Thursday, January 30, 2014

Southwest Scores Big Win at Reagan Washington National


Just in-Southwest Airlines won 54 landing and take-off slots at Washington Reagan Airport.  You will see more Southwest liveries taxiing at National.  Welcome Southwest!
www.premieretravel.com

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Rolling European Air Control Strike Adding To Travel Woes

A disrupting rolling strike by air traffic controllers in Europe is starting to impact air travel within the continent.  Passengers are advised to check the status of their flights.  Many flight cancellations have been announced and carriers are bracing for more. www.premieretravel.com

Friday, January 17, 2014

Accidental Fares: Deliberate?

So many times now, we have seen and heard airlines posting ridiculously low fares by "accident", that one might wonder if these accidents are becoming such great publicity stunts for the airlines.  The story goes similar in each instance:  An airline loads fares into the system that are a fraction of the cost of the actual fares.  Social media buzz and publicity ensues increasing web traffic to the carrier, followed by the anguish over whether the airline would honor those "accidental" fares. Lo and behold, they do!  Only a handful to a few hundreds of tickets might be sold at discount, but airlines reap tons of publicity that have spawned a cottage industry of "fare alerts" websites that will alert you of such anomalies.  Bottom line is this stunt is more effective than the cost of paid advertising.  Do not be surprised to see more of these "accidents" in the future. www.premieretravel.com

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Plastic, Not So Fantastic!

Credit card companies, banks and airlines continue their aggressive drives to add card members.  The awards and incentives are supposedly keep getting better with promises of more miles, priority boarding, lounge access, and free checked bags as some of the examples of how card users are enticed.

The airlines however keep moving the goal posts.  Availability of free tickets are more scarce than ever, along with upgrades.  It will cost more miles to do anything and most of the points will not help the status of the flyer.  Almost all "free" tickets cost processing fees and are subject to hefty penalties if changes or cancellations happen.  Some of the perks are quietly disappearing.  For example American Express Platinum card holders will no longer have access to the American and USAirways lounges. 

This is not to say that paying cash is better, however with the cyber security breaches that are now quite common, the continuous dilution of benefits and the inability to use miles earned brings the whole concept into question for some users.  If you find yourself saying, "I have all these miles that I don't know what to do with", you need to subscribe to newsletters that show you what you can do and how.  There are experts out there that have some good advice of what to do with your miles. Otherwise, stick to credit cards that simply give you cash rebates. www.premieretravel.com

Thursday, January 9, 2014

United Transcontinental Bonus Miles Through March 31


United has a great offer for mileage lovers:
Experience United's transcontinental p.s. flights between New York (JFK) and Los Angeles or San Francisco. Here's how your miles can add up:
Fly roundtrip inEarn bonus award miles
United BusinessFirst®15,000
Full-fare United Economy®10,000
Select discounted United Economy 5,000
To qualify, register and book your travel today, then fly between January 7 and March 31, 2014.
http://www.united.com/web/en-US/apps/mileageplus/promotions/registrationDetails.aspx?promoCode=TB9M62&utm_source=TPG+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=decaa08efa-TPG+Daily+Newsletter+MC&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_2b0b8ee2b7-decaa08efa-44188789