My top posts for 2010 over at Boarding Area

Nearly a year ago I moved my blog from this site to Boarding Area, home to several blogs with a business and frequent flyer travel focus. I notice there are still many people reading this old site - please click here to the Boarding Area home of Musings of the Global Traveller.

The most popular posts of 2010, based on views, made in the other location are:

1. All A380 routes - all scheduled routes operated with A380 aircraft (all airlines) [continues to be updated]
2. Frequent flyer mileage expiry - mileage expiry policies for all major frequent flyer programs [continues to be updated]
3. Lifetime elite airline status - lifetime elite status qualification and benefits for all major frequent flyer programs [continues to be updated]
4. Super easy Star Alliance gold status with Aegean - by far the easiest way to top elite status with Star Alliance, and is still live
5. New Qantas first class (A380) - now 2 years old but still popular as it remains one of the better first class offerings in the air
6. A380 business class comparison Emirates, Qantas and Singapore - surprisingly more popular than my A380 first class suites comparison Emirates, Qantas and Singapore
7. HON Circle mileage run by private jet - a number of readers got this airline status (with extra special benefits) for low cost, and in great comfort
8. US tourist tax (ESTA fee) starts 8 September & already inflated
9. Frequent flyer questions on status - part of a series of posts answering questions from readers of Wendy Perrin's Perrin Post
10. bmi Diamond Club timeline for closure revealed by Lufthansa

Win 1 million Miles and More miles

Come up with a catchy name for Lufthansa's A380 and you could win 1 million Miles & More miles. Good luck.




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My Mileage Expired (times two)

Despite recently outlining the mileage expiry policies for many frequent flyer programs, I've just lost a few thousand miles from 2 different programs.

I had a small balance of Singapore Airlines Kris Flyer miles from several Silk Air flights which cannot credit to any Star Alliance program and also some miscredited miles when the PPS double dip hasn't worked properly with amounts too small to chase up a reversal. Thanks to the helpful upcoming expiry tables provided I have known for some time these miles were about to expire. I don't have enough for any award, and no matter how I looked at topping up the account I could always find more value in crediting to another program instead. So most of my balance has gone. I still have a small residual amount from a recent Silk Air flight.

Emirates Skywards is even more user friendly about mileage expiry in that you can send yourself a reminder alert on a date of your choosing, and like an alarm can then snooze and send a new reminder on another date of your choosing. I'd previously cashed out most of my accumulated miles but had a small balance some of which was due to expire at the end of January. As with Kris Flyer, to avoid the expiry I'd need to add more points to redeem any award. Since Emirates significantly devalued their program the opportunity cost of the extra points was worth more than the value of any reasonably attainable awards. So I let those miles expire also.

Combining the mileage expiries with little travel, my net frequent flyer mileage accrual for the year to 1 February is the lowest it has been in many years.


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Badly targetted frequent flyer offers

In my email inbox today was the latest in a long history of badly targetted offers from Lufthansa Miles & More.

The email included as "selected offer for your mileage balance" the Silver Promotion. Frequent Traveller status (Star Alliance Silver) can be earned by taking 30 paid flights on Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian, LOT, Adria, Croatia, Brussels, Air Dolomiti or Luxair by 31 December.

This is wrong for me on a few levels.

1. As referred to at the start of the email I have a higher elite status.


2. Not only that but I've already requalified to 2013.


3. Since I'm not based in Europe, 30 flights on those airlines would be more than enough to qualify for Senator, not Frequent Traveller status.

An example of a previous promotional mis-step by Miles and More include offers of 10k bonus miles if I make 3 intercontinental round trips in first class on Lufthansa within 6 weeks. That bonus was paltry compared with the cost of achieving it and the huge amount of miles that would already be earned (rate of 325% times mileage).

Still, it is better than Virgin Blue Velocity Rewards, which offered gold status only to rescind the offer.

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Frequent Flyer Mileage Expiry

Edited to add - this post is no longer being maintained. However, my new site at Boarding Area has a mileage expiry post which is being regularly updated.

Prompted by US Senator Charles Schumer's attempt to regulate frequent flyer program mileage expiry, the latest Inside Flyer includes a piece on mileage expiry of frequent flyer and frequent stay programs.

They not only look at the expiry policy, which varies widely between programs, but also at how well it is communicated. I agree with Randy's wish that programs simply state the facts as they apply to each member.

Your miles will expire on {date} unless you {do this}.

Far too many programs either do not make the expiry explicit (forcing their members to hunt for the policy) or just state the policy and leave it to their members to work out what the expiry date actually is.

Here is a quick summary of frequent flyer program mileage expiry policies, in a subjective ranking from least to most restrictive. I've included rather more frequent flyer programs than are included in the Inside Flyer article, but I have not included any of the frequent stay programs expiry policies.

