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.
In the name of stopping sex trafficking, the Department of Homeland Security is “providing law enforcement with cover to convince citizens to spy on each other and report one another to police for perfectly normal activity.”
Here are some of the things that hotel workers may be on the lookout for. Check your own hotel habits.
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.
The results of airline profitability over the most recent 12 months reported are interesting. American and Delta have brought in over $40 billion each in the last year. And by revenue Lufthansa Group (which includes several airlines) is actually bigger than United.
What’s amazing is that airline profits are located primarily in North America, and yet the US airlines claim to be underdogs. The low cost carriers are surging in both the US and Europe. That’s where the threat to the majors lies (not from the Gulf).
Ireland is a fantastic place to connect between Europe and the United States. That’s one reason British Airways bought them and is bringing them into oneworld. From anywhere except London it can make good sense for BA to send connecting passengers through Dublin. It’s strategically located, makes for an easy connection and features US immigration preclearance. (BA also gets slots at London Heathrow out of the deal.)
Roundtrip business class flights originating in Dublin are pricing over the holidays for less than $1000.
One of the awards that hasn’t changed in price for travel October 1 onwards is US – Europe roundtrip.
Despite Delta making unannounced changes to their secret award chart, US – Europe in economy remains 60,000 miles roundtrip.
There does seem to be a pattern when the airline faces bad news coverage over SkyMiles changes that they then offer an award sale.
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 »
