I explained ten years ago why points programs devalue. They’re private currencies without any binding constraints. The Supreme Court even limited your right to sue this year. Programs can do as they wish with impunity.
There’s tremendous value in frequent flyer programs but you should not save points now for some future day in which you might spend them.
Air India has started operating San Francisco – Delhi, and it’s almost one of the world’s longest flights.
The flight operates 3 days a week in each direction, on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. And award availability is very good for 2 passengers. It’s wide open for two passengers in business class, and even in first class which is surprising because Air India usually only opens award space for 1 passenger in first.
Alaska Airlines announced their version of ‘economy-plus’ seating which is an extra 3-4 inches of legroom in part of coach.
They’re locked in a battle with Delta over their Seattle hub (and doing shockingly well) and this product brings them closer in line with Delta, United, and American… and possibly brings their first class farther ahead.
The Wall Street Journal ran an interview with Maya Leibman, American’s Chief Information Officer who was promoted to Executive Vice President this week.
Maya’s discussion of ‘scenario planning’ (mostly for problems that didn’t materialize) was interesting. As well that the process was managed off of a massive shared spreadsheet. And the most important takeaway of all: feed your IT staff.
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.
United currently has the most generous lifetime elite program of any major airline: You can even earn revenue-based Global Services status based on lifetime flight miles.
The best deals, those orders of magnitude better than the competition, don’t last. United’s million miler program is generous, so it’s reasonable to expect it will change. And there’s now a rumor that it’s about to change.
Singapore Airlines commissioned one of their Airbus A380s made out of manila envelopes. They manage the details even inside the plane with seats in all four classes of service.
They want you to know that they pay attention to the little details. They aren’t just about transportation that gets you from A to B.
Chase extended its British Airways partnership back in May and then in June American Express announced you’d no longer be able to transfer Membership Rewards points 1:1 into British Airways October 1. Presumably the British Airways-Chase deal precluded other card products from having 1:1 earning with BA.
It’s a far cry from a year ago when transfers were still 1:1 and American Express ran transfer bonuses on top.
But there’s a work-around.
Through January 4 American is selling miles for as little as 2 cent apiece. That’s cheaper than they usually sell miles.
On average I value American miles at 1.7 cents.
They’re worth more if they put you over the top for a specific award. And they’re worth more if you redeem them for something you’d be willing to pay full or close to full price for otherwise.
Singapore Airlines used to operate the two longest flights in the world — Newark to Singapore non-stop (9534 miles) followed by Los Angeles to Singapore (8770 miles). Both of these were flown with Airbus A340-500 flying gas cans.
I came up with the following 15 flights that are currently scheduled to operate and are over 8000 miles.
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 »
