Traditionally non-stop cross country flights in premium cabins are tough to get but that is a lot of premium cabin inventory at a time that business travelers aren’t flying. Or – perhaps this is an early mistake on United’s part that won’t last. But every single day between the February 1 start of service and the end of the airline schedule 11 months from now has numerous business class saver award seats open.
My bet is that summer 2021 is going to see a lot of travel, and that fall 2021 is going to look a lot more like normal life than the last 8 months has. Uncertainty is likely still to prevail in the first quarter of 2021, so fully flexible rates matter a great deal. It makes sense to try to get customers to lock in plans early on the chance they travel. Although these days most people are booking late, even when terms are flexible.
American Airlines announced this morning that they’ll no longer charge telephone booking fees on award tickets, and no longer charge fees to cancel an award ticket and redeposit miles into a member’s account. Those are both real improvements to the program. They are also extending their pause in mileage expiration through June 30, 2021.
Jackson Hole, Wyoming is going to close its airport from April 2022 through June 2022 for runway reconstruction. No commercial or private air traffic will be permitted.
While Jackson Hole isn’t heavily populated, it’s home to a number of resorts for people looking to enjoy the incredibly scenery – places like Amangani, Teton Mountain Lodge and the Four Seasons. June is the start of peak season, though May is actually a lovely time to visit most years. The airport closure will affect this, as the next-closest commercial air option is nearly two hours away.
One Spirit Airlines flight attendant went on a bizarre rant, pre-emptively warning passengers about the consequences of bad behavior – including failure to wear masks – by letting everyone in the cabin know that they are a government official, commercial aircraft are government property, and they can write anyone up that they want simply for acting out of character. That comes with 20 years (or life!) in prison and a $250,000 fine.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
There was a lot of excitement recently over the ability to buy Alaska Airlines gift cards at a 10% discount via Costco ($500 gift card for $450). Delta Air Lines is offering a 10% bonus but there’s something unique about the bonus. It isn’t an electronic gift card. Instead it’s “a limited-edition $50 Delta Gift Card made from a retired DC-9 aircraft“
This will give United 11 open clubs. They’ll also be offering “more pre-packaged fresh food items” at Denver, Chicago and Honolulu “including breakfast partfaits, sandwiches, wraps, salads, desserts…”
One time passes valid for a year are currently discounted to $39 rather than $59.
Chase is running 30% a transfer bonus from Ultimate Rewards to British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus through December 9, 2020. Every 1000 Chase points becomes 1300 points in the destination program, and that bonus posts along with the transfer (usually immediately).
Stuck with huge inventory that airlines weren’t buying during the pandemic, the small business that supplies first class nuts to United and American was on the verge of going under. The owner said they had “50,000 pounds of nuts American Airlines and United didn’t want!”
Word got out where to buy the nut mixes and grounded frequent flyers bought them all!
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
