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Category Archives for General.

Why We’re Beating Chase With Sapphire Reserve

sapphire reserve highlights
Mar 03 2018

It was supposedly a card that finally figured out how to attract millennials when the truth is it was just a card that offered more total value than most that had ever come before and whose initial marketing was primarily online so new applicants skewed younger.

The value was so rich that word on the street was Chase didn’t even ever expect to make money on a new cardholder until they held the product for 6 or 7 years.

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American Releases Video to Educate Employees on Their O’Hare Gate Dispute

airport tarmac
Mar 02 2018

United Airlines has 14 more gates than American at Chicago O’Hare. American is opening 5 new gates that they paid for, reducing the gap to 9. But the new O’Hare expansion plan re-opens the gap and returns United to a 14 gate advantage.

American isn’t losing gates. They are complaining that United is gaining gates. But American is refusing to sign a new lease under these terms.

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60,000 Mile Signup Offer for Avianca Visa

avianca visa
Feb 25 2018

The LifeMiles credit cards are promoting a special offer. Avianca’s LifeMiles is a Star Alliance frequent flyer program, you can use the miles on United, Lufthansa and more.

The website shows offers of 20,000 and 30,000 mile signup bonuses. However with promo code LM17WB those become 40,000 and 60,000 mile offers instead. There’s no minimum spend requirement, bonuses are awarded after one purchase.

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Earn 30 Miles Per Dollar This Valentine’s Day

smurfs walking around cake
Feb 05 2018

Every Valentine’s Day shopping portal offers get pretty big for Valentine’s-related gifts like flowers. It’s been true almost forever.

The usual ‘big boost’ is earning 30 miles per dollar, which is a pretty good rebate for miles often worth about 1.5 cents apiece (a 45% rebate on the base price of flowers, but not really that big when you factor shipping which doesn’t earn miles).

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Crisis Deepening in the Maldives

road going to houses over water
Feb 05 2018

Maldives President Abdulla Yameen was elected in 2013, and is a member of the Maldivian Democratic Party. His half brother Maumoon Gayoom ruled the country prior to the nation’s first democratic elections in 2008.

The country’s first elected President Mohamed Nasheed was forced to resign in what amounted to a coup in 2012. The new government, representing interests fro the old regime, had him tried and convicted on terrorism charges.
The nation’s Supreme Court threw out those charges last week. The court also ordered the release of other opposition lawmakers who were being held.

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Delta Attacks Boeing as an “Arms Dealer” to Gulf Airlines

Jan 29 2018

This week’s Airline Weekly (subscription only) interviews Delta CEO Ed Bastian. Delta doesn’t order new Boeing aircraft, but argues that foreign competition is bad for US jobs.

Despite a path towards declaring victory and going home in their fight against Gulf airline rivals, Bastian pushes back on criticisms over Delta’s purchase of subsidized Bombardier C-series jets by calling out Boeing for their willingness to sell planes to the Gulf carriers.

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How the Government Shut Down Could Make Air Travel Better

Jan 20 2018

While a government shut down doesn’t interfere with air traffic control and TSA’s front line screeners — both considered essential — that the FAA’s registration office closes and that could delay new aircraft deliveries.

That would delay American Airlines taking delivery of more Boeing 737 MAX aircraft with just 30 inches between seats, no seat back video, and shrunken lavatories that let the airline squeeze in an extra row of seats.

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Incredible Cabin Video as American Passengers Told to Brace for Emergency Landing

Jan 18 2018

This week was the anniversary of the US Airways 1549 ‘Miracle on the Hudson’. When imagining a plane full of passengers bracing for impact it’s hard not to think about the scene inside that plane from Sully whose dramatization of that flight made the entire movie.

Yesterday an American Airlines flight from Phoenix to Dallas Fort-Worth operated by a Mesa CRJ-900 made an emergency landing and video from inside the cabin of passengers being told to brace and preparing to evacuate is incredible.

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