British Airways parent IAG acquired Aer Lingus and the Irish carrier is expected to join oneworld.
Aer Lingus is a former member of oneworld — they left nine years ago to pursue a strategy as a low cost carrier. Since then they’ve built back their premium offerings. They have a good transatlantic business class, considering the short flights between Dublin, Shannon and the East Coast of the U.S. which are their bread and butter (though not exclusive) destinations.
Delta rarely runs promotions anymore, since the lead up to their going to revenue-based mileage earning.
They do have a very tight relationship with Starwood, though — Crossover Rewards — which offers Starwood points for Delta flights and Delta miles for Starwood stays, and even status benefits equivalent to the lowest tier at both companies.
And yet there’s one area in which Delta cheats a bit on Starwood.
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.
I shared last week that with Delta’s move of their full operations to Terminal 3 at London Heathrow, while Delta business class passengers will continue to have access to the Virgin Clubhouse there Delta elites will instead be sent to the No1 Lounge (which is a Priority Pass lounge).
If there’s one thing that London Heathrow has a lot of it’s lounges, the best and most unique being the Sofitel’s club lounge at terminal 5.
Why does this remind me of the tasteless Space Shuttle Challenger jokes I heard as a school kid, “What’s this red button for?”
A Saudia pilot accidentally hit the hijack warning button.. twice leading to a security response.
If you join Fairmont Presidents Club — it’s free and quick to do — you’ll get 1000 Air Canada Aeroplan miles.
You can get additional Aeroplan miles via transfers from American Express Membership Rewards (instant transfer) and Starwood Preferred Guest. You do have to keep your account active with some activity every 12 months to prevent points expiration.
Sixt Rent-a-Car has an interesting promotion where ‘every 6th prepaid rental made between September 23 and 25 receives that rental free’.
What’s reasonably interesting here though is the option to enter via postcard, something sweepstakes do so that no purchase is required and they don’t run afoul of state laws (requiring payment to play a game of chance).
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.
There’s good business class award availability on United between San Francisco and Auckland New Zealand towards the end of schedule — good enough not just for one or two passengers but for four or more passengers — and on some flights eight or more seats.
Australia and New Zealand are among the toughest awards out there. So while July and August is low season for travel to New Zealand, many will want to take advantage and of course it’s easy to hop over to Australia from New Zealand and some will want to use these flights as part of a broader Pacific Islands trip.
With Chinese approval of Marriott’s deal for Starwood the last major hurdle has been cleared and closing is expected by the end of the week.
The deal clearly benefits Marriott Rewards members, who have been seeing improved benefits and will get a treasure trove of top properties at which to use their points. It benefits Starwood general members who earn via hotel spend, since Marriott Reward offers a higher rebate percentage. But there’s been much teeth gnashing among Starwood elites.
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 »
