Changes I Can Like… Coming To American Airlines

Posted on January 9, 2014 by Chris

A thread on FlyerTalk highlights the silent changes that happened to American Airlines’ policies as the merger festivities kicked off:

  • Minimum time for checking in (online or at the airport) without baggage at a U.S. airport is no longer 30 minutes, but is the same as the one with bags (i.e. airport-dependent, and mostly 45 minutes);
  • Minimum time for checking in (even without baggage) for flights departing the U.S. for an international destination is now 60 minutes. The way it’s written, this includes departures to Canada, Mexico, and non-U.S. Caribbean Islands
  • Minimum time for checking in (even without baggage) has increased to 45 minutes in all hubs plus a lot of other airports:
    • Airports increasing from 30 minutes to 45 minutes: CLT, PHL, PHX and PIT
    • Airports increasing from 40 minutes to 45 minutes: ATL, ORD, DFW, EWR, MCO, SFO, SJU, SEA, TPA, IAD
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Virgin America’s New Credit Card

Posted on January 8, 2014 by Chris

I rarely peddle credit cards on this site (for starters, I don’t maintain affliate links), but I couldn’t help but notice the benefits on the revamped Virgin America credit card described by MileCards.

Comenity Bank (there’s an issuer you don’t hear every day) is offering two cards, a basic version ($49 annual fee) and a “premium” version ($149 annual fee).  Notably, the premium card includes a change fee waiver on VX flights.

While I’ve never paid a change fee on a revenue ticket (largely because the fees incentivize me to fly my original booking), this comes as useful perk for the VX loyalist who won’t fly Southwest (or earn MVP Gold with Alaska).

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Well That Was Unexpected…

Posted on January 7, 2014 by Chris

The “new” American delivered on making US Airways award availability bookable with premerger AA miles (source: The Flight Deal):

 

 

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Tomorrow’s Hyatt Award Changes

Posted on January 6, 2014 by Chris

Hyatt’s changing its award chart effective January 7th (tomorrow!), bumping up the prices for Category 5 and 6 hotels slightly and introducing a new Category 7 for several of its Park Hyatt hotels.

Today is the last day to book at the old rates.

 

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My 2013 Mile and Point Earning and Burning

Posted on January 1, 2014 by Chris

In the tradition of this blog, it’s time to summarize where I went and how I got there. I flew about 228k miles in 2013, approximately 202k of which were revenue miles. Across my revenue and award travel, all but 73k miles were in premium cabins.  This is a worse ratio (32.1%) than 2012 (22.2%).

Overall, my travel for 2013 involved four trips to Europe, three trips to Hawaii, and one trip to Asia.

I had several redemptions:

  • I traveled to Zurich and Munich for Easter.
  • I toured Europe over Christmas and New Years Eve.  (Hopefully, a trip report will be forthcoming.)
  • I had 9 SPG award nights on the Hawaiian Islands (Maui, Oahu, and Kauai).
  • My two Hyatt Suite Night Awards were redeemed at the Park Hyatt Milan and Park Hyatt Zurich, for one night each.
  • I finally made a dent in my Club Carlson balance and benefited from free bonus nights at the Radisson Blu Palais Vienna, Park Inn Berlin, and the May Fair London.

I earned points and miles from a variety of sources.

  • On United, I finished the year with about 102k EQM or about 208k redeemable miles by flying (or United purchases on my United credit card). I retained United 1K for what will likely be the last time.  Based on my United spending, I would have managed to earn Premier Silver (according to the 2014 PQD requirements).
  • On American, I finished the year with 101k EQM. Thanks to a few Choice Fares, I picked up 215k redeemable miles. I retained American Executive Platinum.
  • With SPG, I earned 52k points from hotel stays.  Somehow, I managed to hit an obscene number of stays and nights with SPG this year:  34 stays, 54 nights (inclusive of credit card bonus nights).
  • With Hyatt, I earned a meager 17k points from hotel stays (13 stays, 15 nights).
  • I earned about 38k Avios from paying my rent with my British Airways credit card.
  • From signup bonuses, I had two suite nights from Hyatt and approximately 100k Club Carlson points.

In terms of total spending, airfare crept up from 4.42cpm to approximately 5.22cpm.  Hotel spending jumped considerably, as I wound up staying in hotels for 61 stays and 83 nights this year (to be contrasted with 54 nights last year).  Average costs per night remained nearly constant.  Rental car spending dipped ever slightly.

As far as my predictions my own travel in 2014 go:

  • I expect to see far more award travel compared to previous years.  2011 had approximately 10k, 2012 had 31k, and 2013 had 26k.  I already have 23k miles of award travel for 2014, with more to come as I lock in trips before the Great United Devaluation at the end of January and US Airways’ Exit from Star Alliance.
  • If I maintain a decent level of revenue travel, I expect to requalify for American Executive Platinum and United Premier Platinum (via the credit card spending threshold) in 2014.
  • 2014 will likely have far fewer hotel nights and I will not be aiming for SPG Platinum 50 in any way.  This year, a confluence of several long hotel stays and American Express stay/night credits quickly pushed me from qualifying on 25 stays to hitting the 50 night mark.
  • I expect to earn far more points from credit card spending than I have in the past.
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It was the Worst of Times

Posted on November 10, 2013 by Chris

Right on the heels of United’s massive award chart devaluation (and Delta’s “interim” award chart enhancements), Hyatt announced that it’s updating its award chart effective January 7th, 2014.  The full summary is on their website.

