News and notes from around the interweb:
- Barclays Emirates card bonuses have increased to 50,000 and 60,000 points. The cards pair well for those who are looking to earn elite status, and the initial bonus is nice, bear in mind that Chase, Amex, and Capital One points all transfer to Emirates.
- American, united, and Alaska shopping portals all offering 500 bonus miles after $150 spend
- Anchorage airport wants to be a hub for travel between Europe and Asia (HT: @zero_coupon)
- Marriott doubling its portfolio of all-inclusive hotels
- Alaska Airlines is ‘thankful’ it offers an inferior first class seat on cross country flights there aren’t many business travelers paying the premium for the extra space consumed by lie flat.
- Delta is setting up vaccine clinics for employees so far just in Atlanta and restricted to those eligible under Georgia guidelines, but expanding to some other hubs.
- The electric vehicle charging problem.
Delta’s first class is currently the most inferior with their pathetic food and beverage service right now. Saying coffee is dangerous at 6AM but they’ll serve you a can of beer. Would love to see a blog post about this hypocritical nonsense trying to use COVID as an excuse for cost cutting.
Fascinating video on electric vehicle considerations and charging challenges. Thanks.
I am an Alaska fan. Sure, I love lie-flat seating. I am elite on AA and can go that way if I need to, but even as Ex Plat on AA and Gold on Alaska, not highest tier, I get upgraded more on Alaska. Great service. Great phone support.
And let’s face it, they are all 737 other than some inherited Virgin America planes. How many 737 size planes has anyone seen with lie flat???? This makes their turning over flights simpler, and now the AA partnership adds other plane configurations, AA gets the Alaska connection more firmly formed. All good.
I actually like Alaska’s first class seats. Nice, soft, and cushy — not lie-flat, obviously, but very comfortable for a long flight.
Is the Emirates Premium Master Card with a Fee of $499.00 worth it? I don’t know, maybe for people that work in Dubai and go back Home 3-4 times a year.