Category Archives for Airlines.
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.
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.
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…
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…
USAirways says it needs $250 million to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which strikes me as too low. Air Wisconsin has proposed investing $125 million. Air Wisconsin operates primarily as a regional feeder for United. USAirways has been extremely successful reducing its labor costs, but it remains unclear how their business model can return them to profitability. Still, any indication of interest in providing exit financing is a strong positive sign for the airline. Meanwhile, Independence Air says that it has successfully renegotiated its aircraft leases. After almost four months of negotiations, Flyi said it will be allowed to terminate leases on 24 of its regional jets — about one-third of its fleet. Those concessions will help cut its aircraft lease payments by $94.5 million over the next two years. Creditors are also allowing the…
Through May 2, America West is offering 1000 bonus miles that count towards elite status when using the ‘bill me later’ feature for the first time for ticket purchases on their website. This is in addition to the one bonus mile per dollar spent when using the feature and the 500 mile online booking bonus. Of course, it’s important to pay prompty as the fees can otherwise be significant.
Northwest Airlines, which operates a hub at Detroit, has been cited for bringing in beer from out of state for service on its flights. Michigan law requires that beer must be purchased from state-licensed wholesalers. (Northwest serves out of state beer on planes only, not in its clubs which are supplied by local distributors.) Karen Wilson, chief executive at Central Distributors of Beer in Romulus, said her company notified the Liquor Control Commission after some of her salespeople noticed pallets of beer bearing a Minnesota distributor’s name were delivered to Northwest at Metro Airport. Central Distributors has the exclusive rights to distribute Budweiser and other Anheuser-Busch beers across much of western Wayne County, including Metro Airport. A liquor commission investigator determined that the airline was illegally importing alcohol into Michigan and was breaking the law…
Three and a half weeks ago I declared that Independence Air had some financial breathing room and that it was safe to make bookings through February. While they’re running some significant sales to promote their new West Coast service which starts in the next few months, I’m not recommending that folks buy those tickets at this point. I’m taking a wait and see attitude with the carrier, and wouldn’t suggest significant advance bookings at this time. One of Independence Air’s 73 planes was repo’d on Sunday. And one of the conditions of their cash infusion from GE was that they successfully renegotiate their aircraft leases. The repossession is a pretty good indication that they weren’t completely successful, and I worry about the carrier’s ability to meet the covenants of its GE loan. United seems to…
About ten days ago, Travelocity displayed a business class fare from several European cities to Shanghai for US$671 on Alitalia. It was an “I” fare, or so the fare rules suggested — special promotional business class fare. Turns out that for the same exact price there was an “L” fare, the least expensive coach fare available. The price was intended for the coach fare, but it displayed with business class fare rules by mistake. When the fare was purchased, it never said there was a lack of availability in I class or that it was being booked in something other than business. But the tickets were sold in L class, and Alitalia had record of a coach purchase. Travelocity was initially unhelpful. Now, this wasn’t a $0 fare. And it wasn’t a $20 fare, like…
Randy Petersen believes that United’s Mileage Plus is worth $2.4 to $2.7 billion and that a public offering could lie in the future.
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 »
