Mitch shared a story of how he lost his iPhone right in front of his own eyes this week while flying first class on American Airlines from Los Angeles to New York JFK right behind Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones.
Southwest Airlines has a long history with alcohol, and not simply because their long-time Chairman Herb Kelleher had a thing for Wild Turkey.
Prior to deregulation in 1978, the Civil Aeronautics Board was ‘experimenting with price competition’ and airlines were allowed to cut their Dallas – Houston fare to $13 and undercut Southwest (which as an intra-state airline wasn’t subject to the CAB’s price regulation). Southwest responded by offering two fares: a $13 matching fare, and their previous $26 fare with which they threw in a fifth of liquor (customer’s choice). Folks expensing their tickets bought the higher fare, and Southwest Airlines became the biggest liquor distributor in the state of Texas.
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Korea Herald carried a piece, “Asiana to remove nearly all its first-class seats” the upshot of which is that Asiana is losing money and plans to keep first class only on its Airbus A380 aircraft.
Back in November the ability to transfer Chase points to Korean was suspended. Chase let us know that this would come back. Korean Air said transfers would return in January and indeed they came back on January 25.
Unfortunately Korean Air now lists as ‘temporarily unavailable’ again on the Chase Ultimate Rewards website.
I read someone’s story yesterday about their American AAdvantage mileage account being compromised. Someone changed the address and email address on their account, and proceeded to book Cathay Pacific first class awards for someone else using their miles. They managed to catch it before any of the flights were taken.
This can happen to anyone, in this case the person who did it clearly obtained the account password. Changing the email address meant the accountholder wouldn’t get a copy of the tickets being issued, or mileage statements showing lower account balances.
Back in June I stayed at the Westin Stonebriar for the first time and I received an amazing upgrade while they seemed to confuse me with someone else, an important repeat customer.
I’ve been back twice and have had the chance to experience the hotel as a ‘regular’ Platinum member.
I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
Airline upgrades are almost exclusively done by formula, with little discretion allowed to gate or check-in counter agents.
The only time there may be wiggle room is when a flight is oversold, and while elite frequent flyers may get preference for moving up to a premium cabin, the most important priority is getting a flight out on time. Other than these “operational upgrades” though, upgrades are going to be based on published criteria – not who is nicest, who dresses best, or who asks.
And I’m afraid to use my cell phone at immigration and customs. This rap star was riding a hoverboard and found out that at such a checkpoint rights are… shall we say… more limited.
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 »
