One Mile at a Time thinks Delta’s new fuel surcharges on frequent flyer awards are actually a good thing. There is something of a point here: if fuel surcharges were inevitable, then Delta’s move really isn’t bad — $$50 internationally is less than the fuel surcharges one normally sees on paid tickets, so it could have been much worse… like $100 each way. Now the fuel surcharges could go up later, but it should take awhile, and other airlines aren’t likely to go full out when Delta has laid down its marker at the $50 price point. I do think this is bad, it’s a terrible precedent, and the fuel surcharges are likely to spread to other carriers and eventually go up. But as lucky points out, it could have been worse.
All the Free Things Businesses Will Give You Because You Were Born
Deals, Travel, and Family Life surveys more than 100 free things you can get on your birthday, many of which require advance signup but plenty of the restaurants on the list allow you to enjoy your free item simply around rather than just on your birthday.
3000 British Midland Miles for New Account Signup
Via Frugal Travel Guy, British Midland keeps changing up their offers for signing up for a new Diamond Club account. The current offer is 3000 miles just for creating a new account. Terms and conditions of the offer are here.
Delta Introduces Fuel Surcharges on Award Tickets Originating from the US and Canada
I don’t have a stable internet connection during my travels at the moment, and I’ll have much more to say on this later I’m sure. I predicted back in January And that’s why I fully expect US airlines to begin passing fuel surcharges on to award customers (and other ‘free’ tickets including those given as denied boarding compensation). Now Delta has announced we will add the following fuel surcharge to Award Tickets originating from the U.S. and Canada, effective August 15, 2008: $25 for Award Travel between the 50 states and Canada $50 for Award Travel between the 50 states/Canada and all international destinations (They already have fuel surcharges ex-Europe.) As my prediction suggests, I imagine others will eventually follow.
Another OpenSkies Trip Report, This Time With Photos
Yesterday I posted Online Travel Review‘s take on the new OpenSkies flight between New York-JFK and Paris-Orly. Now One Mile at a Time has a report. First is a discussion with tons of photos of the new Prem+ product. Then there’s a discussion and photos of the Intercontinental LeGrand in Paris and some touristy stuff. I anxiously await his return photo trip report of business class, Paris to New York…
12,000 bmi points for new members (flight required)
bmi is offering 12,000 bonus miles to new Diamond Club members who credit a roundtrip or two one way bmi flights to their account by August 31. bmi points can go quite a long way, since they offer one-way awards and a cash and points award chart.
Delta Elites May Need the Reserve Amex Credit Card if They Want to Upgrade…
Jeff Robertson, who runs the Delta Skymiles program, made his latest Flyertalk post yesterday. I tend to think it’s his most useful to date, and for the most part devoid of the usual marketing-speak. He confirms that Delta Reserve Amex cardholders receive priority within status and fare levels for upgrades. Delta Reserve customers receive priority upgrade status within tier and fare class. In essence, this means that if two customers who are Platinum both booked an L fare, the Platinum with the Delta Reserve card bumps the Platinum who doesn’t have the card. That’s a pretty strong reason for Delta elites to get the card. Meanwhile, he commits to website award booking improvements and predicts easier-to-use international upgrades for top tier elites post-Northwest merger (I’ll be cautiously optimistic and won’t bank on anything major).
OpenSkies Inaugural Report
Online Travel Review flies the inaugural JFK-Paris OpenSkies flight and shares his impressions. The three-cabin 757 offers BA’s NextGen Club World seats for business class, a Prem+ class that’s similar to most US carriers’ business, and economy. He’s struck by the value of the Prem+ cabin (currently pricing just a couple hundred bucks more than coach) and the lack of storage space in business class. The NextGen business seats on BA are excellent, true lie-flat, but storage space is one of my two issues, having flown it for the first time back in April. The other is that on the 747 in particular it’s difficult to get in and out of the seats which aren’t on the aisle, and flight attendants find it difficult to serve interior passengers without disturbing the passengers in the aisle.…
Air Tahiti Nui to Join Skyteam?
Three and a half years ago I thought that Air Tahiti Nui and Delta were working on a partnership. To date, it hasn’t materialized. Already they partner with Skyteam member Northwest (use Worldperks miles to redeem on Air Tahiti Nnui) and American (both earn and burn). The latest rumor, though, has Air Tahiti Nui joining Skyteam as well as exiting the Osaka market and turning New York-JFK into seasonal service. I’m just hoping that if they join Skyteam it doesn’t cause them to sever ties with American, that partnership is a good one. And I’m hoping they don’t learn from Skyteam members about how to limit even further the availability of premium class award seats.
What United / Continental Tie-up Means for You
I was traveling when this was announced, and quickly all the news sources and blogs picked up the story. So I’ve been pretty silent. Continental entering a codesharing, marketing, and potentially revenue sharing (on certain international routes) agreement with United. They’re leaving Skyteam and joining Star Alliance. There will be reciprocal frequent flyer earn and burn, and lounge partnerships. But all the details remain to be seen, in particular, what about reciprocal upgrades for elites of each program as Continental currently offers to Northwest elites and vice versa. Of course all this will likely take until mid-next year to come to fruition. The bottom-line, though, is this: the move is strongly positive for Continental frequent flyers, with little upside and some risk for United frequent flyers. Continental offers perhaps the best domestic premium product in the…