No expiry
Shanghai Airlines
TAP (with fee every 3 years)

No expiry for grandfathered miles
Asiana (miles earned before 30 September 2008)
Korean (miles earned before 30 June 2008)

No expiry with program issued credit card
Lufthansa et al

No expiry with elite status (any elite status unless otherwise mentioned)
Air France/KLM
Air New Zealand (gold and gold elite only)
ANA (diamond only)
Lufthansa et al
Malaysian (platinum only)

3 years after last activity
British Airways
Czech Airlines (redemptions do not count as activity)
Midwest
Qantas (until 30 June 2010)
Spanair
Virgin Atlantic

2 complete calendar years after last activity
Frontier

2 years after last activity
Alaska (account cancellation is not necessarily enforced)
bmi
Delta (12 months for brand new members)

18 months after last activity
American
Continental (account cancellation is not necessarily enforced)
Hawaiian
Mexicana
Qantas (from 1 July 2010)
United
US Airways (can pay fee to extend 18 further months)

10 years after earning
Gulf Air

7 years after earning
Asiana elite members (miles earned before 1 October 2008 are grandfathered)

1 year after last activity or 7 years after earning, whichever comes first
Air Canada (at 7 years after earning can be extended for a fee)

5 years after earning
Asiana non-elite members (miles earned before 1 October 2008 are grandfathered)
Korean (miles earned before 1 July 2008 are grandfathered)
SAS

4-5 years after earning
Air New Zealand
Qatar

3-4 years after earning
Emirates
Malaysian (can be extended 12 months for a fee)
South African
Thai

3 years after earning
Cathay Pacific
El Al
Lufthansa et al
Singapore Airlines (can be extended up to 12 months for a fee)
TAP (can be extended indefinitely, by 3 years at a time, for a fee)
Turkish Airlines

2 years after last flight activity
Aeroflot

2 years after last status earning flight (on own metal)
Aeromexico

20 months after last status earning
Air France/KLM

1 year after last earning
JetBlue (only earning from JetBlue flights or JetBlue Amex counts)

2-3 years after earning
ANA

2 years after earning
Air China
Southwest

2 years after earning with elite status or airline issued credit card
AirTran

18 months after earning
Virgin America

1 year after earning
AirTran

6 months after last time earnt 2000+ miles
Spirit

I'm not sure why Aeromexico got an Inside Flyer thumbs up when Air France/KLM got a thumbs down. Sure Aeromexico has 24 months expiry versus 20 months, but neither are particularly long and Aeromexico requires earning on an Aeromexico flight in that period whereas Air France/KLM's requirement is for any Sky Team flight.

I don't think the Inside Flyer explanation of how Singapore Airlines miles expire is clear or correct. Expiry is based on the date each mile was earned, regardless of how much or little other account activity there has been since then.

Summary

Some of these expiry policies are downright mean. Anything tied to date of earning, or requiring activity more often than once every 2 years has the effect that the frequent flyer program provides very little value for infrequent flyers. It is natural and right for the programs to concentrate on members who are high value to the airline and try to save costs by eliminating low value memberships. However, it is worth them remembering that travellers' circumstances change and an unduly harsh expiry rule can jeopardise a potentially valuable future relationship. Or, if Sen Schumer has his way, result in government interference. No one wants that!

Updated for Aeroflot and Mexicana.

Emirates Skywards major devaluation

About 6 weeks ago I posted the news that Emirates Skywards will have a major overhaul effective 1 January 2010.

In short the frequent flyer program will be more closely aligned to revenue than it currently is. Earning rates depend on fare basis and the class of service factors for business and first class are higher.

Since the announcement, Emirates has drip-fed more detailed information including the new geographic zones (from 2010 both earning and redemption is zone-based), and new earning & depemption charts. After crunching the numbers on hundreds of routes, the conclusion is unmistakeable - this is a significant devaluation.

Geographic zones

The current program has 13 geographic zones for awards. From 1 January 2010 there will be 18 zones for both earning and redemption. Mostly these are unchanged from the existing zones, except:

• America split into 3 zones - North America west (which includes Houston), North America east and South America
• Australia/NZ split into 3 zones - Australia west (ie Perth), Australia east and New Zealand
• Cyprus switches from Near East to Europe South
• Cities near to Dubai (ie Bahrain, Doha and Muscat) switch from the Home zone to Middle East

The consequences of the America & Australasia zone splits are to make some awards cheaper for cities closest to Dubai, and some awards more expensive for cities further from Dubai.

Cyprus awards are more expensive.

Cities near to Dubai now have a small extra award mileage cost relative to the equivalent award to/from Dubai.

The new charts have a disclaimer that the figures are based on the most direct route between zones. Since Emirates has lots of tag flights (ie flights between cities other than Dubai), it is unclear how to interpret the new earning & redemption rates on some routes. For example between Asian Sub-continent south and Far East there are some direct flights (Male to Jakarta for instance) but between most city pairs travel would need to be via Dubai (eg Colombo to Seoul). How are the rates determined in those cases?

As the Emirates route map changes frequently, Skywards members will need to pay attention to changes in the zone earning rates. This could be a positive or a negative depending on changes to the routes and how quickly Skywards reacts. It certainly is a nuisance and is a drawback of using geographic zones so heavily in a frequent flyer program (incidentally Air NZ Airpoints also uses zones, but the issue is less relevant for them due to their much more limited route network and less active changes in that network).

Awards relatively unchanged

The good news is that on the whole award costs are the same in the new chart as the existing one. There are some increases (mostly associated with the zone changes) and some decreases.

This is particularly reassuring to those who have a sizeable stash of miles, given the short notice to cash them in on the old award charts if the rates had increased significantly.

The new ability to redeem one-way awards is a genuine improvement.

Upgrades costly

The new upgrade costs are much higher than the old costs. Upgrades from flexible fares are generally slightly higher than the old upgrade cost (with some slightly cheaper and some much higher), and upgrades from saver fares are generally 30-40+% higher than the old upgrade cost.

In most cases the new mileage cost to upgrade from economy saver to business is almost as high as the cost of a business award.

Earning rates slashed

The most significant change is to the earning rates. Emirates spun the changes as being an enhancement to the class of service bonus. While it is true the mileage earned for first class relative to economy class (flexible fares) is higher from 1 January 2010, this has been achieved by reducing almost all the earning rates as outlined below.

