Yesterday I asked if Delta was slipping a whole new mileage redemption system in the back door. They’ve made lots of changes lately, totally in the dark and without announcement. They’ve pulled award charts off of their website, and now say that awards cost whatever price members are presented with at the time they search an itinerary. It’s still strange that they’ve done this mere weeks after implementing a brand new award chart, but it looks like they’re gradually moving to a revenue-based redemption model — just not telling their members about it. Just like seeming to require more than 3 weeks’ advance purchase to get the lowest mileage prices for an award. Now they’ve quietly changed their program rules in a way that seem to prepare for a new redemption model to become official.…
US Airways Brings Back Access to AAnytime Awards on American Airlines
A week ago American and US Airways launched the ability to redeem miles for ‘extra award availability’ at an additional mileage cost on each others’ flights. The idea of spending extra miles to get the seat you want isn’t universal, you can’t do it with British Airways or Virgin Atlantic miles for instance. Most European and Asian carriers don’t offer this (although some like Singapore Airlines do). But it’s near-universal for US airlines, though they do it in different ways. United only lets elites and co-brand credit card holders spend extra miles for last seat availability, for instance. General members without a United credit card only get access to most seats at a much higher mileage price. But they have only two mileage levels. Alaska, American, US Airways, and Delta all have more levels. The…
RyanAir Ground Crew Behaved Totally Inappropriately. The Airline Had This Perfect Response.
The thirteen year old boy in me thinks that if I had to load and unload baggage in the snow I might do something like this, although I acknowledge I’d deserve to get fired if I did. RyanAir’s response, though, was perfect: ‘While our ground crew excel at industry leading 25 minute turnarounds, art isn’t their forte, as they’ve clearly forgotten to draw wings on their snow airplane’. You can join the 50,000+ people who see these deals and analysis every day — sign up to receive posts by email (just one e-mail per day) or subscribe to the RSS feed. It’s free. You can also follow me on Twitter for the latest deals. Don’t miss out!
Calling Out Delta on Live TV, the Uber Driver Who Makes $250k, and Buying $500 Gift Cards Online
News and notes from around the interweb: The Uber driver who brings in over $250,000 a year. Yesterday I went on Fox News ‘Happening Now’ talking about Delta pulling its award charts off the website. Expedia is claiming that the strong hotel discount deal that I wrote about this morning — despite having full and clear terms and conditions — was a mistake. Developing… The best places for buying $500 gift cards online with a credit card. The Air France – KLM internal rift spills out into Dutch newspapers. The CEO writes a letter to convince the Dutch people that Air France should get to use KLM’s profits. US Airlines are Whiners (HT: UnRoadWarrior) I believe the technical term is ‘punter’ The Malaysia Airlines Enrich program is devaluing. Some readers may care since they’re a…
Hotels By Day: Solves a Problem, Gives Readers Free Day Rooms!
A new app and website has publicly launched today which solves a real travel problem. Hotels By Day lets you book hotel day-use rooms online. The problem: Day rooms are really hard to book. You usually can’t book them online. I’ve booked them occasionally — the Sofitel Heathrow has day space on its website, but people often get confused and book those rates either for the wrong day or in place of overnight’s which are what they really want. Sometimes you call the chain to book them, sometimes you have to call the hotel directly. Hotels By Day — website, and both iPhone and Android app — brings the inventory online. The app uses geolocation to show the day rooms closest to you for booking same-day easily. But it also lets you book them in…
Expedia Coupons That Can Bring a $188 Room Down to $10!
Doctor of Credit highlights 3 Expedia coupon codes. There’s no minimum spend amount, just a minimum stay length for each coupon. This is perfect for folks who like inexpensive accommodations. Save $100 on any stay of three nights or longer using coupon code: DISCVR105 Save $150 on any stay of four nights or longer using coupon code: DISCVR151 Save $200 on any stay of five nights or longer using coupon code: DISCVR201 The coupons are valid for redemption through March 15 for stays complete by August 31. Each person’s account can only redeem a coupon one time. And the coupon won’t reduce taxes, fees, etc. — just room rate. But a $40 a night ‘Expedia Special Rate’ hotel room over 5 nights would cost just the taxes. These hotel bookings won’t earn points or stay…
Delta Slipping a Whole New Mileage Redemption System in the Back Door?
Delta has made several changes to how they display award availability and pricing in recent weeks, that may point towards a whole new way of handling redemption. It Looks Like They’re Preparing to Move to Revenue-Based Award Redemptions They told us we were getting revenue-based mileage earning for Delta flying, but that awards would continue to be priced based on a traditional award chart (albeit with more gradations than before). Nonetheless, several recent moves seem to telegraph another direction: Delta eliminated their award charts — just pulled them off the website — without telling anyone. When asked they said that members now get all they need to know from the award calendar. That suggests pricing could change and change rapidly, or at least they’re preparing for it to. Perhaps it’s a move towards real-time pricing…
Update on a Frequent Flyer Program’s Fraud Unit Gone Off the Rails, Closing Down Legitimate Accounts
Three weeks ago I wrote about the frustrations of a frequent flyer program fraud detection unit gone off the rails. Air France KLM’s Flying Blue shut down the account of someone who simply transferred points in from American Express Membership Rewards and redeemed those points for a ticket. The American Express account, Flying Blue account, and tickets were all for the same person. (American Express no longer even lets you transfer points to other people any more.) I learned about readers who had had similar experiences and I also heard from a fraud unit employee who actually claimed they wouldn’t permit transferring in points just to book awards. [T]he use of our frequent flyer accounts as boxes opened to transfer miles with our non air partners won’t be allowed anymore. I couldn’t believe this was…
The Best Values from An Obscure Award Chart (Plus a 20% Transfer Bonus!), Discounted Hyatt Gift Cards, Plus The Onion on Loyalty!
News and notes from around the interweb: American Express Membership Rewards is offering a 20% bonus on points transfers to Aeromexico through March 6. (HT: Points, Miles, & Martinis). Travel Summary highlights some of the best values in the Aeromexico award chart. I find dealing with their call centers frustrating enough that no matter the values, the juice ain’t worth the squeeze. I’ve got to applaud Ben Edelman and Jason Steele for this. And Delta admitted they were wrong, too! American Express is giving a 25% discount on redemptions for Hyatt gift cards. Even at 25% off it is a bad deal. Here’s how to play your Membership Rewards points instead. Southwest Airlines Demands Loyalty From Its Customers in its new ‘Loyalty Goes Both Ways’ Campaign.. according to the Onion (HT: Wandering Aramean) View from…
Star MegaDO 6 Frequent Flyer Charter Trip Goes On Sale Next Monday
MegaDO frequent flyer charter trip organizer Tommy Danielsen (‘tommy777‘) emails to say that the next ‘Star MegaDO’ goes on sale Monday at 1pm Eastern / Noon Central / 11am Mountain / 10am Pacific. Details of the program are posted on Megado.com. The event will be held in May and the itinerary is Stockholm – Toulouse – London Gatwick and Heathrow. I believe 150 seats in total are on offer for this SAS Boeing 737-800 charter. Past MegaDOs have been covered by the New York Times, by the Associated Press, the Wall Street Journal, by USA Today, by The Economist and more. Read some of the past coverage to see if the events are for you. (The events are crazy fun, with lots of partying onboard as an American Airlines Inflight Disturbance Report attests to.) Here’s…
