloggers from First2Board organized a lunch there before the start of Frequent Traveler University at the end of April. There aren’t a ton of places that age well, and admittedly after it first got popular it had a few ups and downs especially with service (they were learning to staff properly and handle getting busy). They worked through the bumps well, and I kept going back. And going back. I had pretty much everything on the menu except for their Thai-Western fusion dishes which just didn’t appeal to me. This is a hole in the wall…
Etihad Being Invited to Join Oneworld?
The drama of Middle Eastern airlines and will they or won’t they join alliances heats up some more. Emirates was a partner of United and Continental. That partnership ended, and my sense is that wasn’t Emirates’ doing. They’ve wanted US partners (and have developed JetBlue and Alaska relationships). I expected that they would link up with American. I believe they had discussions with American. Instead, American developed a relationship with Etihad. Etihad bought into oneworld carrier Air Berlin. It seemed like Etihad would join oneworld. Then Emirates entered into a joint business venture with oneworld carrier Qantas. While Qatar agreed to join oneworld. And Etihad began getting close to Skyteam airlines. Did that signal that Etihad could join Skyteam.. and even bring Air Berlin with it? Now word is that Etihad will be invited to…
Comment Here And You May Win a Briggs & Riley TORQ Bag
I’m a Briggs & Riley fan, my usual carry on is their Baseline CX bag. They’ve made a splash over the past month with a new bag, and I’ve arranged a giveaway. As I explained earlier today, I’ll have a different Briggs & Riley bag to give away next week as well (different bags for different reasons, they’ve “got your business and leisure covered” as it were). The Briggs & Riley TORQ is a departure from just functional offering a stylish hard shell that I think looks great (although it’s extra-reinforced to prevent damage, so functional too). It has an extra wide wheel base to prevent tipping when overstuffed, and it’s a four wheel spinner for easy transport through the airport. And it comes with Briggs & Riley’s unrivaled lifetime guarantee. This time we’re going…
