When American Airlines announced new Los Angeles – Sydney service they teased possible flights to New Zealand and acknowledged Auckland was on their radar.
Now the time has come. American announced service to Auckland with a Boeing 787-8 starting in June.
When I re-qualified this year for American Airlines Executive Platinum (100,000 mile flyer status), it took a couple of weeks to get a note from AAdvantage.
In contrast, within minutes of my 50th Starwood night posting, I had a congratulatory email. That was impressive. I also had another email inviting me to choose my benefit for reaching 50 nights (rather than just 25 stays).
Alaska Airlines is offering up to a 50% bonus when you purchase or gift miles.
That’s actually a pretty good deal compared to other airlines with similar bonuses, because the starting price on their points is lower.
A few weeks ago an article was going around,’3 radical ideas to totally disrupt air travel’. I’ve seen it half a dozen times again today in my Facebook feed and have had three people send it to me as well.
Prohibiting carryon bags, allowing passengers to resell their seats and tickets, and giving out surprise and delight items to passengers stuck in a middle seat aren’t actually that revolutionary or event all that good…
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.
You can bring mini-bottles of alcohol through security. But you cannot open them and drink them on a plane. You can buy alcohol post-security, such as at duty free. But you cannot open the bottles and drink them on a plane.
It is a violation of federal law to drink alcoholic beverage onboard an an aircraft unless served by the airline. Airlines have the option of serving you the alcohol you bring onboard yourself, but that’s entirely at their discretion (and the discretion of the flight attendants on any given flight). So don’t count on it.
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.
Hyatt has extended the Diamond “Guest of Honor” benefit. When a Diamond member redeems points for someone else’s award stay, that person will receive Diamond benefits for the stay.
That way Diamond members can treat their family and friends to the same kind of experience with Hyatt that they receive themselves. I love the idea of letting Diamond members give their friends and family the same Hyatt experience that they have, it lets them share their love for the brand in a way they can be proud of. Having a spouse, child, or good friend taken care of I think really reinforces a connection that’s more than transactional.
Last week I speculated that an American Express Centurion lounge was coming to LAX. Following up with American Express I got something of a non-denial denial (“Nothing official,” emphasis mine).
Well, the airport is confirming it. In fact, per Brian Sumers, it’s in the airport’s October “Terminal Operations Center” newsletter.
Back in September, an online chat I hosted with Hyatt Gold Passport’s Jeff Zidell broke the news that Hyatt would be bringing the ability to search for cash and points awards online “sometime during the four quarter of 2015 or first quarter of 2016.”
That functionality is now live. They’ve also added the ability to upgrade paid stays to a Regency Club or Grand Club room using points.
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 »
