There have been plenty of great mileage-earning opportunities of the past, things like buying coins form the US mint, buying savings bonds, and buying debit cards online with a credit card. Some of my favorites classics were: I earned 20,000 Delta miles for a Bosley hair restoration consultation. I had more hair then than I do now. I used to like grocery shopping. At Safeway of all places. Thanks to the now defunct GroceryMiles program. 64 Coke cups at Wendys earned a free roundtrip ticket on Airtran Which, naturally, led to dumpster diving. US Mint Miles for making child support payments There used to be big miles for long distance. I once signed up to earn 25,000 miles for switching to Sprint. As soon as I’d qualify for miles, I’d switch long distance carriers again.…
Seat Assignments on the US Airways Shuttle, Delta Makes You Wait Longer for Bags, and Air France’s New First Class (Bits ‘n Pieces for March 26, 2014)
News and notes from around the interweb: Delta not thinking things through very well.. Apparently Delta is delaying checked baggage collection in Seattle in order to put co-brand credit card ads on passengers’ luggage. Because customers are always more open to being sold after you’ve made them wait longer at the baggage carousel. Delta and Alaska Beginning Their Breakup.. and Customers Are the Ones Getting Hurt: The two airlines are beginning to take away benefits from their reciprocal recognition of elites effective May 1. For Alaska elites, no more baggage fee waivers and reduced airport priority when flying Delta. For Delta elites, no more baggage fee waivers or priority security when flying Alaska. Advance seat assignments on the US Airways Shuttle: My past experience has always been that US Airways Shuttle flights didn’t get advance…
US Airways Paid Upgrades for Non-Elites Are No Longer at Check-in Only
I don’t have elite frequent flyer status with US Airways. Frequently, on lesser booked flights, I’ll be offered a buy up to first class at check-in. For the US Airways shuttle it used to be $50, more recently I’ve been offered $60 buy ups. Basically any first class seat left would be offered for cash. Now the US Airways Shuttle between DC and New York is a short hop and I usually won’t take it. But during peak times, ground waits can be much longer than the flight itself. I’ve taken them up on the offer a couple of times. I found it interesting, though, the email I’ve just received. US Airways is offering to put me on a waitlist for upgrade now, which will clear if available two days prior to flight. The price…
The Most Interesting Meal I’ve Had in a Year, Bo Innovation in Hong Kong: Vietnam, Cambodia, Macau and Hong Kong Trip Report
Index: Introduction, Positioning Flight to New York, and the Hilton JFK British Airways First Class Lounge, New York JFK Cathay Pacific First Class, New York JFK – Hong Kong The Pier First Class Lounge and Cathay Pacific Business Class, Hong Kong – Ho Chi Minh City Park Hyatt Saigon Lunch at Pho Hoa, Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam Airlines Business Class, Ho Chi Minh City – Danang Hyatt Regency Danang Resort & Spa Vietnam Airlines Economy, Danang – Siem Reap Park Hyatt Siem Reap Angkor Wat and Other Temples Dragonair Business Class, Siem Reap – Hong Kong Turbojet, Hong Kong Airport – Macau and the Sheraton Macao Hotel The Venetian, Fernando’s, and the Ferry to Hong Kong Grand Hyatt Hong Kong Harbor View Suite Bo Innovation, Hong Kong Amber Restaurant, Hong Kong Cathay Pacific The…
The US Airways-ization of American: What’s Next?
