Using American Airlines miles to Africa can be tough. That’s true for any miles where you’re going to have to fly on oneworld airlines, because there simply isn’t very much oneworld service to Africa. Using British Airways miles to Africa can be tough as well. BA used to offer outstanding award availability on their flights to various destinations on the continent, but for the past couple of years that hasn’t been the case. Until now. And that’s of special interest not just to American Airlines mileage-holders (and Alaska Airlines frequent flyers), but to British Airways Visa cardholders as well. Because if you spend $30,000 in a year on the British Airways co-brand card from Chase, you earn a ‘travel together’ ticket where two passengers fly for the number of points of a single award. Flying…
Monthly Archives
Monthly Archives for March 2014.
A Fantastic Michelin-Starred French Meal in Hong Kong: Vietnam, Cambodia, Macau and Hong Kong Trip Report
Index: Introduction, Positioning Flight to New York, and the Hilton JFK British Airways First Class Lounge, New York JFK Cathay Pacific First Class, New York JFK – Hong Kong The Pier First Class Lounge and Cathay Pacific Business Class, Hong Kong – Ho Chi Minh City Park Hyatt Saigon Lunch at Pho Hoa, Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam Airlines Business Class, Ho Chi Minh City – Danang Hyatt Regency Danang Resort & Spa Vietnam Airlines Economy, Danang – Siem Reap Park Hyatt Siem Reap Angkor Wat and Other Temples Dragonair Business Class, Siem Reap – Hong Kong Turbojet, Hong Kong Airport – Macau and the Sheraton Macao Hotel The Venetian, Fernando’s, and the Ferry to Hong Kong Grand Hyatt Hong Kong Harbor View Suite Bo Innovation, Hong Kong Amber Restaurant, Hong Kong Cathay Pacific The…
Have an Upcoming Stay at a Hilton Property? Get $50 Back From Amex
Via Deals We Like, you can ‘sync’ an American Express card with this offer and then when you pay a Hilton bill of $250 or more you’ll get a $50 credit back on your card statement. To take advantage of this offer: First sync your Amex with TripAdvisor – this will take you no more than two minutes! Go to the TripAdvisor Amex site and click the “Save to Card” button under the Hilton offer. Spend $250+ at a US only Hilton Hotel & Resort with your synced Amex card – your total bill must be at least $250 which can include all room charges, incidentals, tax, etc. (this offer is valid only in the US and excludes Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, and US territories). The transaction must hit your credit card by May 31, 2014! This is for Hilton properties…
How to Decide Which Points to Earn: It Depends on What Points You Already Have
We can assign a value to miles and points, call a point worth 1.5 cents or 1.8 cents, but that’s only a small part of the story. That doesn’t actually say what miles are most valuable to you, at any given time. The value of a mile will change based on what you’re going to do with it, and also based on how much of a given currency you already have. Know your reward goals. It helps to know what you want to do with miles in deciding which miles are right for you. If you’re going to Australia, it’s hard to beat Delta miles (with their Virgin Australia partnership, plus Asian airline partnerships where you are allowed to transit and even stopover in Asia enroute). If you’re going to South America, American miles are…
The Top 10 Ways To Earn Miles
There have been plenty of great mileage-earning opportunities of the past, things like buying coins form the US mint, buying savings bonds, and buying debit cards online with a credit card. Some of my favorites classics were: I earned 20,000 Delta miles for a Bosley hair restoration consultation. I had more hair then than I do now. I used to like grocery shopping. At Safeway of all places. Thanks to the now defunct GroceryMiles program. 64 Coke cups at Wendys earned a free roundtrip ticket on Airtran Which, naturally, led to dumpster diving. US Mint Miles for making child support payments There used to be big miles for long distance. I once signed up to earn 25,000 miles for switching to Sprint. As soon as I’d qualify for miles, I’d switch long distance carriers again.…
Seat Assignments on the US Airways Shuttle, Delta Makes You Wait Longer for Bags, and Air France’s New First Class (Bits ‘n Pieces for March 26, 2014)
