On Thursday American announced details of the launch of their new Boeing 787-9 aircraft.
Inaugural flights have been loaded into American’s schedule and are now available for sale.
Delta is running a domestic economy (and extra legroom seating) award sale. At least they tell us it’s a sale, which means there are regular prices, even though Delta hides what those regular prices are (“an ignorant customer is their best customer”).
At the upper end of value, Chicago Midway – Atlanta is on sale for 5000 miles (and tax of $5.60). That’s better than paying 12,500 miles of course for the same flight. And its actually a good deal. Normally when we see these sales 5000 mile awards correspond to flights less than $90. This time 5000 miles can save you nearly $200.
SkyTeam member KLM has been working with Dutch brewery Heineken on a way to offer draft beer inflight.
This is a technical challenge. Most planes are pressurized to 8000 feet, and new aircraft like Boeing 787s and Airbus A350s to 6000 feet.
With less air pressure in the cabin than on the ground, it isn’t just taste buds that change. A beer tap will “only dispense a huge amount of foam” according to Heineken’s Edwin Griffioen.
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The Qatar Airways first class lounge in Doha is one of the strangest, most stunning, and most exclusive lounges in the world. Someone on my Facebook feed said it ‘looked like a museum’. Indeed, it actually has hundreds of years old pieces on display from Doha’s Museum of Islamic Art (!). There are some real quirks to it, though.
Uber, which normally only gives free Uber credit to new customers, has an offer for even existing customers of $15 towards their next ride in the U.S. when paying with a MasterCard.
The IHG® Rewards Club Select Credit Card is a great card to get and hang onto. That’s because it gives you Platinum elite status, a free night at any IHG Rewards Club hotel property each year, and a 10% rebate on points redemptions.
Right now they’ve got another benefit for cardmembers.
Mergers are often blamed for all manner of ills in the industry, the idea that there are fewer major airlines than there used to be and a belief that if there was more competition consumers would get a better experience. So why do we let the airlines have their way, lobbying the government to stand in the way of more competition?
When I wrote about the sharia-compliant credit card in the UAE with a built-in compass so that cardmembers would always know what direction to pray, I said that feature seemed a bit much. And then I realized it helped to solve a practical problem that would give a reason for customers to carry it — and keep it top of wallet.
There aren’t very many practical problems that credit cards can solve beyond payments, rewards, and bundled benefits that aren’t easily duplicated by a smartphone.
Then I was reminded of the 1990 Dana Carvey film, Opportunity Knocks.
The W Doha hotel is a great property, much more in line with the Ws of Asia than the US. It’s gorgeous, with friendly staff, and they treat Platinums well.
Starwood Preferred Guest Platinum members regularly receive upgrades to suites here. The breakfast benefit is the hotel’s full Market restaurant buffet. And the property is one of only 2 W hotels I know of with a club lounge.
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 »
