I believe the Most Devalued Airline Frequent Flyer Program in North America award goes to Air Canada and Aeroplan. I do caveat this, I am very specific in the title of the award. Airline frequent flyer program so the March 28 bloodletting at Hilton HHonors doesn’t count. (Nor does the introduction of category 7 awards at Starwood, although that was a specific devaluation and meanwhile the program has improved elite benefits.) North American programs, so LatinPass which first tried to make members earn back their existing point balances and then changed from being a frequent flyer program to an online shopping program doesn’t count. Devaluation isn’t the same as “going out of business” so while I lost all value from my Mexicana Frecuenta miles I don’t really think that airline’s shutting down is really a…
Get Top Tier Hotel Status and 30% – 50% Off Your Room Rates from Accor Hotels
Get Instant Top Tier Hotel Status with Le Club Accorhotels The Points Traveler offers two links for Accor instant Platinum status: here and here. I wrote about two offers for Accor instant platinum status and there are mixed reports on success. Between these four offers though many readers will find themselves with a top tier status upgrade. You must open a new account, it cannot be applied to existing accounts. And when you do so you must use an email address that’s not currently on file with them. Even if you don’t frequently stay at Sofitel, Novotel, Pullman, Mercure, and other related properties frequently, you never know when you might find yourself in one and having top tier status can’t hurt. Platinum status usually requires 60 nights or 25,000 points earned. It offers double points…
Why 35,000 Starwood Points May Be a Good Deal for 2 Tennis Tickets
Starwood is offering Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express cardholders the opportunity to redeem 35,000 Starpoints for a pair of US Open tickets, including access to a an event in the SPG Luxury Suite with food and drinks. You Shouldn’t Usually Buy “Stuff” With Your Points I almost always say that it’s a bad idea to redeem miles for merchandise. Use points from travel providers for travel, because then you’re getting not just the ‘rebate’ but also leveraging the travel provider’s ability to purchase inventory that would otherwise go unsold at a deep discount and pass that savings onto you. It’s why United MileagePlus miles can get business class award tickets to Asia for 120,000 miles whereas spending Bank of America Worldpoints it would generally be over half a million points. When a…
Hyatt and MGM M Life Status Matching Starts Tomorrow and Chat Live with the Heads of Those Two Programs
Jeff Zidell, who runs the Hyatt Gold Passport program, posted on Milepoint: Starting tomorrow, August 20th, you will able to opt-in to receive your matched M life Tier Level. As an M life member, you will receive exclusive benefits like room and show discounts, members-only access to award winning restaurants and much more. Check back with us tomorrow at hyatt.com/mlife for your opportunity to opt-in for your matched M life Tier Level. Hyatt’s new partnership with MGM M Life’s 12 Las Vegas resorts includes reciprocal elite status. Hyatt Gold Passport Platinums (the status which comes with the Hyatt Visa) get mid-tier M Life Gold status. Hyatt Gold Passport Diamonds get M Life Platinum, which is behind only the invite-only Noir level in MGM’s program. As I noted last month, Hyatt’s Jeff Zidell and MGM’s Scott…
Seeking Playground Justice: Why Premium Cabin Travel is Best for Families
Mommy Points kicks off her “keeping it real week” by arguing that families have to stretch their miles across more people so premium cabin travel may be unrealistic or undesirable. And of course it’s mathematically true that more award seats cost more miles. But I think that ignores a good part of the picture. And of course the last thing you want is to add the stress of coach travel onto the already stressful family travel experience. It may sound funny for me to talk about family travel. I do not have children. So feel free to write this post off as insensitivity on someone who ‘just can’t understand the plight faced by families’. Hopefully it’s not just a rant, but useful advice, and I do think I’ve gained some perspective by working with countless…
Bits ‘n Pieces for August 19, 2013
News and notes from around the interweb: Singapore’s Changi airport is planning a 3rd runway and 5th terminal. As United tests Mercedes tarmac transfers for high value customers, Delta is expanding its Porsche service from Atlanta to Los Angeles. Airport challenges aside I would have expected a rollout at JFK before LAX. Not sure how I missed this, but a week ago Lufthansa celebrated the 75th anniversary of the first non-stop transatlantic flight. The American-US Airways merger becomes a Texas gubernatorial election issue as American’s pilots take out an ad against the state’s Attorney General who joined in the Department of Justice anti-trust suit. 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…
American’s New Pimped Out Airbus A319s
I had a chance to crawl around American’s new Airbus A319 in a hanger during a layover a DFW. They had the plane parked and they were doing media tours. Turns out the tours were scheduled for the afternoon I was coming through in late morning but they were happy to accommodate. There were several planes parked, both in the old and new livery. I actually like the new American logo, overall the paint job has grown on me and even the tail looks a lot better in person than it did in the renderings the day it was released. The planes parked side by side, viewed from the terminal, are actually quite nice. But I do find the tail to be a bit much. I climbed on board to get a closer look at…
What it Takes To Use Your Miles, Sometimes: Brazilian Edition
Denis passes along this Brazilian video talking frequent flyer miles to both me and to Ben. The main character is traveling with his wife and kids using miles. They each have to travel separately, using circuitous routes to get to Miami. (“Yeah, I got lucky that bus service is now part of the Star Alliance…”) His wife is going by donkey to Maceio.. He’s going Galeao – Guarulhos – Campinas – Belem – Bogota – Mexico City and taking a ferry to Miami. The newborn gets a truck ride straight to Miami! He’s been planning this trip since ’97… The return trip, that’s not booked yet, they’ll get home eventually but in the meantime he’s arranged work in Miami. (Perhaps frequent flyer mile capacity controls are at the root of illegal immigration? What public policies…
Expedia Rewards’ Devaluation is Even Worse Than I Thought
Yesterday I went through the devaluations to Expedia Rewards points earning. I recited the history of the program, that this is the second set of major devaluations for a program that is only two and a half years old. And both times the changes were implemented with no notice whatsoever. Programs that simply make your points worth less one day are not to be trusted. Programs that let you earn with a redemption goal in mind and then change the earning rules after you’ve invested time and money in their program are like Lucy, Charlie Brown and the football.. keeping the goal forever just out of reach. I’ve now concluded that Expedia Rewards is a program that I believe is not to be trusted, and also is no longer worth bothering with, since the cuts…
The New Hyatt Place Would Be the Best Hotel at LAX If Only I Could Be Confident in Their Airport Shuttle
Basic principles. You want the airport hotel connected to the terminal if there is one. Otherwise you want the one that’s newest or at least most recently renovated, since airport hotels disproportionately accommodate one night stays and wear faster. Beyond that a decent on-site restaurant is nice, especially when the property doesn’t have nearby walking options, and price is going to influence choice — the Grand Hyatt DFW is an exceptional hotel but it’s often so much more expensive than other Dallas airport hotels that it becomes tough to choose. Historically I’ve picked the Sheraton LAX for a Los Angeles airport overnight. It’s certainly showing wear but the rooms are decent, the restaurant is pretty good, and there’s a Starbucks in the lobby. There’s a (mediocre) club club and a nice pool area. But the…
