Complimentary Upgrade

Is Everything Back To “Normal” With American Airlines Elite Upgrades?

February 3, 2017By Edward Pizzarello16 Comments

There are reports that American Airlines fixed a system glitch that was preventing elite members from receiving complimentary upgrades before they reached the airport. But, is it really fixed?

Earn 3X Hyatt Points On Las Vegas Stays!

World of Hyatt is offering 3X points on Las Vegas hotel stays through the end of 2019 at properties like Bellagio, MGM Grand, Park MGM, Vdara and Aria.

UGH: Blister Pops On Airplane Splashing Blood On Fellow Passengers

I mean, really? If there weren’t pictures I would guess this wasn’t even real. Well, no. I know better. Anything can, and will, happen when traveling.

Monthly Airplane Wi-Fi Reliability Report Card: August 2019

August was a pretty successful month as far as airplane wi-fi reliability was concerned. Given how bad United Wi-Fi has been, I’ll wait to claim this a win.

My Interview With American Airlines Senior VP Kurt Stache

Just over a week ago I had the chance to participate in the retirement of the American Airlines MD-80 at a celebration in Roswell, New Mexico. Taxiing past the rows of retired airplanes, we arrived at a hangar where we got to hear stories from team members on the history of the Mad Dog as well as crawl on some MD-80s ourselves. When I got invited to the event, I asked American Airlines if they could make time with an executive to talk about the MD-80 retirement and what the […]

Plenty of Hyatt Promotions To Talk About!

We discuss all the current Hyatt promotions, including triple points, double stay credit and a way to save $250 at Ziva and Zilara.

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

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 […]

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. […]