Posted by Seth on December 20, 2011 under frequent flyer, News | 
Kingfisher and global alliance oneworld have set a date for the Indian carrier to join the alliance. But there still appear to be many hurdles that must be surmounted for that to actually happen. Assuming everything goes as planned the join date is February 10, 2012.
But that’s a rather significant assumption given the way things are going for the carrier lately. They’ve been slashing routes, struggling to pay fuel bills, seeing flight cancelations and otherwise having trouble running their operations. As if that wasn’t bad enough, it was reported today that the company has not been paying its taxes. They’re in the hole $25MM – two years worth of payroll tax withholding – to the Indian government, on top of all the private debt they’re holding. Supposedly there are investors looking to offer a new loan but they’re awaiting reports on the viability of the company. This latest news certainly won’t help those reports.
Not good news at all, either for the airline or the alliance. Oh, and for oneworld there are also the issues of the American Airlines bAAnkruptcy, Air Berlin’s financial struggles and new ownership stake from Etihad and the labor strife at Qantas. Really a lot of uncertainty in that alliance these days.
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Posted by Seth on December 16, 2011 under Internet, News |
Qantas announced today that they will be fitting their Airbus A380 aircraft with the OnAir SwiftBroadband connectivity suite, providing in-flight internet connectivity on trans-Pacific flights between Australia and the United States. The move brings WiFi connectivity to the fleet type but not GSM/GPRS mobile services so there will not be the option for in-flight voice or SMS/text services. The service trial is expected to start in February.
This is a similar system to that which Emirates will be using on their A380 fleet as announced earlier this week. It will also allow Qantas to remain competitive with United Airlines, which has announced intentions to outfit its entire fleet with WiFi, including the 747s they are flying to Australia.
No word on pricing yet, and the trial in February is for "business and first class passengers" according to one report, though I don’t know how they’ll keep the WiFi signal only on the upper deck. More details as they come out.
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Posted by Seth on November 18, 2011 under frequent flyer, News, points |
When British Airways and Iberia announced a couple months back that they were integrating their loyalty programs under the Avios moniker there were a whole bunch of folks (mostly based in the USA) who were pretty upset at the potential issues it could raise. At that time I took a somewhat measured approach, suggesting that there are a few areas in which folks might see benefits, mostly for those in the UK or Europe. Now that the details are out and we can look at the numbers I’m still not certain, but the program mostly seems to be a debacle unless you live in the UK or Spain and only fly on simple trips.
You didn’t want to connect, did you?
The single-partner award chart isn’t nearly as bad as previously expected, with a catch. Awards on a single partner now do not permit connections. If you require a connection for your itinerary then you redeem an award for each flight. That means JFK-EZE on AA would be one price (25K one way in coach) but connecting via Miami would add 7,500 to that total; connecting via Dallas is 10,000 more. So if you can position yourself to get to a hub gateway (or if you are lucky enough to actually live in one) then the numbers can be quite reasonable still. I queried ~150 city pairs on routes operated by wide-body aircraft by Cathay Pacific, Qantas and LAN and found a few routes where the numbers aren’t completely awful. But that assumes you’re at the gateway and want to go to the hub. A pretty significant catch to be sure.
Also on the connection front, it appears that folks based in Europe are going to feel the pinch of award prices rising. A trip from Istanbul to Paris sees a 4,500 point surcharge over a trip from Istanbul to London. Not all that surprising considering the rate on London-Paris is 4,500. In other words, even if you stay on BA metal for the journey you get hit with a connection penalty. This applies to flights originating in the USA as well, and the up-charge might be even more than you’d expect (ORD-LHR is 20,000; ORD-CDG is 25,000 while MIA-LHR and MIA-CDG are both 25,000). In other words, the award charts are very inconsistent and nearly impossible to decipher with any reasonable sense of reason.
