Delta is increasing the amount of miles required on many of its awards.For instance, coach awards from the continental US to Hawaii go up from 30,000 miles to 35,000 miles. Business class from the US to Japan goes from 90,000 miles to 120,000 miles. Business class flights within Europe go up from 30,000 miles to 45,000 miles.The website proclaims With new offers and reduced mileage requirements in several regions, SkyTeam
United Visa Promotion Disaster in the Making
I received a postcard mailing the other day from BankOne, which issues my United Visa. It offered double miles on “mail order and telephone purchases” in October and November.The fine print said that the offer was for purchases from merchants that Visa classifies as mail order/telephone order merchants — not for purchases made over the phone or by mail. The key is how the merchant classifies itself! And there’s no guidance as to how to determine the way a merchant is classified in advance.Boy, they aren’t making it easy to change my spending behavior the way that their marketing folks want me to!It seems that this restriction limiting bonuses to merchants based on their Visa classification stems from a promo at the beginning of the year where they gave double miles on restaurant and home…
Double elite miles on United
United has a really weird double elite qualify miles offer. Earn double Elite Qualifying Miles for all United and United Express
Feeling comfortable about airport screening
Making security screeners federal employees wasn’t just supposed to be a sop to government employees unions. It was supposed to guarantee screener quality. But the New York Times reports that prospective screeners were given the answers to their tests, not that that was even necessary as simple as the questions were. Most of the questions on an examination to become an airport screener were rehearsed with the trainees before the test, according to the inspector general of the Transportation Security Administration, who called the practice “extremely disturbing.” Some questions were “simplistic,” and “a number of the questions were phrased so as to provide an obvious clue to the correct answer,” the inspector general, Clark Kent Ervin, found. There wasn’t much guarantee of quality. Unless we’re worried about whether they know the following: A multiple-choice question…
And speculation (of a different sort) about Southwest
Southwest Airlines is considering offering assigned seating. Boarding by numbered cards, or more recently by group, was a cost saving measure. But reduced costs for technology may make the savings negligable and the customer service benefits attractive.
Speculation continues about Atlantic Coast
Atlantic Coast Airlines, the regional carrier which derives more than 80% of its revenues from its express carrier relationship with United (primarily based at Dulles), has been the subject of much speculation recently. The airline has failed to iron out the details of its contract with United. United wants reduced costs and Atlantic Coast doesn’t want to budge. Atlantic Coast has threatened to go it alone.Along comes Mesa, another regional carrier, with an offer to purchase Atlantic Coast. Mesa flies under the banner of several carriers and would be well positioned to grow a relationship with one of many major airlines. One of those airlines is in fact United.In the latest chapter of the drama, speculation abounds that Virgin may be interested in taking a stake, perhaps along with Mesa. Mesa CEO Jonathan Ornstein is…
Old mindsets die hard
In a story without any new news hook, the Detroit News reports that Northwest is at a standstill with its unions over pay and benefit reductions.Union contract negotiation is long and ‘laborious’ and full of posturing on both sides. Recently, the pilots union offered to forgo a contracted raise, and Northwest rejected the offer as too little. Presumably Northwest will have to pay the raise as a result. Months go by without contract discussions. Northwest said they’d file for bankruptcy if they didn’t achieve cost concessions by a certain date. That date passed and Northwest hasn’t filed.No wonder non-union carriers are cleaning the old dinosaurs’ clocks.
Automatic registration for United promotions
Dave Friedman has put together a website to automatically register you for all known United Airlines promotions. Just enter your Mileage Plus number, hit register, and you’re done. Watch the bonus miles pile up!
Delta American Express bonus
Enroll and earn 100 bonus Delta miles on every $100+ purchase you make on the Delta American Express in December.
Passed along without comment
Opening a Window on North Korea’s Horrors
