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…
About Gary Leff
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.…
Making the Most Out of (Devaluing?) Membership Rewards Points
Ronald A. asks how to get the most out of Membership Rewards points, in light of recent changes to their program — no more bonus to pay for airline tickets directly with points (which was never a good value to begin with), fewer transfer bonuses in the past, and partners that mostly add fuel surcharges onto awards. They’ve also eliminated their shopping portal that allowed accumulation of Membership Rewards points for online purchases. I’ve written frequently in the past that the biggest devaluations to Membership Rewards have come from external changes rather than changes to Membership Rewards itself — Aeroplan gutting its award chart and adding furcharges to most partners British Airways gutting its award chart for long haul/connections ANA adding fuel surcharges onto Virgin Atlantic awards Singapore Airlines increasing award chart pricing Loss of…
Considering My Next Big Award Redemption.. 3 First Class Products in One Easy to Book Award
I’ve discussed at length the American AAdvantage distance-based oneworld awards (now called oneworld explorer awards) in the past. In addition to the ‘normal’ way you can book an award, with the mileage cost based on the ‘region’ you start from and end in (which is subject to all sorts of rules, like you can’t fly from North America to Asia via Europe, there has to be a published fare between your starting and ending cities, etc) American will allow you to base the mileage cost of your award based on the distance that you fly as long as you only fly on oneworld airlines (and not their other partners like Alaska Airlines or Etihad) and fly on at least two different oneworld airlines (not counting American). The addition of Malaysia Airlines into oneworld has me…
Ordering Pizza to the Plane During a Ground Delay
Via sobore on Milepoint, a Delta flight from Boston to Atlanta had to divert to Knoxville — and while on the ground there they catered with a delivery of 60 pizzas. Michele Carson-Vaughn, Delta’s director of field services for the Southeast, told WXIA-TV that it was the Atlanta-based airline’s Knoxville station manager who ordered the pizzas after the plane had been stranded for three hours, reports Atlanta Business Chronicle broadcast partner WXIA-TV. “He called the pizza place and said I need 60 pizzas as soon as possible and brought them in,” Carson-Vaughn told the station. The manager’s name was not disclosed. She told the station that Delta worked with the Transportation Security Administration to get security clearance for the pizza deliveries. The pizzas had to be delivered by police car, rather than allowing the pizza…
Return to the Maldives on Miles: Etihad and British Airways First Class and Tour of Park Hyatts
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 One of the things I really like about American AAdvantage is that they’re generally the best program for securing international first class awards. They have a litany of partners both inside oneworld and outside of oneworld that make this possible – British Airways (albeit with fuel surcharges), Qantas (not nearly…
Bits ‘n Pieces for March 23, 2013
News and Notes from Around the Interweb: The American/US Airways “Integration Management Office” now has full-time team members appointed. It can be tough to read tea leaves at this stage of the merger process, with very few things about a merged carrier actually decided (though Doug Parker has intimated on multiple occasions that they’re likely to keep the American Airlines computer systems — a huge plus for travelers). But I don’t like that they’ve appointed US Airways’ Senior Vice President of Customer Experience to a key integration role for the new combined carrier… Point me to the Plane got word from Alaska Airlines that the new one-way awards and mixed partner awards that Mileage Plan is offering will soon extend beyond American and Delta to select other partners. This is a gradual rollout, and looks…
