I posted on April 1 that Delta reduced the price of partner awards to Asia. And it wasn’t even April Fools’ Day. In fact I asked Delta and they confirmed this was not a mistake. Now it appears that they’ve lowered the price of partner awards to Europe, too.
Delta is running an award redemption flash sale to Hawaii.
They’re advertising it as ‘from’ 35,000 miles roundtrip in economy, but that’s very limited routes like Seattle – Lihue, and in many ways this sale just underscores how bad a deal regular SkyMiles is. Here’s how to do Hawaii better.
The airline has said they expect the San Francisco, Newark, Houston and Los Angeles lounges to open this year — with the first three this summer.
And they’ve apparently learned their lesson with the Polaris debacle of overpromising and underdelivering seats and lounges, because it looks like they’re going to beat the summer opening projection for San Francisco — by a lot.
Last month I wrote that I am not a fan of hotel toiletries coming out of wall mounted dispensers in the shower. They aren’t as clean and they don’t always get refilled. And of course you can’t take the toiletries with you!
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.
Yesterday I wrote about the first rumors of a new combined Marriott-Starwood loyalty program coming soon. There would be 5 elite tiers and finally free elite breakfast extended to resort properties and 25 of 30 hotel brands.
It seems like we’re going to know soon enough, in fact there appears to be an announcement coming on Monday. In the meantime we’re hearing plenty about what could be included in that announcement.
Using American miles to fly between the US and Asia can be a challenge for two passengers. Those based at the DFW hub have an even greater challenge — tremendous competition for award seats from other frequent flyers, and that most of the oneworld Asia service is on American which isn’t great about releasing premium cabin award space to begin with.
Last month when my grandmother passed a different airline did waive part of my change fee (about $80 out of $200) in order to do an ‘even exchange’ when I rebooked to attend the funeral. And I was seated in the back of coach that’s all that was left. Even that little gesture was something.
So it’s really nice when an airline is there for you when the most important people in your life aren’t. That’s what loyalty is all about. Kudos to United.
Unlike One Mile at a Time I don’t buy that the reason is many Alaska Airlines customers connect to other airlines with tougher carryon baggage allowances — that they are reducing how much customers can bring on board in order to “help” customers and make travel “easier.”
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 »
