Henry Harteveldt is one of the smartest people I know. I cited his work in a regulatory comment I filed with the Department of Transportation a couple of months ago. So I take it seriously when he calls me out on one of my posts. Yesterday Delta made a big splash announcement about the rebranding of their cabins. But as with the introduction of Sky Priority four years ago, they roll up a bunch of existing benefits and call is something exciting and new and generate a whole bunch of buzz (largely from outlets who don’t know there’s nothing new or better involved). To be sure, it’s common to roll up several non-new things to make whatever is being announced sound like ‘news’. American’s announcement about lie flat transatlantic Boeing 757s and extra legroom seats…
Prince William Flew the US Airways Shuttle. Guess Where He Was Seated?
Back in May Prince William flew American Airlines coach. It was a bulkhead seat for Memphis – Dallas. This morning he flew first class onboard the US Airways shuttle to get from New York to DC. The ABC News article incorrectly indicates he flew from New York’s JFK airport. The shuttle flight originates at LaGuardia. “Our flight was delayed and a caravan of black suburbans pulled up to the plane. Then the most unexpected guest stepped onto our DC shuttle flight this morning,” wrote Sam Kim in an Instagram post capturing the moment. Presumably he chose US Airways over Delta for the flight because of his oneworld elite status via British Airways. You can join the 40,000+ people who see these deals and analysis every day — sign up to receive posts by email (just…
I Admit It: al Qaeda Was Foiled By the TSA. Plus Passengers Having Sex in Airports.
News and notes from around the interweb: Your fellow passengers are having sex in airports Up to 15,000 United or Aeroplan miles for travel between the US or Canada and Europe Apple has a new credit card with terrible rewards. A Road Warrior’s Gift Guide The bill to limit TSA security fees – intentionally increased to fund general federal revenue — which passed the House has now also passed the Senate. Fees will be higher but not as high. (HT: S.) Inside al Qaeda: How Their Plots Have Been Frustated by the TSA (some language ‘NSFW’): (HT: @grantmartin) You can join the 40,000+ 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…
American Bringing Us Lie Flat 757s and Improvements to US Airways Cabins
American announced several aircraft cabin improvements, some which are a really big deal. All but a “handful” of American’s new aircraft will have seat-back video screens throughout. All of the planes in the carrier’s primary jet fleet now have Wi-Fi, with plans to expand to it to regional aircraft, said Joshua Freed, a spokesman. American’s new domestic interior is the new standard. This is what’s being installed in new aircraft. They haven’t announced plans to retrofit existing cabins with the new interior. Interesting is that this is for ‘most’ of the new aircraft. It’s likely that the interiors were already ordered for all of American’s new planes, so one imagines there are some previously-ordered new US Airways aircraft that won’t get the new interiors. What’s also good here, though I believe already expected, is the…
Don’t Be Fooled By Today’s Big Marketing Announcement from Delta (It’s a Devaluation)
Delta is rebranding BusinessElite as Delta One and their extra legroom economy product as Delta Comfort+. Delta One, First Class and Delta Comfort+ are getting new seat covers. Delta 737 first class Over the weekend Delta eliminated free drink coupons for Gold elites and higher checking in online who had not been upgraded. Effective March 1, though, Comfort+ passengers wil receive “complimentary beer, wine and spirits or premium snacks.” In other words, as long as elites have extra legroom seats they’ll still get their drink (although they go thirsty for a four month interim period). There’s still bad news here for Gold elites, though. ‘Or premium snack’ is a plus, but it’s hard to get excited about something they used to give and then took away but are giving back. (Full disclosure: I would get…
American Now Processes Their Own Buy/Gift Miles Transactions
US Airways and American both used to use Points.com to process purchase miles transactions. That meant the transactions were charged by that third party, instead of the airline itself. You would not earn bonus miles for an ‘airline’ or ‘travel’ transaction with your credit card. With American, the third party process meant miles would take a couple of days to post That’s changed (and it can’t be good for the folks at Points.com). American’s FAQ now explains that: What will be reflected on my credit card statement when I receive my monthly bill? Your statement transaction description will vary based on the type of payment: American Express: “American Airlines 001-XXXXXXXXXX Description: Frequent Flyer Fee/Purchase” Visa or Mastercard: “American Airlines 001XXXXXXXXXX Description: Misc” All others: “American Airlines 001XXXXXXXXXX” Is American Airlines charging my credit card? Yes.…
The 12 Frequent Flyer Days of Christmas are Filled With Big Miles and Points Giveaways!
The Milepoint frequent flyer community celebrates the holidays with 100 prizes to give away beginning on December 13. In the 12 Milepoint Days of Christmas, there’s 100,000 hotel points to give out, airport lounge basses, airline miles, elite status, inflight internet passes, and even a Sterling Silver Starbucks card. You can receive a daily entry reminder and prize information by subscribing. You can join the 40,000+ 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!
Here’s What Really Got That Turkish Flight Attendant Fired…
On Sunday I noted the story of a Turkish Airlines flight attendant fired over racy photos in a magazine. An Australian travel site shares a video of the flight attendant’s off-duty work (whether or not it’s safe for work depends on the workplace.. it wasn’t safe for Turkish Airlines!). Sort of seems just like what they used to shoot for in the U.S. But that was before Delta and Ellen Simonetti. You can join the 40,000+ 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!
How Much Are Miles Really Worth? Valuations for Each Program
What is the value of miles and points by airline, hotel and credit card program? Miles used to be thought to be worth 2 cents. I think that conventional wisdom developed out of the idea that a cross country flight cost about $500… or 25,000 miles. 20 years ago that was generally true, and award availability wasn’t really a problem either. That was long before: Airline alliances opened up huge possibilities for miles. Mileage programs increased the cost of many awards. Awards became tougher to get with flights full. Plus the 2 cent number probably wasn’t ever true to begin with. Many different folks have taken a stab at how much miles are worth. For this post I’m not going to give you a single number. I’m going to share my own rough and ready…
Lifetime Elite Status Matches?
Reader Jered asks, “Will any airline do million miler status matches?” In other words, if you’ve flown enough or otherwise earned lifetime status with an airline, will another carrier give you that same lifetime status? In general the answer is no. However, it’s a little bit more complicated than that, so I can’t make the ‘no’ claim quite so definitively. Lifetime status is status, so it’s frequently possible to use the lifetime status you have earned to get temporary comped status with another airline. It’s not correct to say that no airline has ever offered lifetime status based on a match. First, Aegean’s terms and conditions used to make their status lifetime and while they don’t generally status match they did offer that match for bmi Diamond Club gold members when British Airways acquired bmi.…
