Here’s your chance. I will my best to cover your questions. Please leave requests in the comments section.
As my boss once wrote making a similar request on his blog, “The only promise is that of weak monotonicity, namely that your mention won’t lower the chance of the topic being covered.”
In other words, I won’t promise to cover everything, though I’ll read and ponder everything that’s written here in the comments.
It may take me awhile to work through, goodness knows there are things I’m behind on (trip reports, cough, trip reports…).
But I’d love to hear from you!
Why does United sometimes offer me a layover longer than 4 hours on a domestic award ticket? And how do I induce it to do so, if I want to spend the day in my layover city.
Extended stays of 69-90 days in Europe, medical emergency or major illness, how to find coverage that is cost effective not to bust the vacation? Thank you
Hi Gary,
Do you think I should wait 6, 9 or 12 months to apply extensively on other credit cards to get in the bonus game after I open my first credit card with 100% payment every month in US?
Or there’s no strict rule at all?
Thanks.
Would you mind at least addressing all of the comments regarding the new format? I realize many people don’t like change, but perhaps reading your rationale behind the new format, new slogan etc would help to assuage some of the frustration. Still a great blog with great content, just seems much less user-friendly. And, as someone who constantly critiques how other organizations respond to and handle customer issues, you seem especially well-equipped to do so in this instance.
Are you still running your experiment for RSS feeds or have you officially decided to stick with the truncated posts?
What is your favorite transferable points currency and in what order would you rank these four?
AMEX Membership Rewards
Chase Ultimate Rewards
Citi ThankYou Points
We are arriving in Munich in early July & wonder which mode of transportation you recommend from MUC to Munich downtown. We are told the metro train stops at our hotel, but we don’t know how difficult it is to get to the train at MUC with luggage, etc. Thanks.
Sorry, I was originally going to include Starwood hence “four” options. But decided to ask just about the credit card programs.
Im planning a future European vacation. I would like to take Singapore airlines suite class from JFK to Frankfurt. My complication is trying to get from Phoenix to JFK smoothly using points. Since Singapore air won’t service a flight from my hub airport (PHX) to a connecting flight to JFK what stradegy and resources/tools would you recommend for flyers trying to piece together individual rewards flights for a single vacation with scenarios like these?
Gary! Can you finish up your trip report to Colombo and the Maldives?! I am going to both places soon and would love to hear about your most recent experiences in both places. Thanks!
What is the fastest land animal?
How do same day flight changes work on AA and US, particularly when there is international travel (Mexico) and a connection involved? Can you change carriers now that they’re all code shared? Do both flights need to be available to make a change or can you change the first one and then just wing it at the connection? Or just change the second one? What if the itinerary is mixed (US and AA) metal? I’m an EXP so I get that it’s free and I do it a lot on direct flights but I’m unclear on the mechanics of connecting flights and different carrier metal.
I recently booked Boston-London on Delta and paid ~$296 in taxes/fuel surcharges.
For another pax I had to book two one ways – Boston-London was $6. London-Boston was almost $600. Same flights. Taxes on the non round trip was outrageous!
Is there a way to link the two one way tickets together to save the ~$300 in fees?
It’s crazy that I’ve been reading Tyler’s blog long enough that I remember when he used to say that.
Anyway, I would like to know what European cities are best to visit during Christmas. I’m also wondering about where to eat when traveling in Europe on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
List all the LH F boomerangs left.
Don’t truncate the RSS feed please 🙂
Ok, here’s you’re chance to step up to the plate and show us what you’ve really got: when are AA & US going to become, operationally, one airline?
If you can get this right and also tell us anything — anything at all — about the reservations system migration, we’ll count it as a grand slam.
Hello,
Do you thing that would be possible for a non-american achieve this travel life style? And what would be the tips to get the good credit card that allow the good travels?
Thanks from Brazil.
Can you buy personalized Amex gift cards through top cash back and get the 1.5% cash back for them? I mean click on the link on the topcashback website for amex gift card, and then go to the personalized giftcards where you can put a name on it, or a message.
I am hoping to use my miles to go to the Olympics next year in Rio. I wanted to see whether you might have any advice regarding this (I am asking early, so that I have time to book seats when they become available and to earn miles if necessary). Is there any special trick for this type of event? Can regular anytime tickets go for regular rates on any airline? Any advice that you can provide would be helpful.
This is going to be a very specific regional question since I am planning a trip to Australia. What are some of the “cheapest” domestic Australian award tickets?
Of course BA Avios is good for single segment short hauls. What about when connection is required or its a further distance?
AA has domestic one-ways at 10k in economy and 17.5k in business on Qantas metal. With their current 60% bonus on purchased miles, at best thats $184 for economy and $323 for business if you wanted to buy the miles outright. That could be an amazing deal, especially for business. Are there other programs that offer a better redemption for Qantas using miles?
Kris flyer has domestic one-ways from 11k-20k in economy and 21k-40k in business on VA metal, depending on regions within Australia. This is much better than the Delta rates of 22.5k in economy and 40k in business. Are their other programs that offer good redemptions for VA using miles?
Are there other carriers that should be examined?
When booking a TATL award with positioning flights, how much time do include between segments to collect and recheck luggage and which airports are the best/worst to do this in a timely fashion?
what is the best mileage program to fly to europe from west coast in business class? The reason I want to fly business is I can’t take a lot of vacation at one time, if I fly coach then I’ll be so tired and lose an extra day each way.
