Apr 08 2015

The Chinese government has announced a policy of tracking its tourists who behave badly in other countries. Just the thread of having one’s behavior monitors, and logged, while outside the country is expected to serve as a deterrent to tourists who fail to adhere to local customs in an egregious way while on vacation.

Though it responds to a worldwide perception, and results from the new wealth which has led to a tremendous migration from rural areas to cities and has allowed Chinese people to travel outside the country it is likely unnecessary. And it’s darned scary…

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Apr 08 2015

It struck me reading about ten of the ‘most garbage’ airports in the world that while many of these are bad, the worst are completely left off — especially the worst U.S. airports.

It’s simply unreasonable to consider Chicago O’Hare worse than New York LaGuardia and… Manila.

Paris and Frankfurt are awful. JFK is worse than LaGuardia. And where’s Miami on this list? Here are the worst airports, and the ones that deserve a reprieve. Although I’ve only ever seen roosters break out of a cage at baggage claim in Manila..

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Apr 08 2015

American Airlines and US Airways have been granted their ‘single operating certificate’ by the FAA. That means in the eyes of the government they’re now operating as one airline, even though consumers will continue to see the two brands until late in the year.

This change is a big deal on the back end, it makes the rest of the merger integration possible, but it doesn’t mean anything is different today for consumers. Still, it truly is the end of an era. All US Airways flights are now referred to as “American [Flight #]” by air traffic control.

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Apr 07 2015

I post 5-7 items a day. Not everything is interesting to everyone, and many of the posts are truly ‘real time’ or as a story develops. Some once a month I look back, see what stories turned out to be the most interesting and enduring, the things you should probably know if you haven’t already read them.

Take a look and let me know what you think. Thanks!

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Apr 07 2015

American just made it easier for customers who buy premium cabin tickets to earn elite status — without taking anything away or making it harder for everyone else. This stacks with the existing premium cabin mileage-earning bonus that American introduced for the year.

This way, American rewards premium customers — something they have to watch with United and Delta having gone revenue-based — without penalizing anyone. Will it work, and will it be the approach American AAdvantage uses going forward?

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Apr 07 2015

Often there are great posts on other blogs worth being aware of. Folks are writing up deals that I may not have much to add to, so I share what you need to know that’s being discussed elsewhere and link to some interesting or unique news articles about travel, miles, and points.

Today we’ve got a (relatively) strong hotel bonus points promotion, two stories about the TSA, a pilot and co-pilot getting into a fight (not after walking into a bar..), and a country that seems to really ‘get’ tourism.

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Apr 07 2015

I don’t usually like using points for non-travel awards, but there are two exceptions–to keep points from expiring, and when there’s the opportunity to use a big travel company or bank’s contacts to get access to the kind of life events you can’t possible set up on your own.

Starwood has a new set of experiences that you can use your points for starting this morning, including luxury suites at a series of venues and intimate concerts at their hotels. Definitely worth seeing if there’s something that matches your interests, and you have my permission to use your Starpoints for something other than transfers to American, Alaska, or Japan Airlines miles….

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Apr 06 2015

The TSA is about to make big changes to PreCheck that may prevent you from getting expedited screening. You’ll never believe why they’re doing it, and what you might have to do to keep it.

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