February 18
If you haven’t already started receiving email solicitations from airline and hotel loyalty programs regarding the Freddie Awards, here’s a link to the home page explaining the prestigious awards and another link taking you directly to the voting portal. Additional information appears below.
The awards ceremony will take place April 26, 2012 at the Renaissance Newark Airport Hotel.
Cast your vote now!
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November 29
Someone I follow on Twitter posted a link today to an informative and actually quite funny look back at startup airlines that failed since airlines were deregulated in 1978 here in the United States. It’s definitely worth a read and brought back some memories since I flew on one of them, Kiwi International Air Lines, on a roundtrip from Orlando to Atlanta. (Rick, are you reading?)
After reading through it and noting some of the over the top grand ideas a few of these startups had, I returned to my day and later noticed quite a few tweets from a forthcoming new startup, Baltia Air Lines. Their website states they plan “to start flight operations in the Fall of 2011,” but are currently still awaiting FAA certification.
The carrier intends to begin service with nonstop flights from New York’s JFK Airport to St. Petersburg, Russia (LED) with Boeing 747 aircraft, eventually expanding to include additional nonstops to Riga, Moscow, Minsk and Kiev. Based on this page, they’ve acquired two 747s so far (appearing to be -200 series), both from cargo operators.
St. Petersburg is Russia’s second largest city and apparently houses offices of several major U.S. corporations, including Coca-Cola and Ford. This page on Baltia’s website states New York brings more than one third of all traffic to and from Russia (really?) with a large amount of U.S. passenger and cargo traffic making the service attractive to the airline.
I love their description of planned cabin services, especially in First Class:
I have a feeling they’re relying on the reported lucrative cargo market between the two cities ($1 billion annually) and hoping that adding passenger traffic on what would be the only nonstop JFK-LED will reap financial gain. It all sounds quite nice, but I hope they have some headway into securing both cargo and passenger corporate contracts. Those will be the critical factors for new service in such a market, especially for a no-name carrier.
I cringed at their chosen name for a frequent flyer program:
Eek. I definitely wouldn’t go with “Freeloaders” as a name. Would you want that card in your wallet? Terrible decision there. Their chosen logo is the rooster, which is apparently a symbol of reliability, punctuality and dependability. They also point to European folklore with its notoriety as a good luck charm sitting “atop many spires and buildings in New York City…” and all throughout Europe.
I don’t know… I have my serious doubts. They’re promising a lot early in their web and Twitter marketing without even beginning to fly. I’m not convinced of either their business plan or ability to follow through with the service they promise. Will they be added to Boyd Group International’s list of failed carriers? One thing going for them so far is they at least have a couple of airplanes seemingly ready, now only awaiting an operating certificate to be able to fly them.
This, then, is my open invitation to Baltia to prove me wrong. Show me you’ll follow through with the service you’re promising. Do you have a solid contingent of secured cargo and passenger contracts? Is a 747-200 fuel efficient enough given the current cost of Jet A? Will a three-cabin configuration really work for the JFK-LED market? Can you afford to devote the upper deck to only a lounge and dining area?
I’m eagerly monitoring your launch and truly wish you the best of success.
October 31
The 2011 Chicago Frequent Flyer Seminars concluded yesterday and it was an incredible weekend filled with an amazing amount of mileage and point tips that one could never process on their own. Airline miles I have pretty down pat, but I did learn a few great hotel point and credit card maximization techniques.
Yesterday started with the “Sponsors Workshop” where all the event hosts had their opportunity to present their featured products and/or websites. Here’s the great thing… unlike many sponsored events, the Chicago Seminar sponsors were people who we uber frequent travelers actually care about and therefore, none were a boring sales pitch as would be found elsewhere. First up was Chris of ExpertFlyer.
ExpertFlyer
I’m already a subscriber, but his presentation went into detail about specific functionality the site provides and I picked up a couple of tips. He also provided a 15% discount code for new memberships. Next up was Daraius of Million Mile Secrets. If you don’t already know about his website, he shows you how to get “Big travel with small money.” Fairly new to blogging, he has become my go-to source for current airline & hotel bonus opportunities, particularly with credit cards.
Million Mile Secrets
Next up was Cara with ITA Software and their incredibly helpful tool, Matrix Airfare Search. Once I find a great fare on FareCompare, the ‘Matrix’ is my next stop and is by far the most dependable and accurate search engine of its kind.
ITA Software
After Cara, Brian from The Points Guy provided an overview of his two websites, which are a must read if you’re wanting to rack up some serious miles and points. He then proceeded to give out some amazing prizes to raffle winners.
