Last week I showed you a foreign airline in each of the 3 alliances that will match your current elite status. That’s useful because it may get you free lounge access (even on the airline you usually fly), or at least airport priority like check-in and boarding when flying an airline that isn’t your usual carrier.
Skyteam member and Delta partner Alitalia now has an official website detailing their offer to give you complimentary elite status.
Scott Mayerowitz and David Koenig broke the story that the Department of Justice is demanding copies of communications between major airlines as part of an investigation into unlawful collusion to limit capacity and increase airfares.
..In the face of the double whammy of recession (which kept people out of the air) and high fuel prices, the airlines developed capacity discipline as a means of survival. It’s conceivable there were unlawful communications or signaling along the way and no doubt the Department of Justice will find that.
While the most obvious thing to do with Starwood points is use them for hotel stays, I think the most valuable thing to do with them is transfer them to airline miles.
Through August 7 there’s a 20% bonus on transfers to American AAdvantage — every 20,000 Starpoints you transfer will get you 30,000 American miles.
A collection of the most interesting links you’ll want to see, many you’ll want to click.
United’s Berlin – Newark flight was cancelled on Tuesday after a catering truck hit the aircraft and damaged it’s fuselage. United added a second flight today to accommodate passengers. There was apparently someone injured during the accident.
TSA tweets photo of the contents of a passenger’s carry on. There was nothing illegal inside. Social media reacts in a way I wish all people would.
What happens if you’ve booked honeymoon tickets under a maiden name and want to change to a married name? What if you’ve booked international travel including for a lap infant before the child is born — and you give the child a different name than you had planned? These problems are not insurmountable! Here’s how it works.
Reader Casey asked,
“My friend booked 2 United economy awards for him and myself for 25k each. To upgrade to Business class it is only 15k each. I have 25K and he has 5k. Can we somehow upgrade to Business for both of us using our miles? We can’t figure it out on the website. Thank you!”
Good Sri Lankan food is always a great option. Spicy Lanka is just 5 miles from New York’s JFK airport.
I was in New York for about 20 hours, flying into LaGuardia and out of JFK. I was on a 5:30pm flight out yesterday. The lunch event I attended in Manhattan yesterday was more useful for talking with folks and I decided not to eat anything, I got out of there around 2:30pm, so I decided to stop here on the way to the airport. Good call.
A collection of the most interesting links you’ll want to see, many you’ll want to click.
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 »
