How Delta is Monetizing Its (Frequent Flyer) Debt Like a Banana Republic

by Gary Leff

Jul 19 2016

I used to think that miles would always be worth at least a penny. But even that’s not a guarantee. Like most things in US aviation, Delta is at the forefront — including with devaluations.

It’s useful to think of miles as a currency. They’re a proprietary currency with no currency board or independent central bank. And there’s a huge incentive to devalue, to monetize the debt.

Last week I was telling a past award booking client they’d do better using their American Express points to buy flights to Europe they wanted to gift their friends than transfer those points to Delta and redeem an award.

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Citi Prestige Will Lose American Airlines Lounge Access June 21

by Gary Leff

Jul 19 2016

Citibank has posted to the Citi.com website that the Citi Prestige Card will offer access to American Airlines lounges (when flying the airline) until June 20.

That’s 11 months’ notice that the American Airlines lounge access benefit will end, which is reasonable, although hopefully Citibank will proactively communicate this to cardmembers as well as posting it to their website.

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HURRY: Citi Prestige Signup Bonus Changes Tomorrow

by Gary Leff

Jul 18 2016

The Citi Prestige Card offers 50,000 points after $3000 spend within 3 months. That’s been the strong offer since Citibank increased it last spring.

And now is the time to get the card if you’ve even been on the fence about it. There reporting that the signup bonus for the Citi Prestige Card will be changing tomorrow. I don’t have any direct information on what the new offer will be, but it seems like you’re going to be much happier signing up now than you would be waiting.

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The Dumbest Frequent Flyer Restriction in History

by Gary Leff

Jul 18 2016

The most consumer-unfriendly change ever to a loyalty program has to be when LatinPass became GlobalPass and required people to re-earn the miles in their account with purchases through their shopping portal. But LatinPass hadn’t been attached to a single airline, it was a coalition program.

The most consumer-unfriendly change ever to an airline frequent flyer program wasn’t made by Delta. It was made by United.

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HOT: Visit 2 Southeast Asia Cities From Several US Cities Stating at Just $355 Roundtrip

by Gary Leff

Jul 18 2016

On Friday I wrote about United fares between US hub cities and Southeast Asia for less than $500 roundtrip. These fares are still around, and it gets even better.

I noted that you can fly Newark, Chicago, San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, and Houston. So mostly from United hubs, which is unusual, fares like this are almost always used to attack the hubs of other airlines. (For a little more fares are available from other cities as well.)

It turns out you can book an open jaw itinerary for even less — fly into one city and back from another from $355.

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The Best Airline Flight in the World: Etihad First Class “Apartment” Abu Dhabi – New York JFK

by Gary Leff

Jul 17 2016

The greatest luxury in air travel is space and privacy. There is no other first class that comes close to the Etihad First Class Apartment onboard their Airbus A380 and no better flight than Abu Dhabi – New York JFK. And that’s without even getting to the inflight chef or onboard shower.

This flight wasn’t perfect. It was delayed, and there was a glitch with the water in the shower. But it still exceeded anything else I’ve experienced with any other airline’s first class product.

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HOT: Want to Go to Ireland? Delta Has Base Fares of 50 Cents Each Way!

by Gary Leff

Jul 17 2016

Dublin is on sale in a very big way, from several US cities. The cheapest is Delta’s non-stop New York JFK – Dublin flight.

Great fares are available from other cities as well. For instance, here’s Philadephia – Dublin on Delta for $308. It’s more expensive than the New York trip largely because of the extra taxes from the connection. However, the outbound is more expensive — a 53 cent base fare.

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American Raising Club Prices In 9 Days — But You Can Get In For Next to Nothing

by Gary Leff

Jul 16 2016

As someone who flies American Airlines regularly, I place a high value on lounge access. It’s the people who keep me going especially during irregular operations, going above and beyond to get me where I’m going. As a result I’m very interested in the best way to get American Airlines club access.

For instance, agents have regularly double booked me giving me ‘backup’ flights just in case I misconnect. And I’ve even gotten a proactive call from a lounge about a delay, they had booked me as a backup on a new flight (that had looked sold out to me, and it was the last one of the night). And I’m not a Concierge Key member.

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