Two US Senators — Ed Markey and Richard Blumenthal — want airlines to drop checked bag fees for the summer to reduce TSA checkpoint lines.
The idea is that passengers would be willing to check bags if they didn’t have to pay to do so, and lines would be shorter at security checkpoints with fewer bags to be screened there. I’d point out three things, however.
It’s usually either male TSA agents that are sexually molesting passengers or a creepy male passenger molesting the woman beside him (or molesting a flight attendant).
But make no mistake — women can behave just as badly in an airport or on a plane as men can. Whether it’s actress Lara Flynn Boyle flashing her breasts and crawling into bed with a male stranger in British Airways First, or a drunk realtor exposing her breasts inflight as she refuses to put out her e-cigarette.
American launched a big transatlantic mileage bonus today up to 25,000 miles per roundtrip (up to 50,000 miles for two roundtrips).
Roundtrips on American Airlines, British Airways (including OpenSkies), Finnair and Iberia between May 9 and July 31 will earn bonuses based on fare class. Registration for promo code NAS16 is required prior to travel, but tickets purchased prior to registration are eligible for earning the bonus.
British Airways is running a sale on premium cabin travel. Prices are even dropped further for Thanksgiving and Christmas/New Years travel. The sale runs through May 12.
As usual, the sale is stackable with the $400 AARP premium cabin discount and with the 10% Chase discount.
American Airlines shares extensive information about their frequent flyer program in their SEC filings. So their 10-K always makes for an interesting read — especially when comparing data that can be found in prior year filings.
2015 had another jump in miles issued, and at the same time a decrease in the percentage of miles sold to partners. Doing the math, the number of miles sold to partners stayed about the same (actually increased by about 1.6 billion or one-third of one percent).
The increase, then, came from miles printed by the program for travel on American. This gives us a window into the increased miles stemming from American’s premium cabin bonus.
Over the weekend I wrote about an economist who was temporarily removed from an American Airlines flight for doing math. His seat opponent thought the math equations he was jotting down looked strange, so he might be a terrorist.
The Economist now offers a guide with top 10 ways to help future passengers know whether they’re sitting next to an economist.
Alaska Airlines partners with many of the airlines both in oneworld (like American, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, LAN) and Skyteam (like Delta, Air France, Korean) and also non-alliance airlines like Emirates. You cannot book first class awards on either Air France or Korean (business is the highest cabin offered).
I really like Alaska Airlines miles because they offer one-way awards on nearly all of their partners and most booking functionality is available on their website. One way awards allow an enroute stopover. So booking roundtrip allows two stopovers in addition to your destination.
Workers spent 6 hours loading a Boeing 767 onto a barge at Ireland’s Shannon airport.
The 767, which had been operated by defunct Russian airline Transaero, was headed for a new resort in Inishcrone, a seaside town in Ireland, that will offer ‘glamour camping’: Quirky Nights Glamping Village (“The resort will see other modes of transportation such as buses, taxis and a train also turned into accommodation for visitors.”)
The next Star MegaDO has launched for sale. Everyone who goes on the trip gets Star Alliance Gold status for a year from Aegean Airlines.
It’s a European adventure with a charter flight from Zurich to Hamburg to Mykonos and then Athens. The “program covers a close and personal encounter with the brand new Bombardier C series, landing at Airbus private airport in Hamburg, Finkenwerder, home of the A320 NEO, all interior installations for the A380 and the A350, a sundowner at the Santa Marina hotel in Mykonos and much more”
If you’re looking for a cheap fare from New York, Los Angeles, or San Francisco to someplace in Southeast Asia — Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Jakarta — now is the time with trips available from $417 all-in.
Fares are available September through December. You’ll find United fares for travel on United and ANA.
While there are cheap fares (~ $600) to and from the same cities, the cheapest fares are open jaw trips like New York – Bangkok, return from Kuala Lumpur. Similarly fly into Jakarta and back from Singapore.
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 »