Is there a program that you can use to plan in advance? AA doesn’t have many flights and UA doesn’t release award space in advance? Alaska charges too much on air france. Maybe collect delta?
Completely understand the concept of MS and how to acquire various assets to move, but the liquidation is the part that I don’t get. I’ve read on FT/various blogs about buying money orders, can you explain this process of liquidating the prepaid gift cards a bit better?
I sent Suzanne Rubin a supportive email congratulating her for trumping the competition by not taking away miles for economy and going full revenue based but instead adding more miles for premium seats. Likewise I sent an email asking why he’d let the competition get the Aadvantage like that and that he’d lost a 40 year customer after I got a confirmation email showing I was going to get half of the actual miles. I wanted him to know that this is taking away something major which motivates many customers’ flight choices.
So now I’m left with only AA and Alaska for full miles on my monthly economy flights. How long do you think they will hold out? Can AA really construct a model that gives more without taking away and not suffer at the bottom line such that stockholders force a change? Will you be an advocate for us on this and talk up AA for their smarts (and courage) here?
Thanks. The only airline blog I read every day.
I already have Global Entry (good for another three years) but my friend does not. I have several CCs that will cover a Global Entry or TSA Pre fee each year, but most seem to only cover reimbursement of the fee for the primary cardholder. Is there any CC I can use that has proven to cover the GE or TSA Pre fee if I pay for my friend to acquire one of those?
*to Jeff Smisek (easily available email online)
3 of us are planning a stay at the Park Hyatt Maldives but want to visit India first preferably in first class. We do not mind paying cash for the Ind-Maldives round trip but would like to use miles for the flights there. We will be flying out from the West Coast but want to return as close to Cincinnati as possible. The best combo we’ve found is the Singapore Suites from LAX-DEL and then back from DEL-SFO. This has about $900 in surcharges. Do you have a better suggestion for us? Any advice would be much appreciated!
Have the clickbaity headlines and removing full RSS feeds improved your site metrics as much as you hoped they would? Are you seeing more clickthrough into your credit card ads?
😀
Hi Gary,
I want to book a Singapore Airlines award but I don’t live in a city served by Singapore. How can I book an award out of my home city using my KrisFlyer miles?
one question, one comment. First, greatly prefer full posts on the RSS feed. Now, for my questions, we talk a lot on this blog, and , others, about air travel rewards and free hotel stays along with upgrades for both, but one thing we don’t spend much time on is cruises. My wife and I are thinking about taking a South American cruise this winter and I’m wondering if you have any recommendations on the best programs for cruise value among Chase, Amex and I suppose Citi, although personally I,grabbed,the 100,000 point American Air bonus from Citi so my Citi points are all in A Advantage program. We will most likely take a Celebrity cruise unless I can find a way to bump up to Crystal or Oceania through points.
Is there a way to learn about YQ dumps without spending a month reading all of FT threads on the subject (and leaving as confused as before)?
Let’s talk about your RSS feed.
How can I use my AVIOS to book a flight from Phoenix to St. Thomas USVI?
With no mortgage or car purchase on the horizon, is there any reason not to ALWAYS be working toward a sign up bonus/spending requirement?
If you had to use Chase UR points to get from South Africa to the east coast (one way) what is the best way to do so?
I have enough AA points to (theoretically) get my family of four from the US to Australia in business class. I can’t find any routings that actually seem to release 4 seats on the same flight (I’ve checked Quantas, Hawaiian, air Tahiti, Fiji, etc). Don’t have enough to route through Asia. Any suggestions?
Your truncated rss/email feed…
I thought it was a technical issue on my end when I couldn’t read the full post anymore in my feed reader. I understand now that truncated posts are a choice. Please bring back full posts in the RSS feed, as it’s the only way I can consume your content when disconnected during my commute.
How many cards should I apply to at once (stagger them, or do it in bunches)? Is it worth getting global entry on if one only takes 1-2 international trips a year, or similarly is it worth getting one of those big pricey credit cards that comes with the global entry credit for a year? Is there a best time of year to sign up for cards and to look for award space?
Thanks!
Where will see your answers to these questions?
Applied for Amex card using your link. 3 days after receiving my card got a mail offer for 100 K point sign up instead of 40k. I called and they initially said they would honour 100 K point offer, then Amex emailed me and said never mind. Am I S.O.L. on the 60K points?
@Bob – many will get their own posts, a few I’ll answer here in the comments
Great questions.. I have some of the same.. I will look for your answers.
Hi Gary. I would like to know how I can book a round trip flight from Miami to Reunion Island and Maldives on miles in business class. Thank you
As I mentioned on Twitter, I’ve appreciated and benefited from your blog for years (and used your booking service because of it), but I’m done clicking on teaser RSS summaries (“clickbait” being the rude but accurate term). Is there any chance you’ll return to a more substantive style that respects your readers’ intelligence and time, or is the new format too effective at increasing traffic and income to give up?
Gary,
What’s the best way to see Antarctica using points and miles (seriously!)? I know there are sea cruises out there, and environmental damage is an issue – but is it a realistic goal or should one stick to penguins at the local zoo ?
Thank you!
What is wrong with AA’s reservations site? It is always down. I checked with Is it Down.com and they pinged several times. Always down “technical difficulties”. You can get to the reservation and click select with a Locator #, but when you click select for the flight “technical difficulties”. I have been trying for 2 weeks to change seats and cannot get past the record locator being visible on line.
Often I shop on internet after getting a special offer via email. I check evreward, shop through points portal and then get a message – only deals/discounts found on site apply. So, enter code found in email and no portal points?