I’ve been a BankDirect customer since July 2003, fifteen years ago this month, and I have earned a ton of miles as a result. I’ve stuck with them through all of the limits on mileage-earning, through their addition of a monthly fee regardless of minimum balance with the bank, but they may have just pushed me too far with a security protocol change.
I spoke with Jeremy Rabe, the new CEO of Aeroplan’s parent company Aimia, about what changes to expect for premium cabin awards, fees and surcharges, and what transfer rates they’ll offer for points moved to other frequent flyer programs.
He also shared reactions to selling points cheap (he’s a board member of LifeMiles) and the future of spinning off frequent flyer programs given Air Canada’s breakup with Aeroplan and the air berlin topbonus bankruptcy.
People are taking American Airlines international flights in order to buy “basic household items” (e.g. “toilet paper”). Let that sink in for a moment.
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At American’s “Crew News” employee forum with management this week the airline revealed that they are considering non-stop service to Malaga and explained the reasons why it could make sense, and what would keep them from launching it.
A security researcher was headed to a privacy technology symposium and ran headlong into British Airways’ approach to data privacy in the process.
Aeroplan is an independent separately traded company. Air Canada spun it off to raise cash and at the time locked in a 15 year agreement for an exclusive partnership. Aeroplan expected to renew this deal on less favorable terms, and planned to squeeze customers as a result.
But Air Canada is launching a new frequent flyer program in 2020 instead, leaving Aeroplan in a pickle.
A couple of months ago I laid out an argument that American Airlines wouldn’t fly to India or Dubai.
Now American Airlines executives laid out in an employee forum why they aren’t planning to fly to India.
A year ago American Express inked an expansion of the Miami lounge – arguably the brand’s most crowded – and did a deal to replace the current DFW lounge with a new nearby larger one.
That project seems to be behind, and the current Centurion lounge at Dallas Fort-Worth is closed until August 14 for repairs.
American American was instrumental in the launch of one of the Douglas DC-3 in the 1930’s. And now it’s possible to eat food prepared in one. American’s Chairman C.R. Smith badgered and cajoled Donald Douglas into developing a stretched successor to the DC-2.
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 »
