Mar 12 2016

I took a set of connecting flights, and on flight number one was seated next to someone that was sick. Then I took my next flight. It was a completely sold out flight. I was initially thrilled with my upgrade at the gate. But once I settled into seat 5A I discovered that the passenger sitting behind me in 6A was sick as well.

Much coughing ensued. There was no opportunity to change seats. I guess I could have (should have) gotten off the plane. And I realize that this is a challenging question, what to do — for sick passengers, for those not wanting to get sick, and for the airline?

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Mar 12 2016

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.

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Mar 12 2016

Last month I wrote that more levels may be coming to the top of American AAdvantage. In fact, it seems inevitable.

With American’s merger with US Airways, they didn’t keep 4 (all) status levels. They kept American’s elite program, more or less, so 25,000, 50,000, and 100,000 mile levels. There are a lot of former US Airways 75,000 mile Platinum members that were unhappy in the transition since they no longer had status above 50,000 mile flyers.

And as with Delta, there’s a recognition that as the world’s largest airline with a much more comprehensive route network it’s possible to stay on one airline now and so there are more customers flying more miles with the airline. As if that wasn’t enough, American now makes it much easier to qualify when buying premium fares.

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Mar 12 2016

Regular readers of the blog know that I use Award Wallet to track my miles and points.

The free version of the service suffices for most. You enter your frequent flyer account numbers and passwords. Then you can update most of your account balances with a single click and see them on one page. You can log into your accounts with a single click.

When I first signed up I realized quickly I was happy to pay the minimum required for their premium membership that included expiration date tracking for many of my accounts.

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Mar 11 2016

It became commonplace in the past few year to declare the mileage run dead. And for the most part, the traditional mileage run has been dead for a long time. A combination of rising airfares and rising award prices meant that it no longer made sense to fly for the redeemable miles earned.

It didn’t used to be that way. Double, triple, and even quadruple miles offers abounded a dozen years ago. Airfares were low, $200 cross country roundtrips were common or even $500 roundtrips between the US and Southeast Asia (upgradable even).

I once cleared about 100,000 redeemable miles on a single roundtrip, and back then United’s business class awards between the US and Australia were 90,000 miles roundtrip. Sure, the opportunity cost of my time was lower back then. And there was no inflight internet. But I curled up with a good book.

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Mar 11 2016

Denver at times has unmatched waits for security screening but it’s Atlanta that’s threatening to privatize So the TSA promises to try harder (like Avis used to!) in Atlanta by summer. Of course the federal government has a history of blocking airport attempts to outsource security functions despite a legal right to do so in any case.

Airport Policy News gets into the reasons that screening lines are on the rise. Indeed, there’s no relief in sight.

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Mar 11 2016

Let’s say that a free Starbucks drink is ‘worth’ $6. $10 ride credit and 2 drinks are worth $22. So I think the standard $50 referral credit (my link) is way better. But people do love Starbucks Stars, and the credit towards Starbucks elite status (such as it is).

Of course the whole Starbucks Rewards program will be going revenue-based next month. Get in while the getting is good.

I generally use Uber, but have used Lyft and it’s very very similar albeit not in as many markets. Several months ago in DC I simply could not get the Uber app to open on my phone, so Lyft was a lifesaver. I like having competition in the ridesharing market as well. So it’s worth giving Lyft a shot.

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Mar 11 2016

For quite some time American has been really really tough with award space on their own international flights. However American has been going to lengths to improve their premium cabin award availability. At the end of last year American finally opened pretty good award space on their new Sydney flight. I covered the floodgates opening for award space on London routes. And how they opened up China flying. That was just the start. And they opened up space to Auckland, too.

What’s interesting is that United seems to have been going in the opposite direction. I still like United miles for access to awards across the Star Alliance. United has more partners flying to more destinations, and that creates opportunities for award redemption (even as United charges a mileage premium to redeem awards on their partners).

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Mar 11 2016

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.

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Mar 11 2016

Marriott members are going to make out like bandits in the acquisition of Starwood. And there are more Marriott customers than Starwood ones. Marriott members get a whole slate of high end properties at which to use their points that they didn’t have before. And their elite benefits may get better but certainly won’t get worse. Starwood customers on the whole have been less enthusiastic.

I had a chance to sit down with Marriott folks at the beginning of the week. I met with Marriott’s CEO Arne Sorenson and also with Marriott’s Vice President of Loyalty Thom Kozik in Marriott’s Bethesda, Maryland corporate offices.

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