Alfred Kahn, frequently credited as the father of airline deregulation, passed away. While Kahn was certainly an important voice for deregulation, and made important positive contributions to the economy and played a key role in the legislation sponsored by Senator Kennedy which deregulated the airline industry while serving as the Chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board, he was continuing down a path that had already been set in motion by his predecessor at the CAB, John Robson. Under Robson the CAB ‘experimented with price competition’ the radical notion that airlines would be permitted to lower their prices without formal proceedings in Washington, DC. And the world didn’t end, though most airlines opposed deregulation because the government had essentially guaranteed airline profitability by refusing to permit competition, either in prices or even in services. Robson passed…
Thanksgiving in Mumbai: Aftermath – Lufthansa Reaches Out to Apologize for Service Lapses
Two weeks ago I posted about the worst first class flight I’ve ever experienced. It was Lufthansa from Frankfurt to Mumbai, and it was really unlike anything I’d ever experienced. Service-wise I hadn’t seen anything like it in coach even. I was totally flummoxed, and though folks said I should have spoken to the purser about the experience inflight and asked to be served by someone else, in the moment it was so challenging that I just wanted the flight to be over and it didn’t seem like anything could possibly be done other than wait for our arrival in India. Well, shortly after I posted a woman working for Lufthansa posted in the comments. See, her job used to include participating in the Flyertalk forums (as “LHRelate”) and I had friended her on facebook.…
Playing the Odds and Winning, Even When I Bet Wrong
With snow creeping out along the East Coast, the forecast for DC today was 6-12 inches. And the entire DC area panics at the thought of an inch or two. Dulles, National, and BWI all paralyze. So I rather figured I wouldn’t be making it home this afternoon. Flying Alaska Airlines (out of a destination with only Horizon service, but fortunately benefiting from one of those $99 companion tickets that come with the Alaska Airlines Visa from Bank of America, I didn’t have a ton of options. Alaska doesn’t have very many East Coast flights, and the weather was looking worse for Newark and Boston. There were seats to Chicago, but only coach. Atlanta and St. Louis were looking like my best bets. I’d expect to overnight, and grab a flight on Monday morning early…
And the Winner is…
Hyatt wanted to highlight the benefits of the Gold Passport program.. which for general members became especially attractive a year and a half back when they lifted capacity controls on their hotels, if there’s a standard room available at a property you can have that room with your points. And which for elites became especially attractive as well, they were the first chain to introduce free internet (and for all elites, not just top tier). And they won a Frequent Traveler Award for “Best Elite Level” in both North America and Asia Pacific, as well as a Loyalty Leadership Award for introducing confirmed suite upgrades four times annually for their Diamond members, providing top tier elites the benefit they want most when they decide they most want it. So they asked if I’d give away…
I’m Giving Away 44,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points and Entering is Easy
We’re halfway through the contest period, you have until noon Eastern on December 25 to enter (by leaving a comment – easy!) in my giveaway of Gold Passport points, thanks to Hyatt. Full details here.
Thanksgiving in Mumbai: United First Class from Frankfurt to Washington-Dulles
After passport control and an extensive security check, where we were selected and taken over to a side screening area in the terminal, we made it to our gate for United’s old-style 777 to Washington-Dulles. Approaching the gate there was a man directing everyone to see one of several US agents with laptops, they were re-entering everyone’s passport information and then being told to queue for the flight. No sitting around the gate area, everyone must get in line! And it wasn’t time for boarding yet.. There was a general boarding line and a priority line, after we had our passport data re-entered we were walked to the front of the priority line. We got a couple of nasty looks, and the man directing everyone asked why we had gone to the front of the…
Basic Tips for Getting Organized and Getting Rewards in the New Year
Regular readers of this blog know that many of the things I often write for for intermediate travels than for beginners. But I’ve been evangelizing the benefits of miles, points, and free travel more often to colleagues and friends of friends more frequently lately, and I thought that passing along some of the basics that I’ve found helpful for the not-already-converted might be useful to some of y’all having similar conversations with family over the holidays. And thus I offer some basic tips for getting your rewards house in order for the New Year, since most everyone can set a goal to have their dream trips inexpensively with a little bit of attention to rewards programs. Sign up for frequent flyer programs. If you’re flying cross country and back, why not sign up for a…
Thanksgiving in Mumbai: Lufthansa’s Frankfurt A Concourse First Class Lounge
Having arrived at the dreaded C pier, I had to make the long trek through Frankfurt to my connecting flight on United. US flights depart from the A concourse, and it’s a long trip. The biggest delay was at security, where the lines were reasonably long but really just because it was taking 3 to 4 minutes to process each passenger, though it’s not really clear why. After awhile, and though processing was incredibly slow, one of the two lanes was closed and everyone had to queue in the only line at the checkpoint. Bags were put on the belt and the screener examining x-rays just sat there. Staring at each bag. And staring. There wasn’t extra screening or seconday screening, just an excrutiatingly slow gentleman operating the x-ray machine. Had I realized, I’d have…
The Best Current Credit Card Signup Bonuses
Note of course that this is not a discussion of the best credit cards to put your spending on, rather it’s about what credit cards are offering the best bonuses for getting a new card and in some cases for putting some initial spend on that card. Frugal Travel Guy mentioned this morning one of the 100,000-mile signup bonus offers that’s still running for Citibank American Airlines co-branded credit cards. I mentioned this offer back on September 24: 50,000 miles after $2000 in purchases within 4 months, another 25,000 miles after $10,000 in purchases within the first year, and an additional 25,000 miles after $10,000 in purchases during the second year. The annual fee is waived the first year. On November 1 though I posted what’s in general a better offer, or at least an…
Cheap Transatlantic Airfares from $250 Roundtrip Including Tax
Via Flyertalk, there are some great fares to Europe on American Airlines (as Iberia codeshares), such as JFK – Paris for $288 roundtrip, all-in.. slightly less to Milan.. and DC to New York to Madrid for about $350. Dan’s Deals has written up the fare as well: Bookable on Travelocity. This is valid for many dates. Post the ones you find! And be sure to post if you find other valid cities! Sample valid dates: 03/24/11-03/29/11. JFK-Milan is $251 with tax for those dates. JFK-Brussels is $283 with tax for those dates. JFK-Paris is $291 with tax for those dates. The flight is sold as an Iberia codeshare, but it will on AA. Now, the codeshares are a bit annoying as I don’t expect them to earn full mileage. Iberia flights between the US and…