Multi-partner Awards
The multi-partner award chart is unchanged and is shown below. With this scheme you are permitted up to 8 segments on an award, including an open jaw stopovers so long as the stopover is on the direct point of travel. That basically means only at hubs, which is also not particularly great, but also not atypical.
| Avios costs for multi-carrier reward flights |
| Miles in your journey |
Avios needed for an economy flight |
| 0-1,500 |
30,000 |
| 1,501-4-000 |
35,000 |
| 4,001-9,000 |
60,000 |
| 9,000-10,000 |
70,000 |
| 10,001-14,000 |
90,000 |
| 14,001-20,000 |
100,000 |
| 20,001-25,000 |
120,000 |
| 25,001-35,000 |
140,000 |
| 35,001-50,000 |
160,000 |
|
Business class reward flights: x2
First class reward flights: x3
|
Some "gems"
So, what are these "gems" I referenced in the thread title? There are a couple to talk about.
If you’re looking for flights operated by international configured aircraft and hoping for a bargain there are a few routes that come up as quite reasonably priced. Some have gone down from the prior charts, though, again, no connections are permitted any more so there’s that problem. Still, take a look at some of these routes with the decent redemption pricing (o/w, economy):
| AMM |
DTW |
30000 |
| AMM |
JFK |
30000 |
| AMM |
ORD |
30000 |
| AMM |
YUL |
30000 |
| AMS |
HKG |
30000 |
| BOG |
MIA |
10000 |
| CCS |
MIA |
10000 |
| CDG |
HKG |
30000 |
| CUN |
MIA |
4500 |
| CUN |
SCL |
20000 |
| FCO |
HKG |
30000 |
| FRA |
HKG |
30000 |
| HEL |
SIN |
30000 |
| HKG |
PVG |
7500 |
| HKG |
HND |
10000 |
| HKG |
ICN |
10000 |
| HKG |
KIX |
10000 |
| HKG |
NGO |
10000 |
| HKG |
LHR |
30000 |
| HKG |
MXP |
30000 |
| HKG |
YVR |
30000 |
| HKG |
JFK |
35000 |
| ICN |
TPE |
7500 |
| JFK |
LIM |
20000 |
| KIX |
TPE |
7500 |
| LIM |
SCL |
10000 |
| MAD |
SCL |
30000 |
| MIA |
PUJ |
7500 |
| PUJ |
SCL |
20000 |
Comparing those numbers to other carriers I’ve compiled data on suggests that the program isn’t a complete fiasco, so long as you can avoid that pesky connection problem.
Also, it is possible to redeem 10% of the regular Avios award price for an infant in lap which is a nice feature and most certainly not one that most programs offer. But that’s a pretty small consolation.
Upgrade or downgrade?
In the end, I believe that the overall changes to the program are quite negative for most customers. Yes, there are a few bright spots where award costs have gone down and those should be celebrated, but for most customers the connection penalty will be a rather steep price to pay to make the Avios retain value. That said, if you live in a hub or in a spoke with good frequencies there is the slight chance that the program can be made to work for you.
I’m quite happy that I’m not sitting on a pile of Avios right now, even being in NYC where I have the advantage of many non-stop options. If it comes to that I’ll just move some Membership Rewards points over and leverage the program that way.
Check out some other views on the changes from these noted loyalty bloggers:
- Lucky’s posts
- TPG’s thoughts:
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Tags: British Airways, Cathay, Chicago, frequent flyer, Iberia, Istanbul, LAN, London, Membership Rewards, New York City, Paris, points, Qantas, Spain
Posted by Seth on October 29, 2011 under News |
Qantas has apparently taken a management page from the NBA, locking out their employees and shutting down the airline in a labor dispute.
Qantas will stop all domestic and international flights from 5pm (AEDT) on Saturday 29 October until further notice. This is in response to the damaging industrial action by three unions – the Australian Licenced Aircraft Engineers Association (ALAEA), the Australian International Pilots Association (AIPA) and the Transport Workers Union (TWU).
Not good for the company and downright horrible for customers. This is going to be ugly.
Posted by Seth on May 17, 2011 under frequent flyer, News, points |
A bit of excitement coming out of Australia this morning as Qantas has announced several changes to their frequent flyer programme. Most of the changes appear to be rather beneficial to customers, particularly at the high end, but there are a couple moves that quite likely will limit earning potential in the program as well.
Perhaps most significant is that a new elite tier is being added to the program. The "Platinum One" level will require 3,600 tier points to qualify (Platinum is only 1,200) so this level is not going to be something that many folks reach. It will require 20 paid one-way trips in business class between Sydney and San Francisco or 10 paid one-way trips in first class between Sydney and London in a year to reach this level, for example. The specific details of what benefits will be included are not yet published.