The Points Guy
Then it was time for the BIG raffle drawings. All proceeds went to charities and I was surprised to win four 50% off rack-rate Starwood Preferred Guest certificates, each offering the discount for up to five consecutive nights at any participating hotel. I donated all of my United and Continental drink certificates earlier in the day and was hoping they’d just pass them out to people who wanted them (as they did the previous day) and didn’t expect it to be a part of the raffle, but… one guy won my whole lot!
Raffle 1
Raffle 2
Then it was time for either a discussion with ‘The Pudding Guy’ and ‘Mr. Pickles’ (two legends in our mileage & point field) or moderated breakout sessions on specific airline and hotel programs. I went with the latter as the 10-million mile man of United Airlines, Tom Stuker, moderated the United session. I went to his milestone event in Chicago earlier this year, so was eager to hear what he had to say. No worries, Tom, I haven’t posted anything you said on this blog. 
And yes, United, he loves you and said nothing to disparage you.
UA Tom Stuker 1
UA Tom Stuker 2
Lunchtime hit and I went for a drive. I grew up in Chicagoland and drove past the old United headquarters on Algonquin Road in Elk Grove Village. I interned there in 1993 in Flight Dispatch (EXODD) and also worked there full-time in 1998 in Inventory Management (WHQIM). HQ has moved downtown since my days there, but the lot remains and is up for sale. Not pictured are two more buildings on the expansive land that housed Flight Dispatch (a four-story building) and the Flight Attendant training center and “hotel” (which I believe is still owned by United and active today).
United old HQ2
United old HQ1
Then it was back to listen into the one and only Randy Petersen, who founded Flyertalk, MilePoint, InsideFlyer and is basically the “god” of all things miles and points. Randy went into how he got started, the evolution of Flyertalk and provided his thoughts on how airline frequent flyer programs might change in the future.
Randy Petersen
The final presentation of the weekend was by Steve, aka ‘beaubo’ on Flyertalk and elsewhere, and he presented a uniquely different approach to why mileage running and gaining elite status might not be the best way to go. It was incredibly thought provoking and might become our future. Airlines are currently more heavily driven to incentivize higher-fare paying customers and the way we currently achieve both elite status and redeemable mileage will definitely change in the near future.
Steve aka 'beaubo'
I consider myself an “expert” at what I do. Yes, I have the mileage running game down and I qualify for elite levels in hotel loyalty programs, but I was blown away with the knowledge imparted this weekend. I said it in yesterday’s post and I’ll say it again… if you’re on the fence about coming to an event like this: Do it! You won’t regret it and the information you receive, as well as the all-important human connections you’ll make, far exceeds the cost of travel and admittance fee.
[Be sure to check out the preceding day here!]
October 30
If there’s only one day you can attend a future Frequent Flyer Seminar series, it’s definitely the Saturday session. Yesterday was packed at the 2011 Chicago Seminars and featured an incredible amount of concurrent discussions on all things airlines, credit cards, hotels, miles and points. When booking your ticket for the event you select your choice of same-timed discussions most appealing to you, but as today revealed, it can be a tough choice and people often overflowed into another room. This, then, becomes reason #1 why going one year isn’t enough.
First up yesterday was the introduction by Rick, the Frugal Travel Guy and Rookie Bootcamp with Dave, aka “bikeguy” on Flyertalk. Rick went over some housekeeping items and acknowledged the sponsors, host hotel and everyone who volunteered to help out at the event. Dave’s talk definitely went beyond just the “rookie” level and included the topics of:
Rookie Bootcamp w/Dave
Want details? You’ll have to book a ticket for next year, as the items discussed are often proprietary to we frequent flyers and are meant to only be shared at these types of events – Reason #2 why coming to this event is so important. Next up was Award Bookings with Gary Leff, author of View From The Wing on BoardingArea.com. He has a “PhD” in award travel and imparted an incredible array of helpful information including:
Award Bookings w/Gary
All throughout the event yesterday, you had the opportunity to mingle with fellow enthusiasts to gain even more insight and experience from pros who know how to maximize their mile & point accounts. Lunch was another one of those opportunities, whether standing in line or sitting at one of the many tables talking to each other. Hence, Reason #3 why you should attend this event!
Lunch line
Be sure to watch ABC Nightline mid-November as a camera crew was on-hand interviewing people, filming some of the seminars and following us around taping some casual conversations. The air date is unclear at this point, but likely before Thanksgiving.
