Family Pooling

Plenty of Details: Air Canada Launches A New Loyalty Program With A Familiar Name

August 11, 2020By Edward Pizzarello7 Comments

Allow me to nerd out for just a minute. I’ve been a hardcore points and miles nerd for over 20 years. Rarely in that time have we seen a completely new loyalty program emerge. Even more rare is to see a new loyalty program from a large, established airline. Southwest Airlines’ Rapid Rewards program is the one that immediately comes to mind when I think of big airlines with new programs. Fast forward to today, and we have the reimagined Aeroplan program. Many moons ago, Air Canada spun off Aeroplan. […]

JetBlue Makes Family Pooling Even Better!

August 28, 2018By Edward Pizzarello1 Comment

JetBlue is improving family pooling so you can get even more mileage out of your TrueBlue points.

Frontier Airlines Has A New Elite Program! And, A New Credit Card To Boot!

June 27, 2018By Edward Pizzarello13 Comments

Frontier Airlines has a new elite program and a new credit card that offer a host of new benefits. From free changes and refunds to complimentary carry-on and checked bags, there’s lots to like. Oh, did I mention that the credit card makes it much easier to earn elite status?

Why It’s Time To Start Lowering Hotel Award Redemption Rates (Probably Not Why You Think)

As 2020 starts to wind down, there have been plenty of announcements from airline and hotel loyalty programs designed to keep members engaged. The first salvo revolved around reducing the requirements needed to earn elite status. This was at a time when it seemed like we might get back to some level or normalcy fairly quickly. Heck, at that point I thought I’d be home for 3 or 4 weeks and then back on the road. Little did I know then that I probably wouldn’t get on another plane this […]

Hyatt Announces (Mostly) Customer-Friendly Extensions And Changes

Hyatt has announced some more changes and extensions to key benefits that should benefit most travelers. In light of the virtually unprecedented financial impact of COVID-19, travel brands have had to quickly adapt. Back in April, Hyatt moved to extend elite status and other key benefits such as free night awards. At that point, nobody was really sure when travel would rebound. The big chains made the decision to wave the white flag on getting loyalty members to qualify for status in 2020. Now, Hyatt is tweaking a few things […]

Uber Will Be Allowed To Continue Operating In London

Uber will allowed to continue operating in London. For years, Uber has tussled with Transport for London, the major regulatory agency for car transport in the UK city. Uber has been on a series of shorter extensions of their license. They’ve been seeking a 5-year license in London. Back in November of last year they had lost a ruling to extend their license, though they filed an appeal. Now, they’ve won that appeal. Uber Wins Transport For London Appeal Uber announced this morning that it had been granted an 18-month […]

Even If You’re Not A Disney Fan, This Stat May Surprise You

Disney World is one of those places that most people love or hate. I happen to fall into the former category, but even if you fall into the latter, or don’t spend time focusing on Disney, a recent statistic I heard really surprises me. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic over the past 6 months, travel is down significantly. Disneyland in California hasn’t even reopened yet, though Disney World has been open for a few months now. For the past 20 years, Disney has had their own timeshare program, dubbed Disney Vacation […]

My First Travel In 5 Months Shows Why Details Matter Right Now

I boarded a plane in New Zealand in early March, bound for the United States. While I sat on the tarmac the US announced they were closing the borders to pretty much all travelers arriving from Europe. At the time, it seemed surreal. When I landed in the US, I spent a few days working in Las Vegas. While I was there, school was cancelled for two weeks at our home in Virginia. I finished my work and headed home. At the time, I expected to stay home for a […]

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. […]

Seth Miller - October 14, 2020:
The idea of value is an important one. Buy if people simply [...]

Seth Miller - October 14, 2020:
Hotel rates are so cheap right now that "investing" is status or [...]

Christian - October 14, 2020:
Well said.

Edward Pizzarello - October 14, 2020:
I am a big fan of Hyatt's latest promotions, although they're not [...]

Quo Vadis? - October 14, 2020:
With the (Covid-caused) shift to working from home, the need for both [...]