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.
There’s an interesting anomaly that I’ve noticed, that several readers have asked about and that’s been discussed in several forums recently. American seems to be using ‘married segment’ logic for upgrade availability sometimes and on some routes. I’m not certain that this is intentional, but it throws a monkey wrench into how we track upgrade space but also creates an opportunity for jumping the upgrade queue internationally sometimes as well.
Let me explain what married segments are, how to use the information to find upgrade space that you wouldn’t otherwise know about — and what to do to jump the upgrade queue.
Virgin American has a new partnership with Airbnb that gets you 1 point per dollar spent, plus 1500 points for your first stay as a new customer, and 20,000 points if you rent out your own place.
The offer is stackable with a $50 rebate on $100 spend that’s available from American Express.
Back in June I wrote that discount carrier Norwegian – which offers cheap flights between the US and Europe – would start flying from the US to the Caribbean as well.
By flying between French Caribbean islands and the US they’re able to take advantage of US-Europe Open Skies agreements.
There are 3 inaugural routes launching at the beginning of December. Here’s a giveaway with 20 tickets on each of the 3 inaugural flights (with choice of return).
The Chairman of the airline industry lobbying group is the CEO of America. The Vice Chairman is the CEO of Alaska. With Delta pulling out and saving its $5 million a year, those two are saying good riddance. In fact, Delta is out 6 months early from the group and other airlines are making up the difference in dues.
Brilliant move on Delta’s part to free ride on the lobbying efforts of others, or unwise to give up the power that comes from your lobbyists having very personal relationships with the Chairman of the House Transportation Committee?
American Airlines and Qantas became joint venture partners in 2011. That means they’re allowed to coordinate schedule and pricing. These arrangements also frequently include revenue-sharing. Competitors Delta and Virgin Australia are also joint venture partners.
American and Qantas are entering into a new, tighter arrangement that’s making possible American’s Sydney flight and Qantas’ San Francisco service – plus possible new service by American to Auckland. The first flight starts December 17. But the Department of Transportation may not give the go-ahead.
American — after getting the DOT to take slots away from Delta — is finally publishing its schedule for Los Angeles – Tokyo Haneda flights. They’ll begin selling seats this Sunday for service which starts in February.
Here’s what you need to know about the new service, about which Delta has recently lodged new complaints with the Department of Transportation… and what you need to know about booking Japan awards through American AAdvantage.
I’ve been a strong critic of Delta SkyMiles. Theirs are one of my least-preferred currencies. I’d much rather have miles with United, American, or Alaska. I’d much rather have miles with Aeroplan, Singapore, or Japan Airlines. I’d much rather have miles with Korean Air in Skyteam.
Yet right now availability for summer business class travel to Europe is quite good at least on some routes. So redeem those Delta SkyMiles now for 62,500 miles each way.
A Singapore Airlines Boeing 747-400 freighter (Singapore has no more 747s in passenger service) flying from Adelaide, Australia to Kuala Lumpur was forced to make an emergency landing in Bali due to smoke alarms — which went off because of “exhaust gasses and manure produced by the sheep.”
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.
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 »