ABC Nightline
After lunch, Ben/Lucky who authors One Mile at a Time on BoardingArea gave several consecutive lectures imparting a dizzying array of knowledge. Second up (as I missed his Hyatt & Priority Club talk) was his discussion about the Starwood Preferred Guest loyalty program. He went over:
Starwood Preferred Guest w/Ben
After Ben, United Airlines Captain Denny Flannigan took the floor and revealed his unique, heartfelt and sincere approach to how he manages both his job as a Boeing 757/767 pilot, and his approach to customer service. Honestly, his talk was the highlight of my day. I could (and will) write a unique post about him as what he does for both United employees and customers is so above & beyond what you would expect, it literally choked me up and gave me goose bumps – Reason #4 why you should come next year.
United Captain Denny
Ben ended up moderating at least four of the sessions yesterday and he is by far the most astute, contentious and indefatigable 21-year old expert public speaker that I’ve ever met – Reason #5 why this event is not to miss. His passion for our “hobby” has allowed him to do what he does full-time and it shows during his presentations. He hosted the next two seminars covering Mileage Runs and fielded a dizzying array of questions from the audience, all of which were answered not only correctly, but with personal insight from his travel experiences. He went into:
Mileage Runs w/Ben
At the same time as Ben’s Mileage Run discussion, Brian, The Points Guy, was giving an equally informative talk on airline & hotel Credit Cards, bonuses, and churning:
Credit Cards w/Brian
After the last seminar, there were social gatherings to attend and a Halloween party from 8:30pm to 10:30pm, but I unfortunately had other commitments and instead met up with old friends having grown up in Chicagoland. I’m sure it was an incredible time at the host hotel.
Today brings another round of seminars including a Sponsors Workshop, moderated breakout sessions on the various airline and hotel programs, discussions with “Pudding Guy” and “Mr. Pickles,” two legends in the mileage earning game, and Cherry Picking with “Beaubo” and BoardingArea’s founder Randy Petersen. I hope to post today’s summary tomorrow and I’m certain this will bring reason #6.
In the meantime… if you’ve been on the fence about whether or not to attend this event: Do It! If you’re not local, no worries. The sheer knowledge you gain from attending will more than pay for any expenses required to get here. I’m not certain if it will be in Chicago again next year, but I’d suggest monitoring the threads on Flyertalk and MilePoint for details on next year’s event (but look for the 2012 listings, not those links I provided). You won’t be disappointed.
[Be sure to check out the next day here]
October 28
It’s officially here! Tonight begins the 2011 Chicago Frequent Flyer Seminars and I’ll be in attendance for the entire weekend. The event has sold-out and it promises to bring an uncompromised amount of education to all areas we mile and point fanatics care about.
I’m looking forward to meeting everyone and am certain I’ll pick up a few tips and tricks I don’t already know about. The knowledge base of the presenters is at the PhD level, so if you’ll be there it sort of goes without saying that you’ll learn how to maximize your frequent traveler program accounts. Here are the threads at FlyerTalk and MilePoint that discuss the weekend.
As far as my schedule, I’ll be attending:
Friday October 28: Tech Travel Skills at 7:00pm
Saturday October 29: Rookie Bootcamp at 9:00am
Saturday October 29: Award Bookings at 10:00am
Saturday October 29: SPG/UA with Lucky and UA Captain Denny at 1:00pm
Saturday October 29: Mileage Runs at 3:00pm
Saturday October 29: Mileage Runs Hands-on Workshop at 5:00pm
Sunday October 30: Moderated breakouts on airline & hotel programs at 11:00am
Sunday October 30: Cherry Picking with Beaubo and Randy Petersen at 3:00pm
I’ll be live Tweeting during the weekend, so be sure to follow me. Also, posting on my blog might be light or non-existent over the weekend depending on how much time I have. Next week look for a post summarizing my experience and hopefully it’ll encourage you to attend next year if you haven’t yet been to one.
[Edited to add:] Be sure to check out night one here.
August 8
Last week American Airlines introduced Dynamic Air Awards where elite members of AAdvantage have access to discounted economy class mileage awards for travel in the contiguous United States. Based on published fare levels, the amount of miles varies, but are below the AAnytime award level of 50,000 miles for a roundtrip ticket. These awards are non-changeable, but can be cancelled and the $150 redeposit fee applies except for Executive Platinum members. Full details can be found here.
