There's nothing I love more than a video of a good airport meltdown by a passenger, especially when it's a "DYKWIA" situation.
Reader Michelle sent along a link to what might just be the most epic DYKWIA airport meltdown ever. This took place in early 2013 at Kunming Changshui International Airport in China, after a man showed up too late for his flight. I can't believe I hadn't heard about this until now, given that it's over two years old!
Via Rocket News 24:
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My Award Booking Partner Steve Many of you know that I offer an award booking service. It grew too big to handle on my own, and I was fortunate enough to be able to partner with one of the real veterans and gurus in the frequent flyer game, Steve Belkin (known in online forums as […]
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Through March 29, 2015, IHG Rewards Club is offering up to a 60% bonus on purchased points.
The cost to purchase points varies based on how many you purchase, as follows:
-- 1,000 – 10,000 points for $13.50 per 1,000 points
-- 11,000 – 25,000 points for $12.50 per 1,000 points
-- 26,000 – 60,000 points for $11.50 per 1,000 points
IHG Rewards Club is offering a 60% bonus when you purchase between 5,000 and 60,000 IHG Rewards Club points.
The post Buy IHG Rewards Club Points With Up To 60% Bonus appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
yosithezet responds to my post suggesting that the Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer program is a good place to credit miles for United flights (because it earns full miles flown and you can top off accounts with points transferred from Citi, Chase, Amex, and Starwood) by asking, “What about Thai? And that’s such a good question! Thai […]
The post Will the Thai Airways Mileage Program Be a Savior for United Passengers? appeared first on View from the Wing.
Making online award bookings easier is a bit of a double edged sword. On one hand it's great because it allows us to be able to easily search and book award space online. On the other hand, it also makes it easier for everyone else to search for award space. Award space they might not otherwise know existed.
For example, American lets you book awards on many of their partner airlines directly through aa.com. But they don't let you book Cathay Pacific, which I'm sort of happy about. There are tens of millions of AAdvantage members, and chances are that a vast majority of them don't even know that Cathay Pacific is an American Airlines partner, let alone that they can redeem miles on them.
But for those of us "in the know," we can easily search Cathay Pacific award space through British Airways' website, and then call American to book.
The post SkyTeam Airlines Will Simplify Online Award Bookings appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
KLM gives long haul business class customers a takeaway gift of collectible houses with liquor inside. Each flight, a Dutch house. Each year, a different style. I didn’t realize that there’s a KLM Houses App so you can look up the details of each house. (HT: baccarat_guy) I’m not sure I buy their slogan ‘Holland. […]
The post KLM’s Business Class Houses, With Liquor appeared first on View from the Wing.
Last night we received official word from American that they will be honoring the $450 business class fares which they published between Washington and Beijing on Tuesday night.
Presumably that means hundreds of us are headed to Beijing. And presumably that means hundreds of us need visas for China. The great news is that as of recently China issues 10 year multi-entry visas, which takes the sting out of the application process a bit, in my opinion.
China does technically offer a 72-hour transit without visa, though chances are this probably isn't useful to you if you booked this fare.
To qualify for a 72-hour transit without visa, you must be traveling on a passport from one of the following countries:
The post Going To Beijing? Do You Need A Chinese Visa? 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, […]
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Irish low cost carrier Ryanair is notorious for their loud, over-the-top, and straightforward CEO, Michael O'Leary.
Years ago he boasted about how Ryanair was eventually going to launch transatlantic service, and how they'd even have business class on those planes. The best part? They'd offer "beds and blowjobs" for free.
That transatlantic service was closer to becoming a reality as of earlier in the week, when Ryanair announced that their board approved a plan to begin transatlantic service to up to 14 cities by the end of the decade. All they needed to do was acquire longhaul aircraft. Prices would apparently start at £10 each way, which doesn't seem that out of line for Ryanair.
The post Ryanair Won’t Fly To The US After All… Apparently? appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
During the final months of World War II, Japan developed a new weapon that it hoped would create psychological terror, death, and destruction within the continental United States, and while those lofty goals were not achieved the weapon did lead to the only deaths in the continental US directly caused by the fighting.
Named Fu-Go, or fire balloon, the Japanese launched an estimated 9,000 balloons from mainland Japan toward mainland America. The intention was for the balloons to explode upon reaching America, causing forest fires that would require the diversion of wartime resources. Of the thousands of balloons launched, only a few hundred are known to have landed in America. Most were quickly discovered, thereby averting any real damage.
In May 1945 however, one balloon bomb tragically killed a pregnant woman, Elsie Mitchell, and five Sunday school students out for a fishing trip. The detonation caused the only World War II deaths on continental U.S. soil as a result of enemy action.
Today, a memorial 13 miles northwest of Bly, Oregon marks the location of the deadly explosion. The Mitchell Monument remembers those who lost their lives that tragic day. A nearby Ponderosa Pine stands defiant, showing the bomb damage it too suffered that day. Sadly, Elsie’s husband, Archie Mitchell, who survived the explosion, would never see the dedicated memorial. By the time the memorial was unveiled in 1950, he was working as a missionary in Asia.
As an odd, and fairly tragic side note, in 1962 Archie mysteriously disappeared in Vietnam, just as America’s involvement in that country was escalating. His whereabouts remain a mystery to this day.
For good reason we get very suspicious when airlines update the look of their websites, especially when it comes to the section about redeem miles (or in the case of some airlines, when they eliminate award charts altogether). The assumption is always that these updates come as a result of impending changes.
Someone from American corporate communications sent me an email this morning to let me know that American is refreshing the look of their award & upgrade charts today, though no changes are being made to the content of them.
American has been refreshing their site quite a bit lately to be more in line with the feel of the "new American," and that includes their award charts.
The post American Refreshing Look Of Award Charts — NO CHANGES appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
An American spokesperson emails, I just wanted to give you a heads up that around 11 a.m. CT this morning, we’re refreshing the look and feel of our award charts to make them easier to read and navigate. There are NO changes to the content or pricing, etc. I don’t think the new award charts […]
The post American Updating Their Award Charts — Don’t Panic! appeared first on View from the Wing.
As business class products continue to improve, premium economy is becoming more widespread. In terms of hard product, premium economy nowadays is almost like what business class used to be, while business class nowadays is in many cases better than first class used to be.
In early 2013, Air Canada announced that they would introduce premium economy on select longhaul aircraft.
As of now, Air Canada offers premium economy on the following routes:
The post Air Canada Aeroplan Introduces Premium Economy Awards 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, […]
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Airberlin is presently offering a status match promotion, whereby you can match to Silver or Gold status in their topbonus program. They seem to be matching all elite status, except status from other oneworld partner airlines. There's no expiration date for this promotion as of now.
Presumably if you're matching from the lowest tier status of another airline you'd be matched to topbonus Silver, while if you're matching from the middle or top tier status of another airline you'd be matched to topbonus Gold. They're not matching to topbonus Platinum, which is their top tier status.
Here's what you have to do in order to take advantage of the status match:
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Southwest Airlines is offering a 35% bonus on purchased Rapid Rewards points through April 22, 2015.
Ordinarily the cost per purchased Rapid Rewards point is 2.75 cents, though through this promotion that cost is lowered to ~2.04 cents per Rapid Rewards point.
Now, I'll be the first to admit that I'm a big fan of purchasing points when it makes sense. For example, I think Alaska's current bonus offer on the purchase of Mileage Plan miles is a great deal, since you can buy miles for ~2.11 cents each, which can efficiently be redeemed on some great airlines. And I've also certainly purchased Avianca LifeMiles and US Airways Dividend Miles (RIP) in the past.
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