Although there’s no first-class seating on Southwest Airlines, members in the top tiers of the carrier’s frequent flier program do get one important perk when it comes time to get on the plane: Priority boarding, which means that they’re usually among the first in line. But a recent glitch has taken that benefit away for many passengers lately, ticking a lot of them off in the process. [More]
frequent fliers
Married People Ruin British Airways Promos By Flooding Dating Sites For Singles
By 3.23.17 — Updated: 3.24.17
Not content to let the unmarrieds of the world have all the free frequent flier miles, a veritable flood of married travelers overwhelmed a pair of British Airways promotions on dating sites Match.com and eHarmony. [More]
American Airlines’ Rewards Will Be Based On Ticket Price, Not Miles
By 6.6.16
American Airlines loyalty members looking to rack up points based on the length of their trip have two months left to do so. Starting in August, the carrier will be joining the likes of rivals United and Delta by rewarding loyalty members with miles based on how much they pay for their ticket. [More]
American Airlines Jumps On Industry Bandwagon, Will Now Award Frequent Flier Miles Based On Ticket Price
By 11.17.15
Frequent fliers who are part of American Airlines loyalty rewards program will soon have to spend money to accrue points, instead of receiving miles based on how far they’ve flown. [More]
United Changing Frequent-Flier Program To Reward Big Spenders
By 6.10.14
For years, traditional frequent-flier plans awarded miles on the distance flown, but those days seem to be winding down. Now you have to spend more to earn more, and United Airlines is joining the ranks of airlines rewarding passengers who don’t book the cheapest tickets. [More]
JetBlue Tries To Lure Other Carriers’ Business Travelers By Giving Them Elite Status Right Away
By 3.18.14
One reason some business travelers and other frequent fliers stick with one program is that they’ve logged enough miles to earn the bonus perks available to elite travelers. Switching preferred carriers would mean having to start from scratch. JetBlue is hoping that it can lure some frequent fliers away from its competition by offering them instant TrueBlue Mosaic status. [More]
Delta SkyMiles To Be Based On Price Of Ticket, Not Distance Of Flight
By 2.26.14
In a move that may please some business travelers whose employers aren’t picky about pricey airfares, but will likely annoy frugal frequent travelers, Delta Air Lines announced today that it will be changing its SkyMiles frequent flier program so that the number reward miles earned will be based on the price of a ticket, and not the distance flown. [More]
Airlines Have Oodles Of Your Personal Info, But Are They Selling It?
By 8.22.13
Used to be that airlines’ frequent flier programs really just kept track of how many miles or points you’d earned. Those days are gone, as carriers are able to collect and track all manner of data about passengers, data that could be very valuable if sold to third parties. Question is — are they selling it or not? [More]
How Do You Fly 1 Million Miles In A Year? Ask This Guy
By 12.14.12
So you say you want to fly a million miles in one year? Easy-peasy lemon squeezy! Just hop on about 400 flights to far-flung destinations and you can match the feat of a Chicago man who’s clocked in a million miles on United Airlines in just a single year. If you’re flying for business and have already racked up 13 million miles and earned tons of airline rewards, that’ll make things easier. [More]
Maybe The Average Traveler Is Okay With The TSA, But Frequent Fliers? Not So Much
By 9.11.12
We’re up, we’re down, we approve of the job the Transportation Security Administration is doing (or, if you took our poll, 82.5% of our readers who responded actually don’t think so) and now someone else is saying the TSA is mucking it up at our nation’s airports. That’s according to frequent fliers who were asked about the topic in a new survey released today. [More]
United/Continental Merger Has Mysteriously Moved Cities Closer Together
By 3.6.12
There are a lot of things that happen when airlines merge — planes get repainted, airport gates get redecorated, frequent flier programs get combined. But there’s an interesting phenomenon occurring in the wake of the union between United and Continental — cities are suddenly no longer as far apart as they used to be. [More]
Continental Frequent Flier Miles Will Soon Have Expiration Date
By 9.21.11
People with stockpiles of Continental Airlines frequent flier miles who haven’t flown in a while may want to pay attention to this. When that airline finally weds its frequent flier program to that of United Airlines in 2012, the clock could be ticking before those miles disappear. [More]
Senator Wants Investigation Of Frequent Flyer Programs
By 11.23.09
Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) is calling for a probe of frequent flyer programs to determine whether they deliver the value that they promise. In particular, he wants the Department of Transportation to look into the issue of evaporating miles, a relatively new phenomenon brought introduced via expiration dates in recent years.
American Airlines Does Its Best To Make Sure Frequent Flier Miles Are Totally Worthless
By 8.8.08
American Airlines is revamping its frequent flier program to include a fee to upgrade economy class tickets to business and first class. In addition to 15k frequent flier miles, AAdvantage members will, starting Oct. 1, have to pay between $50 and $350 for an upgrade.
Fuel Surcharges Hit Delta's Frequent Flier Program
By 6.29.08
Delta informed their beloved frequent fliers yesterday that effective August 15, all flights booked with SkyMiles will carry up to a $50 fuel surcharge. The airline also announced the impending release of an exciting “new multi-tiered Award program.”
Best Airlines For Actually Booking And Using Reward Points
By 3.7.07
American Airlines and United Airlines, followed by Continental and Northwest.
Elite Fliers Are Better Than You
By 12.27.06
The New York Times has an article today about the ways in which elite flying status is having a larger impact on the travel experience. Elite passengers are subject to fewer fees, get priority boarding, and enjoy privileges that regular passengers don’t. “United is testing a new check-in and boarding procedure at San Francisco International Airport that completely separates elites from other passengers. Frequent fliers are checked in, screened and boarded in their own lines. The new program, tentatively called Airport Premier Services, will be added at United’s hubs in Chicago and Washington in early 2007, and at an undetermined number of other airports later in the year.”
Feature: Converting Credit Card Reward Points Into Free Flights
By 8.31.06
An impassioned plea, sent weeks ago to our tips box. A certain level of confused hysteria is evident. “If I have a credit card with reward points, should I convert them into miles? When? How to tell whether I’m getting a good rate? Help!”