While I generally redeem miles for international travel, last year I did end up burning miles on a last-minute United Airlines Standard Award due to the fare being well above my financial threshold. Curious to see how I might save if that eventuality happened now, I took American’s booking engine for a test drive and offer the following examples researched yesterday. The airfares shown below are the all-in totals including taxes for the same nonstop roundtrip flights as those offered on the lowest Dynamic Air Award available. The Regular Award column is also what was available for the same Dynamic award flights. All mileage awards would also require a $5 payment.
As expected, where the fares are the highest there isn’t too much of a mileage discount from AAnytime awards. That Chicago to New York LaGuardia ticket two days out is discounted, but likely has plenty of availability. Also, several itineraries had MileSAAver availability at 25,000 miles, so it definitely still pays to first search for “regular” awards before trying the Dynamic route. The higher discounts seem to be for travel further out in the future, so the benefit of this program to me is really greatest with advance planning.
It’s a nice elite perk, especially in markets with few MileSAAver seats and I’d really love to see this extended to international travel. Well done, American.
June 23
Qualifying for elite status with an airline requires meeting a certain threshold the carrier has published, whether it be point, mile or segment based. Those thresholds have been periodically raised, lowered and adjusted even to the point of birthing new tiers. Delta’s fairly recent addition of the Diamond level at 125,000 Medallion Qualifying Miles is one example, and the all but likely creation of a uniquely named 75,000-mile level at the new United is another. The ability with which to achieve status beyond simply flying “butt in seat” (BIS) miles has also gone through its own metamorphosis over the years. Bonuses for flying in full-fare economy, business and first class is common today, as are bonus elite qualifying miles for charging a pre-determined amount on co-branded credit card.
This, of course, is nothing new to many of us who have been participating in the programs for years, possibly since their inception in the early 1980s. I have benefited greatly from the current policy at all major U.S. carriers by achieving elite status through flying the requisite mileage-based level of BIS miles on deeply discounted tickets. Failed attempts were made by U.S.-based carriers in the last decade to limit elite qualifying activity when flying in “low bucket” classes of service. Continental Airlines had at one time instituted a policy where only deeply discounted tickets purchased on their own website would earn full elite status miles, and Delta Air Lines had for a time outright restricted their lower fares from earning full qualification miles.
It’s a tricky landscape and the airlines know it can touch a nerve with the ranks of loyal passengers accustomed to the status quo. Here in the United States, the collective voice of the frequent flyer community seems to be able to apply enough pressure against policy changes to force airlines to effectively back down, as was the case with the Delta and Continental example above. Overseas it seems airlines are less reactive to similar pressures with Air Canada, Air New Zealand, ANA, British Airways, Qantas and Singapore Airlines holding steady with their policies. This all finally brings me to the point of my post.
On one hand I think our time is short in just how much longer U.S.-based carriers will continue to offer 100% elite credit for the cheapest tickets. American’s elite qualifying point system is well-established giving preference to the higher valued revenue tickets, although you can still achieve elite status through straight BIS flying on any fare. American spearheaded an effort to challenge the distribution model of how tickets are sold, and although it appears they’ve lost for the time being, the debate is alive and I think we’ll see continued efforts by all airlines to overhaul that system. Who’s to say American won’t make the first move in overhauling elite qualification by eliminating the ability to achieve status via BIS flying and instead require the necessary points tied to fare classes?
On the other hand, it would be a very bold move for any one airline to attempt such a policy shift unless they’re willing to turn away a population of travelers, myself included. For such a policy to stick given the history of attempts here in the U.S., it would basically require carriers to collectively do it all at the same time. We all know that is highly unlikely given the illegal nature airline collusion. So then, is this the right time for a carrier to stick their foot out and test the water again? Is the economy recovering enough and will the price of oil remain at a level capable to support a potential loss of passenger revenue? These are rhetorical questions mostly, but I think the time is approaching and we’ll see attempts again.
The reason I think this is because I believe some of the recent changes at airlines, including those to frequent flyer programs and fare structures, reveal a bit of posturing at the different carriers. This is of course pure speculation on my part, but I’m going to put it out there.
I’ve already mentioned the point-based system at American rewarding higher fare levels, and they of course have the separate Concierge Key program for the uber high-end spenders. United’s similar program is called Global Services (GS) and I’ve read the “hidden” revenue contribution required for that level to be around $50,000 annually. Those programs have been established for some time, but I believe a newer system is looming.