The 2009 earning rates are 100% mileage in economy, 150% in business and 200% in first.

The 2010 earning multiples are 50% for economy saver, 100% for economy flexible fares, 125% for business saver, 175% for business flexible fares, 200% for first saver and 250% for first flexible. However the base mileage earning between the zones is roughly 80-90% of the typical distance flown.

The result is marginally higher earning on flexible first and business fares, a 15% drop in earning on saver first fares, a 30% drop in earning on saver business fares and a whopping 55% drop in earning on saver economy fares. Some routes have smaller or bigger changes in earning than these generalisations. Most people fly on saver fares because the definition includes all fares not fully refundable, fares which are available for a limited period or are non-published, and all fares which include other airlines.

Status more difficult to achieve

In more PR spin, Emirates trumpeted that the elite status requirements were unchanged. Of course now we see the detail of the earning rates it is immediately obvious that from next year it will be harder to earn Silver or Gold status.

Summary

The changes remove most of the anomalies in the existing program, and at the same time represent a significant devaluation.

With both earning and redemption being fixed amounts based on zone and fare, the earn to burn ratios are relatively constant. The earn to burn ratios on Skywards from 1 January 2010 are generally in the 8-10% range, with some as poor as 5% and some as good as 15%. This represents much worse value than most US-based frequent flyer programs, for example.

These changes are big enough for me to rethink my plans for some premium longhaul trips on Emirates for 2010.

United eggs on extreme mileage runners, again

No I'm not referring to double or triple EQM (elite qualifying miles) promotions. Last year United Mileage Plus had an Elite Choice Team competition, where the winning 50 teams (of 4 people) earned 1 million redeemable miles (all these to be shared between each team) plus some other lesser prizes.

The 2010 individual Elite Choices are not as lucrative but once again appeal to competitive insane Flyer Talkers. Top billing is for the first 50 people to reach 250,000 EQM or 250 EQS (elite qualifying segments) - they get 50,000 redeemable miles (on top of the pile of miles earned) and also get 1K status (with all the attendant Star Alliance gold benefits) to gift to a nominated person.

Another great, but hard to get, prize is for the person who in a calendar month earns the most EQM from United flights - 2 SWUs (systemwide upgrades good for any one-way trip between stopovers) and also Premier Executive status (also Star Alliance gold) to gift to a nominated person.

To show how lucrative this could be for someone flying an insane amount, take the following hypothetical.

Suppose you win both of the prizes mentioned above (most United flying in a calendar month and also in the first 50 to reach 250,000 EQMs in 2010). Suppose also you currently do not have any United status. While reaching 250k EQMs you would earn at a minimum (ignoring everything other than the Elite Choices promo):

• up to 250,000 redeemable miles from flying depending on fare class and airline
• potentially a significant amount of redeemable miles from credit card spend
• 25,000 redeemable miles or gift of Premier status at 125k EQMs
• 25,000 redeemable miles or gift of Premier Exec status at 175k EQMs
• 50,000 redeemable miles from 250k EQMs prize
• gift of 1K status from 250k EQMs prize
• 2 SWUs from most United flying in a month prize
• gift of Premier Exec status from most United flying in a month prize
• up to 6,250 redeemable miles from the Premier 25% bonus miles on United flights (between 25k and 50k EQMs)
• up to 200,000 redeemable miles from the Premier Executive and 1K 100% bonus miles on United & Continental flights (after 50k EQMs)
• up to 88 of 500-mile region 1 upgrades from the 4 500 mile region 1 upgrades per 10k EQMs on United after 25k EQMs
• up to 2 confirmed region 1 upgrades (CR1s) from flying 10k miles on United in a quarter
• 6 SWUs on qualifying for 1K (credited at end of 2010)
• 6 SWUs from 2 SWUs per 50k EQMs starting at 150k EQMs in a calendar year
• up to 25% of the way to Million Mile status (if all EQMs are from United flights)

I've assumed all this flying happens in the first quarter & so have ignored the new unlimited United domestic upgrades system.

If all the flying is on United, and assuming take the bonus miles option this comes to a total of:

• up to 556,250 redeemable miles (before any other promotions, minimum mileage, credit card earn, etc)
• 14 SWUs (8 of 2010 vintage and 6 of 2011 vintage)
• 88 500-mile upgrades
• 2 CR1s
• 1 gift Premier Exec status
• 1 gift 1K status
• 1 sore butt

I'm not an expert on United Mileage Plus, so hopefully my maths is right. Please correct me if not.

That is a lot of bennie for some crazy enough to do a lot of flying on United (or slightly less benefits if flying other Star Alliance airlines). How much flying? Well 250k EQMs in a premium cabin is at least 167k flown miles, or roughly 7.5 times around the world. I have flown that distance in under 2 months, although admittedly not on United.

Frequent Flyer Friday #9

Celebrating Friday with a short interview with a frequent flyer.

Steven Frischling
Steven is globe hopping photographer who has branched out into travel and airline consultancy. He has an active blog, Flying with Fish, runs a small business, The Travel Strategist, and is a Director of Emerging Media [ed - ie he is on twitter a lot] for Innovation Analysis Group. When not travelling the world earning a stiff back and numb butt, Steven spends time with his family, watches the Boston Red Sox and shoots photos.

First, some questions to see what kind of frequent flyer Steven is.

What is your home airport?
Steven - New Haven-Tweed. This is a lovely little airport which currently has five flights a day all Dash-8 turboprops to Philadelphia. However, New York JFK always feels like home to me, having grown up right at the end of runway 4R/22L.

