Similar to last year I thought I’d take the Thanksgiving opportunity to express my thankfulness for each of you that reads my blog and interacts with me throughout the year. I’ve said this many times before but I really do consider myself one of the luckiest people, and certainly much more fortunate than I could have ever imagined.
Just as it’s important to remind industry watchers the role that frequent flyer programs play in driving airline profitability it’s important to realize that’s not in the numbers as well as what’s included – although I believe that in some measure the market actually prices these things in fairly already.
My own controversial belief, not fully supported by data, is that there’s a lot of ‘slop’ and misreported estimates in corporate accounting – entirely apart from and beyond the airline industry – and there are potential land mines hidden in plain sight all over the place because gaming of numbers and willful blindness are problems that replicate themselves across decisions throughout companies.
Hotels sometimes change from one brand to another. That means you may have a reservation at a hotel, it leaves the chain, and you won’t be able to earn points, elite stay credit, or receive elite benefits when that happens – although if the hotel joins a different chain you’ll be able to participate in the other program’s points and benefits.
Award nights are a little more complicated.
Southwest doesn’t want people automatically checking in 24 hours out, because it might cut into Early Bird check-in revenue. They don’t want people automatically checking price changes, because consumers might save money. They want self-service to be hard. And it’s both fine and reasonable to want those things. It’s neither fine nor reasonable for the government to subsidize those things by threatening innovators who want to use publicly available information.
I applied for the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card because I want to earn a Southwest Airlines Companion Pass, which will allow me to take my wife with me on Southwest flights for just the cost of security taxes. Our daughter is still just one year old and flies free as a lap infant, but with Southwest’s open seating as long as there’s even one open seat on the flight it’s going to wind up next to us since no one wants to sit in a middle seat next to a baby.
But it was seeing those inflight wifi credits post, more than one time per day, that really made me realize the card will pay for itself.
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.
Lights placed on tall structures so that planes see them – and don’t hit them – are vulnerable to hacking. They can be turned off. Remotely. Via the internet.
There hasn’t been an incident, but the vulnerability was uncovered by security researcher Amitay Dan and confirmed by an FAA official.
Poking around their materials I find airline discounts on several carriers, hotel status with four programs, and airline elite status too – plus transportation status and discounts.
In October the President of Thai Airways told employees that the airline was on the verge of shutting down with only a month’s runway to execute a turnaround. The airline promptly worked to walk that back, suggesting it was hyperbolic, but it nonetheless underscored that Thai Airways is underperforming and in financial difficulty, propped up by the Thai government.
There are four major underlying issues faced by the flag carrier.
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.
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 »
