News and notes from around the interweb: Doug Parker says he’s open to re-thinking American’s new livery and branding. (HT: Milepoint) Folks burning their HHonors points before the massive devaluation a few hours from now! Hilton resorts in the Maldives have a new sea plane terminal lounge in the Maldives. (HT: Teja P in the VFTW comments) British Airways is closing its Jacksonville, Florida call center by the end of the year. Anyone that’s ever called there knows wherever their calls are routed going forward, service can only get better. I’ve never understood how people who live in Florida could be so unhappy. With 280 jobs affected, I now understand how I could hang up, call back, and get the same person so frequently. I don’t revel in anyone losing their jobs, but consolidating seems…
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Return to the Maldives: New York JFK – Abu Dhabi, Etihad First Class
Trip Report Index: Introducing and Strategy New York JFK – Abu Dhabi, Etihad First Class Park Hyatt Dubai Touring the Burj al Arab Tea at the Burj al Arab Abu Dhabi – Male, Etihad Business Class Male – Kaadedhdhoo, Maldivian and Transfer to the Park Hyatt Park Hyatt Hadahaa Maldives Kooddoo-Male-Abu Dhabi, Maldivian and Etihad Business Class Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi – Dusseldorf – London, Etihad First Class and British Airways Club Europe London Heathrow – San Francisco, British Airways New First Class After checking in for my Etihad flight — a bit of a process in and of itself because the check-in counters are roped off and there’s a staff member there to keep people away who don’t belong, though I didn’t have to show him an itinerary to get through.. and…
American Express Bluebird Becomes a Real Checking Account (Get Your Limited Time Free Checks Now)
I’ve only known American Express’ BlueBird product as a great way of earning points, and especially meeting minimum spend requirements for credit card signup bonuses — buy Vanilla Reload cards (my local CVS still stocks them and takes credit cards) at $3.95 per $500, load the money onto the Bluebird card, then either have Bluebird make a payment to my credit card or transfer the funds back to my bank account. But that’s not really the purpose on Bluebird, and you can get a clue for what it actually is by noting that it was launched in partnership with Wal-mart. It’s a fabulous product for the unbanked. It started out as a prepaid American Express debit card that also served many of the functions of an online checking account. You could get cash from an…
Deep Discount Award Tickets For Flying Around Southeast Asia
Reader Troy R. passes along a tip that I think I noticed back in November but never fully internalized the significance of. He was reading my trip report on burning Hilton HHonors points at the Conrad Koh Samui — one of the really aspirational properties in the Hilton portfolio, and a great redemption value at 50,000 points per night through March 28 when the bottom falls out of the best redemptions in the Hilton program (this property becomes 95,000 points per night for 10 months of the year). All the rooms at the resort are standalone ocean villas with private pools. The food and service are good. The two downsides I note are that the hills are such that you have to take golf carts pretty much everywhere (golf carts are always at the ready…
First Class “Used to Be a Better Meal, Now It’s a Better Life”
In the film Jerry Maguire, Renee Zellweger looks forward from the coach cabin and tells her son, ” First class, that’s what’s wrong. It used to be a better meal, now it’s a better life.” Except… she’s flying domestically and so that statement hardly seems true at all. Jeff Martin passes along an Atlanta Journal Constitution piece on Delta’s investments in their premium cabin product that can’t resist the urge to frame the issue as the haves and have nots. Over the years, airlines have been squeezing more seats into the back of the plane and have removed some extras like free checked bags and meals. Now, much of their attention is on ever-more luxurious seats and amenities for those up front, where the profits are. The comparison really doesn’t hold water at all. Coach…
Priority Club Changing its Name But Not Becoming Good
Priority Club is renaming itself IHG Rewards Club with some program changes coming in July. They’re announcing some new benefits, though we don’t yet know full details. Free internet for elites in July and all members in 2014. Other chains already offer elites free internet. More Priority Club hotels offered it to everyone to begin with, and so they were slow to make this an elite benefit. This is good but incremental at best. (Free internet for non-elites is an interesting development, their press release claims they’re the first loyalty program ever to offer this which is incorrect — I believe the title of first belongs to the old Wyndham ByRequest program.) Fast track to elite status “when you stay in more than two” of their brands. Details not yet released, if this is just…
Bits ‘n Pieces for March 25, 2013
News and notes from around the interweb: PointBreaks are out! PointBreaks are out! Writing about this is all the rage but it’s getting very little ink from me. Priority Club discounts some properties down to 5000 points for a room night. You have to act fast because while they’re booking out three months, the best hotels get pulled quickly. And ‘best’ is a bit of a stretch, they rarely offer hotels I actually want to stay in as part of this promotion. Earlier on there would be some nice Intercontinentals. Now, if I happen to search for a hotel and it comes up at 5000 points that’s awesome. I win. But there aren’t any hotels in the new batch I would go out of my way to plan a trip for, even at such a…
Can Your Miles Be Taken Away When You Cancel a Credit Card?
That’s a common misconception that’s been floating around for years, and is occasionally fed by poorly informed customer service agents for credit card companies (or the occasional agent who make win points for preventing you from cancelling and who resorts to unscrupulous tactics as a result). A former boss emailed me about 10 days back, Tried to cancel my American Airlines credit card — nowhere near the Gary Leff quarterly churn, but trying to do better than once a decade — and the rep told me I’ll lose the miles I’ve earned with it once I’ve gone without using the card for 18 months. Does that sound right? Of course, American Airlines miles will be forfeit after 18 months of inactivity. To keep an AAdvantage account active, and continue to extend the life of your…
The Best Mileage Credit Card for Beginners
Key Link: Chase Sapphire Preferred If you’re already an expert, stop reading this post now. You already know everything in it, and I don’t want you to waste your time. You won’t be able to get your 45 seconds back. If you have 6 or more credit cards open, this post is not for you. When I’m asked for frequent flyer advice, I have to resist the temptation to give an oral dissertation defense. I can easily run off at the mouth. I tend to be really quite earnest and feel like it’s important to qualify, to offer precise recommendations. But too much advice can be overwhelming. It’s probably why many of the people I work with think that this ‘crazy frequent flyer thing’ (jetting off in premium cabins around the world multiple times a…
Has American Raised the Price of its Choice Plus Fares — By a Lot?
Back in December American Airlines revamped their fares structure to offer fares that included bundled services and benefits. There are now three ‘categories’ of fares — outside of premium fares — at American: CHOICE: these are akin to American’s current fares. They’re the lowest price, come with a change fee, and continue to offer full mileage accrual. They haven’t taken anything away at this fare level. CHOICE ESSENTIAL: No change fees (although you’d still pay any difference in fare when making changes), one included checked bag, and group 1 boarding(+$68) CHOICE PLUS: All of the items included with Choice Essential plus 50% bonus miles, no fee same-day changes, no fee same-day standby, a premium beverage onboard (+$88) Except… Pizza In Motion discovered that the official line about fixed pricing seemed not to be quite true.…