In addition to the new top tier level the earning rates for travel are changing, mostly for the better. Passengers who already have elite status will see their bonus miles earning rates grow and passengers flying in premium cabins will also see the bonuses they earn grow.
| Status-based bonus |
| |
Old bonus rate |
New bonus Rate |
| Silver |
25% |
50% |
| Gold |
50% |
75% |
| Platinum |
100% |
100% |
|
Cabin-based bonus
|
| |
Old bonus rate |
New bonus Rate |
| Premium Economy |
10% |
25% |
| Business |
25% |
50% |
| First |
50% |
100% |
All good news, right? Well, maybe not. There is one area where the earning is going to change a bit for the worse. As explained on the announcement page:
Currently members earn a Loyalty bonus of 5,000 points for every 450 Status credits earned. Loyalty bonuses will be calculated this way only until 30 November 2011.
From 1 December 2011, Members will earn a Loyalty bonus of 8,000 points for every 500 Status credits earned within a single membership year – up to a maximum of four Loyalty bonuses per membership year.
At 1 December 2011, Status credit balances relating to the calculation of the Loyalty bonus will be adjusted to recognise only those earned within the member’s current membership year. Status credits earned in previous membership years will not be recognised in the calculation of Loyalty bonus after 1 December 2011.
Not a huge devaluation there, though the 4x maximum annually seems a bit limiting. Those passengers aren’t even at the top tier level (only 2000 tier points, just over half way to Platinum One) and they no longer will be earning the Loyalty bonus points.
Overall it would appear that these enhancements are actually that, changes that make the program better. It certainly is nice to see that happening in an industry where program devaluation seems to be more the norm lately.
Related Posts:
Posted by Seth on April 27, 2010 under Trip Reports |
For years now every time I’ve read anything or talked to anyone about what to do during a layover at Los Angeles International Airport the answer has been simple and singular: Plane spotting from the In-n-Out. I’ve done that a few times now and been quite happy with it. But I also discovered this weekend that there is another option for folks on a layover, one that is more educational, less fattening and every bit as cool to an aerophile like me: Flight Path LAX.
Flight Path is a museum and learning center is a non-profit organization formed 15 years ago as part of an effort by the operators of the airport to honor the 75th anniversary of its founding. In the intervening years the facility has blossomed into a phenomenal collection of models, photographs and memorabilia, all of which celebrates the history of flight in Southern California. The museum is situated in the Imperial Terminal, on the grounds of LAX. The terminal has served a number of purposes over the years, from operating as the MGM Grand terminal for shuttles to the casino in Las Vegas to the charter operations facility for private flights at the airport. And they’ve got the photos on the walls to prove it.
The museum has one of the largest collections of aviation uniforms out there. They have almost all of the mumus that the United Airlines flight attendants wore on the Hawaii runs in the 60s and 70s. They have several of the paper dress uniforms that the TWA attendants wore on their premium runs to London, Paris, Rome and New York City. Our guide was Eleanor, a former Flight Attendant for United and a woman incredibly knowledgeable about the industry and its history had a number of stories to share with us about those paper uniforms, including how they were hemmed to fit each attendant (scissors) and how the businessmen “flirting” with them would accidentally brush their cigarettes up against the attendants, risking the uniforms going up in smoke (and coming off). They’ve got hot pants from Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) and several generations of Pan Am uniforms, among others.
 |
 |
| The paper dress uniforms from TWA, 1968. On the left is the Rome outfit; Paris on the right. |
Pacific Southwest Airlines’ uniform from the 70s. |
The museum also has a pretty impressive collection of in-flight service sets, ticket stubs, napkins, models and just about anything else that has an airline logo on it from the past 100+ years of flight. The breadth of the collection is rather astounding.
As part of our tour we were also treated to a bus ride around the airfield. I’m pretty sure this isn’t part of the regular visits, but if you can arrange it I highly recommend doing so. We all loaded up onto a bus and cruised around the airport, mixed in among the baggage trailers, maintenance trucks and crew vans. It was wonderful to be up close with the planes and see the operations from that perspective; it is much different than from inside the terminal.
