Airlines

Category Archives for Airlines.

Continental Rumors from their Top Brass’ Meeting with Frequent Flyers

by Gary Leff on April 3, 2005

Apr 03 2005

Continental hosted a gathering in Houston for a large group of Flyertalkers over the past weekend. They gave tours, sprung for meals, and offered access to top brass. I’m not much of a Continental flyer, so I didn’t attend, but reports from the event (as posted on Flyertalk.com) are: Larry Kellner’s presentation offered: The number of first class seats in Continental’s fleet is dropping 3% next year. Continental’s 737-500’s are being reconfigured to have eight rather than the current ten first class seats, accounting for this difference. There were 4.4% more coach awards redeemed and 38% more BusinessFirst awards redeemed in 2004 compared to 2003. (This doesn’t speak to Standard versus EasyPass point levels, nor to availability – increased standard redemptions may come out of a stable pool meaning that redemption was in fact more…

EVA Offers Online Meal Selection

by Gary Leff on April 2, 2005

Apr 02 2005

EVA is introducing online meal selection for premium class passengers, and throwing in 500 bonus miles for using the feature by September 30. “The option to pre-select from a menu of delicious main courses adds to the comfort and convenience of an already exceptional inflight experience,” said K.W. Nieh, Executive Vice President, EVA Air. “EVA’s goal is to continually find new ways to upgrade and enhance services, and we believe this new feature is one our passengers will especially appreciate.” EVA is making its online pre-selection process more delicious by posting mouth- watering pictures with descriptions of the tasty entrée choices. Passengers outbound from Taiwan will have a wider selection of menu choices. But airport handling restrictions prevent EVA from offering this service for destinations like Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Hanoi, Phnom Penh, Paris,…

Amusingly Named Mileage Offer

by Gary Leff on March 27, 2005

Mar 27 2005

One of the more amusingly named mileage offers (via Free Frequent Flyer Miles) has to be The Danny Schurman Homeselling System:This written guarantee will give you the assurance that if your home doesn’t sell within 120 days, we will give you up to 2500 Airmiles. Gary Steiger says these are Alaska miles and wonders what the phrase up to is doing there. This may be of limited interest to those readers in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada.

Squeezing the Profit Margins of Frequent Flyer Programs

by Gary Leff on March 22, 2005

Mar 22 2005

Randy Petersen points out that airlines are booking balance sheet adjustments to increase their expected liability for their frequent flyer programs. When an award is redeemed, frequent flyer programs recognize revenue from mileage they’ve sold and they have to pay for the awards that are claimed. A domestic saver award might entail a frequent flyer program ‘buying’ a seat from the airline for $25. A partner award is more expense, and an ‘anytime’ award (that generally requires about twice the number of miles to redeems) is more expensive still. Frequent flyer programs are apparently seeing greater redemption of anytime and partner awards than past experience would predict, so they have to acknowledge an increased future liability. Randy believes this phenomenon is good for members of frequent flyer programs, because it illustrates the value of partner…

The TSA: Mend it or end it?

by Gary Leff on March 22, 2005

Mar 22 2005

Bob Poole wants to mend the TSA, Jim Harper wants to end it in a debate on transportation security. Some important points from Poole, the defender of government’s role in aviation security in this debate:Against a comprehensive terrorist threat whose true dimensions are necessarily unknown, a free and open society has endless points of vulnerability. Attempting to “harden” all likely targets is a losing strategy—and a recipe for bankruptcy. …The single most effective thing that’s been done in this regard is to retrofit much stronger cockpit doors, to deny terrorists access to pilots and controls should they manage to get on board. But the rest of aviation security policy is an inconsistent mix of overkill and underprotection. Mandating 100 percent inspection of checked bags for explosives, but not of carry-on bags, makes no sense. Neither…

Airfares Aren’t Getting Simpler

by Gary Leff on March 7, 2005

Mar 07 2005

Delta introduced their ‘SimpliFares’ intitiative on January 4th and their efforts were widely matched across the country. Though airfares have dropped since the end of 2004, the number of fare basis codes on an average route has increased by nearly a third.

Alaska Airlines Transfer Bonus

by Gary Leff on March 2, 2005

Mar 02 2005

Points.com is offering double miles for any points exchange into Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan through March 31. Incidentally, the rumor is that Alaska will be introducing a new top tier to its elite level program. Details on Platinum status are sketchy at this point.

America West Flight Fund Offers Sydney Options

by Gary Leff on March 2, 2005

Mar 02 2005

When I read the headline in the Phoenix Business Journal, “America West adds Australia to frequent flyer program,” I assumed that America West must have inked a deal with Qantas. Nope. They’ve expanded their partnership with Hawaiian Airlines to include Hawaiian’s service to Sydney via Honolulu. Oh well, any new award redemption option is a good thing.

Losses losses everywhere

by Gary Leff on February 28, 2005

Feb 28 2005

Just last week Independence Air said that its fourth quarter results would be ‘slightly better’ than the $82.7 million that it lost in the fourth quarter. I was skeptical, pointing out that the emphasis would no doubt be placed on ‘slightly’. Turns out that the results were worse: a fourth quarter loss of $86 million — and they’re still figuring out the accounting, so this may change. Meanwhile, United lost $326 million in January. After two years of bankruptcy protection they still haven’t figured out a viable business model. It seems the only ones making money on the airline are the consultants UAL’s professional payments alone totaled more than $13 million in January, including $1.4 million to consulting firm KPMG LLP; $2.4 million to Kirkland & Ellis LLP, the law firm that serves as United’s…

Taking Too Long to Post Points

by Gary Leff on February 23, 2005

Feb 23 2005

Chris Elliott writes in the New York Times that miles are taking longer than ever to post to frequent flyer accounts. That hasn’t been my experience, at least as a general rule. Airlines are getting better at tracking miles for flights. If a frequent flyer number is entered into a reservation in advance, it’s pretty much a certainty that the miles will post. Problems come in when airport agents load the numbers incorrectly, and at times when trying to credit miles to a partner airline’s program. Delta, flagged by the article as second-worst for posting miles, actually credits member accounts before their flights even lands. Delta’s technology in this area is unmatched. The real problem comes in with mileage earning partners. As the article observes, rental car companies are notorious for lags and gaps in…