News and notes from around the interweb:
- Peter Mandelson, dismissed as British Ambassador to the U.S. on Thursday, discussed the difficulty in redeeming British Airways miles as he planned to meet up with Jeffrey Epstein at The Island.
- I had been skeptical that this Hertz incident was real (and the default should always be anything bad Hertz is accused of, they definitely did)… but I guess it was:
Update: Hertz has terminated the employee responsible for the incident. https://t.co/Bav5Cqdwli
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) September 10, 2025
- Delivering Door Dash to earn American Airlines status
@goinggonemadd The funniest airline hack to get 5000 miles for “free” from @American Airlines through @DoorDash #doordashdriver #airlinehacks #flighthacks ♬ original sound – GoingGoneMadd - Many of you will find this 1 minute 35 seconds worth a watch. Here’s the American Airlines vehicle that carries the coffin of soldiers returned home after being killed in action, “this is the ultimate in respect.”
#WarfighterNation
@AmericanAir pic.twitter.com/X8njkFdoTO— Boone Cutler (@boonecutler) September 10, 2025
- 20% bonus transferring Chase points to Air France KLM Flying Blue through September 30. I wouldn’t speculatively transfer to take advantage of this, but it’s worth remembering when comparing prices (it’s like getting a discount on Air France KLM awards when using Chase points) and because a transfer bonus is better than not having such a bonus.
Overall I like Flying Blue’s award availability at halfway decent (but often not lowest) redemption prices. They’re a much better SkyTeam program than Delta’s SkyMiles. But I greatly prefer the flexibiltiy and optionality of leaving points in my Chase account until I know for sure how I’ll use them.
- Frontier Airlines CEO sees path forward to ultralow-cost dominance
Biffle isn’t merely counting on the demise of Spirit Airlines, now going through its second bankruptcy restructuring this year, to turn the fortunes of Frontier. He’s leaning into Frontier’s credit card and loyalty offering and prepping for the introduction of first-class seats.
Mandelson seems like a real sicko. Now, release the files. Right or left, foreign or domestic, get rid of these pedos.
@1990- quadfecta if this qualifies as another BA article? Sort of?
FlyingBlue miles expire after 2 years unless you have elite status. Can’t just transfer more miles either, you need a qualifying activity like crediting a flight to them. I have not redeemed with them in a little bit and have 500 leftover miles that are about to expire (they just emailed me asking if I wanted to donate them instead). Not a big loss but something to keep in mind if you are considering speculatively transferring to that program.
@Peter — A VFTW record! (And I’m with you on Flying Blue; it’s lame how they separate ‘flown’ miles from credit card earned miles for expiration.)
@Peter that is no longer true about Flying Blue.
– flight earning activity extends all points in an account for two years
– non-flight earning activity extends all non-flight points in an account for two years
So if you transfer more miles that’ll extend the validity of miles in the account from previous transfers.
Did you end up DoorDashing, Gary? I was legitimately considering it just for fun but never got around to it.
+1 @1990
@Gary Leff — On Flying Blue, I still find it annoying how they subdivide like that. At least their program has transfer partners with practically every major credit card company (Amex, Citi, Chase, CapOne, etc.) I mean, I get it; we’re all lucky to have lived through this ‘golden age’ of points and miles, but, yeah, some things could be better. Are we ungrateful? Bah!
@L737 — Think of all the extra LPs! DD!
The AA coffin video is just something to make the heart warm, for sad but heartwarming reasons in an otherwise crappy 24 hours and surge in stupid antisemitism.
I’ll just say, Gary. It may not be the best for clicks, but it sure was the best link on this post today, in my opinion.
NYTimes had an article today about the administration’s plans to gut the already slim air passenger protections we have in the USA, basically the opposite of everything I’ve advocated for on here. Man, they really hate consumers and workers. Shameful.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/11/travel/airline-passenger-protections-trump-transportation-department.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
What is wrong with Hertz that they even hire such a person in the first place? That particular Hertz employee should be named and shamed maybe along with those hiring such a person. Santa Monica has quite a few synagogues.
Thank you for including the AA video in today’s email. I’ve been on 2 flights that had a military coffin and it was heart wrenching to see the family on the tarmac as their loved one was being moved from the plane to the hearse.
@Gary Leff- fascinating thanks! I suppose I’ll transfer over 1,000 miles then and save my valiant 500 miles from expiration, plus earn a 200 mile transfer bonus. As the French say, woo-hoo.
@ jns — Except Herrz cannot disclose that information….Two wrongs don’t make a right, but they could make this jerk rich from suing Hertz for disclosing his name. Don’t worry though, Karma is a b***h!
Thank you for sharing my video on Doordashing for miles. I am so curious who dashed afterwards and what they thought!
@Gary Leff – just confirming that this worked as you said. Thanks very much – I actually looked at the T&Cs and they were about as clear as mud (at least to me) because they say that they can make announcements about what a qualifying activity for extension is but they don’t actually put all of those activities in the T&Cs themselves. And a lot of old articles out there that say the opposite of what you just advised and what just actually worked for me. While the loss in this case would not have been significant (only 500 miles), could be worth doing a separate post on this to clarify the record (of course for all I know you’ve done one already!). Thanks again!
I credit all my DL flights (occasional domestic US) to FB. However, I also occasionally spend on my AF credit card, which serves to extend both flying and non-flying miles.
idk about this situation but the “Israeli passport scam” is used by plenty of NYC and other US citizens who happen to hold or get forced into an Israeli passport when departing from TLV. Use your Israeli passport to get a “foreign” European or Latin American discount on US rental cars; Its even bragged about on plenty of US blogs.
Lowly desk agents are probably getting sick of seeing their fellow citizens scam their was to those discounts meant for forgeries or subsided by foreign promotions.