News from Milepoint this morning about disturbing changes from American Airlines. They have gutted their year-old choice fare bundles in a fairly substantial way. There’s been no official announcement, just a quiet change to the terms & conditions. Here’s what we’re seeing so far: Choice Essential: American appears to have removed the change fee waiver from this offering, according to their website. Now, $58 buys you a free checked bag, group 1 boarding and the ability to earn AAdvantage miles. That last statement scares me a bit as it positions […]
Fare
Tonight Only. Fare Sale. Virgin America Started, Others Matching
Virgin America launched a one-day fare sale that’s only valid until midnight today. I checked a few fares from my home city of Washington-Dulles. I was able to confirm $146 one-way fares to LAX and $156 one-way to San Francisco. Looks like most of the fares run from the beginning of November through the end of February next year. So, if you’re looking to get a head start on re-qualification, here’s a good start.
Keep An Eye Out For Airline Website Glitches. Some Hurt, Some Help.
There’s no doubt in my mind that airlines are a very complicated business to run. Planes, crews, fares and a million other details to manage. And yet, it really does surprise me that there are still some pretty blatant shortcomings in the reliability of the technology the airlines use on a daily basis. It’s always best to keep an eye out for these glitches, since they can both help and hurt, sometimes in significant ways. After all, it was just a few days ago United Airlines was selling free tickets […]
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 […]
American’s New Choice Plus Fares More Of A Choose Your Own Adventure?
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 […]
