May 03 2016

Last week Matthew Vincett, CEO of LifeMiles, told me to expect a return of their 100% bonus on purchased miles May 3. And indeed it’s back. Go to the purchase miles page and log in. I’m actually offered up to a 125% bonus through May 31.

Vincett sees offering miles for sale inexpensively as win-win for the program and the consumer. Flexible consumers who can travel on award tickets gain access to travel less expensively than if they were buying tickets directly. And the program generates revenue that’s greater than its redemption cost.

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May 03 2016

I don’t believe IHG Rewards Club has announced this publicly yet, but they’ve updated their program terms and conditions to reference ‘member-exclusive rates’ at their hotels.

And these new rates are live.

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May 02 2016

Earlier today I wrote that American had eliminated its telephone booking fee for awards.

It turns out it was just a mistake with the wrong information loaded to American’s website.

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May 02 2016

Alaska Airlines is offering up to a 50% bonus when you purchase or gift miles through June 13. You give them your name and account number and it’s revealed what bonus you’re eligible for. The 50% offer seems broadly available although I’ve seen reports of getting offered just 40%.

At 50% purchases are really tempting, and Alaska’s are the only airline miles I’d personally do that with. Other airlines take at least a 100% bonus. That’s because the starting price of Alaska’s miles is lower than many other airlines.

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May 02 2016

American has eliminated telephone booking fees for award tickets.

These were already waived for Executive Platinum members and for customers booking awards that couldn’t be booked at AA.com. A year ago American started waiving telephone booking fees for awards you couldn’t book online, following US Airways practice. At the same time they increased their telephone booking fee from $25 to $30 for domestic itineraries and $35 to $40 for international ones.

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May 02 2016

Atlanta is the busiest airport in the world. In part the volume of passengers at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson is because, unlike other major metropolitan areas — New York, San Francisco, Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Houston — the Atlanta area doesn’t have a second (or third) airport.

There’s been plans for a second airport since the 1970s when the city acquired about 10,000 acres in Paulding County (40 miles from the city) to build one. But Delta has been fighting tooth and nail against the facility — and finally drove a nail into its coffin.

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May 02 2016

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.

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May 01 2016

Think it’s lucrative to get fired as United’s CEO?

Staying on is even better if you’re Expedia’s CEO – in place since 2004 – who got $94.6 million in 2015 including “2.7 million stock options valued at $83.6 million that vest over five-and-a-half years”

40% of the options though require boosting the company’s stock price nearly 50% over the next 4.5 years. That’s actually modest growth, but while conventional wisdom paints the consolidating online booking industry as a success engine it’s actually incredibly vulnerable.

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May 01 2016

A new Chinese 6% VAT tax on hotel stays went into effect today. Hilton’s website now reflects the VAT, as it should. However their award searches are showing not just the number of points for the award but also this new VAT based on the payment Hilton HHonors makes to the hotel.

This is an error, of course, since Hilton HHonors awards include tax. But it tells us a lot of the economics of the program.

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May 01 2016

An Iranian student in South Florida named Milad Avazdavani has been charged for “hacking into the AAdvantage accounts of high-mileage customers and siphoning off enough points to charge trips and cars worth more than $260,000.”

In each case the AAdvantage accountholder’s email address was changed and transactions were made from a computer at the same IP address. Changing email address is a flag for potential fraudulent activity made soon thereafter when redemptions are being made in the name of someone other than the accountholder. When a single IP address is linked to name changes and third party redemptions across a number of accounts that’s a pretty good giveaway.

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