Back in May the Department of Transportation filed a “notice of proposed rulemaking” laying out the direction they intended to take with new rules for how airfares are displayed… everywhere. As airlines have added on lots of fees, and new websites have popped up that search for travel, the Department of Transportation has been considering whether to regulate the way that fees show up (at the front of the booking process next to ticket prices, or just shown on an airline website?) and whether consumers have to be informed about the way websites sort the options that are displayed and whether or not all possible airline options are displayed. More disclosure is usually considered a good thing, but telling every consumer the same information that may or may not be relevant to them on every…
The 11 Greatest Miles and Points Deals EVER
There have been many great deals over time, and they never last. The lesson is to take advantage of what’s offered, make use of the benefits, and expect to have to move onto the next offer that comes along. For all of the many great opportunities that there have been over the past couple of years, probably the greatest ones are even better. The funny thing is that in my frequent flyer youth, I never even knew how great I had it! Then again, it was 2002 before I ever saw my first 20,000 mile signup bonus for a credit card. And it was 2003 before I excitedly signed up for a 40,000 mile offer for a Northwest Visa that took 2 years to get all of the miles. Still, we had miles for long…
Huge Bonus for Business and First Class Europe Flights .. and a Really Crummy Thing British Airways is Doing
I just received an email from American promoting up to 125,000 bonus miles for Europe flights. Earn American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles every time you fly round-trip between the U.S., Canada or Mexico and Europe on First Class or Business Class fares on American Airlines, US Airways, British Airways, Finnair, Iberia or OpenSkies. Registration is required. Tickets already purchased will count for the American promotion as long as they fall within the eligible travel dates of September 23 through January 10. The promo code is USF14. It turns out that British Airways is offering essentially the same promotion as well except that tickets already purchased before the promotion was announced do not qualify. Here’s what the British Airways promotion says in their terms: Existing bookings made prior to the promotional period do not qualify and…
Get a Free Upgrade, Cheap United Miles, and a Wild American Airlines Rumor
News and notes from around the interweb: A wild rumor about American Airlines Former TSA Head: “toxic culture” with “terrible” morale and frequency of failures reaching a “frightening” level. Relatedly, there’s an event tonight Why doesn’t the TSA keep us safe? Star Alliance revamps its business program, and the signup bonus is enough for a free upgrade within Europe. You may be able to buy United miles at 1.9 cents using their award accelerator function (buying miles in conjunction with a ticket, of course tickets are refundable for 24 hours but the miles purchased this way are not). That’s the price they were selling miles at through their 100% bonus social promotion, and it’s a bit more than I’d be a buyer at. One of the odder things I’ve read on a travel blog, but..…
Department of Transportation Has Announced an Audit of Frequent Flyer Programs
Earlier this year the Supreme Court limited the ability of consumers to sue frequent flyer programs, suggesting that the Airline Deregulation Act prevents state law claims against frequent flyer programs because it requires that all regulation of the airlines be done at the federal level. Strictly speaking you could sue for direct breach of contract in state court but could not make a state claim like a “covenant of good faith and fair dealing” — the terms and conditions of your frequent flyer program are what they are, no matter how one-sided. Your only recourse is to the Department of Transportation. But the Department of Transportation doesn’t regulate frequent flyer programs. They are, however, initiating an audit this month of programs and in particular their compliance with disclosure rules. The Transportation Department’s inspector general plans…
Can On-Airport Parking Kill?
Last week a man was found dead in Chicago O’Hare’s parking lot B. AirportParkingReservations.com speculated on the cause, and offered travelers advice. Park with them. Email subject line: Can On-Airport Parking Kill? Use their app. “Don’t be late and end up in a crate.” Mmmm-kay… Except clearly, since the man was found in a car in an on-airport lot whatever his problems may have been (and speculation as to cause of death is suicide), those problems did not include an inability to find a space in lot B. AirportParkingReservations.com has apologized. On the plus side, though, their original marketing email did include a $5 off coupon. (HT: Mediaite) 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)…
A Delta Award Sale With So Many Caveats and Gotchas the Savings Just Might Not Be Worth It…
Delta is offering its elites and co-brand credit card holders a discount on award redemptions booked through September 23. Naturally, the more you dig in though the tougher this gets. Here are the discounts: So it’s 4000 miles off domestic roundtrip awards, though you get 8000 miles off if you’re booking at the more expensive medium “standard” (cough) price. Still, that means you can get decent availability for only a modest premium off of the ‘usual’ Delta domestic award pricing. And 10,000 miles off a roundtrip to Southern South America, Europe and Asia. Of course, this is for: Delta flights only, no partners, not even 49%-owned Virgin Atlantic Economy only No discounts are available to “Hawaii; Alaska; Canada; Africa; the Middle East; Caracas, Venezuela; Cancun, Mexico; Rio De Janeiro, Brazil; and Sydney, Australia.” International tickets…
American Eliminating Checked Bags on Separate Tickets Outside of oneworld
Via Traveling Better: Effective October 1, 2014, AA will no longer through check bags when the passenger presents separate tickets at the ticket counter except as noted below. …Customers traveling on separate tickets will only be able to through check bags when the ticket is for travel on: American Airlines and American Eagle US Airways and US Express oneworld partner airline For all other carriers ticketed separately, bag will only be checked for the AA, US or oneworld partner flight. The customer will need to recheck their bags with the other carrier for the continuing travel. Department of Transportation rules that went into effect in July 2012 mean that a customer pays one set of fees for their entire journey, and ultimately limits how much an airline is keeping of their own fees when checking…
Why Can’t JFK (and New York) Get Better Hotels?
Barbara DeLollis notes that bringing on New York hotels is really, really hard not least of which because of labor negotiations. The old 487-room Ramada Plaza hotel has been closed for 5 years. The property is owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey which doesn’t help matters. And they haven’t been able to come to terms on a labor agreement. Hotels in New York, and many Northeastern cities (and to a certain extent California) are faced with highly restrictive union agreements that play out in some interesting ways. A hotel may have to close down an entire service like a restaurant or room service in order to re-negotiate labor conditions or wages — lay off workers since the service is no longer offered and then bring the service back under new…
A Great Deal Comes Crashing Down: The End of Lifetime Star Alliance Gold Status
When Aegean Airlines joined Star Alliance about four years ago it offered the easiest path towards top tier Gold status within the alliance. Indeed, what they’ve been offering is lifetime Star Alliance Gold status. They’d give you 1000 miles just for signing up. Then if you earned 19,000 more qualifying miles within the first year you’d earn Gold status. For life. With the only caveat being that you had to keep your account active by earning a qualifying mile every three years. (There were occasionally signup bonuses that would do 2000 miles, which count towards status.) Things got a little harder with US Airways leaving the Star Alliance. US Airways flights all earned 100% of flown miles when crediting to Aegean. Discount United miles only earned 50% credit. Still, for lifetime status many found it…
