Amazing Business Class Award Space To Australia/New Zealand, Even With Free Stopover In Fiji

by Gary Leff

Aug 10 2022

Australia business class awards are some of the toughest around. That was true before the pandemic. It’s even more true now, with flights full generally and with not all service restored yet. For instance, American Airlines isn’t flying to Sydney again yet. Add in that Australians were banned from even leaving their country for a year and a half, and demand has been unprecedented.

I managed to score Air Canada business class saver seats for my trip Down Under in June, but that was one of a couple of times when availability seemed to pop up as a glitch. If you want to travel in a premium cabin to Australia it is very very hard right now. But there is one way. And some of you will find this amazing.

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IHG Says Their New Elite Program Is Already A Success: Nowhere To Go But Up

by Gary Leff

skyscrapers in city
Aug 09 2022

The CEO of IHG says that the revamp of the chain’s loyalty program, IHG One Rewards, is starting to pay off. Every company says the bets they’re currently making are great, and they’ll marshal out of context numbers to prove the point.

Here all we know is that travel is rebounding broadly, and IHG has historically gotten less mileage out of loyalty than competitors, so there’s nowhere to go but up.

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Fare Alert: Business Class To Japan Just $1639 Roundtrip, The Most Interesting Business Product?

by Gary Leff

Aug 09 2022

ZIPAIR is a Japanese low cost carrier owned by Japan Airlines. It launched during the pandemic with a hub at Tokyo Narita airport and flights to Singapore, Seoul, Bangkok, Honolulu and Los Angeles. San Jose flights are planned at the end of the year. They fly 4 Beoing 787-8 aircraft leased from Japan Airlines with 8 business class and 272 coach seats.

Right now a business class roundtrip might run $4000 between Los Angeles and Tokyo, while ZIPAIR is selling business class for just $1643 – or less.

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LAX CEO Says A Surprising Airline Could Launch Non-Stop Service To Vietnam

by Gary Leff

Aug 09 2022

Vietnam Airlines launched new service from San Francisco to Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) during the pandemic. They’ve been eyeing non-stop service to Los Angeles as well – but they’re not alone. In fact a surprising carrier may be first to launch the service, and receive two years of subsidies from the Los Angeles airports authority.

There are two airlines reportedly with Memorandums of Understanding in place to launch non-stop LA – Vietnam service, both may be surprising but talks with one have reportedly heated up.

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DFW Airport Sues To Protect Avis, Hertz And National From Competing Against Car Sharing Platforms

by Gary Leff

Aug 08 2022

Car owners renting out their vehicles on Turo and GetAround are facing problems at certain airports. Dallas – Fort Worth filed a lawsuit against Turo in the fall. But Turo is just the platform that connects car owners and renters and takes a fee. Now the airport is going after the people doing the actual transactions by “towing cars on the spot in parking lots.”

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Air Canada Illegally Flouting Customer Compensation Rules

by Gary Leff

Aug 08 2022

Air Canada was one of the worst actors of the pandemic. They took customer money for tickets, and then when they cancelled flights they kept the money.

So it should come as no surprise that the airline has a new trick up its sleeve. They’re flouting Canadian passenger compensation rules for cancelled flights by claiming that their lack of staffing which causes a cancellation is a safety issue.

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