US airlines have been making loud noises over how unfair it is that they have to compete with some Gulf airlines. They want the administration to take steps against Qatar, Emirates, and Etihad. For foreign policy reasons this is highly unlikely. But the noise – and the overheated rhetoric – have been loud enough that the argument has gotten attention. One Mile at a Time runs a piece titled, “Other Carriers Can’t Compete With Gulf Airlines Under The Current System” and concludes, Open Skies is intended to eliminate government intervention and “free” markets. And there’s no arguing that the Middle Eastern airlines aren’t operating within the spirit of the agreement. …But when every aspect of an operation is being run in order to generate a loss and increase market share for the purposes of developing…
1000 Free Hilton Points for Updating Your Password
Update 9:15am Eastern: Hilton hasn’t gotten their IT ready for this, which may tell you something about the underlying problem… don’t change your password yet, it won’t ‘count’. Just wanted to share a quick update. This change has not taken effect yet due to a technical issue on our end, so please tell your readers to hold on changing their passwords for right now. We apologize for the confusion; we shared this update yesterday because we wanted members to be the first to know about this change and the Bonus Points! I will share updates with you as soon as I receive them. United, American, and Hilton all suffered recent data breaches. Indeed, Hilton points have been among the most available for sale on the DarkNet. Starwood was hacked, too. How You Can Protect Your…
Last Chance to Pay Bills With Gift Cards via Evolve Money
Evolve Money has been a site where you could pay bills online, at times using credit cards with no fee but certainly to liquidate gift cards with PIN numbers (purchased with a credit card, having earned you miles) and also with mileage-earning debit cards. Unfortunately the usefulness of the site seems as though it’s about to come to an end. They sent out the following message tonight: It’s unclear which debit cards are from ‘smaller’ banks. I don’t think my Suntrust Delta debit card counts as coming from a smaller bank. We’ll see if I still have the opportunity to earn 1 Delta mile per dollar paying bills through the site without a significant fee. But the usefulness of Evolve Money to liquidate gift cards will end. And of course you can no longer apply…
Thailand Issues Good Behavior Manual for Tourists
Thailand has issued a good behavior manual for Chinese tourists. Etiquette manuals in Mandarin are being printed for the 90,000 Chinese tourists who are expected to travel to Thailand for Chinese New Year, later this week. The manual will instruct visitors on museum etiquette, requesting that paintings are not touched, warn against using public property as lavatory facilties, and encourage proper driving behaviour, according to the Tourist Authority of Thailand office in Chiang Mai. …Locals accused them of defecating in the city’s moat, causing accidents by driving recklessly, and defacing several tourist attractions, according to the Bangkok Post. Breakfast in a Bathrobe at the Westin Siray Bay, Phuket Thailand and China are geographically close, and while ethnic Chinese often have high status in Thai society the Northern part of the country is heavily Chinese-influenced and…
A New Business Class for Awards to Europe, 500 Free Miles, and Free Rental Car Insurance
News and notes from around the interweb: The first trip report for the new SAS business class. Always good to see real improvements, better uses for Star Alliance miles. Scott Mayerowitz reported on the CEO of Starwood’s resignation. He apparently wasn’t happy with his success rate using Suite Night Awards. 500 free airberlin miles Tricks to get free or discounted insurance for your next car rental (My short piece over at USA Today‘s travel site.) I didn’t even realize Delta still flew to Cincinnati. Ukraine International Airlines will offer a full refund for ticket purchases if you’re denied a visa.
The Philosophy of the Airport Hotel
One of the best airport hotels in the world was the Kempinski Munich, recently rebranded as a Hilton. Price aside (and price matters..) I’ll always pick the property connected to the terminal if there is one, followed by the most recently renovated hotel near the airport. I love airport hotels as a rewards member, where hotel loyalty programs price awards based on a property’s average daily room rate. Airport hotels tend to have low room rates on average, lower even that what consumers usually see, since they tend to have large and inexpensive airline contracts bringing down those rates. Airport hotels can be a steal on points, even as their public-facing rates can be very ‘lumpy’. Currently I view the best New York JFK airport hotel as the Hilton. That’s not saying much. The Hilton…
The DOT Wants Delta to Keep Flying From Love Field, Even Without a Leased Gate
Dallas Love Field has long been a source of contention. When Dallas Fort Worth airport was built, incumbent airlines all agreed to move their operations. Southwest Airlines hadn’t yet launched, so was not a party to that agreement. They planned to begin flying from Love Field, and faced lawsuits to block them from doing so. Southwest eventually prevailed, by House Speaker Jim Wright (D-American Airlines) successfully pushed legislation to limit the flights that would be permitted from Love Field. That legislation was subsequently amended and in many ways phased out, but one limitation that came along with liberalization was that Love Field is limited to 20 gates. Whereas once the law hemmed in Southwest, now it’s wholly protectionist, preventing new airlines from entering service there. Prior to the American Airlines – US Airways merger, Southwest…
When Your Airline CEO Adversary Commits Political Suicide, Just Stand Back and Let Him
Delta CEO Richard Anderson overplayed his hand attacking (a limited number of) Gulf airlines (that aren’t also their partners) in his quest to get the federal government to limit their flying to the US by trying to link them to 9/11. It’s on its face absurd to attack Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar in this way, while remaining silent about Skyteam partner Saudia. And surreal to attack the subsidies received by Middle Eastern carriers while at the same time seeking its own subsidies. So while the airline might have gotten some sympathy with the misleading claims about its shrinking market share to India and vicinity (a smaller piece of a larger pie, when they don’t themselves fly to the destinations they complain about), their own statements begin to turn that sympathy towards Middle Eastern carriers. That’s…
It’s Good to Be the King: the Special Travel Perks Enjoyed By the Political Class
When one story comes out, reporters go looking for more similar stories. So post-Bridgegate when there’s word of a federal investigation into United running a flight for the Chairman of the authority that oversees Newark airport to shuttle him to his vacation place for the weekend, and after United ran Atlantic City service as a quid pro quo for support of tax dollars for Newark airport transit projects, it should come as a surprise that there’s more to come out of the New York area airports. Port Authority commissioners got perks at New York area airports. This is perhaps as obvious and to be expected as Mel Brooks’ rejoinder, “it’s good to be the king.” Newly released records show four commissioners at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey were allowed to bypass…
No Need to Cancel and Rebook! The Awesome Hyatt 20% Award Rebate is Easier Than Expected
This morning I wrote about an awesome offer from Hyatt. Gold Passport members who have the Hyatt Visa (and you had to have the card at the end of January, unfortunately you can’t just sign up now) get a 20% rebate on points redemptions other than mileage transfers and rental car certificates through July 31. (Registration is required.) The terms and conditions of the offer says, Only points redeemed between 2/17/2015 and 7/31/2015 will be eligible for this promotion. I took that to mean that the reservation had to be made during the promotion period. If you redeemed points prior to February 17, for a stay between February 17 and July 31, you wouldn’t get the points rebate. So I suggested that some people would want to cancel and rebook existing award reservations that were…
