Buy elite miles on Delta, cheat your way to elite status

by Grant Martin on

The trump card when going toe to toe with the airline industry has always been elite status. Once you’re silver or gold or whatever color is associated with frequent travel, many of the airline fees go away, upgrades start to sneak out of the woodwork and travel becomes slightly less miserable. That’s why many people carefully plan their annual travel to make sure that they reach a special status, sometimes even going as far as taking a mileage run to earn the right volume.

The problem with earning elite miles at the last minute, though, was that it was usually a waste of time, space and carbon. But airlines wouldn’t sell elite miles because then non-frequent travelers could game the system.

This week, Delta has partially fixed that conundrum by actually selling elite miles. They won’t sell you many, but if you need a few extra miles to make it to the next tier then it can be actually worth your time.

2,500 points, for example, will cost a traveler $295. But once that tier has been reached, a traveler can expect a whole host of fees waived plus free upgrades, preferred seats and priority checkin. For that price, it may be worth the investment.

You can learn more about Delta’s plan to sell miles over at their site. You can buy up to 10,000 miles.

[flickr image via sacra-moneta]

American Airlines food killed passenger, claims lawsuit

by Chris Owen on

As if filing for bankruptcy protection was not enough to fill American Airlines plate, now a passenger is claiming the troubled airline killed her husband.

According to the lawsuit, Raquel and Othon Cortes were on a flight to their home in Miami and had just completed the first leg of their journey, a flight from Barcelona to New York, when dinner was served. Othon chose the chicken, Raquel chose something else, reports NewTimes.

  On the ground at JFK it was apparent that something was wrong with Othon. He became pale, had stomach cramps and was suddenly very thirsty, symptoms consistent with food poisoning, in a typical time-frame.

Raquel told NewTimes that as they boarded the flight from JFK to Miami, her husband’s illness was “expressed and obvious” to AA staff. Boarding anyway, things took a turn for the worse quickly with Othon presenting nausea and shortness of breath which preceded a heart attack. He was pronounced dead in Norfolk, Virginia where the plane made an emergency landing, albeit too late.

Raquel and Sandra Cortes, Othon’s daughter have filed suit against American Airlines and Sky Chefs, the airplane catering company that apparently prepared the meal.

The lawsuit, reported to be in excess of $1 million by Tourism and Aviation has four points:

  • The chicken was poisoned.
  • AA was negligent for even allowing Othon to board the flight in the first place.
  • AA failed to provide medical attention.
  • AA waited too long for an emergency landing.

Flickr photo by Andrew Morrell Photography

American Airlines is bankrupt! Now what?

by Grant Martin on

By now you’ve probably heard that AMR, the parent company of American Airlines is bankrupt, making them among the last of the legacy carriers to finally concede to ultra-competitive pricing and sky high oil prices. It’s a sad day for stockholders, but like many of the fallen giants they’ll pick themselves up, dust off and continue to operate — albeit a little bit leaner.

This is the second airline that I’ve followed into bankruptcy. My first, Northwest was back when I was living in Ann Arbor and when I still had unbridled love for all things airplane and travel. That enthusiasm helped me ride through the hard times at Northwest and into the Delta years, and over the course of the transition I even learned a few things in the process. Here’s a few things that current and potential passengers can expect:

American knows that their customers especially their frequent fliers are the most important part of the company. Without that revenue they can’t expect to survive. So they wont do anything to broadly disrupt operations or disturb the current mileage base. They may make small changes to the way that miles can be redeemed, but they wouldn’t dare touch the miles that we currently have.

Similarly, none of the currently booked flights are in danger. If any routes are impacted during the reorganization, American will thoroughly reaccommmodate any passenger and they’ll still make it from point A to point B. The airline will also continue to competitively price flights and offer normal service. Providing anything less brings the risk of disturbing the loyal passenger base and losing valuable business.

As with the other airline bankruptices, most of the changes to American will be behind the scenes. Employee benefits and pay will suffer, some routes will shrink and growth will surely stagnate. But American has big plans for growth down the road. This year they made the largest aircraft order in history and they’ve long been preening Tom Horton to take over as CEO. Bankruptcy is just one more move in this chess game of the airline industry.

[Flickr image via Fly For Fun]

Gilt City lets you name your own Virgin America plane and take your friends on a trip – for just $60,000

by McLean Robbins on

In search of a luxe holiday gift for someone special? You don’t have to shell out for the G5.