What is the airline you usually fly?
Steven - US Airlines, since it is the only airline to fly to New Haven so nearly all my trips include at least 2 flights on them. Prior to 2006 I mainly flew Delta but then they stopped flying to New Haven.

Which of the following best describes your flying pattern?
- infrequent (eg annual) leisure trip
- jetsetting for pleasure
- frequent (eg monthly) business travel
× road warrior
- mileage runner
× I live on planes
Steven - until last year when an unexpected health issue decreased my flying significantly I lived on planes. My travel will soon be picking up again but I plan to adjust my lifestyle to road warrior.

I hope you have a full recovery soon.

How do you mostly earn your frequent flyer miles?
- promos
- credit card spend
× business and leisure travel
- taking extra flights on trips I need to take
- mileage running
Steven - business travel, butt in seat (BIS) miles.

Please describe how you travel in 4 words.
Steven - Fast and light (OK, that is 3 words, sorry).

Now for some travel advice from Steven.

Flying with photography gear has its own challenges. What are the most common issues and how do you overcome them?
Steven - The most common issues most photographers face, both professional and hobbyist, is the desire to pack everything they own. This ads unneeded weight and decreases valuable space. Since checking camera gear can be risky, the biggest challenge is hauling everything you need on your back on the plane as carry-on. To avoid weight restrictions on certain European and Asian airlines I pack everything into a photo vest. I have managed to fly with a photo vest stuffed with 2 full-size pro bodies 8 lenses, a flash, a 12” Apple PowerBook and batteries. This is possible because a vest is clothing and is not weighed or counted as a carry-on bag.

Nice one. I can think of some non-photographer chronic overpackers who could benefit from that trick.

What is inside your carry-on bag right now?
Steven - Right now my Mountainsmith Endevour briefcase is loaded with a Sony PSP (Darth Vader limited edition!); eight UMD movie disks for the Sony PSP; my technology-run pack (CF card reader, USB cord, charger for laptop, iPhone, Blackberry, noise canceling headsets, 4 AAA batteries, international power outlet adapter, etc etc); Canon battery charger; Canon 20D; Canon 28-70f2.8; National Geographic Magazine; 2oz bottle of Purell; pack of disposable wipes; Kit Kat bar and a Moleskine notebook.

What is your preferred airline for regular travel, and why?
Steven - US Airways could be my preferred airline because it gets me home to kids. On the other hand I used to fly Delta on most of my domestic and international flights, which I always enjoyed. My preference for Delta dates back to when I was a kid watching their L-1011s fly over my house all day long.

What is your preferred airline for a special trip, and why?
Steven - I am not sure I have an answer to this question. If the Concorde were still flying I’d say British Airways or Air France just to get a shot on the Concorde, but now the airlines, even the great ones, are all pretty much the same. If I wanted a great layover experience I might say Virgin Atlantic for their arrivals lounge at London Heathrow; Korean Air for their lounge at Seoul Incheon or possibly KLM for the pure enjoyment of Amsterdam. If I was able to swing a first-class seat I might add Lufthansa to the list due to their First Class Terminal at Frankfurt, which I have been spoiled to use in the past.

Please give one of your great tips on travel.
Steven - When transiting through airport security enter the line completely prepared. Make sure your mobile phone, keys, wallet, pens, etc are off your body and secured. Place them in your bag or a zipped jacket pocket so they are out of sight and reach of airport thieves. Be as prepared as possible for the airport security process and never take your eyes off your items. The most common place to get targeted by an airport thief is in the security line.


Sound advice. It is much more difficult for the whole carry on bag to be taken than slipping, say, a wallet out of a tray.

What is your preferred frequent flyer program, and why?
Steven - Of all the programs I have used, I prefer British Midland/BMI’s Diamond Club. The program has a relatively low threshold, is low maintenance and offer fantastic value for mileage redemption.

Please give a tip on frequent flyer programs.
Steven - When choosing a frequent flyer program keep in mind the best program for you might not be that of the airline you fly most frequently. I fly US Airways most commonly and for the past few years I have chosen to place all my miles with BMI.

Thanks Steven Frischling for sharing some great travel advice and all the best for your evolving career. Have a great weekend.

For other frequent flyer friday posts please check out the index. If you have any questions you'd like answered, or wish to nominate someone for an interview, please drop me a line using the please use the contact me link. For all sorts of reasons I can't make any guarantees, but if you're interested chances are others are too and so we'll get some good interviews.

Learn the basics of frequent flyer programs

Fellow nomad Chris Guillebeau has launched a guide how to use frequent flyer miles and has requested for a quick review*. I like what he does so I'm happy to oblige.

I like the guide. It covers the basics well, and includes practical, real, examples. This will save someone unfamiliar with frequent flyer programs from making simple, common, mistakes. It will also save a lot of time on researching how to get the best value out of them. All the information in the guide is available on Flyer Talk and elsewhere, but it is hard to find because you have to know what to look for and the right questions to ask - tricky.

As with real life mileage earning opportunities, the guide does have a US bias. Most of the promotions referenced are current US-based ones (although some are also available to global residents). There simply are more ways to earn much more frequent flyer miles through non-flying activity if you live in USA and/or have USA-issued credit cards than if you live in Asia-Pacific for example. Chris acknowledges this towards the bottom of his sales pitch.

If you don't know the ins and outs of frequent flyer programs, or how to earn significant sums from non-flying activities, the $49 fee can easily be recouped in time & money saved, and not only covers the guide but additional resources such as updates on significant promotions for the next 6 months.

