Amtrak announced their new revenue-based program which goes into effect January 24. And they laid out details that suggest points will be worth 2.56 apiece (Acela trains) or 2.9 cents apiece (all other service).
It turns out that the value of points presented is not true at all.
A reader asks about buying a connecting flight beyond their destination, instead of just buying a non-stop flight to their destination. They fly the same non-stop flight anyway, and just skip the connection. Good idea? Bad idea? What are the benefits, and what are the risks?
Amtrak launches their new revenue-based loyalty program January 24. I breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn’t nearly as bad as expected. But make no mistake that it is bad for the people it’s actually meant to reward.
Much of the analysis on other sites has focused on the strong points value, so folks accumulating points by methods other than actual train travel do fine (if not quite as well as the peak end as before). But I’m at least as interested in how the program performs as a mechanism of rewarding customers for train travel. And there it doesn’t fare well at all.
Air Canada published mistake business class prices for bundles of flight passes last week and they’re refusing to honor them. The only people who got to fly were those who booked immediate travel, before Air Canada acted.
I spoke to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s CBC News about mistake fares.
I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
Data for 2015 is available and I find it fascinating what the 15 airline routes with the greatest capacity are for the year.
A couple of weeks ago when it became clear that Bank of America would get the Amtrak co-brand I reached out to Chase to ask whether Ultimate Rewards points would continue to be transferrable to Amtrak Guest Rewards. This was their reply:
Thai Airways has two flights and they’re on Boeing 737s. Bangkok Airways – which owns the Samui airport – has up to 20 flights a day between Bangkok and Samui.
Compare that to Thai Airways service to Phuket where they offer at least flights a day (not including Thai Smile flights), with many of those operated by widebodies (Airbus A330s and Boeing 777s). I’ve flown the route on a 747 several times.
With only two flights a day to a popular resort destination, award seats can be tough to get.
I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
Years ago United used to offer ‘College Plus’ — the biggest benefit of which was 10,000 miles upon graduation.
It’s hardly a new idea to get to consumers early while they’re forming their preferences in hopes of a lifetime of future loyalty.
Delta is partnering with 9 newuniversities to try to do just that — going “beyond logo placement and into campus life.”
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 »
