Online Award Partners for Cathay Pacific (oneworld): Asia Miles now offers online award redemption for British Airways and Qantas. See link here for more information.
My Take: I don’t know about you, but I prefer to check for award space online vs. calling the airline; so having another airline offer online award redemption for partners is great. Also being able to view Qantas award space since Cathay only charges 120,000 miles round-trip for a Business Class LAX-Sydney ticket that Qantas asks 192,000 miles for.
New Seats on Edelweiss: In May 2014, the carrier (a subsidiary of SWISS) starts refurbishing long-haul aircraft with lie-flat seats (about 78-inches long) fitted with 16-inch HD touch-screen monitors. The seats will show up on Edelweiss’s two U.S. routes, Las Vegas and Tampa to Zurich, in June 2014. Fares currently start at $4,200, so wait and see if it offers summer Business Class fare promotions.
My Take: As always, I love to see new flat-bed Business Class seats, particularly on a lesser-known airline, since it can, at times, drive down the fares on others. The major downside is not earning miles. But in this case you can earn miles with SWISS’s Miles & More program if you book a codeshare flight on the SWISS website.
New United Route but Bad Mileage Upgrade and Award Space, and an Increase in Buying Miles (Star Alliance): On May 22, 2014, United starts summer Chicago-Edinburgh service (until Oct. 5) using a B757-200 with 16 flat-bed Business Class seats. See link here for more information. United has also increased its annual buy-miles limit from 100,000 to 150,000 miles.
My Take: A new route often means mileage award space, but not in this case, as my research for award and upgrade space came up empty. That does not mean United will not open up space at a later date, so keep checking.
Great news on the increase in buying miles because now you can actually buy all the saver miles needed for a First Class award on many more routes. For example, Chicago-Singapore in First Class would cost $5,267—otherwise this ticket will set you back $13,261, a savings of $7,994 (60%).
Discounted Mileage Awards to the Caribbean on Delta (Sky-Team): Delta is running a Business Class award travel sale from New York to the Caribbean that can save 10,000 (saver awards) to 20,000 miles (standard awards). Valid to book and travel until Dec. 12. See link here for more information.
My Take: If you have tons of Delta miles, then this might be your ticket to use them at a small discount.
New International Flights to the U.S.: Next summer Norwegian Air will offer long-haul flights to London/Gatwick from Ft. Lauderdale, Los Angeles, and New York using a B787. It will offer 32 Premium Economy seats (46-inch seat pitch, 19 inches wide) in a 2-3-2 configuration. (No Business Class.) See link here for more information.
My Take: No Business Class and no miles earned on a major airline, so this fall’s into the “possible fallback” territory.
Fast Track to Elite Status on US Airways (Star Alliance): The carrier is offering two options for buying elite status. “Try Preferred Status on for Size” requires you to fly a certain number of miles over a 90-day period: 7,500 miles/10 segments for Silver (costs $200), 15,000 miles/20 segments for Gold ($400), 22,500 miles/30 segments for Platinum ($600), 30,000 miles/40 segments for Chairman ($600). Elite status valid till February 28, 2015. See link here for more information.
Or, you can buy elite status outright for $1,499 (Silver) to $3,999 (Chairman). See link here for more information.
My Take: Longtime readers know that I am not a big fan of chasing elite status cards—as, generally, there are far better ways to fly premium class for less. But if you’re a devotee of US Airways, or want to be for some reason, these are ways to get elite status fast and without a lot of flying.
Free Business Class Upgrade to Dublin via a Flight-Distance Chart Loophole (oneworld): Fly Aer Lingus Boston Dublin in Business for only 50,000 points round-trip—making this equivalent to a free upgrade—by booking the ticket using British Airways points because BA uses a flight distance mileage chart.
Get this deal with 40,000 Starwood points—10,000 to 20,000 miles less than the amount many carriers charge for coach—or 50,000 Amex Rewards or Chase points.
To book the flight and check for award space, call BA. Also note that Aer Lingus offers an angled Business Class seat.