Chris offers a guarantee so you can try it out and be refunded if it doesn't work for you.

Since the guide is targeted for non (or newly) frequent flyers there is no discussion of elite status benefits. I don't think that is a problem, but it would be nice to point out that those flying more than 1 intercontinental trip or half a dozen transcontinental trips in a year have additional factors to consider.

There is also little mention of mileage upgrades, although I understand this will be coming in an update.



* as with all my reviews I receive no reward for making the review, and also do not accept any restrictions on what I can or can't say. I simply tell it how I see it.

Frequent Flyer Friday #8

Celebrating Friday with a short interview with a frequent flyer.

Anglo Large Clawed Otter (ALCO)

ALCO is a Flyer Talk addict who enjoys (in truth is addicted to) flying. ALCO's work has little or no travel, and night law school also doesn't provide much travel opportunities. Weekend travel to the Caribbean or Europe provides ALCO with stress relief and a chance to catch up on coursework. Getting away for the weekend often means catching up with friends scattered around North America and Europe.

First, some questions to see what kind of frequent flyer ALCO is.

What is your home airport?
ALCO - Houston Bush International Airport.

What is the airline you usually fly?
ALCO - Continental Airlines, as they offer the most nonstop options from their Houston hub.

Which of the following best describes your flying pattern?
- infrequent (eg annual) leisure trip
× jetsetting for pleasure
- frequent (eg monthly) business travel
- road warrior
- mileage runner
- I live on planes

How do you mostly earn your frequent flyer miles?
- promos
- credit card spend
- business and leisure travel
- taking extra flights on trips I need to take
× mileage running
ALCO - To pad my frequent flyer balances I prefer to book QUP fares on either United or US Airways to earn miles in bmi's Diamond Club program, which offers extremely favourable earning rates for first class fares. It is often possible to earn on such fares at 3 cents per mile or less, and the first class seat and service make spending an entire weekend doing transcontinental mileage runs bearable.

Please describe how you travel in 4 words.
ALCO - as much as possible

Now for some travel advice from ALCO.

How will Continental joining Star Alliance impact on your travel?
ALCO - Continental's move to *A is a welcome change.

Some things won't change for me. Most of my Continental flights will continue to be credited to OnePass so I can continue to qualify for the plentiful elite upgrades. I'll continue to use United and US Airways domestic first class fares for their less restrictive routing rules than Continental first class fares (which tend to require nonstop or one-stop flights), and continue to credit these to bmi for the better earning & redemption value.

However, the Continental RTW award, which is already great value in first and business class requiring far less miles than other frequent flyer programs, will be further improved by the access to Star Alliance flights. I expect Continental will soon lift the RTW award mileage level to match that of United. I'll take advantage of these while I still can.

What is inside your carry-on bag right now?
ALCO - A weekend's worth of clothes (for a mix of climates depending on connecting cities), several kilos of textbooks, my macbook and ipod, and my trusty Canon 40D (photography and in particular travel photography are hobbies).

What is your preferred airline for regular travel, and why?
ALCO - For regular travel, I prefer Continental Airlines. Their upgrade scheme suits my travel habits (primarily to leisure destinations on weekends), and I rarely find myself sitting in coach even on the cheapest fares. Continental's upgrade scheme (miles and copay) for international business class is far less generous than their domestic upgrade scheme. Despite this I generally earn enough miles for longhaul trips to either be on a business class award or be upgraded to business.

What is your preferred airline for a special trip, and why?
ALCO - Without a doubt, Emirates. I recently had the pleasure of flying Emirates in business class between Capetown and Houston (via Dubai). Despite spending over 24 hours in the air on that itinerary, I didn't want the flights to end. I thought the seat and service were flawless.

Please give one of your great tips on travel.
ALCO - Never be afraid to try out a new destination simply because it hasn't garnered the sorts of favourable reviews that many staple vacation destinations have. I have found reviews of destinations, hotels and airlines on sites like Trip Advisor and Flyer Talk that vary wildly, depending on the reviewer's unique perspective. Though I value such reviews, and may even use them as a planning guide, I have found that I can't really judge a place until I have been there myself. Based on the accounts of others, I was not really expecting to find much of interest on recent trips to Lima, Peru and Seoul, South Korea. I was pleasantly surprised with both places, finding many interesting activities, landmarks and culinary adventures in each destination. I would highly recommend a tour of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) to anyone visiting Seoul, even if you are in Seoul only for a long transit. The experience was one of the most fascinating tours I have ever undertaken.

What is your preferred frequent flyer program, and why?
ALCO - bmi Diamond Club. The earnings rates in premium cabins are stellar, and the redemption opportunities and rates within Star Alliance and on partner airlines are good. I like that the program offers one-way awards, and also offers cash + miles redemptions. Having access to United and US Airlines lounges on domestic itineraries as a bmi Gold card holder is also a great benefit.

Please give a tip on frequent flyer programs.
ALCO - It is very difficult to generalise in this area, as flying patterns and frequent flyer goals vary so much from person to person. I have found sites like FlyerTalk to be an invaluable resource for investigating the relative merits of the various programs. The knowledge and experience shared on FlyerTalk has helped me immensely in furthering my own goals of pursuing ever more travel.

Ahh yes, FT is good for feeding travel addictions. Thanks Anglo Large Clawed Otter for sharing. Have a great weekend.

For other frequent flyer friday posts please check out the index. If you have any questions you'd like answered, or wish to nominate someone for an interview, please drop me a line using the please use the contact me link. For all sorts of reasons I can't make any guarantees, but if you're interested chances are others are too and so we'll get some good interviews.

