Sometimes it amazes me that the public at large can successfully travel from one city to another without getting stymied by airline bureaucracies and ineptitude. Modern flight is truly miraculous. Modern airline technology, customer service, and business processes often are not. I run into frustrating situations with airlines all the time, and I do this all the time and – presumably – I even sort of know what I’m doing. Most people don’t. Delta agents don’t know who their partners are. American doesn’t publish its award redemption rules. United tickets on partners re-issue and cancel. United ticketing issues are especially problematic. For instance, How to Make Sure You Really Have a Ticket When You Redeem Your Miles When You Purchase a United Award Ticket That Doesn’t Mean You Actually Have a Ticket United Award Tickets…
Here’s the Best Travel Tips and Tricks You Shouldn’t Miss…
Here are the best travel tips and tricks, the highlights of View from the Wing posts from December. Last month I collated the best travel tips from November. Before that I summarized the very best travel posts from October, here’s the best travel posts from September, and from August. In July I offered the most useful and interesting developments from June as well. It turns out, surprisingly, that this feature is really popular, at least judging by the emails I get — people that don’t read the blog every day really appreciated the recap and not having to dig through all of the posts to find the most enduring ones. These are some that were my favorites from December. I hope you were happy with some of the posts and got something out of them…
What Are the World’s Busiest Airports? #7, 10, 16, and 23 Will Shock You!
Point Me to the Plane writes that Dubai has overtaken London Heathrow as the world’s busiest airport.. for international passengers. Full calendar year 2014 data isn’t in yet, but looking at 2013 data Dubai doesn’t actually come close to Heathrow in total passengers. Heathrow was the world’s third-busiest airport with 72 million passengers and Dubai number 7 at 66 million. It’s only by excluding UK domestic passengers from the totals that Emirates is able to squeak ahead. So while Dubai may claim the title for a subset of passengers, many will be surprised that it was only the seventh-busiest airport overall in 2013. And much of that is based on connecting traffic, Dubai is a gateway to India and the surrounding region as well as North Africa. While Dubai is indeed a financial center in…
Earning Big Miles for Checking and Investment Accounts
Earn miles for investment account funding and for your checking account. While BankDirect reduced mileage-earning for checking accounts that hold over $50,000, I’ve been a BankDirect checking account customer since July 2003, and I use it as a checking account. It is not an investment account that pays a rate of return in miles rather than money (and which doesn’t report earnings to the IRS). Well, in a world of low interest rates it is that. But it isn’t primarily that. BankDirect awards 100 American Airlines miles per every $1000 average balance every month. Depositing $50,000 at the bank generates 60,000 miles per year. If you value those miles at 1.5 cents apiece that’s a $900 return. If your rate of return on that cash would otherwise be somewhere less than 2.5% you’re probably coming…
Review: Cathay Pacific Business Class Bangkok – Singapore and Louis Tavern CIP Lounge
Must-read Earlier Installments: Singapore, Cathay, and Qantas First Class.. Some of the Best Meals of My Life, and a Tour of Hyatts in Bangkok, Singapore, and Sydney Inside the New Oneworld Lounge at LAX’s Tom Bradley International Terminal Cathay Pacific First Class, Los Angeles – Hong Kong Cathay Pacific “The Wing” First Class Lounge, Hong Kong Cathay Pacific Business Class, Hong Kong – Bangkok Grand Hyatt Bangkok: Suite, Club Lounge, and Facilities Thai Molecular Gastronomy at Sra Bua in Bangkok Getting Custom Tailored Suits Made in Bangkok at Empire Tailors Nahm at the Metropolitan: the Best Thai Food in Thailand? Thailand’s Iron Chef Cooks Ancient Recipes in a Deserted Top Notch Restaurant Eating The Best Local Thai Dishes in the Bangrak Neighborhood of Bangkok Cathay Pacific operates a number of ‘fifth freedom’ routes which start…
Delta.com Makes Award Booking Even Easier With Online Support for Two New Partners to Asia!
Delta now allows one-way awards
Eating The Best Local Thai Dishes in the Bang Rak District of Bangkok
Must-read Earlier Installments: Singapore, Cathay, and Qantas First Class.. Some of the Best Meals of My Life, and a Tour of Hyatts in Bangkok, Singapore, and Sydney Inside the New Oneworld Lounge at LAX’s Tom Bradley International Terminal Cathay Pacific First Class, Los Angeles – Hong Kong Cathay Pacific “The Wing” First Class Lounge, Hong Kong Cathay Pacific Business Class, Hong Kong – Bangkok Grand Hyatt Bangkok: Suite, Club Lounge, and Facilities Thai Molecular Gastronomy at Sra Bua in Bangkok Getting Custom Tailored Suits Made in Bangkok at Empire Tailors Nahm at the Metropolitan: the Best Thai Food in Thailand? Thailand’s Iron Chef Cooks Ancient Recipes in a Deserted Top Notch Restaurant I spent a midday during my Bangkok visit with Bangkok Food Tours walking around Bangrak neighborhood. Working with them made my time more…
United Waiving Minimum Spend Requirements Towards Status for Some Members
Loyal reader Mark P. sends me this note: United extended my 1k status for 2015 due to my “long term commitment to United”. I flew over 126,000 miles, 48 segments, and [had] $7000 in [Premier Qualifying Dollars]. I also had over $25,000 spend on the United [credit card] to qualify for the waiver to get me to Platinum. United imposes a minimum spending requirement to achieve elite status. For 2014 spending towards 2015 status you had to spend at least $2500 for Silver, $5000 for Gold, $7500 for Platinum, and $10,000 for 1K status. For 2015 they increased the spending requirements by the same 20% as Delta. As before these requirements should only apply to members with US addresses (they’ve cracked down on address changes), and members who spend $25,000 or more on a co-brand…
The Thing About This Hobby, It Makes Me Read My Junk Mail, and I Get Great New Offers to Share
In some sense there’s no such thing as junk mail, there’s only mail that doesn’t interest you. If it were truly junk, not of interest to anyone, it would even get sent. Which isn’t to say I like the pile of stuff I toss into the recycling every day that there’s mail delivery. But I have an appreciation for bulk marketing mail that most people don’t. I open my bulk e-mail as well, if it looks like it’s coming from a loyalty program. Two items of note came in yesterday’s mail. Bonus Miles from the US Airways MasterCard The US Airways MasterCard offers targeted bonuses regularly. Many folks signing up for cards get quickly sent an offer for up to 15,000 bonus miles to get them used to actually using the card, since the signup…
Here’s Why It Won’t Really Cost $600 If You No Show That Starwood Award Stay…
Lucky asks why the cancellation policy on his $90 hotel room would cost him $600. He booked an award night at the Aloft Abu Dhabi for 3000 Starwood points The paid rate for that night would have been ~ US$90++ The charge for cancelling after the deadline to do so wasn’t ‘losing 3000 points’ or paying $90. It was AED 2200 or ~ $600. And he writes, Now, not that I’d ever cancel an award stay within a day of arrival (I’d be better off just no showing), but why would the forfeiture amount be more than six times the cost of a revenue stay? More generally, does anyone understand how forfeiture amounts on award stays actually work in the hotel industry? The forfeiture amount — what it costs you if you don’t cancel your…
