American Airlines ConciergeKey is the ‘super secret’ level that George Clooney had in Up in the Air, in some sense equivalent to United Global Services and Delta 360.
And they’ve introduced a new benefit for 2018.
The next IHG Rewards Club promotion is up and available for registration.
They’re coming out with ‘Accelerate’ again for stays between January 1 and April 30 you earn even more points. And in some ways it’s my favorite hotel promotion — not as much for its richness as much because it is sort of fun.
The best Star Alliance frequent flyer program in the world is hidden in plain site. What if I told you that you could book first class to Europe for 60,000 miles, or first class to Africa for just 75,000 miles? That’s what Aegean Miles & Bonus offers.
They are a Starwood Preferred Guest transfer partner. They just started offering online booking of (some) Star Alliance awards. And they’re now selling miles at a discount.
Whether it’s singer Rick Derringer being arrested at security with a gun or rapper Coolio being arrested with a stolen gun at a checkpoint, there’s a penalty. Generally fines for bringing a firearm through the checkpoint range from $500 to $2000, whether intentional or not.
But what about when the gun is brought through the checkpoint by a TSA screener?
In recent years Alaska has had largely the same limited inventory of Air France awards made available to other partners (so it’s about as bad as availability offered to SkyMiles members). British Airways is hardly a replacement partner, however, given the fuel surcharges imposed on BA awards. Still, Alaska continues to add partners while carriers like American only seem to lose them.
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Delta is offering people who turn down the buy up to regular economy a free checked bag if they buy up, at the same $20 increased price (which is less than they charge for a checked bag). That has to be a mistake.
Last week Swiss made first class award space broadly available. Many people made their bookings via Aeroplan, and Swiss unilaterally cancelled the reservations.
This was not a mistake fare, members booked award tickets at the correct published price for the route and cabin. We now have Aeroplan’s updated statement.
Saturday’s Delta flight DL453 from New York JFK to Seattle didn’t make it all the way across country without kids yelling at dad they needed to get off the freeway for a potty break. The pilot landed in Billings, Montana. But there was no gate available.
Less competition shouldn’t always be illegal, but we shouldn’t pretend it’s good for consumers, something that the federal government is supposed to take into account today in deciding whether to grant anti-trust immunity to airline collusion. Neither the United-Air Canada nor Delta-Westjet deals should be approved. And existing deals should be regularly revisited to determine whether the promised consumer benefits have materialized.
Ultimately we need a new approach to anti-trust, but piecemeal exemptions that favor one company over another while going through the kabuki theater that is it’s all about benefits to passengers is simply bad policy.
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 »
