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 The Biggest Credit Card Bonuses to Earn the Most Miles for February appeared first on View from the Wing.
I’m a huge fan of American Express Centurion lounges. They’re orders of magnitude better than what’s offered by US airlines. They’re stylish and offer good (complimentary) food and beverages. They even pair with a local celebrity chef for each lounge, as well as with a celebrity mixologist. I was fortunate to attend the pre-opening dinner […]
The post Chef of San Francisco Centurion Lounge is Out After 3 Months appeared first on View from the Wing.
Forbes ran a fascinating story last week about an "Uberpreneur," who makes $250,000+ driving Ubers... with a twist.
The article is about Gavin, a Filipino immigration who drives Ubers, but makes most of his money selling jewelery to passengers:
"His name is Gavin Escolar, a charismatic Filipino man with a laugh that’s even louder than his orange-and-red striped dress shirt. We’re cruising down Valencia street when I notice diamond earrings dangling on the dashboard. Around his wrist, an emerald bracelet gleams through the sunlight. In the seat pockets, glossy catalogs display more jewelry. The cover reads: Gavin Escolar’s 2014 Collection."
The post How An Uber Driver Makes $250,000+ Per Year appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
A year ago Southwest devalued their points, a mere 2.5 years into their revenue-based Rapid Rewards program. Now they’re about to do it again — but so far it’s a secret how they plan to do it. News went out yesterday: This is what we know. [F]rom time to time we must make some updates […]
The post Southwest is Devaluing AGAIN — But They Won’t Tell Us How appeared first on View from the Wing.
"Dream big," they say. I don't actually know who "they" are, but I think "they're" wrong. "They're" the reason there are so many actors/models/singers/servers in LA, right?
Last week I wrote a post about La Compagnie, the French all business class airline which launched flights last summer between Paris and Newark.
La-Compagnie-4
They add a ton of value to the market given their cheap fares, though I'd argue their business model is flawed. There's a reason every all business class transatlantic startup has failed, and it's not because they necessarily did it wrong. It's because there's simply not a big enough market for it, especially in a recession, and they don't typically have the capital to weather downturns. And that doesn't even account for the fact that these ventures typically aren't even profitable when the economy is good!
Most interesting is that La Compagnie will soon launch service between London and Newark. This wasn't originally their plan, as they were first going to add a second daily service between Paris and Newark. If they had intended to ramp up international service out of Newark as opposed to Paris, surely they wouldn't have branded the airline entirely around how French it is.
The post The Most Ridiculous Airline Aspiration Of The Century… appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
Earlier in the week flights originating in the UK were pricing in Danish Kroner at a price that’s pennies on the dollar what they normally run. You could fly from the UK to pretty much anywhere in the world in business or first class at price hovering around $100 or less. This wasn’t a United-specific […]
The post The DOT is Now Investigating United’s Cancelled Mistake Fare. Here’s Why United Will Prevail. appeared first on View from the Wing.
I've spent a lot of time in the Middle East the past year or so, and in particular in the UAE. I'm not exactly sure why, but it has just kind of turned out that way. And in a twisted way the UAE has actually really grown on me. That's in stark contrast to my impressions a bit over two years ago, when I wrote a post entitled "Is the UAE the most depressing place in the world?"
To be clear, I don't want to lump all of the Middle East into one, because I'm selective in where I go. I love Oman for how "authentic" it is, while there's something indescribable I like about the UAE.
I've received a lot of emails and comments from readers lately that are heading to the UAE, and there are a few questions I get more than any others, which I figured I'd respond to here.
The post Is It Safe To Travel To The UAE? appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
The Alaska Airlines Boston – Seattle flight this morning is delayed 12 hours.
The post Alaska Airlines Flight Delayed By Drunk Flight Attendant! appeared first on View from the Wing.
Yesterday I had the distinct privilege of flying Lufthansa's vintage business class between Frankfurt and Orlando, which is a good decade or two past its prime. It made me decide to look into just how many Lufthansa planes still feature the old business class product.
Last March I wrote a post entitled "Which Flights Have Lufthansa's New Business Class?" That post had the status of how many planes had the new business class product at the time.
Since that was almost a year ago I figured I'd write an updated post with the status of Lufthansa's new business class installation.
First of all, keep in mind that Lufthansa has a business class cabin tracker, whereby you can see whether your flight is scheduled to feature the new business class product starting eight weeks before departure. Of course the status is subject to change, but it's generally accurate.
The post How Many Lufthansa Planes Have The New Business Class? appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
Generally speaking there are two types of airline frequent flyer programs on the redemption side:
-- There are revenue based frequent flyer programs, whereby the number of points required for a free ticket is directly related to how much that ticket would cost in cash; these programs generally don't have blackout dates
-- There are frequent flyer programs with awards charts, whereby the number of points required is pre-determined, and it doesn't matter how much a paid ticket would cost; these programs generally have blackout dates, and also have different award tiers
For the leisure traveler, I tend to think a revenue based frequent flyer program is a great option. There's no learning curve, since each point gets you a set amount towards the cost of a ticket. In other words, there's typically no wrong way to redeem. They won't be outrageously lucrative, but you also won't get screwed.
The post Is Southwest About To Change How Revenue Based Programs Work? appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
News and Notes from Around the Interweb: American Express is losing its Costco co-brand relationship. (HT: Alan H.) That will also mean the end of buying with Visa/MasterCard on their website and returning in-store where they can’t return payment to your non-Amex card and have to cut you a check. Amex is also expected to […]
The post Delta SkyMiles Has a New VP, Amex Loses Costco, and the Korean Air Nut Rage VP Gets Sentenced to Work for United appeared first on View from the Wing.
Sorry Ben, but I'm going to take issue with much of your post stating that the United Global First fares out of England yesterday were an obvious mistake and should not be honored.
After about a decade in the game, and a veteran of many so-called "mistake fares", I've come to believe that most of those who make these arguments are those who missed out. And come to think of it, you seem to admit as much.
So while you were out trying to find your mom's purse -- sorry that was below the belt -- some of us were actually playing with and / or trying to book this fare.
Let me tell you what I believe to be true.
The post United Should Man Up And Own Their Great Dane Mistake appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
@deovratk tweets: Found this deal from CMB-AKL $1300 RT in Biz. Do share If this can help your readers. Colombo, Sri Lanka has long been one of the cheaper places in the world from which to buy airline tickets — and a place where mistake fares seem to originate with regularity as well. Just last […]
The post 14,000 Miles of oneworld Business Class Flying for $1300, and Where the Best Fares Are appeared first on View from the Wing.
