I’ve previously suggested that frequent flyer executives have their compensation paid out in airline miles. Then their incentives would be aligned with their customers to support the value of the currency.
Do you think airline employees would accept their pay in travel vouchers? If not then why should investors?
The standard public offer for the main United credit card from Chase has let you earn 40,000 miles. More miles have mostly been available on a targeted basis. And the card has usually had its $95 annual fee apply straight away in the first year.
However Chase has come out with the biggest public offer I’ve ever seen for the UnitedSM Explorer Card.
Hyatt re-launched their credit card in the middle of the year and I took my old one out of the sock drawer, quickly upgraded to the new version, and have worked to put about $30,000 spend on it so far. That locked in my top tier elite status for the year.
Thus far the card has not been subject to Chase’s “5/24” (where they don’t approve you if you’ve had more than 4 new cards in the last 24 months). I reported in June that this was likely to change. Now there are several data points suggesting 5/24 now applies to this card.
Uber has announced a new loyalty program called Uber Rewards. It’s an improvement for customers because there’s earning for Uber transactions — you get rebates you did not get before — and better treatment for frequent Uber riders.
Chase’s new Southwest Airlines premium credit card has increased its initial bonus offer to let you earn 60,000 Rapid Rewards points. That’s a great deal, and it’s more than halfway towards a Southwest Airlines companion pass. But they’ve created real value for customers who fly Southwest.
I like the line from Southwest’s chief marketing officer: it has the 3 Ps… “more perks, more points, and more priority.”
On Monday Spanish language El Pais reported that British Airways parent company IAG was in talks with that country’s government about ensuring the airline conglomerate would be a European – rather than UK – company once Britain leaves the EU, if no bilateral aviation deal is done in time.
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The three Southwest Airlines personal credit cards all had offers to earn 40,000 Rapid Rewards points as an initial bonus, while the business card had a 60,000 point offer. Now all the personal card offers have been increased, and all four cards will let you earn 60,000 Rapid Rewards points.
You can potentially get a personal and small business card. And now is the time, because if your bonuses post and you earn a total of 110,000 points early in 2019 then you can earn a companion pass — designated companion flies for just the cost of taxes whether you buy a ticket or redeem points. And that’ll last through all of 2020!
American Airlines is rolling out new menus for domestic first class lunches and dinners this week, and will be flying starting Wednesday. New breakfasts follow next year.
Here’s what’s for lunch and dinner starting tomorrow — we can expect these meals, designed by chef Julian Barsotti, to be standard fare for the next year. That should give me plenty of time to try the new lunch cheeseburger.
Incredibly Capital One® Spark® Miles for Business has just increased its initial bonus offer: 50,000 miles after $5,000 spend in the first 3 months and 150,000 more miles when you spend $50,000 in the first 6 months from opening your account.
Today’s news about transferring Capital One points to airline miles for certain cards means your 200,000 miles would be worth $2000 — or could be transferred to your choice of 150,000 miles with any of these 12 airlines (starting next month).
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
