A police officer entered LAX as a passenger last week with her gun and six bullets. She proceeded through airport security, and as usual they did not notice. She flew Los Angeles – Taipei enroute to Bangkok. On arrival in Taiwan on Thursday she realized she had her gun with her and notified authorities.
The dumb, stupid electronics ban that focuses on the wrong airports and does absolutely nothing to improve aviation safety is hurting passenger bookings on Qatar Airways flights to the U.S.
American Express Membership Rewards is offering a 30% transfer bonus to Virgin Atlantic through May 22, 2017. Virgin Atlantic’s miles were among the least valuable currencies. That was true before Even Virgin Atlantic Flying Club raised redemption prices for Virgin Atlantic travel and before their partnership with Virgin America terminated. But there are some incredible sweet spots that most people don’t consider. Partner award redemptions are roundtrip These must be booked by phone, not online, and it usually seems like call center agents have never booked a partner award before They add fuel surcharges to awards where they are part of a paid ticket’s price Virgin Atlantic occasionally runs discounts on transatlantic economy awards, and even sometimes premium economy awards. Discounts combined with transfer bonuses wind up being super cheap. My favorite award is Virgin…
I’ve had surprising luck with business class award space crossing the Atlantic on a flight most people don’t think about, on an airline that’s not a member of any alliance (though they’re expected to join the Avios platform and thus be linked up with British Airways).
Instead of giving you elite status because you’re an elite with another hotel chain, they let you earn status more quickly — fewer nights in a compressed period of time — though they don’t advance you the status while you’re working on the challenge.
That program is no longer a secret, information passed from frequent flyer to frequent flyer, or something you stumble upon if asking Starwood whether there’s a way they can help you move your business to them from another chain.
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.
Monday’s USA Today will feature a staff editorial arguing that the government should ‘ban bumping’ and that “airlines should be required to offer as much money as necessary to deal with overbooked flights.”
They’re featuring my op-ed offering the opposing view,.
United just said they wouldn’t have law enforcement take passengers off flights anymore.
Except — as I called it yesterday — they more or less had their fingers crossed. They said this applied “unless it is a matter of safety and security” And though understandable, I noted that this exception “renders the policy statement meaningless.”
Involuntary denied boarding compensation paid in cash that’s 4 times your one-way fare is clearly not a rebate on your ticket price, it exceeds the ticket price. And yet it isn’t taxable…
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.
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 »
