A reader made two mistakes booking his award trip that cost him a chance to experience Etihad’s First Class Apartments, the most luxurious cabin in the skies. What mistakes did he make, and how can you avoid them when you book your own award trip?
Today’s key stories and more: An airline actually making coach better, the ultimate DYKWIA passenger, and a US cell carrier now offering free data and text in 15 key countries. Read on…
Starwood is offering up to a 25% discount on purchased points. And even though it’s just a 25% discount, it can make real sense. Through May 31 here’s the tiered discount: 10% off 500–9,500 Starpoints 15% off 10,000–14,500 Starpoints 20% off 15,000–19,500 Starpoints 25% off 20,000 Starpoints This isn’t an uncommon offer — Starwood offered this in April and November of last year, and they offered it in 2013. But it’s also the biggest discount I’ve seen. The ‘normal’ price on Starpoints is 3.5 cents per point. Ouch. Fortunately, unlike airline miles, you don’t pay an additional tax on top. And there’s not also a ‘processing fee’ like many of the airlines charge. If you max out on the discount, and buy 20,000 points, it would cost you $525… that’s 2.625 cents per point. Still…
A coffee spill, and an attempt to clean it up, caused a plane to plunge — fortunately for the President of Serbia who was onboard, control of the aircraft was regained, and the flight was aborted.
A mobile payment app that can be charged to your cell phone bill, so when you pay you can earn 5x for cell phone charges with your credit card — and double dip with rewards points, too!
In this post: special tax imposed on hotel suites, 1000 miles just for checking your bag, a cool rental car discount, and the very best street food…!
I don’t aspire to be Gordon Gekko (though I used to have his cell phone more or less, a long long time ago – ever notice how cell phones are one of the great democratizers, no matter how wealthy you are you can’t really get a better iPhone or Galaxy S6?). I’ll never be ‘rich enough to own my own jet’. But I do not like to waste time. I hate checking bags, because I don’t want to wait for them on the back end of a trip. (Not to mention that if something is important enough to bring with me, it’s important enough so ensure I don’t lose). But I also hate carrying on… because I don’t want to board early to ensure I’ve got overhead bin space, and ideally bin space near my…
Checked bag fees now total billions of dollars in the US. Airlines make real money off them… but not for the reason you think. There are hidden costs that obscure what’s really going on when an airline charges you that fee. This is what you may not realize about those checked bag fees..
News and notes from around the interweb: The tunnels connecting terminals 4, 5, and 6 at LAX The top 100 grossing restaurants in the United States (HT: Marginal Revolution) Some of the mediocre spots in the DC area towards the bottom of the list really surprised me. New Mommy Points Travel Channel videos Aer Lingus brings a knife to a gun Twitter fight with Ryanair. The security researcher who tweeted what he believed he could do to a plane through controls at his seat and was removed and questioned by the FBI has subsequently been denied boarding by United. They do not want him onboard.
British Airways plans to exclude elite lounge access and priority boarding benefits from their lowest fares, extending the concept where these fares do not permit a free baggage allowance either.
That’s a huge devaluation for British Airways members and also for American AAdvantage elites. And it’s a really bad idea for BA, too.
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 »
