United Airlines has just announced that MileagePlus miles no longer expire.
MileagePlus has also eliminated award charts. The two changes viewed together redistribute United’s spending from frequent customers to infrequent ones.
One of the major issues of contention between American Airlines and its mechanics – that has prevented reaching a contract agreement and contributed to the airline’s poor operational performance – is outsourcing. American outsources less work than other U.S. airlines.
However the trend is for high value work to be done in house, and lower value work to be outsourced. That’s a trend that union mechanics aren’t going to be able to escape. Legacy American Airlines mechanics are in their mid-50s on average and are being promised job and base protection, so the fight is really about future workers.
My hometown airport, Austin-Bergstrom, is offering subsidies to airlines willing to start non-stop service to Hawaii, Amsterdam, Beijing, Dublin, Paris, Seoul, Shanghai, and Tokyo.
Not all of these routes are likely (or even plausible) but most are — for the right amount of cash.
Barclays has been running an interesting new cardmember offer for their AAdvantage Aviator Red Mastercard that includes both miles and a companion ticket. I’ve confirmed that the offer will end August 31. The new offer is better — 60,000 miles and a companion ticket.
Vice President of Customer Planning Jill Surdek addressed the interiors of their A321T aircraft in an employee question and answer session last week.
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.
Chase has announced two major changes to the British Airways Visa, without taking anything away: faster earning and taking on high taxes and fees on awards. The important takeaway is that the card will let you redeem British Airways Avios with less of a blow from the carrier’s surcharges. As a result, the card can add value even when you’re redeeming transferred Chase or American Express points.
Delta Vacations will let you redeem SkyMiles at twice the usual value through Friday August 30 at 11:59 p.m.
As long as you book a two night hotel stay as part of your trip you can get two cents apiece for Delta miles.
TSA has backed down in the face of employees’ union objections and the requirement will not go into effect.
The Sioux City crash is one of the most famous of the last forty years. A DC-10 from Denver’s old Stapleton airport to Chicago O’Hare had 296 passengers and crew on board. 111 people died in the United Sioux City crash, but it’s considered a miracle and a testament to the crew on board that the rest survived.
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 »