Finally, the museum has a DC-3 parked out on the tarmac outside. The aircraft was built in 1941 and served in commercial service and as a private airplane before it was retired and eventually moved to the airport. We were quite lucky during our tour and were actually permitted to go inside. It sounds like this is somewhat common – more so than the bus tour – but it was still a special treat. The interior is still in its private plane configuration and it looks quite lavish for the era it was flying in.
No, they don’t have a Double Double available. And you cannot hop on the Parking Spot shuttle to get there (though the Embassy Suites El Segundo is right across the street, maybe a 5-10 minute walk). But the museum is open five days per week, Tuesday – Saturday, from 10 am to 3 pm and admission is free. It is absolutely worth visiting for a peek back at the history of aviation in Southern California and around the globe. You can even watch the video that includes the airport’s theme song. It is a classic (made it to #54 on the pop charts in the USA)!
Related Posts
Posted by Seth on April 26, 2010 under Trip Reports |
Los Angeles International Airport is a bit quirky. It is pretty much smack in the middle of town, but it is also an enormous facility that sees an incredible range of aircraft passing through on a daily basis. There are almost as many Embraer E-120s (tiny prop planes) as there are Boeing 747-400s. And there are the Qantas Airbus A380s, too. Indeed, if it is flying in the western world odds are it passes through LAX at some point during the day.
Did I mention that it is pretty much in the middle of town? The airport is wonderfully accessible and there are two prime spots where folks so inclined can hang out and watch the planes come and go. One is on the south side of the airport, up on Imperial Hill. That position is elevated and built out with benches and such to accommodate the folks watching the planes. The other location is on the northeast corner of the field. It is a small grassy park area immediately adjacent to the Parking Spot Sepulveda location and an In-n-Out franchise. I like the views from Imperial Hill, but the snacks at the In-n-Out location are better so that’s usually where I end up when I’m in town. Plus, you can take the Parking Spot shuttle (tip a couple bucks!) and drop in for a visit during a layover of 3-4 hours.
This past Sunday morning the park had a whole bunch of folks out and about. Families with kids running around whooping and hollering as the 747s came in around noon (mostly the adults, actually) and otherwise running around and having a good time. Plus, a Double Double meal is a great breakfast to follow up a night of drinking.
Without further ado, a few photos from the collection I shot on Sunday morning…
The KLM 747 did a go-around on Sunday morning, passing way high over the field on its first approach. This is from the second time around.
China Airlines was the fourth of the 747s I saw on this morning.
Singapore Air’s 747-400, with vapor trails coming off the trailing edge of the flaps.
Walk across the street from the park and you’re directly under the approach path, in the midst of all the orange towers with the lights on them. They help frame the photos nicely…
A United Airlines A320 about to touch down.
I think the KLM 747 might be speeding.
The Qantas A380 arriving as seen from my hotel room Friday morning.
A bunch more photos can be seen here.
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Tags: A380, Airbus, Boeing, Embraer, Flying, KLM, Los Angeles, Photos, Qantas, Singapore Air, United
Posted by Seth on October 27, 2009 under News |
As expected, lots of updates hit Continental’s website at midnight CDT this morning, and the Star Alliance details are all over the place. From the hundreds of lounges now accessible for Presidents Club and Star Gold members to an interactive travel reward chart that is actually comprehensive and accurate to many details on upgrades available for travel on other Star Alliance carriers, there is lots of information there to digest.
The Star Alliance upgrades are a nice feature but ridiculously expensive in most cases, charged per segment and require a full-fare (Y or B) ticket to begin with. Not a great value, but it is always nice to have more options.
The reward search online is also quite nice, with more than 10 carriers available immediately. A couple test searches this morning show availability in line with what other Star Alliance carriers are seeing which is quite nice. Of course the three carriers that are delayed in reward integration – Swiss, EgyptAir and Shanghai Airlines – affect me personally (I need a reward on EgyptAir) but I’ll get over it eventually.
The move also means an end to the Continental partnership with Qantas. Hardly a surprise as Continental now has United Airlines and Air New Zealand as partners offering service to Australia. The relationship officially ends on December 17, 2009. Tickets for reward travel after that date will be honored but no new tickets will be issued and no miles will be accrued on revenue tickets.