First, rooms are getting more expensive:

Hyatt Gold Passport Points

Required Per Room, Per Night
Free Night Award Category Standard Room Regency Club®/Grand Club® Suite
1 5,000 7,000 8,000
2 8,000 10,000 12,000
3 12,000 15,000 18,000
4 15,000 18,000 23,000
5 18,000 22,000 27,000
6 22,000 27,000 33,000

New Award Chart – Effective January 7, 2014:

Hyatt Gold Passport Points

Required Per Room, Per Night
Free Night Award Category Standard Room Regency Club®/Grand Club®
 Suite
1 5,000 7,000 8,000
2 8,000 12,000 13,000
3 12,000 17,000 20,000
4 15,000 21,000 24,000
5 20,000 27,000 32,000
6 25,000 33,000 40,000
7 30,000 39,000 48,000

Second, as noted on the above award chart, Hyatt is creating a new Category 7, which will be occupied by the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek, Milan, Paris, Vendrome, Sydney, Tokyo, and Zurich.  Some hotels are going down in category, but under the new award chart, will still cost more points per night than they did in the past.

Third, Hyatt’s points-based upgrades on paid stays is now switching to a per-night fee rather than a fee good for 4 nights (as advertised on View from the Wing).

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Double United RDM!

Posted on October 21, 2013 by Chris

J. Edward on MilePoint found a double RDM promotion from United that isn’t targeted.  While it’s not a double EQM promotion that I so desperately need this year to retain 1K, it’s better than nothing.

The terms and conditions:

  1. Offer is valid for segments with an origin and destination within the 48 continental U.S. states on flights marketed and operated by United and United Express, which includes domestic travel within international itineraries. Offer excludes travel to or from Alaska or Hawaii.
  2. Registration is required before travel on united.com.
  3. Offer is valid on tickets purchased between October 21, 2013, and November 21, 2013.
  4. Offer is valid on travel completed between October 21, 2013, and November 21, 2013.
  5. Members can earn double award miles on base miles earned for travel in F, A, J, C, D, Z, P, Y, B, M, E, U, H, Q, V, W and S fare classes.
  6. Double miles are defined as two multiplied by the base award miles otherwise credited in connection with qualifying segments.
  7. You can earn the bonus an unlimited number of times in accordance with these terms and conditions.
  8. Offer is only valid on United and United Express and is not valid on United-marketed codeshare flights operated by other carriers.
  9. Offer is not valid on government fares.
  10. Passenger must be a member of United’s MileagePlus program to qualify for this offer.
  11. This offer is not combinable with other non-combinable offers.
  12. Bonus will be posted to the member’s MileagePlus account six to eight weeks after the end of the promotion period.
  13. This offer does not apply to Premier® qualifying miles (PQM), class-of-service bonus miles, class-of-service PQM, Premier bonus miles, redeemable bonus miles or other promotional PQM.
  14. Service charges for ticketing with a United representative in the 50 United States and Canada are $25 by phone, $30 at a City Ticket Office and $35 in person at the airport. Ticketing charges may vary outside of the U.S. and Canada and based on MileagePlus status level. The ticketing service charge does not apply for tickets purchased on united.com. Service charges are subject to change.
  15. Offer is subject to change without notice. Other restrictions may apply.
  16. Miles accrued, awards, and benefits issued are subject to change and are subject to the rules of the United MileagePlus program, including without limitation the Premier program (the “MileagePlus Program”), which are expressly incorporated herein. United may change the MileagePlus Program including, but not limited to, rules, regulations, travel awards and special offers or terminate the MileagePlus Program at any time and without notice. United and its subsidiaries, affiliates and agents are not responsible for any products or services of other participating companies and partners. Taxes and fees related to award travel are the responsibility of the member. Bonus award miles, award miles and any other miles earned through non-flight activity do not count toward qualification for Premier status unless expressly stated otherwise. The accumulation of mileage or Premier status or any other status does not entitle members to any vested rights with respect to the MileagePlus Program. All calculations made in connection with the MileagePlus Program, including without limitation with respect to the accumulation of mileage and the satisfaction of the qualification requirements for Premier status, will be made by United Airlines and MileagePlus in their discretion and such calculations will be considered final. Information in this communication that relates to the MileagePlus Program does not purport to be complete or comprehensive and may not include all of the information that a member may believe is important, and is qualified in its entirety by reference to all of the information on the united.com website and the MileagePlus Program rules. United and MileagePlus are registered service marks. For complete details about the MileagePlus Program, go to united.com/mileageplus.

Below the “S” revenue fare bucket, United also has T, L, K, G, and N, so not all fares will be eligible for this promotion.

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American Route Updates

Posted on October 16, 2013 by Chris

AA announced that it is adding two new routes to Asia from DFW, Hong Kong and Shanghai, starting in the summer of 2014.  HKG will see 777-300 service, while PVG will see the old 777-200.

One Mile at a Time and View from the Wing both mention that Haneda service (from JFK) is being axed, leaving Japan Airlines’ flight as the only oneworld service to Tokyo from New York.  Interestingly, their webpage announcing the new service to Asia still lists this route as on-going.

 

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A Rainy Day in Zürich

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Chris

With a ten hour layover in Zürich, I took to wandering around the city.  The weather could have been far more cooperative.

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Burning A Hole In My Pocket: Swiss Arrivals Lounge Zürich

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Chris

After arriving in Zürich from New York, I stopped by the Swiss Arrivals Lounge before heading out to explore the city.  I took a quick shower before enjoying the breakfast spread.

In the late morning, the lounge had three other non-employees in it.

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