Get more mileage out of your miles: upgrade

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Before you book your next award ticket, think about what you’re giving the airline. Yeah, you read that correctly; think about what you are giving them. In the Wall Street Journal, that font of all things financial, the secret to screwing the airlines a little harder is revealed: upgrade.

Apparently, the most common use of miles is the bland, vanilla domestic coach ticket. That’s it. While you delight in your free ticket and lament the absence of a meal, the airline truly gives you as little as possible. You get a whopping 1.2 center per mile for the basic domestic coach flight. At 30,000 miles (the average price of an upgrade in miles), which is usually the price of admission, that translates to around $360. Depending on where you want to go (and when), your $300 in “free” travel could be more expensive than just buying the ticket.

According to “experts” cited by WSJ, you can get four times as much bang for your virtual buck by upgrading instead of just cashing in. shell out the cash for the coach ticket, the Journal advises, and use those miles for the upgrade. You could pick up a few thousand dollars in value … and that’s just on the domestic side. Fly overseas, and you could shaft the airlines to the tune of almost 8 cents per mile!

Of course, the party isn’t going to last forever. Airlines are beginning to add “co-pay” fees to upgrade awards. United is planning to pull the trigger on this starting July 1, 2009. You already take it on the chin with American, which can slam you for $700 to upgrade a discount coach seat on a flight to Europe. On Continental, it can reach $1,000. Nonetheless, upgrading still delivers the most value per mile.

And, there’s one more factor that tips in your favor. If you haven’t noticed, we’re in the midst of a nasty economic climate. All those large, faceless corporations are forcing more of their employees – even those more accustomed to having a bit more legroom – to ride with the proletarians. That means more seats will be open up front, and you can cash in.

More baggage scale woes. Can luggage suffer from water weight gain?

by Jamie Rhein on

On my last airplane trip, my daughter and I took only carry-ons so baggage scales were a minor thought. Not long ago I wrote a post on the problems with scale calibration at American Airlines check-in counters.

Jeffrey chased that post with another scale problem missive. This time the scale culprit was discovered at the Tuscon International Airport. After reading this Jaunted post about what one honeymooning couple discovered in the Caribbean, it does appear one might be a bit suspicious if your baggage has had a weight gain.

Although people may retain water on different days–or at different hours of the day, which might explain weight fluctuation, I’m not sure that luggage does. Or does it?

As this Jaunted story goes, upon arriving at the St. Lucia Hewanorra International Airport to hoist their luggage on the scale as one of the steps to departing from a honeymoon in paradise (I hope it was paradise), the couple discovered their bag must have been eating while they weren’t looking. How else can you explain 15 pounds? Even water weight gain doesn’t fluctuate like that.

Luggage weighs more than you think it should? Maybe it’s the scale if you’re at JFK

by Jamie Rhein on

Let’s say you’ve weighed that piece of packed luggage at home. You’ve checked the weight several times. You are satisfied that the weight is not over what the airline will allow for no extra charge. You know that you have a terrific scale that doesn’t lie.

Feeling confident in the weight that you are now hoisting onto the scale at the airline check-in counter, your eyes bug out because your luggage is two pounds over. “How can that be?” you ask the person who is getting ready to write you up the bill for overweight baggage.

If you are at an American Airlines ticket counter at JFK, the difference between your luggage weight at home and your luggage weight at the airport may be caused by the scale at JFK. According to this NY Post article, the American Airlines’ scales are sometimes not calibrated correctly. In one instance, a check of scales at both La Guardia and JFK found that 102 scales out of 810 were not accurate.

When a scale is not accurate, it’s supposed to be taken out of commission until it is fixed. Although airlines aim to comply with this rule, sometimes faulty scales are still used. For example, of the 120 that were not working correctly, 10 were still being used a couple days later.

From what I gather after reading the article, the scale problem is mainly with American Airlines. The airlines does claim to spend mega bucks on scale calibration.

If you see a red sticker on a scale that says ‘condemned’ and the scale is still being used, let the Department of Consumer Affairs know about it. With American Airlines charging the heftiest fee for overweight baggage, one pound can make a difference.

[The photo by Todd Huffman is of a scale at the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. I wonder how accurate this one is? Maybe American should look into it.]

British Airways CEO Sees Little To Be Excited about in the US

by Josh Lew on

After the election of Barack Obama and a Democratic Party majority in the house and senate, British Airways CEO Willie Walsh sees little to be optimistic about as far as stateside operations go. Many European carriers would like to see additions to the Open Skies Agreement, which provided greater rights for foreign-owned airlines to operate within the US. Walsh is worried about Obama’s support of US labor groups. “I think it’s very clear Obama has taken a strong line in relation to any change in the ownership and control regulations. So at this point I would not be expecting any major progress to be made.”

Right now, foreign companies can have no more than a 25% share in US-based airlines. That is not likely to change, especially considering the weak state many airlines are currently in. With a rumored merger with American Airlines now seemingly out of the question, BA is focusing on partnering with AA to offer better trans-Atlantic service. Before going ahead with that, though, they must receive approval from US antitrust investigators.

[Via Airwise]

Travel Alert! Get to Belize for under $150

by Grant Martin on

[ Edit: Looks like this one is dead, foks. Congrats to those who booked a ticket — ed.]

I’ve been sitting on this fare for a few days because I was sure that it was going to evaporate, but here, as I sit in a cafe three days after the fare went live, I stand corrected.

American Airlines is offering some pretty outrageous fares down to Belize for this fall and early winter from New York City (EWR) and Houston (IAH). For only abouht $150 round trip, you can get down to Central America, the jungles, beaches, strong dollar, and some classic adventure travel. Other cities around the country are clocking in at the $200 – $300 range, which, for a trip of this magnitude is still pretty fantastic.

The problem, in this case, is that the layovers on the connections are pretty terrible. If you’re planning on making a weekend out of the fares, you may have to reconsider the 13 hours that you may have to spend in Miami (or maybe you’ll enjoy it.)

They key, however, is to keep everything in perspective. You’re paying $150 to fly to BELIZE on a fare that’s less expensive than it usually is to fly 400 miles domestically. Book it, spend some time in Miami, bring a laptop and some movies and you’ll have a great time.