Australia is One of the Very Toughest Awards to Get Award travel between the US and Australia is one of the very toughest frequent flyer bookings there is. It’s doubly tough during peak periods of November through March. Getting two first class seats non-stop is pretty much impossible. Getting two business class seats is very, very hard (although Delta partner Virgin Australia does often have space). Here’s a month-long calendar from the American Airlines website, showing not a single day with 2 first class seats and just one day with two business class seats. Most of the time it’s necessary to route via Asia in order to make an award happen, which several programs permit. It’s a lot of extra flying, but at least in one direction you can generally break up the trip with…
ASIA
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Frequent Flyer Lonely Hearts, Celebrating Travel for the Holidays
Two blog readers in a long-term relationship are on a break from each other. One wrote a poem to the other for the holidays, and decided to share it. I don’t know much about the relationship, other than that I met the person who wrote the poem at a frequent flyer seminar event two years ago just before the couple traveled to Asia in Cathay Pacific first class on points. In whatever direction things take, I hope they both find their hearts in their love of travel and adventure. My best to them, and to all of my readers out there, my best to you! Christmas is a time for giving, and reflecting on the year we’ve had Which as you know, started off quite well, but has ended fairly sad. You see, it feels…
Why Fuel Surcharges Won’t Spread in the US and Make Award Tickets More Expensive
Miles and points were once seen as a reward for loyalty, a customer to be treated better and more flexibly when reaping the fruits of travels. In recent times though airlines have become more draconian with change fees and some have sought to gouge customers with accumulated miles for cash co-pays when booking awards under the guide of ‘fuel surcharges’. Instead of offering ‘free’ travel the notion is that miles cover just the ‘fare’ and not add-ons. Only a few airlines in the US, and for travel on a few partner carriers, impose these fuel surcharges on customers booking award tickets. But they’ve been a specter haunting programs for some years – a risk of future devaluations. But the very existence of fuel surcharges is an historical and technological accident. And recent program devaluations actually…
United Decides Not to Let Members See Singapore Airlines Award Space Online, Misleads Members About It
In recent times airlines have worked to improve the ability to find partner award seats on their website. That saves on call center time, and helps members fulfill their searches with less frustration. United’s website has gotten pretty good at this. They don’t have all of their airline partners like Brussels Airlines online (and it isn’t always obvious to members that typing in where you want to go doesn’t show all of the options to get there) but they have most. American and Delta have a few partners online. Alaska has the bulk of theirs. Among major US programs, only US Airways Dividend Miles fails to show any partner airline availability at all. Against this trend, last week United removed the ability to search and book awards on Singapore Airlines from its website. United claimed…
A Sneak Peak Inside American’s New Premium A321 Aircraft
Yesterday I had a chance to get onboard American’s new A321T (the “T” stands for ‘transcon’) which will be flying New York JFK – Los Angeles and San Francisco. It’s a new narrowbody plane configured with tons of updated premium seats. Its inaugural flight in commercial service will be January 7. (Disclosure: I bought my own tickets to get to and from New York to see the plane, but did eat three pieces at sushi at the event.) There are (10) first class seats, (20) business class seats, (36) main cabin extra (coach with ~ 4 inches of extra legroom), and (36) standard economy seats. That’s a cabin that’s mostly premium, and an A321 (the ‘stretch’ version of the A320) with only 102 seats. A Very Competitive Business Class Product The point of thee planes…
Free Miles for Impersonating an Officer, United Hates Kids, Delta Awards to Indonesia, and More! (Bits ‘n Pieces for Dec. 17, 2013)
News and notes from around the interweb: United will no longer accept unaccompanied minors on connecting flights. Staffing connections is hard and they’ve only had a few decades of practice to get it right. #Ages5-11Unfriendly Garuda Indonesia will join Skyteam March 5. I look forward to redeeming Korean Air Skypass miles (transferred in from Chase Ultimate Rewards) for their first class suites! They fly their new product Jakarta – Sydney. Virgin Australia flies Bali – Sydney. Seems like I could put together a pretty good “Australia via Asia” business class award with Delta miles, too. US Airways will still partner with several Star Alliance airlines after they exit the alliance March 30th. Odds on it will still be possible to redeem US Airways miles for travel on Aegean, Air China, Air New Zealand, Avianca, Ethiopian…
The Value of the Turkish Airlines MIleage Program and Current 50% Redeemable Miles Bonus Plus 25% Award Discount
How and Why to Status Match to Turkish Airlines I’ve written in the past about getting complimentary elite status on Turkish Airlines by having them match elite status you already have. The status lasts two years and they’ve even been willing to match United MileagePlus status even though Turkish and United are Star Alliance partners. Having the status, of course, gets you access to United’s club lounges when flying United same-day even domestically. You used to be able to request the status match via email but they started accepting requests via online contact form only (and it can take a couple of months for them to get back to you — be patient). As a result of these posts many readers have Turkish Airlines elite status. I’d bet most just use the status for club…
Etihad Introducing a Dallas Flight — Great Option for American Airlines Frequent Flyers
Etihad will launch Dallas service December 2, 2014. The flight will be operated three times weekly by a Boeing 777-200LR with 8 first class, 40 business class, and 189 economy seats. It’s too early to tell what award availability on this flight will be like but in general I find that Eithad’s availability is excellent, especially early on as they tend to load premium cabin award space when the schedules open. Especially interesting is that — with Qatar having joined oneworld and launching Dallas service — the move would seem to suggest that Etihad believes their relationship with American Airlines can continue. To make this flight work they’ll most certainly need feed from American. Etihad First Class Cabin – Suites Etihad Business Class American AAdvantage miles are great given the quality of Etihad’s product and…
Delta Dramatically Improves its Elite Program With Confirmed International Upgrades
Delta is making changes to their 2014 elite upgrade program, and overall the changes are positive. Confirmable Domestic and International Upgrades as a “Choice” Delta offers its Platinum and Diamond elite members ‘choice’ benefits — one upon reaching Platinum, and folks who reach Diamond get two more. New upgrade certificates are being added to the ‘choice’ offerings beginning March 1. That means that these certificates come at a cost or tradeoff. Platinums and Diamonds will have to choose these instead of choosing something else like miles, club passes, or gifting status. But overall these upgrade certificates are actually good and what most will choose. Regional Upgrades: a Platinum Choice Upon qualifying for Platinum, a new choice is 4 ‘regional upgrades’ which are confirmable upgrade certificates valid on any route where complimentary upgrades are offered. These…
What are the World’s Best Airport Lounges?
Scott McCartney‘s latest Wall Street Journal column makes some interesting claims about lounges. Why Are US Airline Lounges So Far Below World Standard? He explains that US airport lounges are below the standards of Europe and especially Asia because they’re populated by low fare domestic passengers rather than high fare premium cabin long haul ones. In other words, the economics are different. (Though I’m not sure why United’s and American’s international first class lounges, then, would be below the standards of their Asian counterparts.) That said, US lounges aren’t below the standard of many European business lounges, and certainly not below the standard for South America, or for that matter India or Parkistan. But in some sense that’s what George W. Bush used to call “the soft bigotry of low expectations.” I’ve spent many hours…
