Search Results for "ASIA".
Readers naturally are wary of fuel surcharges, and I absolutely hate them. But you should be educated about how much they are for different destinations before dismissing them out of hand — some programs that add fuel surcharges also charge much fewer miles. It’s worth learning the sweet spots where fuel surcharges can be well worth the savings in miles.
Korean Air is rolling out a new first class suite with doors. That’s fantastic news for an airline that already offers the best first class award availability from the most US cities.
You can book first class awards most of the time you want them, and the product is getting even better.
A collection of interesting links you’ll want to see, many you’ll want to click.
The US Bank Korean Visa increased its signup bonus. That’s great because Korean miles are really valuable, and because Chase points also transfer to Korean so it’s easy to get more. Here’s how to use them.
Through May 11 American is offering a discount on purchased miles – as low as 2.1 cents apiece. This will be worthwhile to some. Here’s when.
Last year Club Carlson reduced elite bonuses, moved many hotels up in reward category, and introduced a new more expensive top redemption tier. A month ago Club Carlson announced the elimination of the last night free benefit on award stays for members with their co-brand credit card. Now — effective June 1 — Club Carlson is changing categories for hundreds of hotels. Via Well Traveled Mile, 212 hotels get more expensive and 117 get less expensive. The increases are centered in Europe (where 128 – more than half the total – go up and only 27 go down). Asia Pacific gets less expensive (9 go up and 40 go down). None of this should really be surprising. The Club Carlson program was ‘overindexed’ (to use Jeff Diskin’s the awkward phrasing). You can generally expect offerings…
The El Al and Saudia frequent flyer programs were co-winners of an award at the Freddies in Atlanta last week. Here’s the story that led to that, and the staging of the presentation.
When IHG swallowed Kimpton, I wrote: “I want to be an IHG Rewards Club Platinum” said no Kimpton elite member, ever…
Conventional wisdom is that Starwood is going to do a deal, and the most likely candidate is IHG. Some say Starwood could buy IHG. I could see IHG buying Starwood. IHG is the bigger hotel chain, though Starwood’s market cap is much higher (nearly $15 billion versus ~ $10 billion).
Starwood has struggled to generate growth and Wall Street isn’t happy. Fundamentally that’s why their CEO Frits van Paasschen was out in February…
Reader Karin asked, If you had to pick one type of miles to amass for specific trips, what would it be? For instance, what gets you to Asia easiest? Western Europe? South America? Thank you! Europe: Star Alliance has the most partners that will get you to Europe. United miles will get you flights on these airlines without fuel surcharges. Chase Ultimate Rewards points transfer to United. Air Canada’s Aeroplan has good award pricing to Europe and you can avoid fuel surcharges. American Express Membership Rewards points transfer to Aeroplan. (See also How to Book Award Tickets on Star Alliance Partners). If you want awards in first class though you probably want Lufthansa Miles & More miles for a combination of access to quality first class product and better availability than is offered to Star…
Size of a city alone isn’t enough to support international air service. Size of the metro area, primary destinations from that area, available aircraft, and concentration of business are much more important. And that’s why Phoenix – the 6th largest city in the US – gets only a single transatlantic flight (and a marginal one for British Airways at that).
Here are key factors airlines use in choosing international flying. And it’s why even when the idea comes up for Phoenix, it gets rejected…
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 »
