Search Results for "ASIA".
Star Alliance introduced the connecting partner model last year which is like ‘alliance lite’.
Now oneworld has announced the same thing and even called it a ‘connect partner’ (as opposed to a connecting partner). The first oneworld connect partner will be Fiji Airways.
We were promised these hotel brands would offer Platinum breakfast benefits. They don’t. They offer a food and beverage credit, which can be used any time during a stay.
That credit won’t cover breakfast at all of their properties, but the news isn’t as bad as it appeared at first — Marriott is updating their chart, which suggested the credit would be only once per stay rather than once per day (for the member and guest).
A couple of years ago I wrote that the Department of Homeland Security wants hotel desk clerks to snitch on guests as possible sex traffickers based on a set of behavior that could match that of plenty of guests.
Airline flight attendants are being asked to do the same thing.
I don’t like to see these increases. I’m saddened by them. But I still see the Mileage Bank as a strategically useful program. Their first class award prices remain better than many competitors, and that doesn’t even get into short haul business awards which are less than US airlines generally charge for coach.
I’m just back from Tokyo and Shanghai. My wife and I flew to Asia on a Virgin Atlantic 120,000 mile roundtrip ANA first class award. It’s one of the better value redemptions in all of travel — United would charge 220,000 miles roundtrip for the same thing, Aeroplan 210,000 miles, and Avianca LifeMiles 204,000. ANA itself charges 150,000 miles roundtrip.
And it turns out the deal is even better than that because most of the points for these two tickets came from American Express Membership Rewards transfers — when there was a transfer bonus. I called up Virgin Atlantic, put the award on a 24 hour hold, and then transferred the points. Not bad for a roundtrip ticket that was pricing at $22,907 apiece.
A year ago an AirAsia flight attendant was videotaped performing Britney Spears Toxic.
The conceit here of course is that Britney herself plays a flight attendant in the song’s music video. Maybe that’s why flight attendants seemingly just can’t help themselves.
Premium cabin award space between the West Coast of the US and Europe is much tougher than non-stop space to the East Coast. Folks in the West generally need a domestic connection, then, to reach their international gateway city.
So I thought it was notable enough to pass on non-stop first class award space from several cities out West to Europe.
Mere days ago I wrote a guide for asking airlines to give you elite status. Already there’s a new opportunity I hadn’t seen before.
United Airlines sent two memos to flight attendants scolding them for their personal grooming.
United’s Vice President of Inflight says “We lost our focus on the value uniform standards have on our customers’ perception of our company.”
The 2018 IdeaWorks award availability study is out.. The top line that’s getting reported is that Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards offers the best award availability. Another key takeaway is major improvement in American Airlines award availability.
Both of those conclusions can be somewhat misleading.
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 »
