The most consumer-unfriendly change ever to a loyalty program has to be when LatinPass became GlobalPass and required people to re-earn the miles in their account with purchases through their shopping portal. But LatinPass hadn’t been attached to a single airline, it was a coalition program.
The most consumer-unfriendly change ever to an airline frequent flyer program wasn’t made by Delta. It was made by United.
On Friday I wrote about United fares between US hub cities and Southeast Asia for less than $500 roundtrip. These fares are still around, and it gets even better.
I noted that you can fly Newark, Chicago, San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, and Houston. So mostly from United hubs, which is unusual, fares like this are almost always used to attack the hubs of other airlines. (For a little more fares are available from other cities as well.)
It turns out you can book an open jaw itinerary for even less — fly into one city and back from another from $355.
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.
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.
The greatest luxury in air travel is space and privacy. There is no other first class that comes close to the Etihad First Class Apartment onboard their Airbus A380 and no better flight than Abu Dhabi – New York JFK. And that’s without even getting to the inflight chef or onboard shower.
This flight wasn’t perfect. It was delayed, and there was a glitch with the water in the shower. But it still exceeded anything else I’ve experienced with any other airline’s first class product.
Dublin is on sale in a very big way, from several US cities. The cheapest is Delta’s non-stop New York JFK – Dublin flight.
Great fares are available from other cities as well. For instance, here’s Philadephia – Dublin on Delta for $308. It’s more expensive than the New York trip largely because of the extra taxes from the connection. However, the outbound is more expensive — a 53 cent base fare.
As someone who flies American Airlines regularly, I place a high value on lounge access. It’s the people who keep me going especially during irregular operations, going above and beyond to get me where I’m going. As a result I’m very interested in the best way to get American Airlines club access.
For instance, agents have regularly double booked me giving me ‘backup’ flights just in case I misconnect. And I’ve even gotten a proactive call from a lounge about a delay, they had booked me as a backup on a new flight (that had looked sold out to me, and it was the last one of the night). And I’m not a Concierge Key member.
A man who was seen drinking how own alcohol onboard an easyJet flight from Copenhagen to Edinburgh this week “has been charged by police after he urinated on fellow passengers.”
The strangest thing is it doesn’t appear to simply be the case of a drunk guy who either couldn’t make it to the lavatory or who didn’t know the difference between his seat and the lavatory. Instead, it appears to have been retaliatory.
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.
United has an airfare sale that’s truly unique and worth a look for several cities in the US to several cities in Asia. The fares are strikingly great, you’ll want to pounce now if interested in flying to Asia between September and December.
These fares are available from Newark, Chicago, San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, and Houston. You can fly roundtrip for under $500 to Ho Chi Minh City, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Taipei, Manila, or Jakarta.
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 »
