Keep planning trips, there will be great deals – far better than what we’ve seen so far – but don’t make non-refundable plans. Frequent flyer redemptions are usually the most changeable. Coronavirus and the economy are going to get worse. Some airlines will fail, and others may merge. It’s wise to begin preparing.
At the end of the day the most important thing is to keep living life, while being flexible to adapt to new information.
We’re well past where it makes sense to offer flexibility only to new ticket purchases. Qatar is not only extending their flexible change policy to existing, already-purchased tickets they’re providing the option to take a travel voucher good for a year from date of issue – customers aren’t limited to traveling within a year of their original ticket purchase.
Different airlines and hotel chains are taking different approaches to the coronavirus – not just to the falloff in travel, but to making sure traveling with them is a safe experience for their guests. I reached out to several airlines and hotel companies to ask about changes to their cleaning practices in response to the virus. I was surprised by how varied the responses were.
I’m much more likely to have confidence in the airlines and hotel chains that signal they are taking the spread of coronavirus most seriously.
The American Express Centurion Lounge LAX opens Monday in the Tom Bradley International Terminal and features a spa, celebrity chef meals, and more.
When American Airlines announced their renewed partnership with Qatar Airways – re-introducing codesharing, which they terminated in 2017, and potentially flying to Doha – I speculated that this might mean an end to American’s partnership with Etihad.
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.
One of the best tools in travel years ago was Travelocity Dream Maps. You’d plug in the city you were starting from, and how much you were willing to spend, and it would give you a map of all the places you could go for that amount or less. The tool was decommissioned about a decade ago, but American Airlines has an award map that is similar for miles.
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.
Alaska Airlines is surveying potential changes to their program, including moving to revenue-based earning and offering elite tiers starting at just 5000 qualifying miles.
While programs survey potential changes all of the time, and many of the potential ideas being surveyed never see the light of day, since it’s reasonable to expect to see changes to the program coming as a result of the American and oneworld partnership, changes that Mileage Plan is surveying now become especially interesting.
Last week hotel occupancy dropped in the U.S. I expect that the effect will be greater when we get the numbers for this week. However there are a couple of interesting things already going on in the numbers.
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 »
