Crazy Business Class Fare War, Delta Honoring Amtrak Tickets and 50,000 Point Southwest Credit Card Bonuses Are Back
Did you get in on the crazy business class fare war to Hong Kong yesterday? Nothing like 50% off the normal fares with lots of dates available.
British Airways (with Middle Eastern carrier Qatar owning a minority share) takes a bit of a pot shot at their alliance partner American and the other US carriers crying over a little sand in their eyes from the Middle East guys.
With United’s new website comes an update to Wandering Aramean’s tool to search for fares eligible for GPUs (Global Premier Upgrades). It makes things much easier to figure out which fares qualify for GPU usage. I’m glad to see Seth referring to it as the “W fare lottery”. I’ve always had an issue with the fare restrictions that hamper the usage of these upgrades on United flights. I understand others have had better luck than me using them, but paying more for a chance at an upgrade just doesn’t sit well with me.
In case you missed it, I wrote yesterday about the lunacy behind the idea of regulation the airline industry again. It seems I’m not the only one that feels that way. Brian Cohen takes the argument further on The Gate, discussing the likelihood of a disruption in the travel industry if the airlines tried to squeeze customers too hard. It’s worth the read.
Traveling with kids can be a difficult proposition for many reasons. Not the least of which is trying to get seats together so you can be there for your kids when they need. Le Chic Geek catches wind of Delta putting up significant hurdles for a parent to sit with his 4-year old daughter. I know this happens, and it sucks. I get that the airlines want to monetize those seats, but this takes it a bit far. There was probably an apathetic employee or two that lead to this specific issue, but the push to monetize everything not nailed down creates the environment in the first place.
On the flip side, according to MJ on Travel, Delta is offering free flights for passengers who purchased tickets to travel Amtrak along the Northeast corridor and can’t use them because of the service disruptions due to the tragic derailment near Philadelphia.
Remember those premium fare bonuses American rolled out earlier this year for elite travelers? Well, they’re expanding it to non-elite travelers as well. If you got in on the crazy HKG fares from above, you could have scored extra miles for I class fares regardless of your status. So, if you’re an elite with another airline, give American a look for those bonuses. Just don’t take my upgrade!
The 50,000 point sign-up bonuses are back for the Southwest credit cards. Deals We Like notes that it’s all the credit cards right now. As a reminder, the big (hidden) benefit to these sign-up bonuses is the ability to score a companion pass pretty easily. That’s a free ticket every time you book a ticket on Southwest for at least a year. And, not just revenue tickets, but award tickets as well. You can really crank the value out of the companion pass. Two cards with the sign-up bonuses will leave you only a few thousand points from that goal.
The post Crazy Business Class Fare War, Delta Honoring Amtrak Tickets and 50,000 Point Southwest Credit Card Bonuses Are Back was published first on Pizza In Motion.
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