Delta just devalued their miles again, raising the price of business class awards between the US and India 38% without any advance notice and with immediate effect.
Their pricing isn’t competitive with other major frequent flyer programs — American offers better availability to India and just raised its pricing to what Delta used to charge.
Air travel can be stressful for most families. Air travel even for someone like me who flies nearly every weak can be stressful around the holidays. But there are things you can do to make it smoother and easier — beyond even the oft-repeated “give yourself extra time.”
Of course you should give yourself extra time to go through security when lines are long (and especially if you don’t have access to TSA’s PreCheck), you should give yourself extra time to get through busy airports, and you should be at the gate so you can board as early as possible if you need to fight for overhead bin space.
I’m going to lay out what I think are the six most important things you can do to get the best deal on travel and then make your holiday travels easier that may not be as obvious.
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.
Two passengers on American Airlines flight AA1655 from Philadelphia to Boston apparently didn’t like their boarding group. Instead of waiting for the official boarding call, two hours prior to flight they “walked on board through the doorway to the jet bridge and took their seats.”
The pair were discovered during the boarding process. They were on the correct flight, and in the correct seats. But the plane was offloaded. The aircraft was searched. And American decided to swap planes anyway before proceeding with the delayed flight.
During American’s earnings call last week they explained the argument behind their new premium economy and the timeline to rollout.
It shouldn’t be a surprise, then, that another joint venture partner Iberia — owned, like British Airways, by IAG — will be introducing a new class of service to long haul aircraft starting in 2017 with retrofits expected to be completed in 2018: ¡Turista Premium!
Marriott doesn’t offer a single page with Ritz-Carlton hotels by category, so I put one together and arranged it geographically as well.
Doha is a really convenient stopover, as the home airport for Qatar Airways, a top world carrier and member of oneworld. Their first class lounge in Doha is amazing, and even features pieces from the Museum of Islamic Art’s collection.
I found just two days in Doha to be perfect, but if I had it to do over again I’d do four nights… two dedicated to a museum visit and two for The Ritz-Carlton Sharq Village & Spa.
On Tuesday October 18th two Vietnam Airlines passengers assaulted a Hanoi airport employee after missing their flight to Ho Chi Minh City. They showed up at the gate 4 minutes past schedule departure time.
The Hanoi Transportation Department’s chief inspector confirms that one of the assailants was “a member of his inspection team.”
Singapore Airlines launches its San Francisco – Singapore non-stop flight today with an Airbus A350 — the first A350 to operate out of San Francisco. Singapore has 67 A350s on order.
I attended the launch celebration for this new San Francisco – Singapore non-stop on Thursday.
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 »
