Several airlines have settled a price fixing lawsuit and you may be entitled to a very small share of the settlement if you purchased a ticket to Asia or the South Pacific in the past 15 years. No doubt the class action share will be small, but it’s not much effort, and you will just be asked for trip details and won’t need to dig up any documents. In 2009 a class action lawsuit was filed against Air New Zealand, Air France, and Continental for price fixing between the US and Australia, New Zealand, and Pacific Islands. The case later expanded. And in August 2014 there was an agreement for a $30 million settlement with Air France, Japan Airlines, Vietnam Airlines, Thai Airways, Malaysia Airlines, and Cathay Pacific. In September Qantas and Singapore Airlines agreed…
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Why Airlines Should Improve Their Coffee
Coffee fuels business travel, and most providers don’t understand that. Have you ever actually tried to drink the coffee on a US domestic airline? American’s new Airbus A321T flying between New York JFK and Los Angeles and San Francisco has a cappuccino machine in first class. I have only flown business class on this plane, though, so I’ve not had a decent cup of coffee on a US airline’s plane. Cathay Pacific makes a decent cappuccino but the airline won’t serve hot drinks when the seat belt sign is on. A little turbulence on approach to Hong Kong after a long overnight flight and having no access to coffee is another form of coffee fail. Delta got a lot of mileage out of its announced change to Starbucks this month. I wasn’t especially impressed. United…
The DOT Guts its Post-Purchase Price Increase Prohibition to Help United Out of a Jam
Two weeks ago flights originating in the UK were pricing in Danish Kroner at a price that’s pennies on the dollar what they normally run. You could fly from the UK to pretty much anywhere in the world in business or first class at price hovering around $100 or less. This wasn’t a United-specific glitch, but United.com was the most common place to buy these tickets. United voided these tickets. Thousands of Consumers Complained to the Department of Transportation The Department of Transportation received thousands of complaints, apparently, and they’ve now ruled on whether United violated their rule against post-purchase price increase, which forbids cancelling tickets after purchase. And as I wrote that I expected, they’ve sided with United. While the DOT promulgated a rule requiring airlines to honor tickets that have been purchased regardless…
Send Credit Card Payments Free, the Best Vacation Bargains, and the Biggest Devaluations
News and notes from around the interweb: United is launching once-weekly New Orleans-Cancun flights. I always find these routes strange and fascinating, there’s usually a backstory to them that’s not always immediately obvious. New mobile payment app that lets you send $3750 by credit card without fees. Air Canada has a promo code for 15% off to Asia British Airways is gutting its small business program, too. The winner, as with the Avios changes, will be the rarely-spotted individual who flies exclusively in Club World and First on fully flexible tickets during the week but who loves nothing more than jumping into a World Traveller seat when he travels for leisure. What’s the most improved vacation opportunity for those spending US dollars? Argentina is a great bargain, especially when you exchange cash at the street…
The Changes That Will Happen to American’s Award Chart After The US Airways Merger is Complete
Reader Ryan wanted to know, [W]hat do you think would be a ‘worst-case’ scenario for US/AA miles devaluation after the programs merge in Q2? Plenty of folks thought that combining US Airways and American frequent flyer programs was a chance to implement a brand new program on day 1, a revenue-based one like Delta and United. I predicted from the beginning that: The primary focus would be on integrating the airlines When you merge you don’t want to alienate your customers So the merger would be reprieve from devaluations, for the most part. (Not exclusively.) And indeed, we know what the 2015 program looks like and I don’t expect a big upending of the award chart in the second quarter of 2015 when Dividend Miles gets migrated over to AAdvantage. I don’t necessarily expect big…
US Airlines Should Shut Up About Having to Compete Against Gulf Carriers. Here’s Why.
US airlines have been making loud noises over how unfair it is that they have to compete with some Gulf airlines. They want the administration to take steps against Qatar, Emirates, and Etihad. For foreign policy reasons this is highly unlikely. But the noise – and the overheated rhetoric – have been loud enough that the argument has gotten attention. One Mile at a Time runs a piece titled, “Other Carriers Can’t Compete With Gulf Airlines Under The Current System” and concludes, Open Skies is intended to eliminate government intervention and “free” markets. And there’s no arguing that the Middle Eastern airlines aren’t operating within the spirit of the agreement. …But when every aspect of an operation is being run in order to generate a loss and increase market share for the purposes of developing…
Thailand Issues Good Behavior Manual for Tourists
Thailand has issued a good behavior manual for Chinese tourists. Etiquette manuals in Mandarin are being printed for the 90,000 Chinese tourists who are expected to travel to Thailand for Chinese New Year, later this week. The manual will instruct visitors on museum etiquette, requesting that paintings are not touched, warn against using public property as lavatory facilties, and encourage proper driving behaviour, according to the Tourist Authority of Thailand office in Chiang Mai. …Locals accused them of defecating in the city’s moat, causing accidents by driving recklessly, and defacing several tourist attractions, according to the Bangkok Post. Breakfast in a Bathrobe at the Westin Siray Bay, Phuket Thailand and China are geographically close, and while ethnic Chinese often have high status in Thai society the Northern part of the country is heavily Chinese-influenced and…
US Airlines Want to Ban the Big Middle East Carriers, Because 9/11
US airlines have been out swinging against the major Middle Eastern airlines Emirates, Qatar, and Etihad — arguing that they are state subsidized and competing unfairly against US carriers, and asking the US to terminate Open Skies agreements that permit unfettered access to US markets. The end of open skies with the region wouldn’t much hurt US airlines, since they offer only limited service to the region. But it would hurt US travelers — precisely because US airlines offer only limited service to the region. And US airlines also don’t serve the secondary and smaller cities India and Pakistan these carriers serve, or for that matter Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. It’s true that the Middle Eastern carriers have grown. And they’ve thrown capacity in several US markets which pushed down fares, and to my…
Which Airlines Are the Worst to Deal With By Phone?
When American Express runs a transfer bonus for moving points to Aeromexico, and folks start paying attention to their award charts (which can be generous even without the bonus) I shrug. The last thing I want is Aeromexico points, since that means I’m going to have to deal with the fine folks at Aeromexico Club Premier. You can’t book partner awards online. That means talking to their call center. Thinking about what call centers are the worst, it’s actually tough because each airline with frustrating call centers is frustrating in different ways. They’re just tough to compare. Delta agents tend not to know who their partners are, and I’ve had them try to book awards into the wrong class. (I’ve also been told “Vietnam Airlines isn’t a member of Skyteam. Only Air France is a…
American Discounted Off Peak Awards Now Let You Book US Airways Flights
American’s award chart for flying its own aircraft (as opposed to oneworld and other partners) includes discounted, off-peak economy awards. Reduced mileage awards are also available to: Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela at 15,000 miles each way (instead of 17,500) Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay at 20,000 miles each way (instead of 30,000) Europe at 20,000 miles each way (instead of 30,000) Japan, Korea at 25,000 miles each way (instead of 32,500) Starting today, it seems, US Airways flights can be included and priced at off-peak pricing on the AA.com website. Here are the dates eligible for this discount for each region: Of course US Airways does not fly to Asia and their South/Central America destinations are limited compared to American’s route network. Let’s look at Charlotte – Mexico City, starting September 7 economy awards…
