A thread started on Flyertalk Thursday night reports that Membership Rewards balances for several members doubled — or even grew ten-fold.
Most of the discussion there seems to be centered around how likely it is that a member could get away with keeping the points accidentally deposited into their account. In fact, many seem to be transferring the points out right away hoping that helps them abscond with their sudden loot.
The uniform process is almost complete, and most of the pieces have been unveiled in the airline’s employee newsletter.
They need one uniform for legacy US Airways and American crew. And they’re due for an update. These strike me as fine. And certainly better than a photo leaked at the beginning of October. This should let them ‘move on’ from the uniform issue, though there’s little distinctive about it.
Through January 4 American is selling miles for as little as 1.8 cents apiece. That’s cheaper than they usually sell miles.
On average I value American miles at 1.7 cents.
They’re worth more if they put you over the top for a specific award. And they’re worth more if you redeem them for something you’d be willing to pay full or close to full price for otherwise.
I remember when you used to go to Amazon.com to buy books.
They built their e-commerce model and expanded to where you can buy almost anything. They’re not a book seller, they’re a seller, and their advantages are ease, reliability, and comprehensiveness.
Now they appear on the verge of building out their next business: a cargo airline based in Wilmington, Ohio.
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 made a number of very revealing comments at today’s Investor Day. Their upsell plans, and vision for the future, paint very clearly the end of elite upgrades. And they’ll say as much — 80% of first class seats will be paid for in some way (upsells) and customers will have to buy exactly the product they want.
A financial analyst even asked the logical question of whether upgrades will be at best to extra legroom seating. And Delta didn’t deny it.
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.
Through Friday only United is offering to sell miles at the lowest price I’ve ever seen from MileagePlus — in fact at 1.88 cents apiece it’s the price that US Airways used to sell miles for prior to the merger with American.
The US and Cuba have reached an agreement to resume commercial flights between the two countries. We won’t be limited to charter flights anymore.
Uber is working to embed itself into as many other apps as possible. We’ve seen deals to put Uber inside the Hilton and IHG apps. They have a new effort to let anyone building an app launch into Uber.
The biggest ‘get’ so far has to be the Uber deal with Facebook Messenger which comes with a $20 ride credit even for existing Uber customers.
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 »
