United elites striving for status will find this card valuable, though, and those who would pay for a club membership are better off doing so in most cases via this card’s annual fee in my view anyway. The rest of the add-on benefits are gravy.
Bali’s Vice Governor has announced that tourism will re-open in October, limited to visitors from four countries. Americans are included.
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.
When face mask policies were introduced for air travel last year, ‘but I’m drinking’ became a common excuse and passengers could nurse a Starbucks throughout the entire flight. This is no longer acceptable, or at least while some passengers will still do it – and some flight attendants allow it – the rule doesn’t permit it and you may get kicked off the plane.
It seemed odd that Southwest Airlines Companion Pass members were being matched to Aeroplan 75K elite status. That’s being changed. Anyone with a Companion Pass has just two days to request a match and receive this level. After that they’ll be matching just to the 50K elite level.
Those of you with a Companion Pass should consider getting your match requests in now.
I don’t see any points bonuses without being logged into my American Express Membership Rewards account. But as soon as I log in, it’s a bonanza. Through September 30 American Express is offering simultaneous points transfer bonuses, including with programs where we rarely see Amex offering a bonus to all of 12 different programs.
Star Alliance member Scandinavian Airlines, commonly known as SAS, is launching two new airlines-within-an-airline. They will both operate under the SAS brand, and won’t be marketed differently to consumers. However they’ll be separate companies with separate operating certificates
The only thing that would make this more egregious, I think, is if the passenger victim were a holocaust survivor.
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.
The U.S. move to welcome vaccinated visitors is being viewed mostly as an ‘opening up’ because it means the end to the ban on travelers who’ve been in China, Iran, the European Schengen area, U.K. and Ireland, Brazil, South Africa or India in the prior 14 days.
However it’s also a closing down for travelers who have been vaccinated – just not with a vaccine on the approved list.
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 »
