On October 1 I wrote about American Airlines beginning to add fuel surcharges to awards redeemed on British Airways. Previously, AAdvantage members couldn’t earn or redeem miles on British Airways between the US and the UK at all. So members would fly from Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean. And there was no restrictions on flights beyond London, such as to Africa. But there were no fuel surcharges. Now, there are more available routes for redemption but all of those routes (including those which were previously available) are significantly more expensive. How much more? I find a US – Europe roundtrip in a premium cabin will often total nearly $600. Now the regular taxes are a bit over $200 anyway, that darned U.K. premium cabin departure luxury tax. But the fuel surcharges are a killer. And…
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Delta Execs Share their Views of and Plans for the Skymiles Programs
Yesterday I posted links to notes on presentations by Delta Executives to members of Flyertalk. Since I’m not really much of a Delta flyer, the specifics weren’t hugely engaging for me, but I passed them along for those of you out there hub-captive to Delta for whom the nitty gritty of the Delta experience matters a great deal. Flyertalk member ND76 has posted notes of a couple more presentations, and these are much more up my alley. Bob Kupbens is Vice President of e-commerce and offered significant feedback on the airline’s IT priorities. I was most interested in the following comment: 16. When award calendar showed up on the screen, the house almost came down. There will be a new look to the award calendar by end of first quarter 2011, with emphasis on accuracy…
US Airways Award Chart Giveth… and US Airways Award Chart Taketh Away
In the neverending saga of US Airways award zone adjustments, after just last week definitively moving Thailand to their North Asia region (thus reducing the cost of US-Thailand awards in business class by 30,000 miles and in first class by 40,000 miles!), they’ve once again updated their partner award chart (.pdf) and it’s now back in South Asia. In the first iteration they moved Russia from North Asia to Europe. Ok, no more Moscow – Frankfurt – Seoul first class roundtrips for 40,000 miles. Fair enough. And they listed Thailand and the Philippines under both North Asia and South Asia, instead of just South Asia where they had previously resided. Then US Airways corrected the double listing mistake, moving Thailand and the Philippines to North Asia only. And now they’ve moved both countries back to…
US Airways Reduces Mileage Prices to Thailand, Philippines
Last week I posted that it appeared US Airways was in the process of adjusting their zone definitions. At the time they had Thailand and Philippines listed both in North Asia and in South Asia (whoops!). Well, commenter steven points out that they’ve cleaned things up. And now Thailand and Philippines are both listed solely in North Asia. Wow. I’m not sure the geography of it makes sense to me, but I’ll take it — business class awards are reduced from 120,000 miles to 90,000 miles and first class awards are reduced from 160,000 miles down to 120,000. Go Dividend Miles, seriously, THANK YOU! And with the current mileage purchase offer (100% bonus on purchased miles through November 15), it means you can buy sufficient miles for a business class award to Thailand for about…
US Airways Adjusts their Award Zone Definitions, First Class to Thailand Drops 40,000 Miles in Price
US Airways has posted a new Star Alliance award chart (.pdf) on their website, I haven’t noticed any changes yet to their mileage prices but the zone definitions have changed slightly. Russia used to be listed as North Asia, and so flying Russia – Europe – Hong Kong (for instance) for only 40,000 miles roundtrip in first class. Now Russia is gone from the list of countries on the chart, it’s possible that it’s been recategorized to Europe, I haven’t checked with US Airways yet. But they may have read about all the Flyertalkers jumping on that award value bandwagon. The one most interesting to me is that Thailand was moved from South Asia to North Asia. So first class from the US to Thailand just dropped in price from 160,000 miles to 120,000. Wow.…
Strategies for Earning 100,000 Bonus Miles Through the US Airways Grand Slam Promo
TM Travel World has an excellent post where he lays out how he plans to get 36 ‘hits’ in the US Airways Grand Slam promotion and earn 100,000 bonus miles. What’s useful about the post is that he details the specific items he’s doing and buying and their costs. I have many different items myself, and I’m not likely to hit the top bonus for 36 activities, but there are some useful nuggets here. He’s going to earn four different partner credits from hotel points transfers into US Airways. Starwood Platinum members can transfer as few as 1 point to miles in their choice of programs, you need to transfer a minimum of 100 miles for this promotion. Then he’s transferring points from Hyatt, Hilton, and Goldpointsplus. He’s going to credit six hotel stays and…
Behind the Scenes of the Frequent Traveler Awards Nomination Process
The Frequent Traveler Awards are underway, and I’m told there have already been hundreds of thousands of votes cast. I’ve gotten a couple of questions here on my blog, by email, and on Flyertalk about what it’s all about, and how it differs from the Freddie Awards — which Randy Petersen decided to bring to a close after two decades. Like the Freddies, the Frequent Traveler awards fulfill a unique role: They honor the best loyalty programs, not the best or hippest resort hotels or airline seats and food. They are decided by the traveling public at large, not by a group of self-described ‘experts’. I’m the Chair of the Frequent Traveler Awards committee that put together the structure, voting processes, and nominations for the Frequent Traveler Awards. I had always been a bit of…
American AAdvantage Discounted Awards to Tahiti
American AAdvantage is offering a 20% discount on awards from Los Angeles to Tahiti with partner Air Tahiti Nui. Book by October 15 for travel through March 31, and the offer applies to both economy and business class. Recent reports on Flyertalk suggest that it’s no longer possible to book first class awards on Air Tahiti Nui using American miles. (It’s never been possible using Delta Skymiles, either, even though Delta is also an Air Tahiti Nui partner.) Specific dates are off-limits for business class, as well: Award travel embargo dates apply to travel in Business Class as follows: Flights from Papeete, Tahiti to Los Angeles: December 18, 2010 – January 7, 2011. Flights from Los Angeles to Papeete, Tahiti: December 18, 2010 – December 29, 2010. (HT: TM Travel World.) In general I find…
Jeff Robertson Speaks Candidly About Why The Delta Skymiles Program is Less Rewarding Than Its Peers
Cranky Flier visited Delta headquarters and among other stops on his agenda sat with Jeff Robertson, who runs the SKymiles program. Since I’m the guy who coined the phrase Skypesos to describe the program, I naturally felt the irresistable need to chime in on the conversation. Now, the funny thing is I don’t doubt for a minute that Jeff wants what’s best for the Skymiles program. And he understands that he needs to deliver value for his members (though he might not want to deliver too much value) in order for it to be a long-run value creating proposition. And I’d even bet that if Jeff had his druthers, Delta would make a whole lot more award seats available at ‘low’ or ‘saver’ mileage levels. Because those saver seats don’t cost the Skymiles program very…
Voting Has Launched for the Frequent Traveler Awards!
I shared the announcement last month about the coming launch of the awards. Well, voting has begun and will be open for a month. The Frequent Traveler Awards fill an important niche. Instead of awards bestowed by a group of self-appointed experts, the Frequent Traveler Awards represent the collective judgment of the traveling public. Instead of an award for best airline product or nicest resort hotel, the Frequent Traveler Awards represent the best in loyalty programs. When voting ends on October 15, real travelers will have spoken. And on November 4 in Houston we’ll all know which programs are the best. There are (3) distinct regions, you select one region you wish to vote in: Americas Europe and Africa Asia Pacific and Middle East Then you will have an opportunity to ‘rank order’ first through…
