Cranky Flier has a two part interview with Spirit Airlines’ marketing chief Barry Biffle. I remember Barry as a good guy, I had drinks with him and some other frequent flyers in Crystal City years ago after he participating in an online chat with Randy Petersen back when he was at US Airways. He came over to Spirit with Ben Baldanza, I certainly have nothing against Barry though I’ve long held a grudge against Baldanza for his comments in USA Today that frequent customers who were buying the lowest fares that US Airways offered weren’t the kind of customers that they wanted. US Airways led the pack in the day with a plan to only award elite qualifying miles on full fare tickets, though the effort was aborted amidst much backlash and when the rest…
How to Find the Cheapest Airfares, Upgrade Them, and Make Air Travel Easy
Nicholas Kralev was a diplomacy reporter for the Washington Times for several years, and flew all over the world on the newspaper’s dime — but newspapers haven’t been the most thriving businesses over the past several years, so he had to make the most of a modest travel budget. And like many readers of this blog, he doesn’t like flying coach. So he learned the ins and outs of airfares, frequent flyer programs, upgrades, bonuses, and began to think strategically and methodically as he planned out his travels. His travels also earned him a regular column in that newspaper, “On the Fly,” which was both a personal journal of his frequent flyer experiences, and a platform for offering advice to the public on how to make travel more comfortable — which frequent flyer programs were…
Update on the Minutiae of the United-Continental Merger
Generally good piece in today’s Cleveland Plain-Dealer on United-Continental integration, focusing on the minutiae. The author goes through policy changes like crated pets being will loaded backwards, rather than forwards (score that one for United) and the switch in boarding from zones over to rows at United, to mirror Continental, and then quickly shifting back to zones – a policy that will spread across Continental going forward. On aircraft configuration, in addition to keeping economy plus and international first class on some routes but not others, she notes that the airline’s 787 orders are for two-cabin aircraft, and that the layout of their 777s are different: Nor has United said whether it will go with Continental’s wider business class seats on aircraft such as Boeing 777s used on international routes, said Henry Harteveldt, an airline…
Free Milepoint T-Shirts and Luggage Tags Now Available
Milepoint has rolled out its award store, only nothing is for sale. “Original members” (very modest activity by May 15) can order their free original member t-shirts. There are also luggage tags and referral cards available as well. Log into Milepoint and see what’s available to you based on your activity on the site to date. Additional awards will be coming, with the best stuff coming for active contributors to the community.
Frequent Travelers Debate the Value and Future of Miles
I was interviewed in the June issue of Inside Flyer along with a handful of others: Carol (SanDiego1K on Flyertalk), Steve Belkin (the famous ‘beaubo’), and Seth Miller (Wandering Aramean blog). A good discussion, I express my overall preference for United Mileage Plus and Hyatt Gold Passport (with an honorable mention to Starwood Preferred Guest). I admit to letting my AAdvantage miles expire in the early 90’s. And I express the controversial view (contrary to the position taken by the other three on the group) that miles have gotten more valuable rather than less valuable — despite award chart inflation, where programs continually increase the number of miles required to redeem an award. Programs are definitely more valuable than they were 10 years ago, though they may not be as valuable as they were two…
Hotels.com Welcome Rewards Double Credits on Your First Stay
New members of Hotels.com’s loyalty program, Welcome Rewards, can earn double credits on their first stay (up to 4 bonus credits) through July 31 with coupon code Double12. I’ve recently joined Welcome Rewards to take advantage of the free night for a paid night offer for anyone who has stayed with three major chains during the past 18 months. But I haven’t stayed through Hotels.com yet, so I’m eligible for this offer. I’ll use the double credit promo first, probably, especially if I can find a 4-night stay with a hotel chain where I don’t need to earn points. That’ll get me eight credits. Then if I do a two-night stay under the free night for a paid night offer I’ll earn the free night from that promo and a second free night through the…
Free One-Day Hertz Car Rental Plus Free Gold Status
Hertz #1 Award is re-branding and offering 500 bonus points for signing up — enough for a free weekend day — and an additional 100 bonus points per day for rentals from July 1 through September 30. Registration required. What’s more, Hertz #1 Club Gold is free through September 30, though I don’t know that many people actually pay for it, there have always been many free offers for joining — normally you go to the signup site and enter a company name, CDP number, and promo code number. And if you google ‘free hertz #1 club gold’ you’ll come up with plenty of options such as this and this and many more. A free rental day is a free rental day, worth the signup.
Priority Club is Keeping PointBreaks, Thanks to You!
Many of the frequent flyer and frequent guest programs I’ve talked to in putting together the Frequent Traveler Awards would mention that feedback of members does matter to them, and seeking these honors does influence their behavior at the margin. In the July issue of Inside Flyer, Priority Club’s Amy Ceriani-Nelson attributes their decision to keep PointBreaks awards (which have been speculated to be on the way out with the introduction of Last Minute Rewards) to PointBreaks winning a Frequent Traveler Award this year. IF Many members we’ve talked to have mentioned that they are concerned that PointsBreaks awards might be going away, or changed in some way. What can you tell us about this? Ceriani-Nelson Currently, we are still offering PointBreaks promotions where select hotels from InterContinental Hotels to Holiday Inns are available for…
Star Mega DO 3 Launches: Once-in-a-Lifetime Airline Experience
Star Mega DO III has officially launched, with the opportunity to join in for a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Events kick off September 5 with an optional European program (and deeply discounted business and economy tickets between New York and Munich). Last year’s event featured an after-hours party in Lufthansa’s First Class Terminal in Frankfurt. The year before there was even an emergency slide popped for members of the trip. The full event begins at the Park Hyatt Chicago on Wednesday, September 7 with management of United and Hyatt. The next morning there’s a behind-the-scenes tour at O’Hare, followed by a champagne magic show in the Red Carpet Club, charter flight to Montreal for an Air Canada and Aeroplan program and a Bombardier factory tour. It’s on to Denver for a United training center tour and a…
Delta Airlines Doesn’t Hate Jews
I wasn’t going to comment on the recent kerfuffle over Saudi Arabian Airlines joining Skyteam, it seemed pretty silly and Wandering Aramean and One Mile at a Time already covered the issue quite well. But the story is still circulating, I’m incensed at the silliness being repeated on this morning’s news shows, and which completely miss the point. Huffington Post carried a piece claiming that Delta discriminates against Jews because Saudi Arabian is joining the alliance of which Delta is a member. Saudi Arabia won’t provide visas to anyone with an Israeli stamp in their passport (though of course one can get a secondary passport to circumvent this problem, or avoid the permanent stamp in the first place). Saudi Arabia is a particularly oppressive regime, as are many Middle Eastern governments. And Timatic contains the…
