Airlines

Category Archives for Airlines.

United Reverses Course on Their Expiring 500 Mile Upgrades

by Gary Leff

united-plane
Jun 01 2007

A couple of weeks ago I noted that effective June 1 United would no longer allow expiring 500 mile upgrades to convert to miles — and was also blocking the early conversion of 500 mile upgades in order to get in under the wire. This was a big blow to international customers who rarely use 500 milers, as well as United frequent flyers in TED cities with no cabin to upgrade into. Responding to complaints and pressure, United has relented and reversed course… sort of. Current Global Services, 1K, and Premier Executive members of Mileage Plus can register by August 15th so that their expiring 500 mile upgrades will continue to convert to miles — as long as the member retains at least Premier Executive status or resides outside of the 50 U.S. states. General…

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Alaska Starts Hawaii Service

by Gary Leff

alaska airlines
Jun 01 2007

It’s been rumored for what seems like forever, and Alaska Airlines has finally announced service to Hawaii.Seattle-Honolulu starts October 12th; Seattle-Lihu’e begins October 28th; Anchorage-Honolulu starts December 9th. They have some great introductory fares of $109+tax each way, but don’t count on finding any seats left (after a day!) at that price. Instead, fares of around $160+tax each way are still available — which is pretty darn good. Alaska will apparently allow use of the Bank of America Visa $50 companion tickets on these routes, and the flights are upgradeable with miles and MVP Gold Guest upgrade certificates. If you have or can score a $50 companion ticket on a $350-ish all-in ticket, and there’s upgrade availability, two people can fly first class from Seattle to Hawaii for $450 or so roundtrip + 40,000 frequent…

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Open Enrollment Returns to British Airways Executive Club

by Gary Leff

british-airways-plane
Jun 01 2007

Nearly four years ago British Airways stopped letting just anyone sign up for their frequent flyer program. Riiff raff, non-full fare paying passengers be gone! They’ve apparently, quietly, reversed course. British Airways is once again letting anyone enroll in their Executive Club program. You no longer need to use this Starwood promo link or similar ones, eg from Diners Club, to sign up for the program.

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United Ends Mileage Conversion of Expiring 500-Mile Upgrades

by Gary Leff

united-plane
May 20 2007

United awards elite flyers (4) 500-mile upgrade certificates for every 10,000 miles flown on United (and United Express and Ted.. rar!.. planes). They also sell ’em. And they can be used to upgrade domestic flights a few days in advance of travel subject to availability, the specific length of time governed by your particular status with United. Currently, if those upgrade certificates expire unused, they each convert to 500 frequent flyer miles. June 1 this practice is no more. I knew about the change back in January when it was posted on Flyertalk and didn’t see it as an especially big deal. It used to be that the old paper 500s converted just to 250 miles, and you had to mail them in to boot. Then when they went electronic it actually improved to the…

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Alaska Makes it Harder to Upgrade with Miles, and Other Annoyances

by Gary Leff

alaska airlines
May 17 2007

It’s been reported on Flyertalk that when Alaska says “Award Levels to Increase”, what they mean is that the 20,000 mile domestic coach award is going to be available only for online redemption. If you have to call to make the booking it will be 25,000 miles. No big deal in my view, 20,000 is already better than almost all other competitors (cf. Frontier Early Returns and their 15,000 mile awards). So Alaska’s gone from the model of rewarding website bookings to making off-line bookings more expensive. I’m naturally not a fan of the change, but I can live with it. But their other change really hits me where it hurts: Effective August 1, 2007, First Class Mileage Redemptive Upgrade award rules will be changing. Redemptive Upgrades awards booked after this date will be available…

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When it pays to make your customers wait

by Gary Leff

british-airways-plane
Apr 15 2007

British Airways is earning a million pounds a year off its pay-service helplines. British Airways has been criticised after it emerged that it is making at least a million pounds a year by charging UK customers to telephone its helplines, .. British customers pay above-national rates to call the 0870 numbers. BA makes about 2p a minute for every call to its bookings, reservations and customer care phone lines – including those dealing with lost luggage. With 15,000 customers calling every day, this works out at just over £1 million a year in revenues if each call is three minutes long. However, so deluged has the call centre been in recent weeks that many customers have been left on hold for well over 20 minutes. British Airways actually makes money by losing your luggage and…

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Alaska Visa Signup Bonus Extended

by Gary Leff

alaska airlines
Apr 14 2007

The current expiration date for the Alaska Airlines 20,000 mile bonus for new Visa signup is April 30. It may be extended — it’s been extended twice already — but if you’re interested, grab it now.20,000 miles is enough to upgrade a transcon roundtrip, plus they throw in a couple of club passes and a $50 companion certificate. Not bad for $75.

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New United Fee Waivers for 1Ks

by Gary Leff

united-plane
Mar 14 2007

As of this past Sunday, United is waiving paper ticket fees, Australian Electronic Travel Authority Fees (which up until recently were free), and the $25 same-day confirmed change fees for 1K, Global Services, and passengers flying on paid premium class ickets. I still miss the days when same-day confirmed changes (not on the day of departure, but well in advance) were no cost to Premier Executive and 1K members. I could book an 8am flight and call up a week later, still long in advance of travel, and change it to a 2pm as long as the same fare class I had ticketed was available on the 2pm (and technically as long as the fare I had purchased wasn’t time or flight specific, but those rules were often ignored). Still, fee waivers are good, and…

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Alaska to Fly to Hawaii?

by Gary Leff

alaska airlines
Mar 11 2007

The Cranky Flier thinks that the end of the Alaska-Hawaiian Airlines frequent flyer program tie-in signals that Alaska is finally planning to offer Hawaii flights itself. Not a crazy bet, and the Alaska 737s can make the trip. Presumably Seattle-Honolulu and possibly Seattle-Maui.This would be good news for lots of flyers, as Alaska partners with American, Continental, Northwest, and Delta (among others) so many mileage program members would have a new option to Hawaii.

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USAirways Quietly Devalues Award Chart

by Gary Leff

usairways
Mar 08 2007

USAirways seems to have updated their award chart with no notice whatsoever. The first item I’ve noticed is that flights between North America and “South and Central Asia” now run 80,000 miles for coach/120,000 for business/160,000 for first class — up from 60/90/120 thousand respectively.This really is a disappointment. I know that USAirways has had a much maligned program, and things have generally changed for the worse since America West took over things. But I was just starting to collect USAirways miles again over the past few months, racking up about 90,000. And now that doesn’t buy my favorite award any longer. Update: This was discussed briefly earlier in the week on Flyertalk. It surprises me that there’s less attention being paid to it than I would have expected. One summary of the changes to…

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