Cathay Pacific has my all-around first class, though it certainly isn’t the newest product. Their food is good enough, though not fantastic. I always choose the Chinese entree, I do love having dim sum for breakfast, and the smoked salmon and caviar is good. Singapore probably does a better job with main meals, and they serve both Dom Perignon and Krug rather than just Krug. But Cathay does a better job with mid-flight snack options. (I think Asiana and ANA do a better job with food than either Cathay or Singapore does.) Their lounges in Hong Kong are fine. I like The Wing’s first class lounge, and I haven’t been there in the past few months so haven’t seen the refresh. But there’s no real special ground service — such as escorts to and from…
Alaska Airlines Visa 30,000 Mile Signup Bonus
The standard bonus for the Alaska Airlines Visa is 25,000 miles, and it’s been offered with as much as 40,000 miles in the past. But 30,000 miles appears to be the best current offer. The offer is for 25,000 miles on approval (no minimum spending) and 5000 more miles “for being a customer.” There doesn’t appear to be any verification that you need to be a pre-existing customer, that they will do anything like check to see whether you have bank accounts with them already for instance, and I’d bet that anyone — even folks who have never had a Bank of America account before — will get the full 30,000 miles. Though since they only promise it to folks as a thank you for being a customer (gee, getting upproved for the card makes…
Up to $100 Rebate from Hotels.com
Reader Dan B. passes along that Hotels.com is offering a rebate for bookings — $20 back for 3 night booking up to $100 back for a 12 night booking. You have to enter promo code REBATES13 at checkout when making your booking to be eligible for the offer. You’ll have to mail in a coupon after your stay. Rebates will be credited back to the card used for purchase. You can only redeem the rebate once for bookings made by December 31 for stays through January 31. Of course, in some way this is just an alternative to getting cash back for your bookings. Other pseudo-cash back options are getting miles instead of money from either PointsHound or Rocketmiles. You can double dip with Hotels.com’s loyalty program. And you can double dip with loyalty points…
Bits ‘n Pieces for June 14, 2013
News and notes from around the interweb: Earlier this month Delta announced that flights on Korean Air would no longer count for elite qualifying mile, despite Korean being a member of the Skyteam alliance. They said at the time that each airline chooses their own level of participation with Skyteam. Cranky Flier says that isn’t what happened at all, that it wasn’t Korean’s choice but rather a unilateral decision by Delta possibly to try to force Korean to join a joint business venture. Bad, Delta, bad but the sort of untruthfulness we’ve come to expect from an airline that claims it isn’t legally allowed to tell its members in advance when it will be increasing award prices. Through June 27 American Express Membership Rewards is offering a 20% bonus on transfers to Hawaiian Airlines. Decent…
Did You Win a Briggs & Riley @work Bag?
There were over 1000 entries this week to give away a Briggs & Riley @work bag. Since Briggs & Riley offers a pretty unparalleled lifetime guarantee on their bags, I asked commenters to answer, “Do you worry something is going to happen to your luggage?” The winner is Alex who wrote, Yes! I’ve had at least 4 handles broken off of my checked luggage. The @work line epitomizes the business market that’s right up the middle as far as folks choosing Briggs & Riley. And Alex gets to choose his preferred bag/color! You can join the 30,000+ people who see these deals and analysis every day — sign up to receive posts by email (just one e-mail per day) or subscribe to the RSS feed. It’s free. Don’t miss out!
How Many of the Good Seats Will American Be Getting Rid Of?
The Dallas Morning News Aviation Blog reports that American will add seats to its 737 and MD80 aircraft. American says they haven’t determined how many seats will be added, and we don’t yet know whether this will be accomplished by removing Main Cabin Extra (coach seats with extra legroom) or First Class seats. If I had to wager I would guess that a row of first class seats would be removed (American’s domestic fleet generally has more first class seats than US Airways’ does) and that they will also shrink the main cabin extra cabin. American did reiterate its commitment to an extra legroom in coach product; something that United manages to make money on. Adding seats to the 737-800s that currently seat 150 will require an additional flight attendant. They obviously think the revenue…
Alaska Airlines Adds Online Award Search for Several More Airlines Including Emirates
Back in March Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan introduced the ability to book one-way and mixed partner awards online and for some partners. Initially you could book one-way awards on American. You could also book one-way at full roundtrip price on Delta, or mix and match American and Delta in a roundtrip. Then in April they introduced one-way and online booking for British Airways awards. Now as flagged on Milepoint, it’s possible to book more partners online as well. The Alaska Airlines website lists the following carriers as searchable: Alaska Airlines Aeromexico Air France Air Pacific American Airlines British Airways Delta Air Lines Emirates Era Alaska KLM PenAir Qantas It’s interesting that they have KLM and not their partner Air France. I’m especially happy to see though that many awards can be booked one-way (that the…
Free Virgin Atlantic Silver Status: Get Better Service on Delta
When Delta acquired a 49% stake in Virgin Atlantic, lots of change was expected — such as reciprocal lounge benefits, and reciprocal mileage earn and burn. Not a whole lot has been implemented yet, but Virgin has a page dedicated to the changes (HT: Head for Points). Virgin Atlantic’s silver status isn’t the most rewarding, but it will provide some priority benefits when flying Delta in the very near future. And though I don’t expect this offer to last, you can sign up for Virgin Atlantic’s program at the silver level. Generally this should provide priority airport services, and I have to imagine that Delta will wind up waiving checked baggage fees for Virgin silvers. Of course this will usually require entering your Virgin Atlantic frequent flyer number into your reservation. I suppose my strategy…
Bits ‘n Pieces for June 12, 2013
News and notes from around the interweb: Roms Deals finds an offer for the Fairmont Visa with a $0 annual fee the first year. Online Travel Review says that 50,000 point Southwest Visa offers are back. Nicholas Kralev has a new web TV show focused on diplomacy. In the most recent episode he interviews the U.S. assistant secretary of state for consular affairs on U.S. visa policies. Lucky notes that American AAdvantage discounted domestic award tickets for Citibank co-branded credit card holders will switch up eligible cities monthly instead of quarterly and now permit one-way redemptions (no longer requiring roundtrip to get the discount). There’s one more day left to comment to enter to win a Briggs & Riley @work bag. You can join the 30,000+ people who see these deals and analysis every day…
Bits ‘n Pieces for June 11, 2013
News and notes from around the interweb: Saudi Arabia’s first female pilot And yet she still can’t drive a car in her home country! More movement in the Las Vegas loyalty program affiliation space. Venetian linked up with IHG’s Priority Club. MGM M Life has done a deal with Hyatt Gold Passport encompassing 12 properties. Hilton lost their Vegas flagship, but has apparently now gained the former Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas which of course is 20 miles from the Strip. (HT: S.) 25,000 US Airways miles for laser eye surgery While I noted a week and a half ago that Virgin Atlantic is reducing fuel surcharges on coach awards and Iberia was bumping up those charges (from a previously reduced level), there was no word yet on British Airways — Iberia’s partner in the Avios…
