LAX International Lounge Review

by Gary Leff

Dec 14 2019

Air Tahiti Nui uses the LAX International Lounge – or more formally, Los Angeles International Lounge at LAX. I hadn’t visited this lounge before, and my expectation were low – but exceeded.

The Los Angeles International lounge is used by El Al, Air Tahiti Nui, Philippine Airlines, Fiji Airways. The lounge is also used by Japan Airlines for premium economy passengers. It was basically empty while I was there, and seems a perfect candidate for Priority Pass, but it isn’t accessible through any lounge access programs – just with a qualifying boarding pass.

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Marriott Prepares To Make $7000 Per Night All-Inclusive Available On Points, Updates Terms & Conditions

by Gary Leff

villa
Dec 13 2019

Back in March we learned that $7000 per night all-inclusive North Island in the Seychelles would be joining Marriott’s Luxury Collection and I confirmed that it would become part of the Bonvoy program for earning and redemption.

Marriott updated their program terms to allow for redemptions that cost more than category 8 high season – because we were never going to book this place for just 100,000 points per night. We can only hope though that, having made the change, they aren’t tempted to expand the pool of properties “off award chart.”

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Why American Airlines Would Make More Money If They Improved Product And Service

by Gary Leff

american airlines planes
Dec 13 2019

American Airlines has said that they believe their path to profitability is doubling down on their current approach which hasn’t worked so far. They should be changing their approach to invest in better service and a better product, especially domestically and in economy, and to build up their route network in key business centers, because that’s how they’ll grow the key profit center of their business – co-brand credit cards.

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Delta Says Brand and Scale Drive Credit Card Signups (Not Rewards)

by Gary Leff

delta check in airport
Dec 13 2019

Airline President Glen Hauenstein says the model works like this: Fly Delta -> like the experience -> join Delta programs -> like them even more.

They believe the “relevance of [their] offering and how much people like you” determines allegiance and spend. The implication is that brand experience and scale matter more than value proposition of the card.

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Korean Air Announces Huge Award Devaluation and Other Program Changes

by Gary Leff

korean air
Dec 13 2019

Korean Air says they’re making significant changes to their frequent flyer program, but only giving us the briefest sketches of what that might be. A new distance-based award chart is available in Korean and pricing for premium cabin awards, especially long distance premium cabin awards, because much more expensive.

Korean says they’ll be testing cash and miles awards, shifting to more revenue-based mileage-earning and distance-based redemptions, and revamping the elite program. That distance-based redemption chart is what I’m disappointed in.

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