The lounge access benefit is ridiculously good at this point. There are over 800 lounges available for Star Gold members, a group that now includes Continental Platinum and Gold elites, not just Platinum elites. That’s a lot more lounges for a lot more people. Many of the lounges are now also accessible for Presidents Club members. It might actually be enough to tempt me to join, though with the Star Gold access maybe not.
Partner earning rates were also announced and no major surprises there. The bad news is that the lowest fares on many carriers don’t actually earn miles. Plus most partner carriers will no longer earn bonus miles for elites; only United, US Airways and Lufthansa earn elite bonuses. On the plus side, there are not too many 50% earning fare classes. So it is all or nothing, with plenty of nothing on the cheapest fares. Combined with the new reward chart announced a few weeks ago, rewards are going to be a little more expensive and the miles are a bit harder to earn. That’s not great at all. But the interactive reward chart – more than a year in the works – is accurate and mostly functional (I’ve found one bug). That is a major improvement.
Considering the amount of work required to make the leap from SkyTeam to Star Alliance in a 48-hour span I’m quite impressed at just how much of things are functional. And more will get better over the coming weeks. This change is good on the whole for most OnePass members and Continental customers (with few exceptions). I’m off to book some reward travel now!
Posted by Seth on March 22, 2009 under News |
A couple bits of news on the “fee” front from over the weekend. Good news out of Oz as Qantas has cut one of the more irrational fees they have. Not so good news out of Chicago, however, as United added a somewhat significant fee to their arsenal, cutting a benefit that many travelers have taken advantage of for years.
First, the good news. Qantas, for reasons that I don’t quite understand, had a fee for joining their frequent flier program if you were a resident of Australia or New Zealand. Nothing like setting up a scheme to encourage loyalty and then charging folks a premium to join. Qantas finally appears to have gotten smart on this front and plans to cut the fee out of their scheme. They are also increasing their partner earning options, adding Woolworths and a number of restaurants into the fold. That’s good news down under.
United, on the other hand, has made another decision in an effort to shore up their books. For many years airline passengers in the United States have been able to buy tickets at any point, knowing that the fares might drop and that they could call the airlines and get a refund or credit for the difference. Over the past several years many airlines have cut that benefit. Specifically they charge the going rate of their “change fee” on restricted tickets. Most change fees these days are at least $150, which means that a fare has to drop a LOT for this type of deal to be of value. As of March 20, 2009, United has joined the ranks of the airlines charging for this sort of change. They did it very quietly, adding a note about the new “administrative fee” to the fine print in their fare rules on Friday afternoon. This has upset a number of customers (at least the ones who have figured this out over the weekend).
United is the last of the legacy carriers to apply this policy, so they aren’t alone by any means. There are still a few airlines that offer such a deal – jetBlue, Southwest and Alaska Airline – but overall it is a benefit that seems to be disappearing rapidly. And I’m completely OK with that. I’m sure that I’ve benefitted from the program at some point in my life. I don’t really remember it, but I am sure I did. It seems like something I would have paid attention to. But I cannot figure out why this sort of policy is really a great thing. I buy tickets when I’m happy with the price and don’t if I’m not. I get that it does take away one little chance that the customer has to get something back from the airline, but that is part of the game in my view. I don’t expect to pay them more when the fare goes up after I’ve bought my tickets, so why should I get money back if the fare drops?
The real question is whether this will help or hurt their revenue flow. There are probably cases of people spending money to confirm the ticket knowing that they can get a voucher if the fare drops, likely using yapta.com as a resource to know when that happens. So that was revenue now with vouchers issued later. If this policy change causes any drop in bookings that will mean a loss of “now” revenue though less lost future revenue, too. Plus the potential increased revenue of people paying the fee. Of course, as quietly as this happened I doubt that many people at all will notice or that it will really affect anything adversely for United, even as many frequent travelers cry wolf.
Posted by Seth on February 23, 2009 under News |
A few tidbits of news concerning flights to Australia this week, all of them good for the consumer.
