News and Notes from Around the Interweb: Standard domestic airline change fees are now $200: On April 21, United upped their change fees by $50. US Airways matched 3 days later. Then on April 30 it was Delta’s turn, at which point it was a foregone conclusion that American would make theirs $200 as well.. which they did on May 1. The price of buying up to a Choice Essential fare on American which includes a $0 change fee remains unchanged at $68. Homeless Shelter Makes Tripadvisor’s Top 100 Hotels in the U.K.: I assume that the property was so highly ranked because it serves Tuscan whole milk as part of its complimentary breakfast. Car service discount: I’ve become a much bigger fan of Uber, with its on demand mobile app (a couple taps on…
About Gary Leff
Preparing for the Dreaded American Express Financial Review
American Express ‘financial reviews’ send shudders down the spines of frequent flyers (and Amex cardholders) everywhere. But in my opinion they shouldn’t. So I’m going to explain what a financial review is, what we know about what triggers a financial review, and why financial reviews don’t worry me a bit. Your opinion may differ on whether these are a big deal — and that’s fair — so hopefully this explanation helps you prepare in case you’re faced with one. This past weekend at Frequent Traveler University I answered an audience question, and Frequent Miler offered by way of followup that I should highlight the risk of an American Express Financial Review as part of my answer. I did, because I agree it’s something that is helpful for cardholders to understand — even if it doesn’t…
Badges? Badges? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Security
What I’ve seen get the most attention is that the Chief Operating Officer of American’s regional carrier, American Eagle, used his security badge to bring his wife airside at DFW airport. This was apparently one of about 140 such violations by a variety of individuals at the airport over the past two years. But what the rest of the reporting uncovers seems far more shocking to me. DFW police caught a TSA supervisor taking another worker through an employee door. Officers seized a badge from a Federal Aviation Administration manager caught using it to board a flight for personal reasons. And police even stopped an analyst who works for the DFW airport board, the agency that issues the security badges, as she escorted her husband through an employee door to board a flight. “The vast…
Reader Question: Booking Europe With Low Fuel Surcharges or Domestic US Flights With British Airways Points
Reader M.K. asks, Dear Gary, I have 161,878 BA Avios miles, built up almost entirely by getting the BA credit card, which we have since relinquished. The miles expire … this year. [We] are simply not going to be able to go to England this year (and anyway, we are repelled by the gasoline surcharges). But I think we can use the points on American Airlines. I have gone to the site and punched in Vancouver from any WAS airport, anytime in July. The BA web site never shows any availability. I cannot believe there is NO availability. Is there any way to check this out? First, there are ways to get to Europe without exorbitant fuel surcharges. flights on British Airways’ oneworld partner Air Berlin have no fuel surcharges Aer Lingus is a British…
100% Bonus on Purchased US Airways Miles is Back for May
US Airways is running tiered bonuses for mileage purchases through May 31. Buy/gift 5,000 – 9,999 miles, get a 25% bonus Buy/gift 10,000 – 19,999 miles, get a 50% bonus Buy/gift 20,000 – 29,999 miles, get a 75% bonus Buy/gift 30,000 – 50,000 miles, get a 100% bonus For purchases of 50,000 miles you get 50,000 bonus miles, and your 100,000 miles cost you 1.88 cents per mile. (Incidentally, through May 17 American will sell you miles at 2 cents apiece.) US Airways has been dubbed the ‘consolidator of Star Alliance premium class seats’ 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…
New Mileage Earning Restrictions on BankDirect Checking Accounts
I’ve been a BankDirect customer, earning American Airlines miles, since July 2003. In a low interest rate environment, the return to a mileage checking account turns out to be pretty good. I don’t use it as an alternative to investing but since I have fairly large business expenses that get reimbursed, I deposit those checks in my account and they sit for a month before I pay off my credit card — and I earn plenty of miles. The Durbin Amendment made checking accounts less profitable for banks and BankDirect responded by instituting a $12 per month fee on all accounts, something you can’t avoid with direct deposits or minimum balances. So at $144 a year, the account makes the most sense for generous signup bonuses in the first year, and then only if you…
Why the President is Wrong About the Skytrax World Airport Awards and the Need for Infrastructure Spending
A week and a half ago I reflexively dismissed the Skytrax World Airport Awards being discussed in frequent flyer forums, because it was downright silly. I didn’t even blog about it at the time. Only one airport in the top five is outside of Asia, and that’s Amsterdam’s Schiphol. The top five results are reasonable, Singapore and Seoul probably do have the best airports. But they’re major international connecting hubs and they are new facilities which didn’t face substantial red tape (compared to American counterparts) in their development. Beijing Capital was built in less time than an environmental impact study usually takes. There’s plenty that’s screwy about the study, too. London’s Heathrow comes in at number 10. Surely respondents are just thinking about terminal 5 there. I recently flew British Airways Dusseldorf – London –…
1000 Free Points for Joining Hilton HHonors
There’s a Russian offer for Aeroflot members that gives new members 1000 points for joining the Hilton HHonors program by July 31. Google Chrome will happily translate the page from Russian into your preferred language. And once you sign up you can change your earnings preference away from Aeroflot miles and to whatever you wish (such as bonus HHonors points, or miles in another program). (HT: Frequent Flyer Bonuses)
Household Income Will Be Permitted Again on Credit Card Applications
When the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act (“CARD Act”) was passed, it had the unintended (though entirely predicted in advance) consequence of shutting stay at home spouses out of getting their own credit. It required that each borrower be evaluated on their own ability to repay, and as a consequence credit card companies no longer asked for household income on applications but instead asked for personal income. Stay-at-home moms couldn’t get their own credit cards but had to rely on their husbands, they couldn’t build their own credit, the law carried the potential to re-institutionalize financial subjugation in such relationships. The New York Times is reporting that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has published revised regulations which “lets spouses and unmarried partners who are 21 or older and don’t work outside the home,…
American Airlines Bankruptcy Judge Dismisses Frequent Flyer Lawsuit Over “Old” Miles
Last summer, American informed its frequent flyers who still had old (pre-July 1989) miles that those miles would be ‘converted’ into ‘new miles’ with a 25% bonus on November 1. Some members sued over the changes, since those old miles were never supposed to expire and American had agreed to continue to honor the award chart that was then in effect. The American Airlines bankruptcy judge dismissed the lawsuit over the conversion of old miles. The Supreme Court ruled in American Airlines vs. Wolens that consumers could sue an airline in state court for breach of contract. In that case, American Airlines frequent flyers sued the airline over July 1989 changes that imposed capacity controls and blackout dates on awards, and implemented mileage expiration rules. The American AAdvantage terms and condition stated that the airline…
