A sampling of industry news that caught my attention today:
- American Airlines offer(ed) a fast-track to elite status earlier today, where non-elites could register and fly a minimal amount of miles to earn status through February 2015. The link appears to be down as of this posting (too many blog posts about it?), but I thought it was worth mentioning.
- You’ve heard of SkyPesos, right? Well, they’re even less valuable now as Delta Air Lines is increasing BusinessElite award pricing by 20-25 percent for travel on/after June 1, 2014. Plus, you’ll no longer be able to hold an award reservation for 48-hours beginning September 9, though you’ll still be able to cancel awards within 24-hours of their original booking without penalty.
- United Airlines has emailed out a targeted promotion offering up to 50,000 bonus MileagePlus miles or four Regional Premier Upgrades (RPUs). It’s based on your purchased fare class and how many trips you take between August 15 – November 15. I personally didn’t receive an offer, sadly.
- I missed this story last week: Marriott properties in the U.K. are providing guests with tote bags made out of recycled bed linens. If you’d like to purchase one, they’re apparently available on Marriott’s e-commerce website.
- Self-tagging your checked baggage has expanded with Iberia Airlines now offering the option to print tags from home. The airline claims this has cut wait times to check-in from 10-15 minutes to just 30 seconds.
- Seattle-Tacoma International Airport now has pre-conditioned air to cool (or heat) jets as they sit at any of the airport’s 73 gates. This will reportedly save 5 million gallons of jet fuel per year, as aircraft will no longer have to rely on their APUs for circulating air while parked at a gate.
- The U.S. trusted traveler program Global Entry has been expanded to include qualified citizens from Germany, Qatar, South Korea and the U.K. Also, U.S. citizens who participate in Global Entry can apply for membership in the Republic of Korea’s SES program, and a limited number of U.S. citizens who participate in Global Entry can apply for membership in Germany’s ABG Plus.
- Finally, if you’d like to join in with other readers who are flaming my position that the DOJ needs to butt out of the American-US Airways merger, be sure to check out the linked post. 😉
– Follow Darren Booth on Twitter, @FrequentlyFlyin, for more airline, hotel and travel industry news, reviews and opinions.
Related:
Notable Airline, Hotel and Travel News: August 13, 2013
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