For just $60,000 this Cyber Monday, Gilt City has partnered with Virgin America to offer a lucky person the chance to name a Virgin plane (permanently!) and enjoy a round-trip flight for the purchaser and 145 of their closest friends. You can take any roundtrip nonstop domestic flight (Las Vegas, Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago, New York and DC are on the list) on your own schedule, plus enjoy WiFi, a complimentary checked bag each and extra Gilt City amenities during the flight.

It’s a pretty sweet deal, coming out to just $411 per person, which is about the price of a roundtrip flight anyway. Even better? You can depart and leave whenever you wish, so long as you abide by the “four months in advance” reservation requirement.

Just one catch – you need to sign up for a free Gilt City membership to buy. But don’t worry, we’ve got an invite code for you.

Black Friday travel on sale from hotels to cruises

by Chris Owen on

Between Black Friday and Cyber Monday travel companies are going all out with some outstanding bargains on everything from airfare to cruise vacations. It’s a time when sellers of travel hope they can get us to buy big, once, and take care of the whole family with a single purchase.

One big travel gift for the whole family is a great choice for people who don’t like to shop very much and like to travel or know people they need a gift for who do. Travel gifts don’t have to be big either, a travel gift card is a good choice for backpackers, road warriors and everyone in-between. Still, Black Friday deals are up first so lets take a look at some of the best available, Friday only.

Travelocity has savings of up to 50% off with offers that might include third night free and 40-50% off at hotels in Hawaii, Chicago, and other cities. They even have a special Black Friday Booking site.

Yuupon is offering hourly, travel deals where shoppers get sale items that can include up to 90% off airline, gas and restaurant gift cards and Vegas shows and Florida tours are also included. Yuupon also has a special Black Friday website set up.

Hotels from Red Roof Inn to Intercontinental have special offers too. Follow Intercontinental Hotel Group on Twitter for special deals announced on Friday. Orbitz lets Friday buyer save up to 50% for stays at popular hotels in Orlando, Las Vegas, San Diego, New York, Miami and Hawaii. The company also promises similar savings at international locations, including Paris; Puerto Vallarta and Cancun, Mexico;and London.

“Discounts are likely to slip away faster than the parking spaces at the mall,” Orbitz told CNN.

To get the deals, visit The Orbitz Cybersale web site. The site goes live 12:01 a.m. Friday and closes 11:59 p.m. Monday.

Princess Cruises’ first-ever After Thanksgiving Alaska Sale has travelers dreaming of savings on visiting the splendor of Alaska’s wilderness.

Running from November 25-29, the sale offers passengers up to $1,000 in savings and up to a $50 onboard credit on one of the cruise line‘s popular cruisetour vacations, which combine a Gulf of Alaska cruise with rail travel to Denali and stays at Princess’ exclusive wilderness lodges. For those who opt to see Alaska by sea only, the sale provides a free balcony upgrade and up to $100 onboard credit.

Norwegian Cruise Line will offer reduced deposits (50% off) and up to $250 in onboard credit per stateroom. The sale begins on Wednesday, Nov. 23 and runs until Nov. 29. All sailings are included in this sale with the exception of 1 & 2 day sailings and those on the Norwegian Breakaway.

Costa Cruises, Europe‘s largest cruise line, is planning a Black Friday sale that will feature its lowest rates of the season on select Mediterranean and Caribbean sailings. Cruise-only fares for 11-night eastern Mediterranean departures will start at $599 per person based on double occupancy while seven- to 11-night western Mediterranean cruises will begin at $399.

“For the third consecutive year Costa is offering Black Friday fares because they have proven to be very popular with consumers,” said Maurice Zarmati, president and CEO of Costa Cruises North America. “At these exclusive rates travelers can book one of our Italian-style cruise vacations at an incredible value.”

Costa Concordia seven-night and Costa Serena 11-night Mediterranean sailings feature a $100 per person on-board credit for balcony cabins plus huge savings on Caribbean 10-night cruises. Cruise-only fares for 11-night eastern Mediterranean departures start at $599, and seven- to 11-night western Med cruises begin at just $399. The 10-night Caribbean cruises begin at just $699.

Royal Caribbean also has a special offer, extending their usual “Tuesday Only” sale to begin on Friday and run through the weekend. See your travel professional for details and pricing on this sales event too.