2014 was a year filled with fabulous drama and shade throwing in the airline industry, from the Battle in Seattle, to His Excellency rejecting his new toy because it had a scratch on it.
But quite possibly the biggest pre-school feud of the airline industry last year was with Delta's Tokyo Haneda slot. The situation can best be summed up by saying that Delta had a toy they didn't actually want to play with, but they didn't want anyone else to be allowed to play with it either.
Japan flights are heavily slot restricted, in particular at Tokyo Haneda, which is the airport closest to central Tokyo. Previously the airport was just for regional flights, though a few years back they started issuing slots for longhaul flights, but only for late night and early morning departures and arrivals.
The post American And Hawaiian Fight Over Delta’s Sloppy Seconds appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
Last month One Mile at a Time reported that Lufthansa’s top tier HON Circle members now get access to United’s first class lounges when traveling on intercontinental flights in business class on either Lufthansa or United. HON Circle members get access to Lufthansa’s first class lounges, including the First Class Terminal, regardless of class of […]
The post United Top Tier Elites Flying First Class Now Get Lufthansa First Class Lounge Access! appeared first on View from the Wing.
This year I'd like to spend a bit more time on the blog covering the basics of earning and redeeming miles. I realize that might not be the most exciting thing for long time readers, but even after blogging for nearly seven years my readership more than doubles every year, and I realize that leaves some people lost.
Reader Charlotte asked the following question on the Ask Lucky page of the blog, which I wanted to address:
"At what time (EST) does SQ release their award space to their own members each day on their website? Every day that I check, the latest saver space on the calendar is already waitlisted and snatched up before I get there."
The post Myth: Airlines Always Open Award Seats When The Schedule Opens appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
Whether the frequent flyer miles game seems to be historically rewarding, or in dire straits, depends on your perspective and time horizon. The game is different than it was 2 years ago, very different than it was 5 years ago, and orders of magnitude different than it was fifteen years ago. If you got into […]
The post The State of the Hobby: Frequent Flyer Miles in 2015 appeared first on View from the Wing.
When I think of Dubai, the first words that come to mind are bling, over the top(ness), and excess. And there's nowhere that's more evident than at the Burj Al Arab, the world's self proclaimed seven star hotel.
While I considered staying at the Burj Al Arab during this trip, I ultimately decided against it, since I didn't think I'd actually enjoy staying there. The hotel actually doesn't let you visit unless you're staying there or have a reservation at one of their restaurants.
So one of the best ways of checking out the hotel without dropping $2,000+ for a night is by doing afternoon tea there. Now, I've done afternoon tea at the Burj Al Arab twice before:
The post Review: Afternoon Tea At Skyview Bar Burj Al Arab appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
One of the unique things Qatar Airways does on flights within the Middle East is that they classify their forward-most cabin as first class.
In other words, if you have an hour flight between Doha and Dubai that's operated by an A320, the premium cabin is marketed as first class and not as business class.
It's important to clarify that this is exclusively the case on flights within the Middle East.
If you fly that same A320 from Doha to Colombo, Sri Lanka instead, that cabin would be marketed as business class.
The post How To Save Miles On Qatar Airways Awards To The Middle East appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
I receive compensation for many links on this blog. You don’t have to use these links, but I am grateful to you if you do. American Express, Citibank, Chase, and other banks are advertising partners of this site. I do not write about all credit cards that are available — instead focusing on miles, points, […]
The post My Rewards Credit Card Strategy for 2015 appeared first on View from the Wing.
This airliners.net thread has a post about routes that Air China will apparently launch in 2015. This includes new longhaul and shorthaul service out of Beijing, as well as new shorthaul routes out of Hangzhou and Tianjin.
The new routes out of Beijing apparently include the following:
CA165/6 Beijing-Melbourne, start from 6-1, A330, 1/3/5/7
CA867/8 Beijing-Johannesburg, start from 6-19, B773, 1/3/5
CA879/80 Beijing-Montreal-Havana, start from 9-20, B773, 1/3/5
CA739/40 Beijing-Auckland, start from 10-25, A330, D
CA741/2 Beijing-Mumbai, start from 10-25, A330, 1/3/5/7
CA869/70 Beijing-Addis Ababa, start from 10-25, A330, 1/4/6
The post Air China To Start Service Between Canada And Cuba?! appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
Must-read Earlier Installments: Singapore, Cathay, and Qantas First Class.. Some of the Best Meals of My Life, and a Tour of Hyatts in Bangkok, Singapore, and Sydney Inside the New Oneworld Lounge at LAX’s Tom Bradley International TerminalCathay Pacific First Class, Los Angeles – Hong Kong Cathay Pacific “The Wing” First Class Lounge, Hong Kong […]
The post Review: Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 Suites Class, Singapore – Sydney appeared first on View from the Wing.
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During the long winter months, folks tend to plan their holidays around sunny skies, sandy beaches and all-inclusive tropical drinks – and while these can make for great trips, warm-weather vacations can sometimes become a bit repetitive. You know the drill: The buffet meals, the in-room towels shaped as various animals, the morning rush for […]
The post Arctic Escapes: Exploring the World’s Coolest Getaways appeared first on Vagabondish.
Nowadays a good number of airlines offer chauffeur service for premium cabin passengers as a way of differentiating themselves. The terms of using the chauffeur service vary, whether it be a fare class restriction, ticketing restriction, etc. Then there are some airlines which are especially generous, and offer chauffeur service even on award tickets.
I've always been intrigued by chauffeur service as an airline product offering. In many cases it's not cheap to offer (especially when it's contracted out in cities like London and Paris, or even Venice, for example), and is there really any marginal return on offering a chauffeur? Presumably if someone is traveling in a premium cabin on the company's dime they could also expense a car service.
I think one situation where it makes a lot of sense is with Emirates and Etihad in the UAE. The two cities are only an hour apart by car, so it kind of narrows the gap between the two -- it's a way for people to "fly" Emirates to Abu Dhabi, and a way for people to "fly" Etihad to Dubai.
The post New Restrictions On Emirates Chauffeur Drive appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
American Airlines has re-launched their inflight magazine, American Way. I spoke with American’s Vice President of Marketing, Fern Fernandez (regular readers may know him from US Airways, since the Dividend Miles program reported up to him). Fern told me that they produce 700,000 copies of the magazine each month, and they estimate that it gets […]
The post American Has Launched Their New Inflight Magazine appeared first on View from the Wing.
Halle Barry’s husband hit an airport employee with an empty child’s car seat at LAX’s Tom Bradley International terminal yesterday. TMZ has video. It doesn’t look like much harm was done to me, but the employee went to the hospital. (HT: Alan H.) At the Freddie Awards last year in Seattle, the told the crowd […]
The post Halle Barry’s Husband Assaults an Airport Employee, Ryanair Falls for a Joke, More on That Delta Gun Smuggler, and Avoid United Express in Denver! appeared first on View from the Wing.