News and notes from around the interweb: Delta not thinking things through very well.. Apparently Delta is delaying checked baggage collection in Seattle in order to put co-brand credit card ads on passengers’ luggage. Because customers are always more open to being sold after you’ve made them wait longer at the baggage carousel. Delta and Alaska Beginning Their Breakup.. and Customers Are the Ones Getting Hurt: The two airlines are beginning to take away benefits from their reciprocal recognition of elites effective May 1. For Alaska elites, no more baggage fee waivers and reduced airport priority when flying Delta. For Delta elites, no more baggage fee waivers or priority security when flying Alaska. Advance seat assignments on the US Airways Shuttle: My past experience has always been that US Airways Shuttle flights didn’t get advance…
US Airways Paid Upgrades for Non-Elites Are No Longer at Check-in Only
I don’t have elite frequent flyer status with US Airways. Frequently, on lesser booked flights, I’ll be offered a buy up to first class at check-in. For the US Airways shuttle it used to be $50, more recently I’ve been offered $60 buy ups. Basically any first class seat left would be offered for cash. Now the US Airways Shuttle between DC and New York is a short hop and I usually won’t take it. But during peak times, ground waits can be much longer than the flight itself. I’ve taken them up on the offer a couple of times. I found it interesting, though, the email I’ve just received. US Airways is offering to put me on a waitlist for upgrade now, which will clear if available two days prior to flight. The price…
The Most Interesting Meal I’ve Had in a Year, Bo Innovation in Hong Kong: Vietnam, Cambodia, Macau and Hong Kong Trip Report
Index: Introduction, Positioning Flight to New York, and the Hilton JFK British Airways First Class Lounge, New York JFK Cathay Pacific First Class, New York JFK – Hong Kong The Pier First Class Lounge and Cathay Pacific Business Class, Hong Kong – Ho Chi Minh City Park Hyatt Saigon Lunch at Pho Hoa, Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam Airlines Business Class, Ho Chi Minh City – Danang Hyatt Regency Danang Resort & Spa Vietnam Airlines Economy, Danang – Siem Reap Park Hyatt Siem Reap Angkor Wat and Other Temples Dragonair Business Class, Siem Reap – Hong Kong Turbojet, Hong Kong Airport – Macau and the Sheraton Macao Hotel The Venetian, Fernando’s, and the Ferry to Hong Kong Grand Hyatt Hong Kong Harbor View Suite Bo Innovation, Hong Kong Amber Restaurant, Hong Kong Cathay Pacific The…
The US Airways-ization of American: What’s Next?
They called it a merger but in reality US Airways acquired American Airlines. And while I’m hopeful that at a macro level Doug Parker and Scott Kirby understand the new business airline they’re running is different than the carrier with weak domestic hubs and needs to be run differently… … Even if that is the case there will be changes. And real scrutiny will come to all aspects of the airline. Already American’s fare bundles have adjusted price and benefits to effectively charge more for less. I noticed myself searching for flights, and then saw it mentioned at TravelingBetter that American no longer offers to ‘hold’ reservations within 7 days of travel. Federal rules require an airline to either allow customers to cancel tickets purchased within 24 hours, or hold those tickets for 24 hours,…
How Tough is it to Travel from a Small Airport: Fact Checking the New York Times
Joe Sharkey has a column on how small airports are seeing air service disappear. He begins to make his case with a story about how tough it was for his son to get from Tucson to India. Starting his trip at the Tucson airport would have meant leaving home at 9:30 a.m. for a connection on US Airways to Phoenix, to board a 9:15 p.m. nonstop to London on British Airways (connecting to Delhi). Instead, by driving the two hours from Tucson to the far bigger Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, he was able to leave home at 4:30 p.m. Sharkey posits that his son saved 7 hours by driving to Phoenix rather than flying out of Tucson. My reactions to this. If it were actually true, that would be a pretty good argument that…
