Oct 14 2016

US frequent flyer programs overcharge for Hawaii awards relative to ticket price — at 45,000 miles roundtrip, even from the West Coast, you’re not getting much for your miles. But Hawaii awards are in high demand, people earning miles for business travel and wanting to use them for leisure often want to take the family to Hawaii.

But non-US frequent flyer programs offer better deals with miles, even though you’re flying US airlines between the mainland and Hawaii. Delta is notoriously tough for award space, but right now there’s some good availability.

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Oct 14 2016

There’s a huge curiosity factor that’s driving travel to Cuba, since it was forbidden for so long.

And in a reversal of how we usually think these things work, Cubans may be flocking to their own beaches before Americans ruin them.

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Oct 14 2016

A man is suing Norwegian Air because he burned his hands on his e-cigarette during flight.

E-cigarette use is already banned in flight and they’re not allowed in checked luggage either. However he contends that “[t]he airline should never have let him bring the e-cig on the flight or let him charge it.”

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Oct 14 2016

Cathay Pacific now has ‘priority awards’ for business and first class. In other words, there’s no longer just one reward tier, but two different levels of pricing when using Cathay Pacific’s own AsiaMiles.

It will almost certainly – at least over time – mean less saver award availability, since members can spend more points for more seats. And saver awards are what’s available to partners like American AAdvantage and Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan.

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Oct 13 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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Oct 13 2016

Last month American Airlines revamped the way they sell tickets online.

Then late last month I wrote that American would be changing the fare class of domestic 2-cabin first class from F to J as part of its move to free up fare buckets to sell the new premium economy cabin.

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Oct 13 2016

For a card with a $450 annual fee, something that makes it go down much easier is that it comes with a $300 airline fee credit. Here’s what you need to know about the airline fee credit – how it works, what you can claim, and how to claim it.

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Oct 13 2016

Jessica Leeds claimed that in the early 1980s she was on a flight to New York and was upgraded into an empty first class seat next to Donald Trump. She says Trump lifted the armrest and began to touch her inappropriately (“He was like an octopus”).

Trump spokesperson Katrina Pierson went on television and invoked ‘the aviation defense’ where she just starts naming older aircraft models. Bizarrely she suggests that L-1011s and DC-10s didn’t fly to New York, so we don’t have to look at those aircraft. And first class armrests don’t move. Except they did.

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Oct 13 2016

Bill payment service Plastiq lets you pay people by check and they charge your credit card.

Plastiq has a promotion where instead of their normal 2.5% fee for processing payments, they’ll charge you:

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