Yesterday I wrote about Lufthansa’s “Mileage Bargains” — roundtrip business class awards between the US and Europe for just 55,000 miles.
Commenter Tim noted that “Lufthansa says that as of May 24th 2019 they no longer are accepting Marriott points for transfers to Lufthansa miles.” It turns out the problem is not limited to Marriott transfers.
I recently wrote about American’s two different award search tools, and how to access the old one for the better ‘calendar view’ that will also tell you whether you’re getting a saver award or more expensive AAnytime award.
I mentioned that the new award search tool won’t show ‘web special’ awards. That actually isn’t true. They’re just not well-disclosed on the new award search tool.
Chase and British Airways renewed their US co-brand credit card deal. They have partnered for 26 years and last announced an extension of their relationship in May 2015.
Last month I wrote that Chase was surveying customers about how to redesign an airline card. And now the bank and airline have announced that “[i]n the fall of 2019, Chase, Avios and British Airways will announce new enhancements to the British Airways Visa Signature Card that were developed with cardmember feedback in mind.”
Last week American Express added Qantas Frequent Flyer as a Membership Rewards transfer partner.
Normally points transfer 1:1 from American Express to Qantas in 500 point increments. However through June 30 they’re offering a 20% bonus on transfers from American Express to Qantas.
Up until June 2014 you could transfer American Express Membership Rewards points to whomever you wish. At that time they instituted new restrictions without warning: they would only allow transfers of your points to people who have an authorized user card on your account.
That was always the rule but the website never enforced it up until that time. You could link anyone’s frequent flyer account to your Membership Rewards account and transfer points to it. Now there’s a new rule or rather a waiting period to transfer points to someone else’s account.
Knowing how to find the old system makes award search much more convenient, even as American pushes customers into the process for the new and incomplete award search tool.
It’s unclear how long American will run two systems in parallel. However for now it’s a good idea to make sure you’re seeing results from both systems because otherwise you may pay more miles than necessary for your awards.
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.
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.
Delta has introduced new Tumi amenity kits, and the business class kits contain Le Labo products. Perhaps most notably all long haul passengers flying Delta receive an amenity kit, including coach passengers, although the separate kits for coach and Comfort+ extra legroom seats aren’t branded… but are still creative.
The US government is ending ‘people-to-people educational travel’ to Cuba for US citizens. If you purchased a flight or reserved a hotel prior to June 5th, though, you can still travel. The regulations will not publish in the Federal Register until June 5. That means you still have today to make bookings.
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 »
