A Trick To Save 10,000 – 15,000 Miles Each Way When Booking Business Class Awards

by Gary Leff

May 18 2024

The quirk is that when you book a business class award, and add a connection in economy, sometimes the price of the award drops.

Even better you don’t need to do this as a throwaway ticket without checking bags. Alaska Airlines offers one-way awards with a free stopover. So book your business class ticket to Europe and add a one-way coach flight to another destination for later. You should do this anyway any time you’re booking an award since it’s a free extra trip. Except here it’s negative-priced.

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Wide Open Lie Flat Business Class Award Space To Europe For Just 35,000 Miles

by Gary Leff

May 18 2024

I actually do not think this pricing is a mistake. LifeMiles is aggressive in managing its pricing. There are some awards you’ll find with other Star Alliance frequent flyer programs that LifeMiles won’t show availability for. That’s intentional. When an award is too expensive for their pricing, LifeMiles doesn’t let you book it. But they also drop their pricing below award chart pricing with some regularity and this too has been intentional.

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Frontier Airlines Announces ‘The New Frontier’ With No Change Fees And Premium Upgrades

by Gary Leff

May 17 2024

CEO Barry Biffle has been willing to try a lot of things, and it’s interesting to watch. He’s also a great marketer. He was the marketing mind at Spirit Airlines back when their ads went viral for having the sense of humor of a 13-year old boy.

Now the airline says it is eliminating change fees on most fares, and that is… sort of true?

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Ritz-Carlton Horror Stories: Why Is This Faux Luxury Brand So Awful?

by Gary Leff

May 17 2024

I was at the Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman when I first coined the term “resort factory.” There were about several rows of beach chairs, and if you didn’t place a book on a chair by 8 a.m. you’d find yourself four rows back from the beach.

Staff turned my table at breakfast, seating someone else, while I was up at the buffet. And housekeeping entered the room without knocking while the Do Not Disturb sign was on my door. That was probably my… best Ritz-Carlton stay.

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REAL ID Act: 20 Years Of Delays – Why 2025 Won’t Be Any Different

by Gary Leff

May 16 2024

The ‘Real ID Act’ was passed in 2005, requiring enhanced security measures for people to prove their identity in order to get drivers licenses. Nineteen years later it’s never been implemented. Now TSA says they’ll finally require REAL ID-compliant drivers licenses at airport security starting in May 2025 a full twenty years later. The first deadline was in 2008. Does anyone believe them this time?

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