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.
When Bridget Blaise-Shamai was tapped to lead the AAdvantage program last month, being promoted to replace Suzanne Rubin, I noted that Kurt Stache moved over from Senior Vice President of Alliances and Partnerships to become Senior Vice President of Marketing & Loyalty.
So it looked like AAdvantage would report up to Stache, who reported up to the Chief Marketing Officer Andrew Nocella who reported up to American’s President Scott Kirby.
Of course Scott Kirby is out as American’s President and is now President of United. Chief Operating Officer Robert Isom was promoted to President.
Earlier in the month Star Alliance frequent flyer program Avianca LifeMiles was offering a 130% bonus on purchased miles. It was a 100% bonus for all of September, but 130% through September 10. This allowed you to purchase 101,000 miles or more at just 1.43 cents apiece.
It turns out there’s now an even better offer — a 140% bonus.
After Baltia Airlines gave up on its decades-long quest to start Boeing 747 service between New York and St. Petersburg, Russia and sought to raise funds on a new business plan to fly regional jets between Baltimore, Trenton, Islip and Albany (BALtimoreTrentonIslipAlbany) it’s time for another airline to propose all-747 service.
This time domestically. As an ultra-low cost carrier. That doesn’t charge checked bag fees, seat assignment fees, and gives free wifi. But will earn ancillary revenue selling inflight meals branded with top restaurants — and by selling souvenirs.
Nearly three years ago the story went viral about a man who would buy and refund an airline ticket each day using that ticket to gain lounge access and eat free for a year.
Two years ago a man did this 36 times with Lufthansa’s lounges and they sent him a bill for 2000 euros. Airlines often have requirements in their contracts of carriage saying that you actually have to intend to fly when buying a ticket and this sort of behavior is highly suggestive that the man never intended to actually fly.
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.
You can use Virgin America’s points for about 2.2 cents apiece towards travel on Virgin America, or for fixed-point redemptions on their partners. So 1000 points are worth ~ $22. You can get more value than that with partner awards.
And these will eventually become Alaska Airlines miles, as well.
Rapper Coolio and his crew were found with a stolen gun at LAX. Coolio had passed through the security checkpoint and boarded his flight, while his security guard was detained by TSA when a bag was discovered with a loaded gun inside.
Coolio was removed from the flight. It was determined other items in the confiscated bag were his, and though his security guard first claimed the Compton-born star had nothing to do with it, he fessed up to being its own. The gun, however, was stolen. But the story gets better…
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 »