First up, V Australia is finally ready to start operations. They were originally supposed to start up a few months ago during the peak southern hemisphere summer season, but thanks to the Boeing strike they couldn’t get their plane delivered in time. But that’s all behind us now, and they have their first 777-300ER fully loaded with three classes of service – business, premium economy and economy – and ready to fly. They are starting service this Thursday, with 3x weekly service between Sydney and Los Angeles. Service will go to daily in a few weeks when they receive their second plane. Additional service between Brisbane and Los Angeles will start in April and Melbourne is coming in September (both also dependant on receiving additional planes).
If that isn’t enough to drive some competition on the USA-Oz routes, Delta’s planned start of service between Los Angeles and Sydney on July 1 is certainly going to do so. Delta is going to be flying with a 777-200LR. The plane certainly has the range, but they only have 276 seats on the plane. A 777-300LR has 75-100 more seats on it, and the 747s that United and Qantas use have close to 400 as well. And then there are the Qantas A380s that are running on the route, with 450 seats and even more cargo capacity. I have no idea how Delta is going to be competitive in such a market. They have fewer seats to spread the fixed costs over and the fixed costs on such a route are VERY high. But the net result remains the same – cheaper prices for customers and now all three alliances will have service between the USA and Oz.
Last up on the this this morning is an interesting report that came out yesterday regarding potential changes in trans-Tasman service. The New Zealand and Australian governments have apparently agreed to streamline the operations for immigration, customs and quarantine for the short hops between their countries. This is apparently expected to help ease the travel experience and, according to some carriers, cut ticket costs by as much as 30% on those routes. From the article:
Quarantine, security and immigration issues have to be addressed to make the route a common border, The Sydney Morning Herald website said.
An Open Skies bilateral agreement is already in place, relaxing the rules for carriers flying between the two countries.
After two years of discussions, Australian and New Zealand Customs are planning trials to clear passengers before they board flights between the countries.
Sure, none of this is as cool as the crazy Los Angeles – Honolulu – San Francisco – Sydney round trip flights for $600 (I really wish I had bought one or two of those), but it is still all great news for folks headed to or from Australia. Oh, and there are still plenty of great deals to be had for flights ex-Sydney, thanks to the V Australia fares. Enjoy.
Tags: A380, Airbus, Australia, Boeing, Delta, Mileage Run, New Zealand, New Zealand Trip, Qantas, United, V Australia
Posted by Seth on December 29, 2008 under Uncategorized |
There has been plenty of hype about the quality of the premium cabin in-flight product that Asian and Middle-East carriers are bringing to the skies. Singapore Air and Emirates have invested significantly in their A380 First Class experience. Singapore offers a double bed option for couples traveling together and Emirates offers a shower, among other benefits. But getting in to those seats is going to cost you a lot of cash; they cannot be booked using all those points you’ve been saving.
Singapore Air started limiting seats in their Suites by designating them a different booking class, and therefore making them ineligible for reward bookings, even for their own KrisFlyer members. Things got worse when they changed the rules on their new business class product, allowing redemption only using KrisFlyer points and then only at the unrestricted/double points level. Among other things this took the NYC and Los Angeles to Singapore non-stop flights away from partner award bookings, as they are configured in an all business class setup using the new product.
Emirates was actually letting folks still redeem for their premium cabin seats following the launch of their A380s earlier this year, but that well seems to have dried up, too. As of December 1, however, they apparently are no longer permitting any redemptions in either the business or first class cabins on those planes.
Qantas is in a similar position, blocking out their A380 first class cabin from reward redemption. A number of enterprising folks booked reward seats on flights that were operated by the 747-400 when the reward was booked, expecting that the aircraft would be swapped to the A380. As far as I know they have been successful in keeping their reward seats, but no new reward bookings are being taken on those flights.
Ten years ago the most luxurious way to travel was arguably the Concorde. Sure, the seats were small, as was the fuselage itself, but you were wined and dined and among the elite of air travel. And all the while it was bookable with reward points. I’m not saying that there were free seats out there every day for anyone who wanted one, but at least the option (or the dream) was there.
And then, just like that, poof. The option is gone.
Premium cabin long haul flights are still, by far, the best value for redeeming points, but it certainly is disheartening to see the greatest of the options disappearing. Hopefully the allure of the A380 will wear off and those seats will come back into reward inventory, but I’m not holding my breath.
