Apr 17 2017

American Express Membership Rewards is offering a 30% transfer bonus to Virgin Atlantic through May 22, 2017. Virgin Atlantic’s miles were among the least valuable currencies. That was true before Even Virgin Atlantic Flying Club raised redemption prices for Virgin Atlantic travel and before their partnership with Virgin America terminated. But there are some incredible sweet spots that most people don’t consider. Partner award redemptions are roundtrip These must be booked by phone, not online, and it usually seems like call center agents have never booked a partner award before They add fuel surcharges to awards where they are part of a paid ticket’s price Virgin Atlantic occasionally runs discounts on transatlantic economy awards, and even sometimes premium economy awards. Discounts combined with transfer bonuses wind up being super cheap. My favorite award is Virgin…

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Apr 17 2017

I’ve had surprising luck with business class award space crossing the Atlantic on a flight most people don’t think about, on an airline that’s not a member of any alliance (though they’re expected to join the Avios platform and thus be linked up with British Airways).

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Apr 17 2017

Instead of giving you elite status because you’re an elite with another hotel chain, they let you earn status more quickly — fewer nights in a compressed period of time — though they don’t advance you the status while you’re working on the challenge.

That program is no longer a secret, information passed from frequent flyer to frequent flyer, or something you stumble upon if asking Starwood whether there’s a way they can help you move your business to them from another chain.

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Apr 17 2017

A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.

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Apr 16 2017

Monday’s USA Today will feature a staff editorial arguing that the government should ‘ban bumping’ and that “airlines should be required to offer as much money as necessary to deal with overbooked flights.”

They’re featuring my op-ed offering the opposing view,.

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Apr 16 2017

United just said they wouldn’t have law enforcement take passengers off flights anymore.

Except — as I called it yesterday — they more or less had their fingers crossed. They said this applied “unless it is a matter of safety and security” And though understandable, I noted that this exception “renders the policy statement meaningless.”

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Apr 16 2017

Involuntary denied boarding compensation paid in cash that’s 4 times your one-way fare is clearly not a rebate on your ticket price, it exceeds the ticket price. And yet it isn’t taxable…

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Apr 16 2017

A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.

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Apr 16 2017

American Express losing Costco set off a chain reaction that rocked the credit card world. American Express moved quickly to re-up their co-brand deal with Delta (which was second largest to Costco, Starwood is third). They set a new high price benchmark, that defined terms for Chase renewing United and Southwest and ultimately led to expected higher revenue from a new Citibank-Barclaycard deal with American Airlines.

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Apr 16 2017

Given our politics in the U.S. over the last 20 years perhaps it’s not at all strange for the President of Ghana to be complaining to British Airways about specific elements of their service.

Here’s what Ghana’s President told British Airways’ head of sales for the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia when the BA sales officer came to congratulate him on his election:

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