Scott O’Leary announced details of the new United Mileage Plus program for 2012 this morning on Milepoint. Here are the key changes, which aren’t as bad as feared but which have a couple of real key negatives from my perspective. United will go to a 4-tier elite program as expected — 25,000 miles, 50,000 miles, 75,000 miles, and 100,000 miles (plus Global Services). They will begin requiring a minimum of 4 United, Continental, or COPA flights to earn status, so both people that are earning United status from Air Canada or bmi flights alone will no longer be able to do so. They are not introducing a minimum revenue component to elite status qualification, as had been speculated. Reduced elite bonuses. Elites flying 50,000 – 99,999 miles per year will receive less than their current…
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What Program You Should Use Depends on the Destinations You Want to Redeem For
One of the most frequent questions I get is, “Whose miles are really the best? I have a hard time using my miles and need to switch programs.” Or a common variation is, “I really should change credit cards, what credit card should I get to have the best chance of redeeming awards?” And there isn’t one true answer. There are some rough overall rules, but the best program for you depends on the award you want to redeem (and also the number of passengers, the class of service, willingness to take additional connections for better availability, requirements for inflight product, etc). Since I found myself offering this insight to someone this morning, I thought I’d share it more broadly — there are rough and ready rules about best program based on where in the…
Free Marriott Silver Status
Via Plane ‘N Simple, Marriott Rewards is offering complimentary silver status through February 2013 for residents of Australia, China, Guam, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam. In addition, crediting your stays to Air China PhoenixMiles, China Eastern Airlines Eastern Miles, China Southern Airlines Sky Pearl Club, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, KingFisher Airlines King Club, or Jet Airways JetPrivilege earn bonus miles beginning with 1000 miles after your second stay, 1500 after each of your third and fourth stays, and 2000 after your 5th and each subsequent stay — up to 30,000 bonus miles (which would be earned on your 17th stay). Ok, not the most exciting promotion in the world. But it’s free elite status, even if you need to make a virtual move to the Asia Pacific…
The Myth of Booking Award Tickets at Midnight 330 Days Out
When to book award travel: There’s a persistent myth that the best time to book an award ticket is instantly when an airline’s schedule opens, and also that the moment when that happens is 12:01am exactly 330 days prior to travel. But before explaining why this isn’t true — as well as those times when it is! — it’s helpful to understand making award seats available on flights from an airline’s perspective. Airlines want to release those seats as (saver / low) awards that they don’t expect to sell for cash. Sure, they may load some award seats when the schedule opens but 11 months out they only have a rough idea of what seats are going to go unsold. They may not add a single award seat on a given flight when the schedule…
Pretty Bad Changes Coming to British Airways Executive Club
Lucky lets loose the dogs of war over impending changes to the British Airways Executive Club which are coming in November, dubbing them a “huge devaluation.” I meant to write about this last night but was still digging around for more facts, and truth is we don’t know very much yet about what changes they’re planning to make, but since I’ve been predicting a significant devaluation since May I guess you can count me in the camp of those who think the changes are going to be pretty darned bad. The Milepoint discussion of what’s going on is here. But basically all we know is that they’re renaming their miles “Avios points.” I almost typed out ‘Avis’ and of course I’m going to have to train my spell checker (not that I use it often,…
Not All Blogger Travel is Glamorous!
Last year I wrote about my very mundane travel routine. It was really about sharing what most of my travel is like, as well as providing a window into the minutiae of how I think about my travel day. Very ritualized, very much ingrained habit. I don’t write about most of my trips because quite frankly they’re boring. I don’t have the wry sense of humor about travel that Ben has. There aren’t that many lessons to be gleaned from a trip out to Phoenix, Chicago, or Denver. I fly more boring domestic segments than first class international ones, but I write about the first class international trips. Some readers get the impression that’s how I travel most of the time, nothing could be farther from the truth. “My So-Called Travel Life” is a good…
Best Solutions for International Phone Calls While Traveling Abroad
International phone calls: I’ve been searching for a new international calling solution. My old throwaway cell phone died. My old favorite SIM card that was useful in several countries seems to be giving me fits. While I’m perfectly happy making calls via Skype (and that’s still the cheapest way to call out, less than 3 cents a minute to the US), my wife is less than happy with the call quality. Plus it’s not a great solution when you’re out and about without internet, or for people who want to call you who aren’t themselves going to be online when doing so. So it’s not enough. Backing up a little bit here, I Skype all the time — for work or to make calls when abroad. I don’t mind it at all, and I always…
Studying at 36,000 Feet for the Mile High Club
Long-haul flights can be tedious, but they’re also a great opportunity for uninterrupted education, at least if the multimedia offerings can hold your interest. On Qantas, apparently, the video on demand system allows you to learn improved sex techniques (HT: Sam S.) A documentary about the female orgasm is now available for viewing on all of the carrier’s international flights, reports news.com.au. The French film, “The Female Orgasm Explained,” seeks to show the intricacies of the female orgasm and features old pornos, graphics and sound effects. According to a Qantas spokesperson, the documentary is the most popular selection on in-flight channel The Edge… Apparently flight attendants can block this from the inflight entertainment systems of unaccompanied minors. I understand that Cathay Pacific offers similar instruction, albeit not through their CX World entertainment system.
Delta 100% Bonus on Purchased, Gifted, and Transferred Miles
Through September 30, Delta is offering a 100% bonus on purchased, gifted, and transferred miles. Only accounts that have been open for at least 10 days and have earned at least a mile are eligible to receive miles this way. They want to avoid folks opening accounts just to take advantage of the offer, for instance as a conduit to ‘buying’ discounted business class award seats such as on Air France when folks aren’t otherwise ‘real’ members of the Skymiles program. With the buy miles option, you’re purchasing miles at 1.75 cents apiece plus 7.5% tax (so about 1.9 cents apiece). That’s more expensive than miles purchased from US Airways under their similar 100% purchase offer. The mileage transfer option is better, it’s 1 cent per mile transferred and that means at a 100% bonus…
Where the First Class Award Seats Are
When I redeem my own awards, my strong interest is in international first class travel on better airlines. Sure, I’m on the East Coast and so Western Europe is fine in business class. That’s transportation. But the beauty of miles is that they can deliver aspirational rewards, the kinds of experiences I would never be in a position to pay for out of pocket. But thanks to miles and points, getting there can be part of the trip experience too, not just something to ‘get through’. Now, I should say that I (1) pay attention and accumulate a lot of miles, and (2) am redeeming for only two people, myself and my wife, this would be harder if we were traveling with kids (both because they aren’t usually ‘doing their fair share’ to earn the…
