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American Cracking Down on Award Availability Trick (and Gutting Free Elite Changes)

by Gary Leff on December 11, 2018

airline cabin

Dec 11 2018

A little over a year ago American Airlines started offering more coach award space, and they did it in an interesting way. They started opening up award space on a married-segment basis — availability wasn’t for a specific flight but for an entire itinerary.

Agents are now being reprimanded for helping customers to work around these restrictions. And married segments make it very difficult to make changes to an award later, a real blow to Executive Platinums and ConciergeKey members who have free changes as a program benefit.

American’s New Amenity Kit Leaked

by Gary Leff on December 11, 2018

journal with pen on floor

Dec 11 2018

American Airlines is apparently rolling out new amenity kits — and not with Cole Haan. It appears that this new amenity kit has leaked — put out into service too early. And the early word seems to be they look pretty awesome.

How Do You Make Sure Your Spouse Uses the Right Credit Card?

by Gary Leff on December 11, 2018

Dec 11 2018

I recently shared what’s in my wallet and I clearly use a lot of different cards for different purposes in different situations.

Keeping a strategy straight for yourself can be hard enough, but how do you make sure your spouse — who isn’t as attuned to these things as you are — uses the right card every time?

Passports are a Very Old Idea, But Did You Know That Needing Them to Travel Abroad is New?

by Gary Leff on December 10, 2018

passport

Dec 10 2018

I had no idea just how recent the requirement of a passport for international travel really is, even though the concept of a passport is a very old one. Did you know that passports weren’t commonly required for travel across Europe in the years leading up to World War I?

At United it Takes Working Wifi to Provide Compensation for Non-Working Wifi and More

by Gary Leff on December 10, 2018

united plane

Dec 10 2018

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.

RwandAir Will Fly to the U.S. Starting This Summer, But Not From Rwanda

by Gary Leff on December 10, 2018

flight from KGL to JFK

Dec 10 2018

Kenya Airways just launched new Nairobi – New York JFK service a couple of months ago and already they plan to scale back to five times a week at least for winter.

Nonetheless RwandAir is moving forward with service to the U.S. They aren’t quite sure yet whether that will be Newark or New York JFK. They’ll use an Airbus A330neo for the route that offers flat beds in business class and premium economy. But the flights won’t be New York – Kigali.

British Airways Warns Passengers: Business Class Meal May Contain Bullet Fragments

by Gary Leff on December 10, 2018

first class

Dec 10 2018

Even though their caterer has taken ‘the greatest care’ in preparing the dish, this British Airways Club World London – Chicago menu warns “there is a very small risk of bullet fragments that could be found in the meal.”

Capital One Venture Has Added Miles Transfers to Airlines, Here’s Some of What’s Possible

by Gary Leff on December 10, 2018

cot

Dec 10 2018

Capital One has done something game-changing. They’ve made their points more lucrative. Venture customers can continue to redeem their miles with no blackout dates on all travel-related purchases
— at the same rate as before. This just adds the option to transfer points to airline miles if you’d like.

New Restriction on US Border Officials and Does Price Change If Your Uber Driver Takes a Different Route?

by Gary Leff on December 10, 2018

passport getting stamped

Dec 10 2018

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.

You Can Now Use Delta Miles to Purchase Seat Upgrades Any Time After Ticketing

by Gary Leff on December 10, 2018

airplane seats

Dec 10 2018

You now can use miles to pay for seat upgrades after ticket purchase whether extra legroom coach or an actual premium cabin.

The question is whether post-purchase mileage upgrades will replace Delta’s hidden mileage upgrade award chart — whether mileage upgrades will always be simply priced based on fare.

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 »