Category Archives for General.
No-frills cheap fares are no longer limited to domestic markets where Spirit and Allegiant fly. With the introduction of low cost carriers across the Atlantic — Norwegian and Wow Air — combined with softening economic conditions, fear, and overcapacity we’re seeing frequent deep discounts to travel the world.
Between January and March Wow Air has roundtrips between New York and airports in London, Paris, and Amsterdam starting at $299 roundtrip.
Etihad Aviation Group CEO James Hogan says loads on their US flights are “acceptable” but “there’s pressure on yield” (prices are too low). Since they look to fly to gateways and leverage the networks of their partner airlines, he doesn’t see much more US expansion “Maybe one more city. That’s it”
Hogan also offers this assessment of their premium The Residence product on their Airbus A380s which fly from Abu Dhabo to New York, London, Mumbai, Sydney and Melbourne:
Delta’s operations suffered a significant IT lapse today. Ultimately hundreds of flights were cancelled and many more than that were delayed inconveniencing travelers across the globe.
While Delta’s CEO recorded an apology video and the airline updated its flight cancellation stats online throughout the day, it should have been more forthcoming with its customers about what happened (not started the day deflecting blame) and should have been more flexible with its customers as well (a travel waiver that extended to customers scheduled to fly on Tuesday, with a longer period in which to rebook travel).
This is a really big deal, and the most exciting new card offer I’ve seen in awhile. Chase has a brand new offer for the Ritz-Carlton Rewards® Credit Card which is now only the second Visa Infinite card in the country.
The signup bonus lets you earn 3 free nights at Ritz-Carlton hotels. And the card benefits include club lounge upgrades, Gold elite status, lounge access, and fee credits.
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.
American Airlines fees for overweight bags can be as much as $450 between the US and Asia.
The standard weight limit is 50 pounds. Between 51 and 70 pounds is $100 per bag. But once you get over 70 pounds things get really expensive.
Delta’s IT systems went down overnight. Delta couldn’t send out flights that had boarded presumably because they couldn’t push flight plans or calculate required fuel. They couldn’t check passengers in for new flights. Customer service lines started snaking around airports.
IT staff everywhere no doubt had their emergency phones ringing and those on site furiously turned the power off and on hoping that a reboot would fix things.
Hyatt Gold Passport is the most valuable hotel program that flexible bank points can be transferred into. That’s true because while a single Starpoint is worth more than a single Hyatt point, it takes 3 American Express Membership Rewards points to get one Starwood point and Chase points actually transfer one-to-one into Hyatt. That makes Hyatt an extremely useful partner.
With loyalty programs regularly offering less value for their points, I’m putting together this series with background, tips, and tricks for frequent flyer programs programs whose points can be very useful to you and that you can earn easily by transferring in from bank rewards currencies.
United and Air Canada have fares between Boston and Ireland — either Dublin or Shannon — from $385 roundtrip.
Fares are available for outbound travel September 1 through October 31, and again April 1 through June 15. A Saturday night stay is required, and there’s a $300 change fee.
Hotel mergers may still just be getting started. IHG bought Kimpton in a deal that was announced less than 2 years ago. Fairmont went to Accor last December. Starwood went to Marriott after Chinese insurer Anbang dropped out of the bidding.
But the appetite for hotel mergers is hardly satisfied.
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 »
