Jul 28 2015

I’ve made the point many times in the past that despite protests about subsidies received by the Middle East airlines Etihad, Emirates, and Qatar, that Delta doesn’t actually care about subsidies. They care about scoring political points as leverage to use the power of government to shut down competition.

Now Delta is buying a $450 million stake in China Eastern — which is the most state-subsidized Chinese airline. So Delta will benefit from a chunk of those subsidies.

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Jul 28 2015

You get 750 United miles just for signing up for Mypoints, the online shopping portal.

If you make a purchase of $25 or more at an online retailer through the shopping portal within 30 days you get another 1000 United miles on top.

Points appear to post in about a week, despite the offer promising 6 to 8 weeks.

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Jul 28 2015

United is offering a 72 hour flash sale (though July 30) on purchased miles.

You’ll have to provide your account number and password to reveal your offer. Some folks are receiving a 50% bonus on points purchased. I was offered a 35% discount. Both work out to the same cost per miles.

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Jul 27 2015

American Express Plenti – the coalition rewards program that gives you points for transactions with a variety of merchants like AT&T, ExxonMobil, RiteAid, and more now has a new competitor Earn by Microsoft.

So far their partners are in different spaces. Here are the initial places you can earn via Microsoft’s new program:

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Jul 27 2015

New York LaGuardia’s biggest problem is congestion. They could use more takeoff and landing space for sure but primarily it’s New York airspace that’s the issue. Without fixing air traffic control, there’s little that can be done to the physical plant that will truly solve problems.

LaGuardia has been slated to get a new Central Terminal in 2021 and I never believed the timeline.

Now, instead, Vice President Biden and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo today announced a whole new plan for the airport instead.

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Jul 27 2015

Delta is going to roll out a new offering that will allow elite customers to ‘buy up’ to private jet travel.

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Jul 27 2015

American just brought the Boeing 787 into service.

That feeling when you get a new car, it even still smells new, and a rock hits the windshield.. or you spill something on the seats. Or maybe it’s a brand new couch that you stain.

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Jul 27 2015

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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Jul 26 2015

Against a backdrop of airlines handling mistake fares badly — cancelling tickets after months rather than hours — the DOT issued rules in 2012 that explicitly required airlines to honor mistake fares.

That’s because DOT prohibited ‘post purchase price increases’ of any kind — cancelling a ticket and requiring that a consumer buy a new ticket at then-prevalent rates would constitute raising the price of travel for that consumer after they had made a purchase.

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Jul 26 2015

TSA bomb sniffing dogs that have retired — and those who wash out of the program — can be adopted for free.

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