They called it a merger but in reality US Airways acquired American Airlines. And while I’m hopeful that at a macro level Doug Parker and Scott Kirby understand the new business airline they’re running is different than the carrier with weak domestic hubs and needs to be run differently… … Even if that is the case there will be changes. And real scrutiny will come to all aspects of the airline. Already American’s fare bundles have adjusted price and benefits to effectively charge more for less. I noticed myself searching for flights, and then saw it mentioned at TravelingBetter that American no longer offers to ‘hold’ reservations within 7 days of travel. Federal rules require an airline to either allow customers to cancel tickets purchased within 24 hours, or hold those tickets for 24 hours,…
How Tough is it to Travel from a Small Airport: Fact Checking the New York Times
Joe Sharkey has a column on how small airports are seeing air service disappear. He begins to make his case with a story about how tough it was for his son to get from Tucson to India. Starting his trip at the Tucson airport would have meant leaving home at 9:30 a.m. for a connection on US Airways to Phoenix, to board a 9:15 p.m. nonstop to London on British Airways (connecting to Delhi). Instead, by driving the two hours from Tucson to the far bigger Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, he was able to leave home at 4:30 p.m. Sharkey posits that his son saved 7 hours by driving to Phoenix rather than flying out of Tucson. My reactions to this. If it were actually true, that would be a pretty good argument that…
Book Your TAM First Class Awards to South America Before It’s Too Late
Six weeks ago I wrote about South American airline TAM’s fantastic first class award availability. TAM has pretty much never released first class award space, occasionally I saw seats when they first joined Star Alliance but more or less not at all since then. So it was a surprise that so I was shocked when the floodgates had opened. First class seats are now (either by change in policy or mistake) available in droves. On some flights it’s the entire cabin that’s open. TAM flies from New York JFK, Miami, Orlando and Mexico City to São Paulo. They also fly from New York JFK and Miami to Rio de Janeiro, and Miami to Manaus, but that’s with a 767 which doesn’t offer first class. Business class availability is also very good at present. TAM’s 777s…
Grand Hyatt Hong Kong’s Amazing Views and Club Lounge: Vietnam, Cambodia, Macau and Hong Kong Trip Report
Index: Introduction, Positioning Flight to New York, and the Hilton JFK British Airways First Class Lounge, New York JFK Cathay Pacific First Class, New York JFK – Hong Kong The Pier First Class Lounge and Cathay Pacific Business Class, Hong Kong – Ho Chi Minh City Park Hyatt Saigon Lunch at Pho Hoa, Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam Airlines Business Class, Ho Chi Minh City – Danang Hyatt Regency Danang Resort & Spa Vietnam Airlines Economy, Danang – Siem Reap Park Hyatt Siem Reap Angkor Wat and Other Temples Dragonair Business Class, Siem Reap – Hong Kong Turbojet, Hong Kong Airport – Macau and the Sheraton Macao Hotel The Venetian, Fernando’s, and the Ferry to Hong Kong Grand Hyatt Hong Kong Harbor View Suite Bo Innovation, Hong Kong Amber Restaurant, Hong Kong Cathay Pacific The…
Citi Improves Prestige, British Airways Offers Leniency, Azul Turns Blue, and Doug Parker Bonuses His Run From Competition (Bits ‘n Pieces for March 25, 2014)
News and Notes from Around the Interweb: British Airways may be willing to extend the life of expired miles, with the requirement of some account activity within 90 days of their having done so to keep the points alive. Not all true: The Best Kept Secrets You Don’t Know About Flying The American Airlines Admirals Club Guest Access page now lists the Citi Prestige card as offering access on the same terms as the Citi Executive card. Coupled with with improved points-earning and redemption value, the card is actually worth half a look. Doug Parker runs from competition. The New American Airlines strategy in New York seems to be serving small communities rather than major business destinations. And they’re 1000 bonus miles on 10 new routes for travel between April 1 and June 30. Registration…
Singapore Has a Useful Chart on How They’re Dealing With the Exit of US Airways and TAM From Star Alliance
Alliance benefits, like Star Gold recognition, go away once an airline leave the Star Alliance. Reciprocal frequent flyer agreements may exist entirely apart from the alliance. Singapore’s agreement with US Airways has an end date that’s after US Airways’ departure from Star. Singapore appears to be continuing its frequent flyer relationship with TAM. Both US Airways and TAM leave Star Alliance and join oneworld on March 31. Here’s what will happen to their relationships with Singapore. In the case of US Airways, it’s not all that useful to US Airways Dividend Miles members during the April through July period. US Airways has a great award chart for intra-Asia travel, if there’s availability you can book Singapore – Male (Maldives) roundtrip in business class for 30,000 miles. But US Airways doesn’t have access to Singapore Airlines…