Emirates Skywards program moves to revenue basis

Emirates has announced there will be some sweeping changes to their Skywards frequent flyer program from 1 January 2010. The changes can be summed up as a move from a traditional mileage basis to a more innovative revenue basis. In a post a few months ago I described the various types of revenue-based frequent flyer programs (FFPs). The new Skywards program does not match any of those types but instead has fixed earning and fixed awards.

The key changes announced to date include:

• no new status tier, yet, and no change to earning requirement
• fares categorised as flex (normal published fares) and saver (sales and fares brought through other airlines)
• earning fixed amounts based on whole journey using geographic zones
• earning related to profitability - higher for first and business class, lower 50% rate for saver fares
• status mileage earning to match redeemable mileage earning (yet to be seen if this also applies to bonus mile promotions)
• status earning based on membership year rather than calendar year, with year reset on attaining a higher level
• awards categorised as flex (more availability) and saver (limited availability)
• flex awards at double cost
• one-way awards introduced
• upgrades cost more from saver fares than from flex fares

Other than awards being fixed amounts based on the journey and geographic zones (instead of variable per flight), it looks very similar to NZ Airpoints program. This is good for those who travel on expensive fares, not so good for others and useless for mileage runners.

I like how the Skywards page announcing this overhaul has an option to get email updates for any further changes posted.

How to get to | Trinidad and Tobago

This is part of a series of blog entries on how to get to countries and places. Here is a link to the index. I plan to eventually cover every country and some other places. If you have a request for a particular country or place please use the email me link at top right, or leave a comment.

Trinidad and Tobago

Source: Wikimedia Commons

There is a ferry across the strait from Venezuela, and many cruise ships stop over at Port of Spain. Airlines flying to Trinidad and Tobago include (all to Port of Spain on Trinidad unless otherwise specified):

• Star Alliance - Continental
• Oneworld - American, British Airways (Port of Spain and Tobago)
• Sky Team - Delta (Port of Spain and Tobago)
• Other selected - several Caribbean based airlines, Virgin Atlantic (Tobago only)

TIP On the Caribbean airlines the cheapest fares tend to be only available booking directly (on website if airline has one).

TIP Port of Spain is a useful stop on a Oneworld RTW or award ticket. The prohibition on mileage earning and redemption for American AAdvantage on British Airways trans-Atlantic flights and BA Executive Club on American trans-Atlantic flights does not apply for flights via the Caribbean.

TIP A few European low cost airlines fly to Tobago.

UPDATED November 2009 - Continental switch from Sky Team to Star Alliance. No change to advice.

Revenue Based Frequent Flyer Programs

Most frequent flyer programs (FFPs) are based on the traditional mileage concept. Each of the 3 main aspects (earning, status and redemption) are based on mileage flown.

United Mileage Plus is an example of a traditional mileage-based FFP.

• Earn a multiple of distance flown, with minimum mileage, status bonus and class of service bonus.
• Status is achieved by passing elite qualifying mileage thresholds.
• Redeem awards at fixed mileage amounts based on the zones flown (loosely proportional to distance).

There are some frequent flyer programs that have switched to a revenue based system. There are also some mileage-revenue hybrid systems in use. So far there isn't a standard way these work as each FFP has taken a slightly different approach. I'll explain more below.

The least different to the traditional programs are what I call enhanced mileage based FFPs, such as bmi Diamond Club. These work just like traditional programs except the earn and burn rates are much higher in premium cabins (eg 300% mileage in first vs 150% in the traditional FFPs), and sometimes also in certain high demand/high fare zones. The earning rates are also be very low or zero on cheap economy booking classes, and sometimes also for cheap business and first class booking classes. Thus there is a greater spread of earning rates and award costs.

Analysis: With the altered earning and redemption scales, the value equation is altered. Those who buy cheap/economy fares and wish to redeem in premium cabins are usually worse off. Elite status can be much easier or much harder to achieve depending on what kind of paid fares you use.

Inherent problem with a revenue basis

While a revenue-based frequent flyer program may appear attractive to beancounters at the airlines (by rewarding proportional to the "worth" of a customer), there is a fundamental inherent problem. FFPs work as a loyalty device in large part because they give rise to an appearance of getting something for nothing. The program rules are deliberately set to muddy the value equation for consumers - ie allow FFPs to appear to give more value than they cost the airlines, overall. A true revenue-based FFP with earning, status and redemption as functions of revenue makes the value equation transparent. This is not good for airlines.

Each FFP that has moved to a revenue or hybrid basis has tackled this problem in slightly different ways.

Revenue with fixed earning & variable award cost

The one I'm most familiar with is Air New Zealand Airpoints. They reversed the way traditional programs work by making earning fixed amounts (based on zones and class of travel) and redemption variable amounts based directly on fares. Both earning and redemption have a greater spread than the traditional FFPs - for example the amount earned in first class is typically is 4 times (or more) the amount in full (ie expensive) economy class. Awards on Air New Zealand cost the same as the fare, and on partner airlines a high fixed amount. The fixed amounts for earning and partner redemptions are loosely based on typical fares. Status is loosely revenue based in line with earning.

Analysis: Spending for awards on their own flights is simple & requires no chart. In common with all revenue based FFPs, you don't know how much you need until you look. The partner awards is complicated and very expensive. Hopefully in time this can be simplified.