The creation of four tiers of elite ranks not including Global Services at United leaves the door open to further segment travelers based on revenue contribution. Should United make an attempt to limit elite qualifying miles on the cheapest fare classes, such as ‘G,’ ‘L,’ and ‘K,’ I could see United’s existing 1K level becoming a lower published version of the GS program as there is likely a huge population of business travelers who don’t quite reach the GS level of spend, but are far more lucrative to United than flyers like me. While I’m sure some business travelers do end up falling into the lower buckets from time to time, the ones United is looking to incentivize typically purchase closer to departure. How much longer will United (and all airlines for that matter) be willing to bestow the best benefits to non-significant revenue contributors? I believe the lack of systemwide double elite qualifying mile bonuses is another indicator the game may change soon.
I also believe Southwest’s recent overhaul of the Rapid Rewards program, which places an exponentially higher significance on top-dollar revenue tickets has made the legacy carriers take a keen interest in wanting to look at their programs again. Yes, the Southwest scheme affects primarily accrual and redemption abilities, not elite qualification, but it had to bring the conversation back up among legacy program executives.
Another change that peaked my interest was United’s recent move to bring the ‘G’ bucket into published tariffs that now allow mileage accrual. Some will say this was to aid in mapping fare classes with Continental coming into the mix, but I’m not sold on that idea. I believe in time we’ll see that ‘G’ bucket as one of the deeply discounted fare classes with restrictive elite qualification conditions.
I’ve really blathered on for this post, but it’s something that’s been in the back of my mind for some time. It’s no secret airlines want to cater to the higher yield business traffic and I think the time is approaching we’ll see more attempts for a shakeup of elite qualification, if not even going so far as to restrict accrual of miles. That’s a topic for another post, so for now I’ll close and hope for my own sake I’m completely wrong and will continue to reap the benefits of top-tier elite status.
June 10
I received an update yesterday morning from PageOnce, a service I use to track both my financial and travel loyalty programs, that my American Airlines AAdvantage account balance had been wiped to zero. I figured it was a bug with the service, and went to log in to my AAdvantage account to see the following activity:
A smidge of panic set in until I noticed my total mileage was showing up accurately in the top right corner of the screen. Still concerned about the missing detail, I called AAdvantage and after a short wait got a friendly agent who advised there was a systems glitch they were working on and that many, if not all, members were affected. Apparently nothing happened to the mileage itself, rather the data link from AAdvantage to what we see on AA.com had been damaged. She had no ETA for a fix, but assured me my miles were indeed there and the majority of calls to the center yesterday morning were related to the error.
I was too busy the rest of the day yesterday to return to check, but all appears resolved this morning. This is sort of a non-event to report, but got me to thinking about how much we rely on technology today and the need (or desire, in my case) to have paper records of frequent flyer program activity.
Today, then, I will add a tab to my existing mileage tracking spreadsheet to begin tallying my AAdvantage program detail. As addicted as I am to technology and the services out there that track all things money, points & miles, I find a bit of comfort in keeping my own records as well.
June 2
The U.S. Department of Transportation and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood withdrew a proposal yesterday that would have required airlines to submit passenger frequent flyer program data and complete fare basis code information to the government. The pending rule dated back to 2005 where the DOT had proposed additional data collection measures required of the airlines. I haven’t researched the full details of that proposal online yet, but at the minimum wanted to share that this potentially damaging information will not be released.
The Air Transport Association of America (ATA) praised both the DOT and Secretary LaHood for the withdrawal speaking on behalf of the airlines. Part of the distaste of the rule was for the expense of programming the airlines would be required to comply with. And of course the larger issue from a traveler perspective would be the privacy issues and potential for misuse of the information. ATA is quoted as saying:
It is surprising to me that data isn’t currently collected from regional carriers given the scope they have in today’s route networks at the major airlines. On the privacy front, while I’m sure the proprietary would not be shared openly to the general public, it would still increase exposure to hackers with multiple file transmissions & storage on government databases. In fact, revealing basic data about ones travels can lead to potentially damaging situations. Once I research a bit more of the Essential Air Service program, I’ll be sure to make another posting should anything of interest still be present that will go live in the future. The latest item, if you recall, was the requirement for airlines to collect birthdate and gender information to store & submit to the TSA.
May 18
Today, United Airlines added a merger integration update as one of the six main featured articles appearing in the center of the main landing page. While this isn’t quite “Customer Day 1” of a fully merged carrier, it summarizes the progress United and Continental Airlines have made to date. Full details can be found here, with a summary appearing below:
Nothing earth shattering and unexpected, except perhaps the change in Twitter accounts, but it’s nice they’re continuing to show progress and posting it for everyone to see. I’m most interested to check-in for my next flight with the different carrier just to see how that function works (probably a toggle between existing systems of Continental & United). Sadly, I don’t have another United flight until July, and will be flying American virtually every week until then.
