I read a rumor in my Facebook feed that American was changing its onboard cookies again, and I reached out to see if that was true. A spokesperson told me, “Rumor confirmed. We’re changing cookies.” That’s exciting news, believe it or not, for an American Airlines frequent flyer — both because the cookie they introduced in September wasn’t very good.. but more importantly because of what it shows about how they’re making decisions as they proceed with the merger. In talking with them about the cookie, I learned that: The September-onward cookie “was made with higher quality chocolate and was quite frankly more expensive than what we had been serving on American.” They heard customer feedback that it wasn’t as enjoyable as the old cookie. So they’ve taste-tested a new cookie that’s “going back to…
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Eight Ways to Save Money on Airfare… and How Not To Save Money on Airfare
Reader David B. pointed me to Scott McCartney’s column in the Wall Street Journal on what to do — and what not to do — to try to save money on airfare. Here are 8 important ways to save money:
An Airline Completely Eliminates Fuel Surcharges to the US! Plus 50,000 American Miles and More…
News and notes from around the interweb: 2500 bonus American miles every 2nd Marriott stay, up to 50,000 miles for stays between February 1 and April 30. Registration required. The offer details say it’s targeted, but everyone I checked with has received it (and you’ll know if the offer shows up in your account once you register). Immediately after getting some heat, Virgin Australia has decided to eliminate fuel surcharges on its U.S. flights (though it will raise paid fares most of the way back to compensate). Delta stopped adding fuel surcharges to Virgin Australia two years ago. They’re a Starwood Preferred Guest transfer partner as well, though you have to use an eligible address to join the program. New York JFK’s $50 million ‘terminal for animals’ known as ‘The Ark at JFK’. Air India…
Double Points on Rocketmiles Hotel Bookings, Today Only Up to 10,000 Miles Per Night!
Rocketmiles: 24 hour double miles offer Rocketmiles is a hotel booking website that rewards you with miles for your reservations. I don’t make great use of it for my own travels, since I generally book directly through a hotel chain since I want their points and elite stay credit. If I wasn’t chasing status, I’d find this site very lucrative. And it’s great if you book rooms for other people – they stay in the room, you get the points. Their CEO Jay Hoffman emails to let me know, Since we now have twice the number of partners we had a year ago, we’re offering 2x miles to new customers for 24 hours This offer is for first-time customers only, but double miles applies for any mileage partner, any length of stay, and any hotel…
Delta Eliminates Extra Award Availability for Elites and Credit Card Holders
The Delta Points blog wrote that Delta had eliminated the ‘extra award availability’ offered to its elite members and premium co-brand credit card holders. Enhanced Availability for Award tickets has been discontinued for SkyMiles Medallion members and Platinum and Reserve Delta SkyMiles Credit Cardholders. The enhanced availability classes will continue to be displayed, but will always have the same availability as N class of service. This was from an unattributed source, so I reached out to Delta who confirmed the information. According to their spokesman, With the launch of the 2015 program and the improvements to redemption including more redemption options, we now offer the same Award availability to all SkyMiles members. Award availability for all members in 2015 is improved over the enhanced availability Medallion members and co-brand card holders had access to in…
Have Too Common a Name? Get Forced to Sit in Coach. Drink Too Much. Use That As Excuse for Mauling Flight Attendant.
Korean Air faces a fine for giving a passenger the wrong ticket for travel Seoul and San Francisco. The mix up was caused by two passengers with a similar name. Their last names were both ‘Kim’. The passenger who triggered the Transport Ministry investigation is a singer who purchased a business class ticket named Bobby Kim (we don’t know the first name of the other passenger). He was so distraught over being given someone else’s economy ticket that he had six glasses of wine during the coach flight. High jinks ensued: The popular R&B singer, who is a citizen of the U.S., was probed by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation when he arrived at San Francisco International Airport for allegedly sexually harassing a female flight attendant while intoxicated on the U.S.-bound flight. According to…
Review: American’s New 767 Lie Flat Business Class, Paris – New York JFK
Previous installments: Introduction: Paris for the Holidays, Saying Goodbye to American’s Old Business Class, and a Suite at the Park Hyatt Vendome American First Class Lounge Chicago O’Hare and Business Class, Chicago – Paris Park Hyatt Paris Vendome Executive Suite Avoiding Tourist Traps: Good Places to Eat Near the Eiffel Tower and Picasso Museum in Paris Where to Find the Best Macarons in the World The Neighborhood Meats, Cheeses, Breads, and Sweets of Paris Entering the Charles de Gaulle airport was bedlam, there was just a sea of people landside and they all seemed as though they were completely aware of each other, all walking in different directions while a good portion of them stopped and looked around. Travel can be very confusing but it seemed that a larger percentage of passengers than usual were…
Competition Heats Up Between Card Issuers for American Airlines Cardmembers: More Benefits for Us
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, and cash back (and currencies that can be converted into the same). Competition for attention and new cardmembers is heating up between Citi and Barclaycard, with the Barclays folks upping the ante on their signup bonus and with benefits and Citi making a matching signup bonus publicly available. US Airways and American are merging frequent flyer programs. The Barclays-issued US Airways card is becoming an American card. You won’t be able to apply for it anymore once the programs merge.…
An Airline Transfer Partner Threatens to Shut Down Accounts for Transferring In Points!
Last week I wrote about a frequent flyer program’s fraud department gone off the rails. Air France KLM’s Flying Blue — an American Express and Citibank transfer partner — informed an award booking client that their award booking to Europe had been cancelled, their account suspended, and miles confiscated. They were accused of purchasing miles from a broker which is false. They transferred their American Express points into their newly-opened frequent flyer account. American Express no longer even permits transfers into accounts with names that don’t match the credit card holder’s.. This person is hardly alone. It seems that Flying Blue’s fraud prevention folks have really ramped up, and are taking harsh action against perfectly legitimate users of points transfers. Reader Mike wrote, My [Air France KLM Flying Blue] account was shut down two weeks…
Discounted Helicopter Rides to/from New York Airports, Pilot Contracts Meet Obamacare, and Buy Your Marriott Status
News and notes from around the interweb: New crowd source app for helicopter rides to and from the 3 New York area airports. First ride is $99. Hermes interiors, hors d’oeuvres from Bouchon Bakery. Not the worst idea at the first ride price for JFK and Newark. The Affordable Care Act is a sore point for the pilots contract at American Airlines. The relevant issue is what happens if and when the union’s health plan is determined to trigger a Cadillac tax? Marriott has brought back their ‘elite status buyback’ offer as they do each year. Citibank’s American AAdvantage Executive cardholders can now buy up for a spouse to access the Admirals Clubs Royal Air Maroc to join Star Alliance? This would be cool, since while Casablanca is pretty easy to get to on points…
