Flagship Lounge Access (and oneworld elite status) From $389

by Gary Leff

Dec 14 2017

With airberlin going out of business we saw several airlines offering to status match elite members of the topbonus frequent flyer program. Two among them are oneworld members Finnair and Iberia. Iberia is also proactively working to poach Lufthansa elites through this program as well.

LAN and Royal Jordanian offer status match programs anyway but those require flight(s) with those carriers. The Finnair offer was silver with a challenge for Gold. Iberia though offers a straight tier match.

Continue Reading »

Delta Tempts the IT Gods: Only Weather Will Ever Cause Cancellations Again

by Gary Leff

delta plane runway
Dec 14 2017

Delta’s relatively strong operational performance has led to a sort of self-delusion. They even lied about not cancelling any flights over the Thanksgiving weekend, their operational performance was very good but they couldn’t resist the temptation to overclaim. They seem to have lost all sense of humility over at Virginia Avenue. And that’s when bad things happen. Especially at an airline.

Continue Reading »

The Delta Amex Deal is Up to $3 Billion This Year. Here’s Why

by Gary Leff

Dec 14 2017

When Delta re-upped its co-brand card agreement it set a bar that other airlines have tried to chase with their own bank issuer arrangements. American Express was willing to back the truck up to Virginia Avenue since it was set to lose its Costco cobrand and desperately needed to lock in its next-largest co-brand deal. (Shortly thereafter they re-upped their next largest, Starwood, as well.)

Revenue from American Express has continued to grow as spend on their products has grown. As Delta shared this week at is Investor Day 2017 revenue from American Express will total $3 billion. And they’re projecting out continued straight-line growth.

Continue Reading »

Flying Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Suites as My Own Private Jet, Sydney – Paris

by Gary Leff

airplane cabin first class
Dec 13 2017

My wife and I booked first class awards in Singapore’s Suites from Sydney to Paris, with a stopover for a couple of days in Singapore. And we were fortunate to experience the ultimate in luxury — a Singapore airlines Suites cabin to ourselves with separate seats for eating and entertainment and separate suites for our double bed — plus a Singapore crew to ourselves!

Continue Reading »