Week in Review: Free Delta Flights, American Premium Bonus and More
Here’s a 35,000 foot view of travel news from around the Internet and a recap of my weekly posts…
News Around the Interwebs
It’s been a somewhat slow week in the points and miles world, but here were some of the highlights of the week that I saw pass through:
Delta Free Flights for Displaced DC-NYC passengers
After various reports of $2300+ airfare from DC to New York, MJ on Travel reports that Delta Airlines has come out to honor Amtrak customers displaced by the effects of the May 12th Derailment of Amtrak Train 188.
American Premium Fare Bonuses
This week, American Airlines announced further Elite Qualifying Points (EQP) and Redeemable Miles (RDM) bonuses for flights in premium cabins. These major bonuses now apply to all passengers and not just American’s Elite passengers, as they did beforehand.
“US 3” vs “ME 3” — War of Words
It’s been a back-and-forth week of blows in the War of Words between the CEOs of the “US 3” – Delta, United and American Airlines and the CEOs of the “ME 3” — the Middle East 3 triumvirate of Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways.
This centers around the US carriers’ complaints that the Middle East carriers are benefiting from government “subsidies” and therefore are impossible to compete with. As a result, the US carriers are lobbying for the US government to limit the routes that these carriers are allowed to fly into the US. This effectively would create less competition and would be bad for the consumer.
In response, the Middle East carriers have called out the US carriers, pointing out that they have been repeatedly bailed out and in a way — subsidized by the US government and taxpayer.
Gary from View from the Wing has published a series of very informative posts that highlight this ridiculous War of Words.
United Announces B787-9
As I reported last week, United has announced the newest intonational destinations of its B787-9 from Houston.
Department of Transportation’s interim ruling on “Mistake Fares”
A Week in Review from Points, Planes and Passports
It’s been a busy week as the featured Prior2Boarding blogger this week on BoardingArea. It was a heavy week as I detailed a trip report of my recent Weekend in Southeast Asia — a trip to Hong Kong and Singapore.
- Introduction
- American Business Class New York-JFK to Los Angeles
- American Business Class Dallas / Ft. Worth to Hong Kong
- A Layover in Hong Kong and a Quick Flight to Singapore
- Two Nights in Singapore at the Grand Hyatt Singapore
- Cathay Pacific Premium Economy Singapore to Hong Kong
- American Business Class Hong Kong to Dallas / Ft. Worth
I also wrote a couple how-to guides:
- How to Book a Flight on Ryanair and Avoid Hidden Fees
- How to Book a Flight to Tahiti with American Miles
News stories from the last week that I wrote about include:
And of course, there was another installment of my #TBT Throwback Thursday trip report about my Korean Air First Class flight from Seoul to Los Angeles from 2012.
Follow Points, Planes and Passports
If you like what you’re read, please continue to follow me over at Prior2Boarding.com. Starting tomorrow, my articles will not be on BoardingArea, but over at Prior2Boarding. Of course, feel free to subscribe to e-mail updates, or follow me on Twitter (look on the righthand menu on this blog!)
A taste of some upcoming Trip Reports…
- A trip to Ireland and London, including…
- A economy (gasp!) class flight on US Airways from Philadelphia to Dublin
- Three days in County Kerry, Ireland including Killarney, the Ring of Kerry and Dingle
- A review of a flight on Ryanair from Kerry to London-Stansted
- Three Days in London – Some sightseeing highlights
- Another economy class flight — American Airlines from Dublin to New York-JFK
It’s been a fun week — here’s to a great week before a long weekend here in the States!
