American Express’ first ‘Centurion Studio’ opened a month ago at Seattle’s international airport, across from gate B3.
Overall it was a nice space, where I enjoyed spending a couple of hours. I definitely prefer it over the Alaska Airlines Boardroom (but no pancake machine) and over the United Club there. But make no mistake, it’s not a Centurion Lounge if you’ve been to one of those in another U.S. airport.
Several months ago the American Airlines website erroneously listed the miles required for top tier Executive Platinum status as 120,000 instead of 100,000. That was quickly corrected.
Yesterday an American AAdvantage member posted a message they received from AAdvantage Customer Service on Flyertalk with that same ‘mistake’.
A class action lawsuit against Southwest and Delta over checked bag fees has been certified.
The suit stems from Delta and Airtran both beginning to charge checked bag fees within weeks of each other. Those airlines were the two biggest in the Atlanta market, and of course Southwest subsequently acquired Airtran.
Several states allow credit card payments for child support through their official programs.
Some states limit acceptance to MasterCard and Discover, others to Visa and MasterCard. Apparently New Jersey stopped taking cards altogether. And I’m not aware of any that take American Express.
But let’s assume you want to pay with American Express, or to pay the other parent directly. Perhaps you need to build up miles because your ex-spouse took them all in the divorce.
I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
I write frequently about the current dispute between the largest US airlines (American, Delta, and United) and the largest Middle Eastern ones (Emirates, Qatar, and Etihad). And I come down squarely against the US airlines, whom I believe are looking to use the government to reduce consumer choices and raise prices for their own benefit.
But that doesn’t mean I’m a defender of the Middle Eastern carriers as such.
Delta knows where its strengths are. They’re starting to include an agreement as part of their corporate sales arsenal that provides for financial penalties if their operational performance falters. The specifics of the agreement won’t see them offering payouts to companies any time soon, but it brings into stark relief what the airline does well. And it’s the most important thing — which is why your boss may be making you fly Delta soon.
Japan Airlines has a really fantastic first class product, it’s one of the best with a fantastic mattress pad and excellent (very Japanese) service. I’d suggest they’re in the top seven (in no particular order: Singapore, Emirates, Etihad, Cathay Pacific, ANA, Asiana, JAL).
They’re switching the Tokyo – Sydney route to a Boeing 777-300ER and that means the route will get first class. Award space is widely available on the route, much better flying Sydney – Tokyo than it is flying Tokyo – Sydney.
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 »
