Search Results for "ASIA".
American Express Membership Rewards points transfer to a variety of different airline programs and so some hotels. Generally your best redemptions with Amex points is going to be airline transfers. And they offer occasional transfer bonuses.
Right now points transfers to Cathay Pacific are showing up with targeted bonuses.
There are premium airport departure, connection and arrival services that you can buy all over the world. Some are offered by airlines, others by airports, and some by third party services. In fact it isn’t even always clear which is which.
I’m a fan of these offerings, but I like to see them affordable. I think that a meet and greet buggy service at under $50 for 2 people in Bangkok, including assistance from plane through immigration and with baggage claim (with handover to your transportation into the city) is a real value that more travelers would take advantage of if they were aware of the service.
At first world prices though it’s strategically useful to be aware of the option but not something most readers will take advantage of. Still it’s nice to see this option at a lower price than many vendors offer in Europe, and for less than the airlines are offering in the U.S. as well.
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.
Virgin Atlantic miles aren’t worth as much as other miles. However they do have strategic uses and I believe the single best one is ANA first class roundtrip from the Central U.S. and East Coast for just 120,000 miles per person. (San Francisco and Los Angeles is just 110,000 miles roundtrip, while business class runs 90,000 or 95,000 miles depending on the city.)
Another strong use of Virgin Atlantic miles is Delta business class between the US and Europe for 50,000 points each way, which becomes an amazing deal witht he 30% tansfer bonus. There are other award chart sweet spots, like Australia and New Zealand.
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.
Four years ago Orient-Express Hotels rebranded as Belmond. They had been licensing the name Orient-Express, and they found that while the name seemed familiar (because of the train) it wasn’t really associated with the chain and didn’t drive bookings. Although it’s not clear that Belmond served them better. Orient-Express is now an Accor brand. And Belmond is putting themselves up for sale. Accor could be a buyer, they’re trying to build the Orient-Express brand and could pick up twice as many hotels as their current 2025 goal and goodness knows they buy everything else. Hyatt is mentioned as a potential buyer, it’s hard to find too many hotel companies that have the resources to acquire a small luxury chain and for whom it would be worthwhile. Big players wouldn’t see three dozen hotels as moving…
United Airlines President Scott Kirby, who has previously served as President of American Airlines (and US Airways and America West before that), is the most ‘by the numbers’ executive in the airline industry today. I’ve called him a destroyer of airlines.
However he’s just given an interview where he actually says that brand matters to an airline’s success in the long run and so more than what’s in the spreadsheet matters. Does the new rhetoric match reality?
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.
It’s never been as easy or cheap to fly internationally, largely because of ultra low cost carriers across the Atlantic and the rise of Chinese airlines fighting for business from the US and connecting that traffic to Southeast Asia.
However I really value premium cabin fare deals. Because while you can sometimes find transatlantic fares for under $300 roundtrip, and transpacific fares under $400 roundtrip, those would have been great in my youth but I don’t want to fly coach such long distances.
Chase announced that the last day to transfer Ultimate Rewards points to Korean Air’s SkyPass program would be Friday, August 24 and that effective today Saturday, August 25 Korean would no longer be a Chase transfer partner.
That notice is still on the Chase Ultimate Rewards website. However Korean Air is also still listed as a transfer partner and the website is allowing me to begin the process of initiating transfers.
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 »
