Nov 15 2016

United has been strategy discussions until Investor Day and now they’ve revealed their plan.

The most concrete thing they offered — and which customers aren’t going to like — was the full details of Basic Economy which takes away elite mileage-earning, takes away upgrades, and even takes away the ability to bring on a rollaboard bag from non-elites.

However they talked at length about broader strategy for their product, their hubs, and where their opportunities are.

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Nov 15 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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Nov 15 2016

Delta is running a 2 day sale on business class awards between the US and Europe.

Delta increased the price of business class saver awards to Europe without notice at the end of August to 70,000 miles each way, 140,000 miles roundtrip. With this sale you can book business class roundtrips at 29% off or 99,000 miles roundtrip.

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Nov 15 2016

United has announced details of their Basic Economy product. In June United estimated Basic Economy would increase revenue by $150 million by 2018.

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Nov 14 2016

Effective with flights starting January 11, while American is still calling its premium cabin first class, they’re using business class fare buckets.

As a result British Airways appears to be going from charging 30,000 points one-way to charging just 15,000 for flights up to 1150 miles.

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Nov 14 2016

A month ago Alitalia doubled the price of many partner awards overnight and without notice. At the same time, they brought partner award booking online and did not increase the price of awards on Alitalia’s own flights and promise not to through the end of 2017.

However they do appear to be overcharging taxes on Alitalia awards, and misrepresenting fuel surcharges as a fee imposed on them rather than one the airline is charging itself.

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Nov 14 2016

A new legal challenge to mileage expiration in Europe raises interesting arguments about fairness and frequent flyer programs.

Expiring miles remove liabilities from a balance sheet, letting an airline recognize revenue while confiscating what is often seen morally (if not legally) as an asset.

Program policies have varied tremendously over time — sometimes a loyalty program doesn’t want to lose a customer, other times they value revenue recognition, and we’ve seen a see-saw across programs over time and different approaches around the world.

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Nov 14 2016

A British businessman was reportedly flying to South Africa in BA first class on October 14, when “after a few drinks” he placed his phone under a flight attendant’s uniform “uniform as she leaned over to serve another passenger” and took photos.

He apparently wasn’t particularly sneaky about it, being noticed by the flight attendant and by other passengers in the cabin (British Airways first class also isn’t especially private).

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Nov 13 2016

One of the best deals in travel is the British Airways AARP discount. I love stacking British Airways business class sale fares with $400 off business class fares and even a further 10% discount for eligible Chase credit card holders (using promo code CARDOFFERU).

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Nov 13 2016

Customers with the J.P. Morgan Select card are going to be transitioned to the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card. They won’t get the Sapphire Preferred’s signup bonus of 50,000 points after spending $4000 on the card within 3 months of their new account, so will probably be wishing they had simply signed up for the card themselves directly.

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