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Tagged With "alliances"

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Re: United's Award Chart: Premium Award Cost Goes UP

DrFumblefinger ·
I've seen a lot of "award creep" in my days, and I think there's more to come. A "mile" is worth less and less all the time. It's clear that airline miles aren't worth banking for any period of time. Use them when it's logical to do so. They likely will be worth less in the near future. Thanks for the link, PHeymont.
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Re: United's Award Chart: Premium Award Cost Goes UP

Paul Heymont ·
Not sure I agree with the "burn 'em" philosophy. At the premium class end, there's certainly been a lot of creep, but not so much in coach, which is more price-sensitive, even for awards. True, summer awards to Europe have generally gone from 50K to 60K, but on the other hand, off-season at American went DOWN to 40K--and with the flexibility of taking one-way awards and combining them in interesting ways...it's actually a better situation. Also, there are some card-linked sales on flight...
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Re: United's Award Chart: Premium Award Cost Goes UP

DrFumblefinger ·
I think you'll find reward trips from the Western USA are harder to get for European travel than from the East coast. But if your schedule is flexible, you could be lucky.
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Re: United's Award Chart: Premium Award Cost Goes UP

JohnT ·
I think for premium travel,it makes sense. It has always surprised me that premium travel is so much cheaper from a frequent flier perspective (2:1) vs economy than when you actually buy the ticket. Just as a side note, aeroplan has recently reduced miles required on some of their reward charts as well.
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Re: United's Award Chart: Premium Award Cost Goes UP

Paul Heymont ·
John's point about the ratio between the two tiers is interesting (we looked at that a little in a forum post this week on value of miles). My guess--and it's just that--is that the same kind of yield-management used to set prices has taken a look at this and is carefully balancing loyalty vs. burn... I can't really compare East vs West availability personally; my school schedules have defined when I can travel well enough that I'm able to start hunting tickets 330 days out, when the...
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Re: United, Air China sign up new codeshares

Travel Rob ·
Good to hear. I just took an Air China flight and the airline has some good points for the longf distance budget traveler, like free meals and free video options.
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Re: Are airline alliances costing you $$$ on flights to Europe?

Travel Rob ·
Basically Norwegian Air told us the same thing and it's true. If the public supports Norwegian and other airlines that attempt to break the alliances trans-Atlantic hold, lower prices will follow. https://www.travelgumbo.com/blog/norwegian-air-1
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Re: "New AA" Details Dates for Alliance, Loyalty Change-overs

PortMoresby ·
Thanks for the update. It's already been useful. I have a few thousand USAir miles, not a lot but still enough to not let lapse. I've been making the occasional purchase of gifts through their site to keep them alive. After reading the article and the miles merge date I just bought my mother's gift through the AA site instead, the better to see them added to the bigger pile sooner. Thanks!
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United's Award Chart: Premium Award Cost Goes UP

Paul Heymont ·
United Airlines has released a new award chart that bumps up the miles required for nearly all business and first-class awards, and (for the first time) makes flights on its Star Alliance partner airlines cost more miles than on United. Details HERE
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Europe set to OK SkyTeam hook-up for Paris

Paul Heymont ·
It looks like European regulators are set to approve a joint operation covering routes between the U.S., Paris, Rome and Amsterdam. The arrangement, under scrutiny for three years, would let the airlines, all SkyTeam members, plan schedules together...
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Are airline alliances costing you $$$ on flights to Europe?

Paul Heymont ·
According to consumer advocate Chris Elliott, writing in Fortune, the answer is a big yes. He pinpoints the growth of the big three alliances (SkyTeam, OneWorld and Star), and the agreements among alliance members to coordinate services between the...
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Panama's Copa adds SFO, links to 55 Latin America cities

Paul Heymont ·
Panama's Copa Airlines is adding San Francisco as its 12th U.S. destination, connecting California to its "Hub of the Americas" in Panama City. From there, Copa's 737s fly to 55 cities in Latin America.   San Francisco is a strategic move; Copa...
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EU Commission gives OK for Aer Lingus takeover

Paul Heymont ·
The European Commission today cleared the last barrier for the sale of Ireland's Aer Lingus to British Airways' holding company, International Airlines Group. The deal already had approval from Aer Lingus's board, the Irish government and Ryanair,...
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"New AA" Details Dates for Alliance, Loyalty Change-overs

Paul Heymont ·
Now the American Airlines and USAir have closed their merger, they've begun rolling out more details of the merger planning. Scott Kirby, who was USAir president and is now president of AA, announced dates for joint operations, for aligning loyalty...
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Qatar Airways Joins OneWorld and AAdvantage

Paul Heymont ·
http://www.frequentflier.com/blog/american-and-qatar-are-now-frequent-flyer-partners/
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Star Alliance: Round-the-World in a Fare Daze

Paul Heymont ·
Well, not really, but Star Alliance (includes United, Lufthansa and more) has revised its pricing for round-the-world fares so that there are now 14 different categories, spread over three classes. The big news is that for economy (7 fares) there are...
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Star Alliance creates themed Round-the-World fares

Paul Heymont ·
Star Alliance, whose members include United, Lufthansa, Air Canada and more, has created a series of themed Round-the-World fares.
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United Feels Mideast Heat, May Buy 777x

Paul Heymont ·
United has said it's thinking about the Boeing 777x, a 400+ seat version of Boeing's biggest 2-engine plane to compete with Mideast-based airlines that just ordered 225 of them. United's Star Alliance partner, Lufthansa, is also buying some. ...
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Star Alliance adds junior partners to extend its network

Paul Heymont ·
Star Alliance has begun to extend its reach to more places by inviting a select group of smaller and low-cost carriers to its network as "Connecting Partners." First to join is South Africa's Mango Airlines. The carriers to be added are "friends of the family" that already work with Star Alliance's 28 existing members. In many cases, they may even be subsidiaries of Star carriers, such as Lufthansa's Germanwings. Star Alliance CEO Mark Schwab's statement spoke of convergence between the...
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Value Alliance unites 8 Asian low-cost carriers

Paul Heymont ·
Eight Asian low-cost airlines are hooking up their booking and ticketing to make it easier for travelers to choose them over growing rivals.
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Delta, Virgin Atlantic swap flights and add cities

Paul Heymont ·
Virgin will take over Delta's Portland to London service, while Delta shifts its plane to open a new Portland to UK service.
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United, Azul link up for Brazil code shares

Paul Heymont ·
Azul, Brazil's #3 airline is #1 in news these days. The airline, controlled by founder David Neeleman, also the founder of JetBlue, has just inked a major code-share agreement with United Airlines, whose presence in Brazil has been weak compared to its competitors.
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Air India Joins Star Alliance

Paul Heymont ·
Air India has become the first airline in India to join one of the global alliances, giving it connections to many more cities and routes through partners such as Lufthansa and United. That's good news for Air India, which has been criticized recently...
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United, Air China sign up new codeshares

Paul Heymont ·
  United Airlines and Air China, both Star Alliance members, have expanded their codeshare agreement, opening up 22 new routes to codesharing.  
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