Revenue with variable earning and fixed award costs

Virgin Blue started Velocity Rewards after Air New Zealand converted Airpoints from a mileage basis to a revenue one. With Velocity Rewards you earn a multiple of the fare and the award cost is a fixed amount based loosely on the fares available at the time you wish to redeem. Here earning is extremely simple but the cost to redeem is unknown as is just how much your points are worth (compared with Airpoints where you know your balance is good for a fare of the same value). Status is directly related to how much you spend.

Analysis: This program manages to be both transparent (in earning) and non-transparent (in redemption) at the same time. It would be more reassuring, and thus more attractive, if there was a commitment from Velocity Rewards as to the minimum worth of points (ie it will never cost you more than x points per $ fare).

Mileage-based but with additional revenue-based awards

While traditional mileage-based FFPs have long had additional awards available at double the mileage cost, some programs have gone a step further. These hybrids have added variable cost awards to their traditional fixed cost awards. In general the variable cost awards are more expensive (sometimes by a large multiple), but not always.

For example Qantas Frequent Flyer has Classic awards (mileage based) and also Any Seat awards. Any Seat award cost is function of available fares, but they are not restricted to high fares, and so if a sale is on the award cost can be less than for a Classic award. The rate is set so that on non-sale cheap fares the Any Seat award will generally cost a little bit more than a Classic award.

Analysis: The rate for variable cost awards is such that generally poor value. When the mileage cost is relatively low the fares are super low. Good only for those who can accumulate vast sums of miles (eg through business credit card spend).

Singapore Airlines

Singapore Airlines are difficult to categorise because they have the PPS status recognition for business and first class passengers, and also have a traditional mileage based FFP in Kris Flyer. The PPS status has been purely revenue based for a couple of years. Arguably it is even more extreme than any of the other programs because only spend in premium cabins are counted, and then only on Singapore Airlines flights. Kris Flyer looks a little like an enhanced mileage based program in that there are 3 levels of fixed awards depending on availability of certain booking classes. However, earning rates are not similarly "enhanced" with the exception of 300% earning in A380 and 77W Suites (first class).

Round-up of revenue based frequent flyer programs

There are also other FFPs which are revenue based. I've categorized some below:

• enhanced mileage based - Air France/KLM Flying Blue, bmi Diamond Club, British Airways Executive Club, Lufthansa Miles & More
• Singapore Airlines - see above
• fixed earning & variable award - Air New Zealand Airpoints
• variable earning & fixed award - JetBlue trueBlue (new version), Virgin America eleVAte, Virgin Blue Velocity Rewards
• mileage based with additional variable awards - Qantas Frequent Flyer

I may have missed other revenue based programs. Please let us know in the comments.

Updated 14 October 2009.

Emirates has announced Skywards will move to a revenue basis from 1 January 2010. For more information check out my post discussing the Skywards changes. The revised program can be categorized as fixed earning and fixed award.

Frequent flyer award bargains

It isn't just fares that have come down this year. Some frequent flyer programs are having award sales. Here are some examples.

Gary Leff sets out the United award discounts.
Qantas has had some earlier in the year - check this page regularly to see the latest offerings.
Singapore Airlines currently has up to 50% discounts on awards.

It certainly pays to check out the cost-benefit analysis of redemptions vs paid tickets. Fares as well as award costs are changing, and some nice redemption opportunities arise temporarily while others close.

Speaking of opportunities, Singapore Airlines is fast running out of routes with 747 with Melbourne switching to A380 from September. Currently (hopefully for not too much longer) Singapore Airlines blocks award redemptions in first and business class on A380 and 77W aircraft. You can get these awards by picking a route which will switch and booking before it does so. My tip - the remaining 747s are due to leave Singapore Airlines' fleet around April next year, most of these routes will switch to A380 or 77W. You can book an award up to 11 months in advance.

Frequent flyer mileage credit

Success! I've been chasing up one particular frequent flyer program (FFP) about some missing mileage credits and other flights which posted incorrectly (too few miles posted) for a long time. Some flights were more than a year ago. These have finally been credited and adjusted.

The miles for some other flights being credited to other frequent flyer programs (different flights) have also been posted in a flurry of activity in the past week.

It seems odd that after so long chasing up 4 different programs my FFP accounts are finally all up to date. Lucky I didn't need those miles to requalify for status or to use on awards/upgrades.

How to get to | South Africa

This is part of a series of blog entries on how to get to countries and places. Here is a link to the index. I plan to eventually cover every country and some other places. If you have a request for a particular country or place please use the email me link at top right, or leave a comment.

South Africa

Source: Henry Trotter

South Africa has lots of land border crossings with neighbouring countries with several bus and taxi services.

Many airlines fly to South Africa (to Johannesburg only or Johannesburg and other mentioned airports), including:

• Star Alliance - EgyptAir, Lufthansa (Capetown), Singapore (Capetown), South African, Swiss, TAP, Turkish (Capetown)
• Oneworld - British Airways (mainline to Johannesburg and Capetown and subsidiary Comair to several airports), Cathay Pacific, Iberia, Qantas
• Sky Team - Air France Delta (Capetown), Kenya, KLM (Capetown)
• Other selected - most southern African airlines (to several airports), some northern African airlines, some European low cost carriers (mostly to Johannesburg and some to Capetown), Emirates (Capetown and Durban), Malaysia (Capetown), Virgin Atlantic (Capetown)

TIP longhaul flights to/from South Africa are limited with generally more demand than supply, thus fares can be high (especially in business and first class). Awards and discounted fares (such as on around the world tickets) are hard to come by other than in economy. Book as far in advance as possible.

TIP longhaul fares from South Africa are significantly cheaper than from western countries.

