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.
Star Alliance member TAP Air Portugal is putting cash and points redemptions on sale so that the miles portion of a one way trip is just two miles. This is available for Friday, November 6 long haul bookings only but you can fly next year.
A fight broke out at the Las Vegas airport on Wednesday. They’re near slot machines, and not a gate, so it doesn’t appear to be passengers losing it over their flight. And there’s no reason to suspect it’s election-related.
What’s amazing is that there are actually two fights and they’re happening simultaneously beside each other. First you see a passenger in green going ‘fists of fury’ on a passenger dressed in brown, but notice to the right that there’s another group – a passenger in a black and red shirt doing his best Rowdy Roddy Piper on another passenger in all-black.
A year ago United Airlines offered a 10% discount to 18-22 year olds who booked through the United mobile app. At the time I put this as “older people pay more” while many readers didn’t feel this was a fair characterization. Now a court will decide.
Alaska Airlines sent out a program update to Mileage Plan members informing that “Beginning April 1, 2021, Emirates will no longer allow partner access to First Class award bookings.”
It’s possible that this restriction – no first class awards with partner miles – is for Alaska Airlines only. However that’s not what this update says.
Every year, for many years – perhaps two decades – American Airlines offers the opportunity to buy status to members who haven’t quite requalified, and in recent years has offered an opportunity to buy up to the next level as well.
The offer is back this year, at around the same time, but just feels different. Didn’t requalifying for status based on your flying this year? Your status is being extended anyway. So the only relevant question is whether you want to buy up to a higher level.
Conventional wisdom was that airlines would get a second bailout. J.P. Morgan analysts said last week it’s a question of when, not if. The drive for a bailout was led by labor, and their candidate is increasingly looking to have won the Presidency. But a bailout for airlines – and other sectors of the travel industry – is now far less likely.
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.
Even if there’s an emergency use authorization for a vaccine in the U.S. in December it’s likely late in the second quarter before it’s available for most Americans. Will you wait until June for a vaccine, when you can get one somewhere else in the world if you have the ability to travel and the money to buy one? Would you take a trip to Dubai to get a vaccine six months earlier?
Andrew Kunesh writes at The Points Guy website that a second airline bailout may mean frequent flyer program devaluations, and calls for legislation providing for the bailout to require airlines “not to devalue their loyalty programs until government funds are paid back.”
However there’s no fundamental reason that a bailout means loyalty program devaluation, any such restrictions are likely to be toothless in any case, and aren’t going to make it to the top of any legislator’s or regulator’s agenda.
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 »
