Yesterday I shared a detailed pre-opening review of the new New York LaGuardia American Express Centurion Lounge. I’ve gotten hold of the opening menu, complete with food, wine, and specialty cocktail offerings. (They have a full bar as well, and all food and beverages are complimentary once in the lounge.)
A New and Totally Unexpected Approach to Integrating American and US Airways
American’s Chief Operating Officer said that American and US Airways wouldn’t combine until late 2015. American’s Chairman and CEO gave an interview where he said that the two frequent flyer programs would combine in the first half of 2015. At first I thought these two statements were in conflict. Perhaps Parker was misquoted, or misspoke, or a change in course came about just in the past two weeks. But someone at American pointed out to me that Isom was talking about the passenger service system and Parker was talking about the frequent flyer programs. Should that even matter?
American Express Will Let You Transfer Credit Between Your Accounts On Its Website
American Express used to make it really easy to transfer credit between cards online. They took away the feature several years ago, then brought it back but hid it. It’s come and go a few times. It’s currently available and easy to find. This can be really useful, for instance: You may want more credit on a card temporarily to make large purchases. It’s better to have a higher credit line that covers your purchases than to max out your credit and then pay it off (multiple times) mid-cycle. And that lets you make big purchases without split tender transactions (getting the merchants to split up a purchase across multiple cards). You may want to preserve your credit without keeping a card. You transfer the bulk of your credit off of a card that you…
When Two-for-One is Really Regular Price, and Why Is Everyone Else So Expensive?
US Airways is offering a targeted bonus of up to 100% additional miles when you buy miles through August 22. The offer is targeted, then you go to the buy miles page you have to enter your account information to see whether you’re being offered a bonus. (And there may be other, smaller, bonuses targeted to some accounts.) If the offer is available to you, buying miles at a 100% bonus means buying them at a cost of 1.88 cents per mile. US Airways is almost always selling miles on the cheap, which is to say at a price higher than I’m willing to pay but much lower than the ‘retail’ price that almost never prevails. As far as I know, crazy as it sounds, the Federal Trade Commission never launched an investigation of US…
The Cheapest First Class Fares from Each Airline
Last month I highlighted The Cheapest Business Class Fares From Each Airline. FlightFox has now put together their list of best airline first class products, and the routes with the cheapest fares you can buy to fly them. I don’t really agree with them that Singapore Airlines offers the best all-around first class product (though they do restrict the claim to Singapore’s A380). Or that Lufthansa has the 5th-best. I’d take Qantas’ A380 First Class Suites (#15) over Air France (#12), JAL (#11), or Qatar (#7) in first.. in a heartbeat. But the list is useful for finding routes where you can buy tickets, try the products, and do so without shelling out tens of thousands of dollars. In most cases I’d redeem miles for first class, but some have been known to buy an…
Better United Awards to Africa, Rats Catered on a Plane, and Get Uber for Less
News and notes from around the interweb: United has changed several published award rules. Here’s a change that appears to have actually been implemented into their pricing logic, though: US-South Africa awards successfully routing via China or Brazil. A million people are listed on the US government’s terrorist watch list. Once everyone’s a terrorist, is anyone? Air India plane grounded in Delhi as rats run riot, sent for fumigation. “The most common way for rats to get on board an aircraft is through catering vans.” Lovely. (HT: Claire M.) OneVanilla Prepaid Visas Working at Walmart Again? 1000 free air berlin miles when you sign up for a no cost duty free program. Uber launching UberPool — on-demand carpooling. You split your ride cost with a stranger headed in the same direction. If they can’t find…
REVEALED: First Look Inside the Fantastic American Express Centurion Lounge at New York LaGuardia
American Express’ new Centurion Lounge at New York LaGuardia airport is ready and will open in a matter of days — the specific day is uncertain, although they promise “by mid-month.” I had an opportunity to see the lounge last night, though and try the food since I was invited to the pre-opening party and dinner there. So I flew up to New York for the night (4500 British Airways points each way for the US Airways Shuttle from DC, and cash and points at the Sheraton LaGuardia). What American Express has created is a stylish, comfortable departure lounge with good food and drink. The LaGuardia location is smaller than their other lounges — 5000 square feet compared to 8000 – 12000 elsewhere, including the new lounges under development. It’s the space that was available,…
The Big Hotels Are the Least Rewarding — Why US News Gets Hotel Loyalty Backwards
Just like US News presented a highly flawed ranking of frequent flyer programs that was mostly a ranking of the airlines themselves, they have also put out a ranking of hotel programs that is as much about “how big is the hotel chain?” as it is “do they provide any value in their loyalty program?” As a result the biggest chains, for the most part, win. (As before, a hat tip to the indispensable Terry Maxon.) Here are their rankings:
Hyatt Offering Many Members Opportunity to Buy Points With 40% Bonus
Hyatt Gold Passport is offering up to a 40% bonus on purchased points through August 18. The bonus is targeted. Emails are going out to Diamond members and to Platinum members, “As a [Status level] member, you can enjoy an exclusive bonus when you purchase points:” I do not know if all members with status are getting this or not, or if anyone without status in the Gold Passport program is receiving it. But the system they’re using to verify eligibility looks exactly like the one US Airways uses:
Which Frequent Flyer Program is Best? Don’t Be Fooled By US News!
US News has come out with a ranking of best frequent flyer programs. (HT: Dallas News Aviation Blog) Here are the rankings:
