American-USAirways Merger Hits a Bump

The U.S. Department of Justice has stepped in to probe the pending merger between American and USAirways on some antitrust issues.  Depositions will be taken for this investigation.  At issue is the projected dominance of the combined carriers at Washington Reagan National Airport.  The combined carrier will control more than 70% of the slots.  In an off-handed swipe, Doug Parker, the CEO of USAirways alluded that any forced cuts in capacity will mean less service to some of our Congressmen's and Congresswomen's hometowns. www.premieretravel.com

Delta On the Verge of Heathrow Expansion

Delta Airlines will unveil its much anticipated major splash into London Heathrow Airport, having cleared the EU hurdle for joint venture and code share with Virgin Atlantic.  Effective June 29, both carriers will be able to cross-sell code share seats making Delta and the Sky Team a major player at the world's busiest international airport.
The immediate impact will be the JFK-London route long dominated by American and British Airways will now have to contend with major competition from Delta and the new state of the art terminal at JFK.  Code share flights on Delta can be booked effective June 29 for travel July 3 and beyond. www.premieretravel.com

United Ties Dollars Spent to Status

United Airlines unveiled today a revised mileage program to take effect on January 1, 2014 that will alter the way MileagePlus Premier Status is counted. 

Overview of these changes:

 

• Starting in January 2014, Premier qualification requirements will include a minimum annual spending level that will be tracked with Premier Qualifying Dollars (PQD): dollars spent on most United tickets, including partner flights, and Economy Plus purchases
• Premier Qualifying Miles (PQM) and Premier Qualifying Segments (PQS) are not affected by this program change. These changes apply to 2014 qualifying activity for 2015 status.
• 2013 qualifying activity will not be affected.
   

Please see chart below for the new guidelines

 

You will earn Premier qualifying dollars (PQD) on most:  Flights operated by United, United Express, or Copa Airlines Flights operated by a Star Alliance or a MileagePlus partner airline and issued on a United ticket (ticket number starting with 016) Economy Plus purchases  An important note about tickets:   Members will not earn PQD on certain specialty tickets, including but not limited to unpublished, consolidator, group/tour, and opaque fares. PQD will be credited on tickets starting with 016. There will be situations where members purchasing other airline tickets, such as Lufthansa, will earn PQM and PQS but no PQD. To ensure that members earn PQD credit, travel agencies should ensure that they use 016 tickets, as appropriate.    For 2014, the PQD requirement is waived for Premier Silver, Premier Gold, and Premier Platinum qualification for members whose address with MileagePlus is within the 50 United States or the District of Columbia and who spend at least $25,000 in Net Purchases in 2014 on a MileagePlus co-branded credit card issued by Chase Bank USA, N.A. There is no PQD waiver for Premier 1K qualification.   www.premieretravel.com

Trending: Less legroom on American Airlines

American Airlines announced in a "Town Hall" meeting in Ft. Worth that it plans to add more seats to two of its main-stay aircrafts, the 737's and MD-80's.

While the number of extra rows or seats was not disclosed, passengers can certainly count on more crammed airplanes and less legroom.  The American spokesperson indicated that passengers may still purchase the "Main Cabin Extra" seats that provide more legroom.  Translation: Be prepared to shell more money to get the legroom space that you are already getting today for free.

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Priority Boarding For All....

With so many offers and promises being dangled by the airlines for membership purchases, credit cards, mileage status, and upgrades, promising priority boarding among other things, this boondoggle will end up being watered down as most passengers cannot all be "priority boarded".  Airlines are stretching the limits of their capabilities with promises that they cannot keep to their most loyal travelers by continuously adding new groups of travelers and even non traditional travelers to compete for a fixed number of amenities.  On a recent flight, about half the plane was eligible for priority boarding when the "Explorer" card holders were called along with the elite mileage holders, and military personnel in uniform among other eligible groups.  We might get to a saturation point if we are not there already. www.premieretravel.com

Subscribing to United Airlines' New Programs

United Airlines launched an Annual "Subscriptions" for Economy Plus, Baggage and United Club.

Essentially, travelers can choose one, two or all 3 programs for a minimum set fee that prepays for upgraded seats, free baggage or United Club Access by paying the fees annually.

While the approach is novel and unique, passengers are advised to evaluate the offers cautiously before subscribing.  The baggage proposal is straight-forward but the Economy Plus seating is not.  By purchasing the subscription, passengers are not guaranteed Economy Plus seating since it may not be available for the desired flights.

More travelers will be clamoring and competing for upgrades and United Club Access.  Both offerings will increase the demand and strain on finite resources.  Expect to see "sold-out" Economy Plus seatings and over-flowing United Club lounges.  United and other carriers are also promoting some of the same privileges they are selling as "subscriptions" to the Explorer credit card holders. who now number in the tens of thousands.  Hopefully, United will expand existing lounges, add more, and increase Economy Plus seating capacity.
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