British Airways and Iberia disagree with the rest of the airlines of Europe over complaints about the 3 big Gulf carriers (their parent company is ~ 10% owned by Qatar, and prior to that BA sponsored Qatar into oneworld).
Of course BA and Iberia are joint business venture partners with American who is a prime driver of complaints.
Etihad has big ownership stakes in several European carriers, and Emirates is a huge Airbus operator which just signed a nearly $10 billion deal for new European engines. Things get even more complicated still..
Continue reading Just to Show You How Complicated the World Is, British Airways and Iberia Pull Out of European Airline Lobbying Group...
Our flight to Madrid from Amsterdam was delayed by nearly two hours due to industrial strikes in France, which seem to be about as reliable a source of delay in Europe as snow is to O'Hare or fog is to SFO.
At the end of the jetway just before the boarding door was a selection of newspapers and magazines, so I grabbed an International New York Times and headed into the business class cabin, which, as you undoubtedly know by now from Ben's numerous intra-Europe trip reports, is really just a row of three standard economy seats with a blocked middle seat. In this case, the blocked middle seat served as an armrest and drink holder, and the seats themselves were leather, and perfectly comfortable.
The post Review: Air Europa Club Business 737 Amsterdam to Madrid appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
American has credit cards now issued by both Citibank and Barclays, and both come with 10% rebates on award redemptions. What happens when you redeem an award -- and you have both cards? Here's what happened to me yesterday.
Continue reading American AAdvantage Posting 10% Award Redemption Rebates Split Between Citbank and Barclays...
In mid-February Starwood's CEO, Frits van Paasschen, suddenly resigned. This was a bit of a surprising move, given that Starwood didn't have a permanent CEO replacement ready to go.
This was probably related to the fact that Starwood's stock hasn't been performing as well as some investors had hoped. This seems to be linked to Starwood growing at a fairly slow rate, in particular in the limited service hotel sector.
There's no arguing that Starwood is way behind when it comes to limited service hotels, especially when you look at the offerings of Hilton and Marriott. As a customer that's something I'm fine with, ultimately, since limited service properties aren't really something I'm after. But of course shareholders are going to have a different take, since it's also a sector where there's a lot of growth potential.
The post Could Starwood Merge With IHG Or Wyndham? appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
Priority Pass is the most extensive independent lounge membership program in the world, and has over 700 partner lounges. Rather than buying access to lounges individually (either in the form of a day pass or a yearly membership for a specific club), you can buy a whole year of access to all their partner lounges for a set amount.
Of the "three" remaining legacy US airlines, United is the only one which still participates in Priority Pass. Unfortunately we've just found out that United Clubs will be leaving the Priority Pass network as of May 15, 2015.
So as of May 15, 2015, a Priority Pass membership will no longer get you into United Clubs. This includes all 49 United Clubs in 34 airports.
The post United Clubs Leaving Priority Pass As Of May 15, 2015 appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
Hillary Clinton flies United coach... but gets special ground service. Free miles for signing up for a frequent flyer program. How to spot a terrorist through their ticketing strategies. And more...
Continue reading Hillary Clinton’s United Flight in Economy Plus Alcohol and Throwaway Ticketing...
IHG has just forwarded me the press release for the new promotion they'll be launching this coming Monday, entitled "Share Forever." Here are the (very vague) details we have so far, though note that the links will only go live on Monday:
"IHG LAUNCHES SHARABLE REWARDS THROUGH NEW “SHARE FOREVER” PROMOTION
Summer promotion with Coca-Cola offers IHG® Rewards Club Members the opportunity to earn and share special rewards with friends and family
ATLANTA – (April 20, 2015) InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), one of the world’s leading hotel companies, and The Coca-Cola Company, the world’s largest beverage company, celebrate the summer of 2015 by introducing the “Share Forever” Promotion. From May 1 through Sept. 7, 2015, members of the world’s first and largest hotel loyalty program, IHG® Rewards Club, will have the opportunity to share their rewards with those people they care about the most. Not only will members be able to earn bonus points of their own, they’ll have the opportunity to earn additional points, and free nights they can share with others."
The post New IHG “Share Forever” Promotion Coming Monday appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
After over 20,000 questions and answers on the Ask Lucky page over the years, it’s time for a refresh.
This had to take a backseat last year during the blog redesign, as the scope of the project was just too big otherwise. There aren't many blog pages out there with that many comments, so there were some major hurdles to overcome.
Hundreds of hours of work have gone into creating something that I hope will be more than “lipstick on a pig,” and I’m very excited to unveil the new Ask Lucky page.
The post Welcome To The New “Ask Lucky!” appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
The end game in the US airlines' war on the Gulf carriers is revealed -- Delta's CEO says that US government should step in to limit their ability to reduce prices. It's all about limiting choice and raising airfares. Now who still stands behind the US airline position?
Continue reading Delta Wants to Make Lowering Airfares Illegal. No, Really....
Yesterday I shared the rather odd story of a lady who was flying Transaero from Tel Aviv to Moscow when she noticed something wrong with the wing, and demanded they return to the gate. If you haven't read the original account, I'd suggest checking it out.
Without judging the validity of the story as such, a few thoughts immediately came to mind:
-- The story was being recounted by her dad, who wasn't on the flight. The story would have had at least a bit more credibility if it came from her, as opposed to her dad.
-- It's only natural for parents to be overly proud of their kids, though his account came across as extremely presumptuous, essentially claiming that his daughter saved the lives of everyone aboard.
-- The story as such sets an interesting precedent. How does this woman know when something isn't "right?" Not only that, but she was so determined to have the plane return to the gate that she got up while the plane was taxiing and disobeyed crewmember instructions. In the US that would potentially get you arrested.
The post Transaero Chimes In About That Tel Aviv Flight appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
The airline industry's lawyers and lobbyists continue to push the envelope for rights to utterly disregard their members. Some programs are worse than others in terms of their actual behavior, but here the industry as a whole contends there are no restraints at all on changes to mileage programs that might occur -- no need for advance notice to members at all.
That is an untenable position, and it needs to be shouted from the rooftops.
Continue reading The Airline Industry’s Lobbyist Says Mileage Programs Should Be Able to Change Their Terms on a Whim. He’s Wrong....
As I first posted about several weeks ago, Daily Getaways is back earlier than normal this year, and is a great opportunity to purchase hotel points and travel packages at a discount. It’s sponsored by the US Travel Association, and every weekday for five weeks they’re offering discounted travel packages.
So far we've seen many promotions from some of the major hotel chains, though so far they've been focused primarily on opportunities to buy hotel points and hotel stay packages. Today we're seeing an opportunity to purchase hotel gift cards at a discount.
Today at 1PM you'll have the opportunity to purchase Marriott gift cards for 20% off.
The post 20% Off Marriott Gift Cards With Daily Getaways appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
