I blogged recently about airlines communicating with each other about pricing through the media, since anti-trust rules preclude them from discussing their pricing directly. Airlines also communicate with each other through arcane ‘fare basis codes’. Every airfare carries with it a several letter code which is used to identify the rules and restrictions associated with the ticket. On Friday Delta loaded a fare of ~ $98 between Chicago and New York … no advance purchase or Saturday stay required. The fare basis was UA0TN. Get it… UA, for United Airlines, which is headquartered in Chicago?So sometime on Saturday United loaded a fare of ~ $98 between New York and both Cincinnati and Atlanta, Delta’s two East Coast hubs. Delta sent United a message, and United sent one back. United’s fare basis is TNMX. The first…
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More Cheap New York Airfares – Atlanta and Cincinnati for $100 roundtrip
United has retaliated against Delta’s $100 Chicago-New York roundtrip with a $100 fare between New York and Delta’s hubs in Atlanta and Cincinnati.The fare basis is TNMX, and I just priced it on Orbitz without any problem.Best part is, just like the Delta fares, there’s no advance purchase or Saturday night stay required.
$65 + tax, Chicago-New York roundtrips
Delta is offering a $65 + $43 tax ($107.90) roundtrip fare between Chicago O’Hare and New York’s LaGuardia or JFK. This seems to be available throughout the next year, doesn’t require a Saturday night or minimum stay, and doesn’t even require advance purchase. The fare seems to be available everywhere — at Delta.com, Cheaptickets.com, and Orbitz… The fare basis is UA0TN.Update: Still available at 9:15pm Eastern.
American Express Bonuses
All points-earning American Express cards are offering double points on retail, dining, and entertainment expenses from June 15 – July 15 (up to 10,000 bonus points) to residents of the greater Boston, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles areas. Registration required.Update: As the first reader comment observes (and as I posted elsewhere yesterday) the geographic limitation applies to all Amex cardholders except those with the Delta American Express. It appears as though the bonus is open to all Delta cardholders regardless of residency. For the month up until June 15, targeted cardholders of the Delta Skymiles American Express earn double miles on all spending over $1000. Registration is required for this one, too.
Is Membership Rewards a Good Replacement for Starwood?
In my post about the best mileage earning credit cards, reader Stan commented: Gary, Great blog. I check it every day. I was wondering what your take is on Membership Rewards. Is it worth using? I recently tried converting Starwood points to United (the 2:1 conversion was a killer, but I didn’t have a choice) and the 3-week wait took too long for me to make my trip work. I understand that MR offers instant conversion — are there downsides I need to worry about? Stan, first as another reader observed in the comments you can get around the poor conversion rate (2:1) of Starwood points into United miles by moving the Starwood points to Continental, then to Amtrak, and on to United. You can only do this for 20,000 Starwood points (once each year)…
Best Mileage Earning Credit Cards
It’s been almost a year since I’ve updated this advice, so I thought I’d start from scratch. How to Decide on the Best Card Let me say up front that there isn’t one card that is best for everyone (although I’ll suggest below that a card can come pretty close). The truth is that the best card for you depends on what your award goals are. After all, different airlines fly to different places and offer awards at different point levels. Want to go from the United States to Australia, for instance? United awards are generally less expensive. But if you happen to live in Mexico your options for redeeming United miles are pretty limited. Another thing to consider is whether you pay your card off each month. Many of the mileage earning cards have…
When to spend and when to save
Chris Elliott offers some advice on when to save money on travel and when not to. He gets more right than wrong, but his piece needs a few corrections. Elliott is on the money that: a good travel agent is worth paying for, it’s worth spending miles to upgrade to business class on (most) international trips, and that the Hilton Garden Inn is generally a good business hotel. Bear in mind that similar brands may not be as consistent — Four Points by Sheraton has some good properties (Los Angeles airport and Sydney’s Darling Harbor locations, for instance) but also some real dogs. While my own travel preferences tend more towards a W or at least a Westin, mid-price business hotels remains sound advice. Elliott properly cautions that paying a travel agent is overkill on…
When should you spend miles?
Some good basic answers to basic questions.Should you hoard your miles or “burn as you earn” instead? Scrambling to survive, many have imposed onerous new fees and higher award levels — despite the fact that mileage programs are a rare financial bright spot for most carriers. The Internet is now rife with angry screeds from irked collectors, with Delta’s SkyMiles members going so far as to start a formal group to agitate for improvements. Such blemishes in the programs’ structures could also play a role in determining how large a stash of miles you want to keep. A deteriorating asset is often best disposed of — and that might argue in favor of using miles even when you might get a low fare elsewhere. “This is like owning a stock whose value is declining and…
I won’t be flying to Tampa anytime soon
This story offers a local Tampa, Florida perspective on airlines scaling back domestic first class. United will serve Tampa only with its all-coach Ted, and much of Delta’s service will be by all-coach Song. USAirways’ 757s offer only 8 first class seats, down from 24. (Separately Continental has been downsizing domestic first class cabins as well.)
The economics of frequent flyer awards, airline perspective
Gary Steiger of Free Frequent Flyer Miles passed along this article which details frequent flyer award useage (how many awards claimed, what percentage of travel that accounts for) at each carrier, drawn from their most recent 10-K filings. The April issue of Inside Flyer (subscription required) has more to say about these 10-Ks, outlining what they reveal about the economics of frequent flyer miles. In simple terms, American thus estimates that a domestic roundtrip will cost them about $12.90. This is in fairly stark contrast to Delta and Northwest, which estimate their costs at $16.01 and $16.57, respectively. On average, it seems the cost of your free ticket is about $14.74. That’s a three-dollar drop from 2002. To illustrate just how profitable a frequent flyer program can be, then, let’s play with that $14.74 figure.…
