Travel&Vacation

When American announced, on June 20, that the next day it would begin collecting a $5 fee for issuing most AAdvantage award tickets, it seemed like the beginning of the end for airline mileage programs. It wasn’t the dollar amount—$5 isn’t a deal-breaker for most travelers. What was shocking and dispiriting was that American had blithely compromised one of the core principles of loyalty programs. As I opined at the time, “The new policy marks the end of widely available, truly free travel awards at the industry’s first and largest mileage program.” Here we are, four months later, and the fee has unaccountably disappeared. The original announcement on American’s website now reads: “We’re sorry, but the page you have requested could not be found. It may have expired.” The charge is no
(Read the full post about ‘The Mysterious Case of American’s Disappearing Frequent Flyer Fee’…)

Today, American began a gradual rollout of its new PriorityAAccess, a package of enhanced airport services offered to first- and business-class customers; elite members of American’s mileage program; elite members of the oneworld alliance; AAirpass customers; and passengers traveling on full-fare coach tickets. The perks include priority check-in, dedicated security lanes at some airports, and priority boarding lanes at the gate. Sounds good, right? Or at least neutral. After all, travelers paying more for their tickets deserve to get more. You don’t expect a first-class meal or a fully reclining seat when flying on a $169 coach ticket. And the business case is obvious. Quoted in American’s news release, Mark Mitchell, the carrier’s managing director – customer experience, puts it
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American dominated yesterday’s news cycle, drawing widespread media coverage of its newly announced fee for checked bags. While the bag fee garnered the bulk of the attention, it was just one of a number of measures alluded to in American’s announcement. And the larger picture depicted by American’s latest plan is a troubling one, both for American and for the industry overall. The centerpiece of American’s road map for surviving rising fuel costs and declining demand is an 11 to 12 percent cutback in flights in the fourth quarter of 2008. Double-digit capacity cuts from an airline which for years has taken undisguised pride in its position as the world’s largest airline? That’s huge. It suggests an unexpected level of desperation and financial vulnerability on American’s part. In
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Wondering where to go with all those frequent flyer miles? If you know where to look, the airlines will help you choose flights with seats readily accessible to mileage program members. In response to the outcry from mileage collectors frustrated by the lack of available award seats, the airlines are attempting to steer program members in the direction of flights that are good prospects for would-be award travelers, both by listing destinations with plenty of empty seats (hot spots) and by discounting award flights to lower-demand destinations. Some of these flights are running just half-full for good reason: they’re dogs. Winnipeg in February? Thanks, but no thanks. But among the throwaways are some real gems. Following are five award destinations the airlines are promoting for the
(Read the full post about ‘Top five award destinations for May’…)

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(Read the full post about ‘After meltdown, American looks to win back frequent flyers’…)

DALLAS, Texas (AP) — American Airlines canceled a handful of flights on Friday as it finished up its inspections of wiring bundles on some of its planes, while Delta Air Lines resumed normal service after completing its inspections. Four American flights were canceled out of the airline’s nearly 2,300 daily flights, American spokesman Tim Wagner said early Friday morning. He said that six planes were still being worked on. "That’s pretty much as close to normal as you can get," Wagner said. Of the 300 aircraft inspected, 151 needed to be modified, he said. Delta Air Lines Inc. spokeswoman Betsy Talton said the airline completed its inspections Thursday night and planned no cancellations for Friday. "We will be running a normal schedule," she said. Delta said
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American is promoting its latest mileage offer as a buy-one-get-one-free proposition. And with some qualification, that’s accurate. The offer: Through November 15, AAdvantage members can earn 25,000 bonus miles for completing two round-trip flights on eligible routes. Since 25,000 miles will net you a free round-trip, the offer indeed amounts to getting one free after two paid trips. The qualifier, of course, is “eligible routes.” In this case, the list (printed in full on American’s website) includes about 20 routes, 11 of which are to/from Chicago. Still, for anyone who might be flying the applicable routes anyway, this is a lucrative offer. Be sure to register. The bonus may be earned twice, for a maximum of 50,000 bonus miles.

WASHINGTON — Frequent and lengthy flight delays are increasing and worsening, putting 2007 on track to break records set in 2000, according to a Department of Transportation inspector general report. Yet airlines’ plans to address delays are limited, so a national task force should reconvene to develop and coordinate contingency plans with local airports and the Federal Aviation Administration, the report says. In 2001, airlines agreed to establish the task force made up of representatives from airlines, airports and the FAA, the report said. But the 9/11 attacks caused the task force to turn most of its attention to security issues. The report urged the DOT to "take a more active role in overseeing customer-service issues to ensure that airlines comply with their policies
(Read the full post about ‘Report: 2007 set to be worst year for air delays’…)

I’m cheap. That’s not to say that I won’t pay top dollar for the best. I will, sometimes. But not until I’m convinced that I’m getting full value for my hard-earned dollars. With their high annual fees and percentage rates on unpaid balances, credit cards come in for special scrutiny. All of which is to say that the pricier charge cards from American Express—the Platinum and Centurion cards—have always seemed the very epitome of conspicuous consumption. And irrational consumption at that. With an annual fee of $450, the Platinum card appears intent on establishing a record for high-priced cards. But then along comes the Centurion card, with a yearly price “around” $2,500, making the Platinum card look downright cheap. (American Express dissembles when asked to quote the
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American Airlines’ new website design is the biggest improvement in online frequent flyer booking I’ve seen in quite a while. Although it doesn’t answer all of the questions you might have, it takes much of the guesswork and hassle out of finding and booking frequent flyer seats. Let’s hope the other big airlines copy it ASAP.

For a look, log onto American’s website, click on “AAdvantage,” next on “redeem miles,” then enter your trip details and click “dates flexible.” The site then displays two 29-day calendars, centered on the departure and return dates you entered, and including 14 days before and after your selected dates. The display highlights all the dates on which frequent flyer seats are available.

The default display shows availability for the low-mileage “MileSaver” award
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