Search Results for "ASIA".
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about how Cathay Pacific releases first class award space.
It seems to be that British Airways isn’t showing Cathay Pacific awards within 6 days of departure but the space is there.
Here’s award availability searched via Qantas (American doesn’t show Cathay space on its website). There’s plenty of first class award space for at least one passenger over the next few days.
There’s amazing availability to and from Asia using Star Alliance member EVA Air.
EVA Air offers a business class product that’s four abreast on the Boeing 777-300ER. That means all aisle access. The seat is reverse herringbone and very similar to what Cathay Pacific, American Airlines, and others offer. It’s one of the best business class seats in the sky in my opinion.
And it’s wide open for 4 passengers from all North American gateways starting in February.
Washington Dulles built an expensive train to carry passengers between terminals which started operations in 2010. But they don’t really do that, at least they don’t do it for all passengers and they don’t take passengers of the airport’s major airline anywhere near their gates.
Instead they also have a system of “mobile lounges” or moon buggies that carry passengers slowly across active taxiways to their terminals. Many United passengers still have to use them, for instance.
The new IHG Rewards Club PointBreaks hotels — reward nights you can book for just 5000 points — will be bookable on Monday for stays through January 31, 2017.
5000 points per night is a fantastic deal, the best redemption value for hotels bar none. You have to want one of the specific hotels on the list, want to stay there during the promotion period, and have to act fast because the most desirable properties tend to get pulled down from the list rather quickly.
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.
Doha is a really convenient stopover, as the home airport for Qatar Airways, a top world carrier and member of oneworld. Their first class lounge in Doha is amazing, and even features pieces from the Museum of Islamic Art’s collection.
I found just two days in Doha to be perfect, but if I had it to do over again I’d do four nights… two dedicated to a museum visit and two for The Ritz-Carlton Sharq Village & Spa.
Singapore Airlines launches its San Francisco – Singapore non-stop flight today with an Airbus A350 — the first A350 to operate out of San Francisco. Singapore has 67 A350s on order.
I attended the launch celebration for this new San Francisco – Singapore non-stop on Thursday.
Premium Citibank ThankYou Rewards cards — like the Citi Prestige Card and Citi ThankYou Premier — let you transfer their points to airline miles and hotel programs.
They’ve just added a new partner: JetBlue. What’s interesting is that Barclaycard’s new deal to issue JetBlue cards didn’t stop this. And that even no annual fee Citi ThankYou cards can transfer to JetBlue which is a first.
Hawaiian Airlines is retrofitting its Airbus A330 aircraft with lie flat business class seats. They’ll have three rows of six seats, so only the middle seats have direct aisle access, but it’s generally a good product for Hawaii flying.
The product launched in June, and they’ve been adding US West Coast flights. New international routes will be getting the seats before the end of the year. We’ll see them on Tokyo, Brisbane, and Auckland (December 5) as well as Sydney (December 13.
The way airlines are pricing tickets has changed. You can often buy cheap fares at the last minute now. You used to have to buy 14 or 21 days in advance for the lowest fares, and that’s one way airlines separated business from leisure travelers, but ultra low cost carriers like Spirit, Frontier and Allegiant have changed that model and advance purchase alone is no longer a guaranteed way for airlines to charge business travelers more.
You can still get the best airfare deals in advance though (last minute can be a risk). And those last minute deals are especially unlikely to happen around holidays, because planes will be full.
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 »
