New Zealand has announced its 5-step plan to re-open borders and it includes welcoming American tourists without quarantine starting in July – or earlier.
This upgrades the chances that Australia’s plan to re-open to tourism before Easter will hold. If New Zealand’s Prime Minister can talk about re-opening publicly, then the politics of re-opening across the Tasman have a greater chance of working out as well.
oneworld lounge access rules provide business class lounge access for business class passengers flying any airline in the alliance. Qantas is using first class lounges as business class lounges, but haven’t renamed those lounges as business lounges so they’re excluded. Hopefully they’ll fully re-open lounges as their international route network restarts – and as partner airlines rebuild their Australia schedules as well.
Delta is testing free checked bags. They are “sending texts to passengers departing from its Boston (BOS) hub the day of their flight, urging them to check their carry-on bag … for free.”
The month-long test began this week.
For years the issue would arise largely when an offer was published with a mistake that consumers took advantage of. Now there are more offers that will just be more expensive than retailers have budgeted for. And consumers may have more of an interest in spotting these opportunities both because stacking makes them more attractive, and because American’s Loyalty Points scheme makes doing so more rewarding.
American Airlines has converted options on 30 Boeing 737 MAX 8s into firm orders and – as I told you to expect recently – delayed delivery of some Boeing 787-9s in a way that should allow for those planes to become more useful to the carrier.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
Qatar Airways will give you free miles when you join by March 31, 2022 and more miles if you fly by September. Qatar’s program has gotten a lot more useful since they’ve reversed a devaluation, points no longer expire with activity in your account, and because they’re a Citibank points transfer partner.
The hotel investor CEO complains about breakfast, which he sees being worth $7. So he’s only going to give $7 worth of breakfast even though his total costs for the program are lower since the launch of Bonvoy and even as he noted that he was promised additional cuts.
When Air Canada and Chase launched the Aeroplan Credit Card in the fall, Mark Nasr, the Senior Vice President of Air Canada who oversees Aeroplan suggested that the airline would need to take steps to make status easier to earn in 2022. What is at least the first set of these steps is now available.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