TIP South Africa has some of the few Southern Hemisphere intercontinental flight options - both South African Airways and Malaysia Airlines fly between South Africa and South America, and both South African Airways and Qantas fly between South Africa and Australia.

TIP South Africa is a good base or hub to visit other southern African countries with plenty of flight options and generally low fares.

How to get to | Indonesia

This is part of a series of blog entries on how to get to countries and places. Here is a link to the index. I plan to eventually cover every country and some other places. If you have a request for a particular country or place please use the email me link at top right, or leave a comment.



See also How to get to Bali.



Indonesia

Source: Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles

Most visitors to Indonesia arrive by air at Jakarta or Denpasar. For Denpasar (Bali) refer to the How to get to Bali post. Airlines flying to Jakarta include:

• Star Alliance - Air China, Lufthansa, Singapore, Thai
• Oneworld - Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, Qantas
• Sky Team - China Southern, KLM, Korean
• Other selected - Emirates, most major Asian airlines including low cost carriers

TIP fares between Jakarta and other Asian hubs are relatively high on major carriers due to limits on the number of flights allowed to be offered. Look for airlines flying tag legs (eg Lufthansa from Singapore and KLM from Kuala Lumpur) and low cost airlines for the cheapest fares, or include as part of a longhaul ticket (see below).

TIP longhaul fares to Jakarta are usually priced the same or marginally more than fares to other southeast asian hubs (Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore). Similarly for awards - Jakarta normally has the same mileage cost as the nearby hub.

TIP longhaul fares from Jakarta are quite a lot lower than from the nearby hubs, except for Singapore Airlines. The fare saving from Jakarta compared with from a nearby hub is usually enough to offset the cost of a separate ticket to Jakarta.

NOTE the EU has a warning on travel on Indonesian airlines due to safety concerns and currently bans these airlines from flying to EU.

How to get to | Barbados

This is part of a series of blog entries on how to get to countries and places. Here is a link to the index. I plan to eventually cover every country and some other places. If you have a request for a particular country or place please use the email me link at top right, or leave a comment.




Barbados

Source: Wikimedia

Barbados is easy to reach by cruise ship or by air. Several airlines fly to Barbados including:

• Star Alliance - Air Canada (from Montreal & Toronto), US Airways (from Charlotte and Philadelphia)
• Oneworld - American (from Miami, New York and San Juan), British Airways (from London)
• Sky Team - Delta (from Atlanta)
• Other selected - Virgin Atlantic, most Caribbean airlines (eg LIAT, SVG Air, etc), some low cost airlines from North America and Europe

TIP On the Caribbean airlines the cheapest fares tend to be only available booking directly (on website if airline has one).

TIP Barbados is a useful stop on a Oneworld RTW or award ticket. The prohibition on mileage earning and redemption for American AAdvantage on British Airways trans-Atlantic flights and BA Executive Club on American trans-Atlantic flights does not apply for flights via the Caribbean.

How to get to | Pakistan

This is part of a series of blog entries on how to get to countries and places. Here is a link to the index. I plan to eventually cover every country and some other places. If you have a request for a particular country or place please use the email me link at top right, or leave a comment.

Pakistan

Source: Kaiser Tufail

Travel across land borders to Pakistan is not currently recommended, except at Waghar near Lahore with India (there is a bus and train between Lahore and Delhi), and Quetta with Iran (there is a bus). Should the security situation change then the mountain passes to China and Afghanistan will make spectacular transport corridors. Airlines flying to Pakistan change depending on the political climate and security concerns. At time of writing airlines flying to Karachi and Lahore include:

• Star Alliance - Air China (Karachi only), Singapore, Thai (also Islamabad), Turkish
• Oneworld - Cathay Pacific (Karachi only)
• Sky Team - none
• Other selected - Pakistan International Airlines, all major (Persian) Gulf based airlines (also to Islamabad)

TIP Fares from Pakistan are generally much cheaper than to Pakistan, especially in business class.

TIP With limited airline options, round trip fares can be very high. Including Pakistan on an Around the world tickets on Star Alliance or Oneworld is good value.

TIP For some frequent flyer programs that have zone-based awards, awards are great value.

How to get to | Philippines

This is part of a series of blog entries on how to get to countries and places. Here is a link to the index. I plan to eventually cover every country and some other places. If you have a request for a particular country or place please use the email me link at top right, or leave a comment.

Philippines

Source: Ramir Borja

While there are some ferries to Borneo (both Malaysia and Indonesia), almost all visitors arrive by air (and mostly at Manila). Airlines flying to Philippines (all to Manila except as noted) include:

• Star Alliance - Asiana (also to Cebu), Continental (from Guam), Singapore, Thai (from Bangkok and Osaka)
• Oneworld - Cathay Pacific (also to Cebu), Dragonair, Japan Airlines, Qantas
• Sky Team - China Southern, Delta (from US mainland and Hawaii as well as Japan), KLM, Korean (also to Cebu)
• Other selected - Philippine Airlines, most (Persian) Gulf based airlines, most main east Asian airlines

TIP There are limited options on low cost airlines to Philippines. The routes with most competition are Hong Kong, Tokyo and Honolulu to Manila.

TIP Longhaul fares (or frequent flyer awards) to Philippines are generally about the same or a little more than the fare (or award mileage level) to the main Asian hubs, thus provide good value compared with intra-Asia fares.

TIP Asia air passes on the alliances are good options for those who are eligible, with all alliances having a range of airline options between Manila and Asian hubs.

UPDATED November 2009 - Continental switch from Sky Team to Star Alliance. No change to advice.