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.
In general Virgin Atlantic has some of the least valuable miles but their points are ubiquitous since they’re a transfer partner of Chase, Ameriacn Express, and Citibank. They do have real sweet spots. My favorite is using their miles for ANA first class round trip to Tokyo for just 120,000 miles.
Perhaps their most useful redemption was award travel on Delta. Not anymore. And without any notice, boom, during the pandemic.
Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says the government has been covering up UFOs. Former CIA Director John Brennan thinks something might be out there. The Covid relief bill requires declassification of what the government knows about UFOs within 6 months. This year Navy fighter pilot videos of unexplained encounters were released. And here’s new photos from Area 51.
Serious people think there’s a chance aliens exist. That alone should raise our estimate of the likelihood, shouldn’t it?
Alaska Airlines is offering a 50% elite qualifying miles bonus their own flights January 1 – June 30, 2021. No registration required, and this is a bonus towards elite status qualification and not bonus miles you can spend on award travel.
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.
American is at a cost disadvantage relative to the industry. Management won’t want to seek a strategic restructuring. Chairman and CEO Doug Parker owns approximately 2.4 million shares of the airline’s stock. However American remains at greater risk of bankruptcy than rivals, that hasn’t ended with the close of 2020 (though vaccines improve the carrier’s prospects), and talk of bankruptcy risk certainly hasn’t been “nonsense” as veteran airline journalist Ted Reed claims at Forbes.
A husband and wife boarded their flight on American Airlines from Charlotte to Jacksonville along with their 4 year old and 2 year old and two grandparents. American kicked them off because their two year old wouldn’t keep her mask on. They had no issue on their inbound flight, just their onward connection. And the woman says her daughter was eating, which is allowed.
American Airlines staff in Charlotte reportedly threatened to ban the whole family from the airline.
An American citizen presenting themselves at the border is entitled to enter the country. They can be questioned, searched, and required to quarantine as a public health measure. But as a general matter citizens cannot be denied entry into the country.
Here the government places a requirement on airlines to prevent citizens from presenting themselves at the border. You can’t even get tested in much of the world. And there are few places where you’re allowed to go enroute in order to stop for a test.
Doha-based oneworld carrier Qatar Airways has been among the most creative during the pandemic. They’ve let customers get more credit than the value of their ticket if willing to forego a refund, they’ve offered to let customers convert flight credits into miles. They’ve even improved their award chart, reversing a past devaluation.
Now Qatar has announced that all tickets purchased by April 30, 2021 are refundable. And since they’d rather you not refund your tickets, there are no change fees to make an unlimited number of changes for travel through December 31, 2021.
The U.S. government held a call with airlines today discussing a possible Covid-19 testing requirement for all passengers coming to the U.S. following a similar requirement imposed on arrivals from the U.K. on Monday (including U.S. citizens). Airlines hope a negative Covid-19 test will replace an outright ban on non-citizens who have traveled to certain countries in the past 14 days.
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 »
