Search Results for "ASIA".
Korean Air SkyPass is an incredible program for US members because of access to fantastic award availability, low change fees, generous award holds, and great partner awards.
You can transfer points from both Chase Ultimate Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest to Korean Air’s SkyPass program.
The CEO of Qatar Airways said he was launching service from Doha to Atlanta ‘to rub salt in the wounds’ of Delta which sought to shut Qatar, along with Gulf carriers Emirates and Etihad (but not Delta partner Saudia, or Delta partner Alitalia which is controlled by Etihad) out of the US market and raise prices on consumers.
Delta President Glen Hauenstein argues the flight will inevitably fail because “the Atlanta-Doha market has fewer than five people a day.” Yet it’s running with an almost 85% load factor. The flight from Atlanta isn’t as full as the one to Atlanta and offers amazing business class award availability.
United just announced changes that will go into effect on October 6.
They are introducing a new, better online award booking engine; imposing new restrictions on free stopovers on roundtrip awards; eliminating round the world awards; and revamping award change fees (to be mostly higher and more restrictive). But the changes actually could have been a lot worse.
SkyTeam member and Delta partner China Eastern has roundtrips from $386 between San Francisco and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam in September and October.
China Eastern has actually filed fares that are $54.50 each way plus taxes and surcharges. That’s pretty incredible.
With US airlines regularly offering less value for their points, I’m putting together this series with background, tips, and tricks for frequent flyer programs programs whose points can be very useful to you and that you can earn easily by transferring in from bank rewards currencies.
I love flexible points far more than earning points in a single airline frequent flyer program. That helps me to diversify so I don’t get hurt as badly when one airline program devalues and that gives me the points I need, when I need them with the airline that has availability for the award that I want.
Last month I wrote about buying Emirates first class at 89% off.
Airlines price discriminate selling premium cabin tickets based on market in which the tickets are sold. An airline may sell a ticket for a whole lot less originating in Asia or Africa than in Europe or the U.S.
Here’s some interesting data on cost of living and quality of life by a variety of measures for cities around the world.
You can search just on cost of living, best cities if you’re a single guy (or girl), cheapest, safest (for women), and where you can make the most on Airbnb.
I like their list of best cities to work from home which they call their digital nomad list based on “internet speed, cost of living, weather and fun.” The neat thing is you can filter by your own criteria like beach or snow, cold or hot, and how friendly a city is to same sex couples.
Thai Airways used to operate a flying gas can Airbus A340-500 non-stop from Bangkok to Los Angeles and also to New York JFK (May 2005 – June 2008). Both of those flights were eventually eliminated as uneconomical. Thai has also flown one-stop between Bangkok and Los Angeles, such as via Seoul and via Osaka.
But they no longer serve the U.S. at all, having suspended operations last fall as they worked to stem financial losses. And they aren’t allowed re-start service, either.
IHG Rewards Club has released its new set of PointBreaks — hotel rewards at just 5000 points per night. The new list has about 140 properties, but doesn’t hit the biggest cities most people are traveling to or the most desirable resorts.
Although it’s notable that there are two Intercontinental hotels on the list — Mendoza (perfect for wine tasting) and Phnom Penh (where you should stop before or after the amazing temples of Siem Reap).
Is it crazy to think that Pokémon GO is less than 3 weeks old? Marriott’s social media has been all-in with the craze from putting Pokémon monsters in pools knowing that guests will photograph them and possibly go viral, to surprising guests in rooms with Pokémons on their beds when they check in.
So when the first person in North America collecting all of the known Pokémon monsters in the region, Marriott agreed to sponsor his travel to Japan, Australia, and Europe to catch more Pokémon only available abroad.
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 »
