Last month I argued that premium cabin award travel is best for families. More award seats cost more miles, and not everyone has the balances to support flying up front. But premium cabin awards in many programs do not cost substantially more than coach awards do — a business class ticket might cost 5 to 10 times the price of a coach ticket, but a business class award may be only 50% – 100% more miles. Ultimately you should redeem your points for what you value, and not everyone feels like extra room, a better sleep on long flights, or fewer hassles is worth any extra points or money. Last month I suggested ways to earn more miles instead of strategizing to economize on miles, as well as some of the compromises involved in finding…
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A First Look At the New Singapore Airlines 777 Economy Seat
Last week I shared a first look at Singapore’s new 777 first class cabin and then I followed up with the new 777 business class cabin as well. I was fortunate to attend the delivery of Singapore’s first 777 with their new interior at Boeing’s Everett Delivery Center and to roam around the aircraft taking photos. I didn’t get to take pictures of everything, the lavatories were closed off for instance and since the plane was literally just delivered Singapore hadn’t done the full upload of its entertainment system yet. There are (8) 777 aircraft on order with this new interior. They haven’t announced anything about retrofitting existing 777s, but they have announced it as the product for Singapore’s new Airbus A350s on order. This first aircraft is being sent to fly Singapore – London.…
United Wants to Be the Friendly Skies Again — Without People That Are Actually Friendly
United’s Twitter account sent me a direct message yesterday flagging the New York Times piece about their new advertising campaign that was supposed to harken back to the classic slogan “fly the friendly skies.” The campaign, though, doesn’t actually speak the iconic phrase and words appear only briefly on screen — it doesn’t talk about its people being friendly. It talks about its features being friendly. It has lots of flights, and that’s friendly. United is now telling travelers it is everything from “legroom friendly” and “online friendly” to “shut-eye friendly” and “EWR friendly,” which refers to the hub of Continental Airlines at Newark Liberty International Airport, which United inherited when the two airlines merged in 2010 to create the world’s largest carrier in terms of passenger traffic. That’s a crucial distinction, because nobody would…
Understanding Korean Air First Class Awards Using Chase Points
Reader Carberrie asks, Korean Air miles booking process! I know Korean miles are a good option for those of us with Ultimate Rewards points seeking transpacific F. However, I just know that the availability is great but the booking process is a pain in the butt. What I don’t know is how bad is it, and is the pain worth it? Korean is one of the really undervalued transfer partners of Chase Ultimate Rewards. Transfer to Korean Air, the transfers are usually instantaneous. Here’s the award chart. They offer one-way awards at half the cost of a roundtrip. From the US to Hong Kong via Seoul in first class is 80,000 points. They do add fuel surcharges which vary by destination, though Asia is usually less costly than Europe. The key here is that first…
Have You Ever Been to South Korea? You May Be Eligible for $860 in Compensation
Some folks claimed that Asiana and Korean Air were colluding on their pricing. They sued, a class action was created, and some lawyers got very rich. A funny thing happened on the way to the courthouse though. This class action looks like it may actually pay out more to folks than just a small discount on very expensive future travel. In fact, one estimate of the settlement payout is $500 cash plus $360 in vouchers for future travel — although the actual amount will depend on how many people file claims. If you purchased a Korean Air or Asiana ticket in the U.S. for travel between the US and South Korea between January 1, 2000 and August 1, 2007 then you may be entitled to a payout. Flying through Seoul doesn’t count — you cannot…
Developing an Even Greater Appreciation for Central Texas Barbecue
Last Labor Day I made a barbecue pilgrimage to Lockhart, Texas. It changed my life, or at least how I think about meat and barbecue. While my very favorite foods are generally Southeast Asian, whether Singapore Hawker Centers or really good Thai, after being exposed to Central Texas barbecue it’s certainly up their on my list of favorites now. It was worth going to Austin just for the barbecue, and it’s worth going back. Central Texas barbecue is all about the meat. At a central Texas barbecue restaurant, the customer takes a tray. One staff member serves the customer the meat and often also carves it, while another server provides side dishes. Slices of packaged white bread are often included with the barbecue. Barbecue, sold by the pound, often includes beef ribs, brisket, chicken, pork…
Qatar Airways Joining oneworld on October 30
Over the weekend I shared an amazing fare on Qatar Airways that I said would be great for mileage running — earning American Airlines miles and American status — once Qatar joined oneworld. Well, the oneworld website now says that will happen on October 30. It’s been a rocky road getting here. Qatar used to be a United partner. Word leaked a year ago that Qatar was expected to join oneworld. (Incidentally, a one-year transition into an alliance is very fast – I generally expect at least 18 months.) The airline’s CEO emphatically denied it, boldly declaring that they would not join oneworld… only to announce just over a week later that it would happen. Back in May we learned that the launch date would be in October and indeed, October 30 is still October.…
And That’s What British Airways Avios Are For (Last Minute Short Haul Domestic)
Goodness knows I’m not a fan of British Airways Avios. I like my mileage redemptions long haul and in premium cabins. There used to be some fantastic values in the British Airways program for that — such as Cathay Pacific from the US to Asia in business class for 100,000 points with stopovers permitted. Sadly, since November 2011, no longer. But there are great strategic uses for the points and they generally center around shorter flights (since British Airways award tickets are priced based on distance), non-stop (since British Airways charges separately for each flight segment), and coach (since the program charges a full double miles for business class and triple miles for first — and US domestic front cabin is triple miles for “first”). You can still work the award chart to your advantage…
Business Class Fare on Qatar Airways: 7300 Miles for $250
Last week when it erroneously appeared that American Airlines was going to start adding fuel surcharges onto all international award tickets, and that there might just be a short window to make bookings before the change was fully implemented, I hurriedly grabbed a first class award on Cathay Pacific with onward business class segments to Cambodia and Vietnam. It turned out the whole scare was a false alarm. but I did have an award ticket to play with an I started to ponder what I might do in Southeast Asia. I was looking at airfares between Cambodia and Vietnam and found that Qatar Airways had a ‘tag flight’ between Phnom Penh, Cambodia and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. I’ve never flown Qatar, so I was interested. And it’s a really short flight — just 132…
American Miles Can Now Be Used for TAM Flights, and Royal Jordanian Awards Can Be Booked Online
American Airlines miles can now be redeemed for travel on Brazilian airline TAM oneworld airline LAN merged with Brazil-based Star Alliance airline TAM, and there was initially speculation about which alliance the combined carrier would wind up with (or wondering whether the standalone entities, owned by the same holding company, could remain in separate alliances). It became fairly clear or at least likely early on that the winner would be oneworld, which is already the strongest alliance between North and South America for scoring award availability. And one more move in that direction, though TAM remains in Star, is that American AAdvantage introduced a relationship with TAM — first for accruing American miles by flying on TAM, and now the ability to redeem American miles for travel on TAM. TAM flies from New York JFK,…
