Spirit’s pitch is that if you didn’t win the powerball jackpot, you still need to get the best deal on airfare. So you’ve got 29 inch seat pitch and no TSA PreCheck in your future.
Qantas has started flying San Francisco – Sydney now that American has picked up a Los Angeles – Sydney flight as a part of the joint venture between the two airlines.
And Qantas has now released business class award space on the route for two passengers in February, March, and Apri. You won’t see the space on American’s website, however…
Here’s a video on Facebook that’s gotten more than 10 million views since yesterday. (HT: Rob R.) It mocks up a concept that’s supposed to enhance aircraft safety.
There’s a breakaway cabin that can be detached from the rest of the plane when the aircraft is going down. Presumably the pilot would emergency-eject the passengers (I guess the captain goes down with the ship), who ostensibly float to safety while the rest of the aircraft goes down in a ball of mess.
Hyatt elite status matches and challenges were originally meant to be tools for Hyatt’s sales team to use in bringing business over. As they became public in social media Gold Passport publicly acknowledged and welcomed members into them.
A little over a year ago, Hyatt eliminated their fast track elite status methods. Then they brought them back as tools for Sales only. That’s because only a small percentage of people went on to maintain the status they were granted through these offers.
In June Hyatt began offering fast track to Diamond status again but without granting Diamond status during the challenge period.
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.
Marriott is the only program that lets you buy back your elite status if you didn’t re-qualify at the same level as the year before (or re-qualify at all).
They’ve been making this offer for years, every year and at the same pricing.
Here are the stats on the major US airports that are growing the most — and those that aren’t growing at all.
Growth at Dallas Love Field and Seattle should both come as no surprise. The end of the Wright Amendment in Dallas means airlines can fly to many more destinations. Indeed, airlines have greater demand to fly from the airport than the legal limit on gates there can support. And Seattle is seeing a massive buildup in flights by Delta, growth that is fueling even more flights from Alaska Airlines. My home airport of Austin is building more gates…
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.
Delta has had a well deserved reputation for offering members very little award availability, at least at any reasonable price (the ‘saver’ level). It’s hardly a new phenomenon.
Occasionally though award space at the low saver level on Delta’s flights open wide up. Right now you can use SkyMiles to take the family in business class to Europe for summer travel. You’ll find wide open availability most days for several seats on an assortment of routes this summer.
I first covered Radpad over a year ago. The site allows you to pay your rent with a credit or debit card (for a fee).
At the time the fee to use a credit card was 2.99%. Generally not worth it, although in a pinch it could make sense if you needed some quick credit card spend.
Now they’ve reduced the fee for using a MasterCard to 1.9%… and that can be useful for earning rewards.
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 »
