Oct 24 2015

Star Allinace member Turkish Airlines has opened up as many as 8 business class award seats or more between the US and Istanbul in 2016. This is available on a wide range of dates.

Turkish serves more countries in the world than any other airline (and fourth most destinations and will provide a free hotel night in Istanbul if flight schedules force an overnight connection in Istanbul. You can generally route US – Istanbul on Turkish and then backtrack to Western Europe. They’re a great option for getting to Israel and to Athens, as well as to Africa and even Asia.

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Oct 24 2015

So what new issue “has now been earmarked as a priority concern for action by TSA” under new TSA director Peter Neffenger?

Long security lines mean passengers have less time to shop. Plus if people didn’t bring so much stuff through security and carry it onto planes, there’s be more room in the overhead bins for people to store retail purchases.

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Oct 23 2015

Many of the emails I get with questions contain notes of thanks. I usually delete those parts when I post questions and answers on the blog. Since I do post many of my media appearances, folks probably wouldn’t know it but I’m fairly bashful about such things.

But I do like to share what really means a lot to me.

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Oct 23 2015

A federal court ruled in 2011 that TSA use of body scanners has been illegal.

Eight years since the introduction of body scanners, and four years since a court ruled that TSA was in violation of the Administrative Procedures Act over those scanners, the Competitive Enterprise Institute and the National Center for Transgender Equality sued — and the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit ruled, essentially, that TSA is simply ignoring the law…

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Oct 23 2015

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.

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Oct 23 2015

The only real value I’ve ever gotten from ‘ThanksAgain’ is earning miles at brick and mortar retailers when I didn’t expect it.

When they first began they had a ton of dry cleaners in their portfolio. More recently they’ve focused on signing up the majority of merchants at several airports. Pay with your registered credit card, accumulate points for the purchase. You can set up different accounts, and link different credit cards to each.

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Oct 23 2015

In response to a question about ‘what comes next’ after the American Airlines reservation system integration, airline President Scott Kirby made two points. It’s telling that these are the two things he chose to highlight.

Scott said “more innovation within the frequent flyer program” and “doing more to disaggregate the product” and doing more to “offer fares that can compete with low cost carriers” that have “a suite of attributes that are appropriate to those prices.”

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Oct 23 2015

Here’s the list of changes and new features that are part of the AwardWallet new beta.

If you want in on the beta, first sign up for AwardWallet if you do not already have an account, and then use this upgrade link.

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Oct 22 2015

I spent a good bit of my work day on Saturday in the American Airlines club on the B concourse of the Phoenix airport.

The lounge is one floor up in the terminal between gates B5 and B7, and is one of three American clubs in Phoenix (the other two are on the A concourse, one of which is currently closed for renovations.

The staff were exceptionally friendly and welcoming. The only negative I’d offer is that as legacy US Airways employees they are working off of a much more automated version of the airline’s reservation system than some legacy American agents — so they may not be able to work some of the miracles during irregular operations that I’ve experienced in American clubs in the past.

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Oct 22 2015

This is credit to One Mile at a Time who points out that Etihad is opening 6 or more first class seats on most of its US departingi flights for next summer.

Etihad offers first class from New York JFK, San Francisco, Washington Dulles, Los Angeles, and Dallas.

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