Dec
13
2017
French Polynesia is one of the toughest frequent flyer awards to book. That may be about to change, or at least we may expect a big drop in price.
United Will Fly to Tahiti!
Cathay Pacific Launching New Longest Flight to Washington DC
Dec
13
2017
Cathay Pacific is expected to announce new service from Hong Kong to Washington Dulles next week operated by an Airbus A350.
This clocks in at around the 12th longest flight in the world, as well as Cathay Pacific’s longest, the longest from Hong Kong, and the longest from Washington Dulles.
How George Clooney Deals With Crying Babies on a Plane
Dec
13
2017
George and Amal Clooney have six month old twins. They were flying to the U.K. with the kids (their kids were born in London in June, and Amal is from the UK).
And they pro-actively “passed out noise-canceling headphones” to other first class passengers along with a note “apologizing ahead of time” on the chance that the twins cried.
Hilton Introduces Points Reinstatement – You Can Get Back Expired Points
Dec
13
2017
Hilton added a section on points reinstatement to its terms and conditions. While Hilton Honors points currently expire after 12 months of inactivity, they’ll let you restore a million points within 18 months of expiration.
Yet the way they’ve made this change is a problem.
How Airport Lounge Economics and Priority Pass Work, Plus Richard Branson Won Big Bet
Dec
12
2017
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.
Delta Europe Business Class Award Sale 30% Off
Dec
12
2017
If you book can by Thursday December 14th and travel between February 1 and May 21, 2018 Delta is offering saver awards ‘from’ 98,000 miles roundtrip in business class.
Delta’s normal saver award business class price between the US and Europe is 70,000 miles each way.
US Will Take UAE and Qatar to Task Over Subsidies
Dec
12
2017
The U.S. is going to enter talks with the UAE and Qatar about airline subsidies but it doesn’t sound like they’ll amount to much.
The irony of complaining that other airlines were too intertwined with governments always seemed lost on United, who lost a CEO over a scandal involving the airline bribing a government official. Or Delta’s CEO who started all of this going on to run heavily subsidized Amtrak.
American Airlines Opened One of the World’s Biggest Lounges and It’s Fantastic
Dec
12
2017
With the introduction of the American Airlines Flagship Lounge and Flagship First Dining I think it’s fair to say that Miami goes from a terrible place to connect to a positive place to transit for elites and premium cabin passengers.
Fairmont Presidents Club Gets Folded into Le Club Accorhotels July 2nd
Dec
12
2017
Two years after it was announced that Accor would be buying Fairmont, we have details on the demise of the Fairmont Presidents Club program. If you want to familiarize yourself with Accor, three years ago I uploaded the chain’s secret loyalty manual.
Why the Era of Spinning Off Frequent Flyer Programs Should Be Over
Dec
12
2017
To be sure there’s a case for spinoffs: if an airline needs to raise cash, selling assets is one way to do that. And frequent flyer programs are in many cases among the most valuable assets an airline has. It’s just not a free lunch, selling even a part of the program creates frictions that can reduce value. Sometimes an airline needs to do that, but financially healthy airlines should be extremely cautious before doing so.
