Last summer Eurowings — Lufthansa’s low cost carrier — started flying non-stop between Cologne, Germany and Seattle twice weekly. At first it seemed like they were receiving a warm welcome into the market. That didn’t hold true this week, though.
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.
British Airways is offering double points through the end of the year. This applies to all British Airways flights, as well as to British Airways codeshare flights on American Airlines, Iberia and Finnair when traveling between the US and Europe. Registration required.
I love double miles. There are three things, however, that I do not like about this promotion.
The new American Airlines configuration for the Airbus A321 will have 20 first class seats (one more row of first class) and 176 coach seats.
American will begin taking delivery of Airbus A321neo aircraft in January (‘new engine option’) and they’ll have this new configuration. Then, as I reported back in August, American will begin to retrofit existing Airbus A321s (A312ceo or ‘current engine option’).
American Express closed the Dallas Fort-Worth lounge, and today it re-opens in a new location.
The new lounge has all of the amenities of the old lounge with some additions and mostly more capacity for guests. There’s the buffet and full bar, complimentary spa treatments, conference room and family room, and an three shower rooms.
No matter how much space you get, it isn’t enough if you offer a good product. Demand forecasts always underestimate how many passengers will want to visit lounges, and how much time they’ll spend, when a qualify lounge is on offer.
American Express has a new approach coming: advance reservations via app.
Although London and Hong Kong are two of the most premium traffic heavy cities in the world, British Airways recently disclosed that their London – Hong Kong twice daily service lags in performance. They’ve pointed out that it suffers in comparison to Cathay Pacific’s (better, more frequent) flights.
British Airways is closing its Hong Kong crew base at the end of October. And today they’ve pink slipped all 85 Hong Kong-based flight attendants.
Right now Miami – Spain (Madrid or Barcelona) starts at $307 roundtrip on American and its partners.
A couple of weeks ago I highlighted fares West Coast – Hawaii from $246 roundtrip which is an amazing deal. I get more excited about East Coast – Hawaii deals. A few times a year you’ll see prices really drop.
Right now you can book DC or New York – Hawaii from $339 roundtrip.
Taylor Gourmet, which some may know from its outpost at Washington’s National airport, has gone out of business. The DCA outpost is the only remaining Taylor Gourmet spot this week.
You could spend $60 and get $250 in value out of their program. And they didn’t mind, saying “If people want to hack through and get cookies, that’s fine.”
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 »
