Assuming that the merger between American and US Airways is actually consummated, we know that the combined entity will be called American Airlines and will be based the Dallas Fort Worth area. The frequent flyer program will be AAdvantage and the airline will be a part of the oneworld alliance (US Airways is currently a member of Star). On the merger announcement day, Doug Parker explained that he learned a lesson when integrating US Airways with America West — it’s better to take the IT architecture of the bigger airline, rather than migrating the larger data set into the software platform of the smaller carrier. He thought that lesson was applied well when Delta and Northwest merged. And he was presumably too kind to say it, but the disastrous effects of ignoring that lesson played…
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Hyatt’s New Toiletries Across Brands and Regions
I love hotel bath amenities, just as I love airline pajamas and taking cooking classes while on vacation and recreating those recipes in my own kitchen. It’s a part of bringing the road back home and connecting with travel and brands on an emotional level. So I probably have a bit too much of a fascination when hotels change up their toiletries, the ones I don’t like I really don’t like probably way more than is justified, and the ones I do like I buy myself and use when I’m not on the road. I miss Molten Brown at Westins, I’ve gone through phases where I like L’Occitane. And I’ve long detested Portico White Ginger, I’ve been following the saga of when Hyatt would replace it and was ecstatic when they finally did (and proud…
Flying Blue 50% Off Awards Through Mid-April
Air France KLM’s Flying Blue program has posted details of its 50% off promo awards for travel through mid-April. You can book discounted awards for travel between specific cities in North America and all of Europe. (Promo awards also include travel between Europe and other regions of the world, but here I focus just on North America where most of my readers are — sorry folks reading in South America and Asia!) The only cities offering discounted business class are New York JFK and Toronto, Air France business class can be booked to any destination in Europe for 25,000 miles each way. That is, you can fly from New York or Toronto to anywhere in “Europe 1/2/3” (via Paris) which are: Europe 1: Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Switzerland, United Kingdom Europe 2: Austria,…
How to Get Attention in a Crowded Aviation Marketplace
Low cost carriers often eschew global distribution systems – to save money you buy tickets from them in person or online. And in some parts of world many tickets are indeed still purchased in person. Brand identity matters — if you’re going to get consumers to buy from you, they need to know who you are. And certainly the Thai domestic market is crowded. In addition to national flag carrier Thai Airways, there’s competition between Thai AirAsia, Bangkok Airways (not to be confused with a low cost carrier), and Nok Air. So NokAir is running a promotion with Maxim models dressed as flight attendants posing with their planes. I’m not sure why this is supposed to make people want to fly Nok Air. Hooters Air didn’t survive, and the Hooters Girls were actually on the…
In Under the Wire: Should You Get the US Airways and American Credit Cards Now Before Any Merger?
In my discussion last week about the ten best credit card signup bonuses, many of the reader comments centered around what’s looking likely to be a merger between American Airlines and US Airways. Several readers asked, given the probability of a merger, should they get in on the US Airways card now? In general my answer is yes but not for the reason most people seemed to be thinking. Neither the US Airways card nor the American Airlines cards will go away right away. In fact I expect both cards to stick around for awhile. But getting them now may provide for the opportunity to get them again (including signup bonuses) before one of them disappears. Getting a 50,000 mile bonus from the Citibank American card and a 40,000 mile bonus from the US Airways…
Why in the World is US Airways Increasing Award Prices NOW?
It’s been 3 years since US Airways made major adjustments to its award chart. During that time they’ve been dubbed ‘the official consolidator for Star Alliance premium cabin fares’ because of the speed at which they’ve been printing miles on the cheap — through major promotions and offers to sell miles at a deep discount (through outright purchase or transfers from one account to another). In other words, the thinking has been that US Airways has offered up so many miles that they’ve become a way to buy miles and obtain ‘distressed inventory’ (which partners release as awards) across the Star Alliance. Basically they haven’t just been rewarding loyalty with miles, they’ve been selling partner award tickets for cash with miles as the intermediate form of currency. Given the production of so many Dividend Miles,…
How To Make Sure You Really Have a Ticket When You Redeem Your Miles
This one seems obvious, right? You redeemed your miles for a ticket, therefore you have a ticket. The airline even sent you a confirmation e-mail so everything is all set, right? Not necessarily and certainly not guaranteed if you used United miles to book the award. I wrote about this problem back in May (“United Award Tickets on Asiana Sometimes Cancel Themselves and How to Make Sure You Don’t Get Shafted“) and then again in July (“When You Purchase a United Award Ticket That Doesn’t Mean You Actually Have a Ticket“). It’s a Long-Standing Legacy Continental Problem I learned quite awhile ago, under the old Continental system, that sometimes flights you book using your miles — especially when those flights were on partner airlines — just ‘disappear’. They were confirmed, they were promised to you,…
Bits ‘n Pieces for February 6, 2013
News and notes from around the interweb: Cathay Pacific is offering snake plush toys for online booking. The National Human Rights Commission of Korea has issued a non-binding ruling that Asiana flight attendants should be allowed to wear pants. Delta Skyclubs offering reasonably priced bottles of Dom Perignon. But if it’s the ’03, it’s too hit-or-miss to take the chance still. American’s Board of Directors is expected to vote in favor of a merger with US Airways at the beginning of next week. Expectation is American Chairman Tom Horton to stay on as non-executive Chairman for a specified term and then leave the company.
Grand Hyatt San Francisco: A Large Modern Hotel With a Small Hotel Feel
This past Monday I reviewed the Hyatt Regency San Francisco down on the Embarcadero. It’s a large atrium-style hotel that feels busy though I quite liked it (even though they failed to honor my confirmed suite upgrade). If I wanted to be in that part of the city I’d gladly stay there again. During the past week I made another trip to San Francisco and stayed at the Grand Hyatt. The Hyatt Regency is about 800 rooms, the Grand Hyatt about 660 so still a very large property but it feels much smaller. That’s mostly, I think, because the Grand is a much taller building with smaller individual floors and also a smaller lobby area. So you don’t feel the size of the property, since you aren’t walking around a ton, and you also aren’t…
Faster Free Nights are Back!
It was just back in September that I pronounced the famous Faster Free Nights hotel promotion dead. Not just resting. Not just simply ‘stunned’ or ‘pining for the fjords.’ Definitely deceased. And yet I opened up the front cover of February’s Inside Flyer to find this: Now, Faster Free Nights was the Greatest. Hotel Promotion. Ever run. Two stays — even one nights — with Hyatt and you earned a free night at any Hyatt in the world. Two airport nights and you’d have a night at the Park Hyatt Tokyo. Back in the day it was even better, because as long as there was some sort of charge on your folio a Priceline room would count. What’s more, as long as something billed to your room when staying on your free night, your free…
