Choice Plus

Update: American Airlines Variable Choice Plus Pricing A Feature, Not A Bug

March 29, 2013By Edward Pizzarello23 Comments

I have to admit, I was pretty pleased with the original announcement that American Airlines was creating bundled pricing that included change fees at a lower apparent cost. Things got a little better when American also announced they were expanding the timeframe you could request a same day change to your flight. And, then things started to get a bit screwy. It started with just one flight I couldn’t get to price right with Choice Plus as an add-on. But, then I did a bit more digging and found out […]

American’s New Choice Plus Fares More Of A Choose Your Own Adventure?

March 19, 2013By Edward Pizzarello6 Comments

I’m a guy who changes his tickets frequently enough that I incur my fair share of change fees (and then some). Plans change, that’s just the reality of a business traveler. That’s why I was pretty pumped when American announced their new Choice Plus (and Choice Essential, to a lesser degree) fare options. Priority boarding isn’t something I need, nor extra checked baggage, but change fees add up quickly. At $150 to change, plus the possibility of a $75 same-day change on top of that, there was a ton of […]

Talking Travel With Summer Hull And Richard Kerr!

Summer Hull and Richard Kerr are two of my favorite people in travel. They’re both family travelers, like me. But, they’re also wickedly smart about so much in the world of travel. And, they both said they had some time to podcast this week. That usually means comedy, great advice and trouble all rolled into one. This episode was no exception! There’s talk about year-end status runs, both in airline and hotels. And, there’s all the normal travel craziness to discuss, including a hotel program you’re probably not paying attention […]

A Delta Crew Of All Women Flew 120 Girls To NASA Headquarters

A crew of experienced female pilots, cabin crew and ground crew took a group of teenage girls to NASA headquarters to drive home the point that women are poised take a larger share of jobs in aviation.

United Airlines Making Bold Changes To How You Earn Status

United Airlines is going all-in on money, as in you’ll earn elite status based almost entirely on how much you pay the airline. The amount you’ll need to spend is going up again. And, if you can’t hit the minimum number of flights, you’ll have to spend even more. There is some good news for international travelers. For everyone else, this is going to be a tough pill to swallow.

Travel News Tuesday: Big Turn For Uber & Lyft At LAX And Hilton Raising Rates

We’re talking bonus points for Lyft, Hilton raising rates, big changes for Uber and Lyft at LAX, bonus Marriott points at restaurants and a giveaway!

Dear United, It Shouldn’t Be This Hard

Airline employees have unions to band together and discuss their grievances with an airline. Customers don’t have the same ability to band together two let an airline know something disappoints them. A recent experience on a United flight makes me wonder what would happen if customers banded together to air their grievances with the airline.

I Flew Frontier, Saved $400 And Didn’t Die. My Frontier Airlines Review

Those low-cost carriers always have very appetizing fare sales. Who wouldn’t want to pay $20 to fly somewhere? But, what does $20 really buy you? I found out exactly what Frontier does (and doesn’t) offer customers on my first flight with them recently.

How To Use New Metro Silver Line To Get Between Dulles and Reagan National Airports

People talk about how bad the traffic is in places like Los Angeles with plenty of adjectives. And, it is quite bad. But, the traffic in DC is what I refer to as “stealthy bad”. It doesn’t get the same press that LA traffic does, but a trip that normally takes an hour can easily turn into a 3-hour ordeal. With visiting dignitaries, protests and construction as variables, weather can also wreak havoc on a system that consistently backs up during rush hour. For those of us that live in […]

A Summary Of United Airlines Global Services Benefits

As travel has gotten more stressful the benefits of elite status are even more valuable. In some cases, what used to be free for everyone is now only free for those customers that fly most frequently. I value my American Airlines Executive Platinum status more highly than any status I’ve earned, including 1K service with United Airlines. However, Global Services is another matter. For those not aware, Global Services is an invitation-only status level that United bestows on their best customers. What defines a best customer? Well, United doesn’t list […]

Update: American Airlines Variable Choice Plus Pricing A Feature, Not A Bug

Is Foursquare Dead?

Venture Beat doesn’t think so, and I’m not 100% sure they’re wrong. But, before I discuss the article, a little background on why someone allergic to social media like me became a Foursquare nut. A few years ago, a company called TopGuest came up with this concept where you could earn airline miles and hotel points for checking in at various places on Foursquare. I can’t say I thought it was a terribly good business model, but they convinced a bunch of hotel chains to hand out miles for this. […]