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.
Prior to deregulation the Civil Aeronautics Board ‘experimented’ with the idea of price competition and allowed airlines to undercut Southwest Airlines prices. Southwest, flying only inside Texas at the time, wasn’t subject to CAB price regulation.
Texas International Airlines (which would later acquire Continental, Eastern, People Express, and Frontier) along with Braniff started offering $13 fares between Houston and Dellas. Not to be undercut, Southwest introduced a two-tiered fare structure, rebating each customer paying full fare with a bottle of liquor. Southwest became the largest liquor distributor in the state of Texas.
The new Delta Sky Club has a gorgeous bar, and the best feature is an outdoor ‘Sky Deck’ overlooking the East runway. But what if you combined the two features? One of the very best uses of Delta SkyMiles is redeeming small numbers of miles for premium drinks.
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.
The VIP lounge in the B terminal of the Punta Cana airport in the Dominican Republic has a swimming pool overlooking the runway, and they take Priority Pass. If you’re flying American or Delta — or British Airways or Air France — this is your go-to.
A new study looked at germs on different forms of payment mechanisms and how they compare to some of the more disgusting things we can think of. And while little compared to a door handle of a McDonald’s in New York, or to a city parking meter, the credit cards, bills, and coins we use may be more germ-laden even than the bathrooms at New York Penn Station or a New York subway pole.
Testing “40 debit and credit cards, 27 different bill denominations, and 10 coins for germs” each surface “was swabbed with a handheld germ testing device and assigned a ‘germ score’ to rank the item on the disgusting scale.”
Historically awards between the US and New Zealand have been one of the toughest things to book. Years ago Air New Zealand used to open up business class awards 60 days prior to flight. Then they stopped. With a couple of brief exceptions there really hasn’t been meaningful Air New Zealand business class award space in years.
Up until today, this was a unicorn. Or snuffaluffagus. There were rumors of Air New Zealand business class award space, but no one knew if it actually existed.
As soon as I saw the story of the man who was charged $4600 for a one night stay at a Holiday Inn my immediate reaction was… Expedia.
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.
At the very end of the terminal by gates 1 and 2, the new wing of the airport that just opened, is a Delta SkyClub. It’s a fantastic space. But maybe the best secret of the airport is that if you head up the elevator or walk up the stairs to the SkyClub there’s also a public space that any passenger can use.
There’s indoor seating, sort of a public use lounge, that’s outside of the club entrance. And just like the new SkyClub has an outdoor deck, the airport has a public use deck as well that’s even larger. Facing the east runway, it’s a Central Texas aviation geek’s dream.
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 »
