Some Southwest Customers Will Get Free Drink Chits, Lawyers Pocket $1.6 Million (and are Unhappy!)

by Gary Leff

Aug 26 2015

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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The One Thing You Need to Do Every Day to Protect Your Miles

by Gary Leff

Aug 25 2015

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.

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5 Myths About Scoring an Upgrade, and 5 Ways You Really Can Sit Up Front

by Gary Leff

Aug 25 2015

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.

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How Long It Takes to Transfer Starwood Points to New Partner Korean and Korean’s Astounding Award Hold Policy

by Gary Leff

Aug 24 2015

Starwood now lets you transfer points to Korean Air, which is an amazing partner for first class awards, Europe business class awards, and Hawaii awards. Chase transfers to Korean are usually instant. In my first test Starwood took between 4 and 5 days. But that’s ok — because of Korean’s incredibly generous ‘hold’ rules.

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