Austrian Airlines (Star Alliance): Has completed its new flatbed Business Class roll-out on long-haul aircraft—four B777s and six B767s—serving New York (JFK), Washington DC, and Toronto to/from Vienna. See link here for more information.
My Take: I love seeing seat roll-outs completed because it takes away the guessing game as for which aircraft has the best seat. That’s the case now with Lufthansa’s Business Class, which many travelers will find unacceptable and will, therefore, ignore them altogether, given the risk of getting an old seat, as its Business Class retrofit project won’t be completed until early 2015. So keep Austrian Airlines in mind for your next Business Class trip to Europe.
Delta (SkyTeam): It’s been a busy month for Delta, which announced Mileage award increases, a change on mileage award holds, and new routes.
Mileage Award Increases: Low-priced mileage-awards for Business Class bookings for travel on or after June 1, 2014 to Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Southern South America, and the Southwest Pacific have increased 10,000 to 25,000 miles round-trip (about 25%), depending on the region. See link here for more.
My Take: Another reason to not be loyal to Delta, unless you have no choice. (My condolences.) Why would you pay 125,000 miles to Europe or South America for Business Class when other airlines offer First Class for the same cost. In other words, if you go with American you get a free upgrade.
No More Holds: As of Sept. 9, Delta will no longer offer a 48-hour award-ticket hold option. See link here for more information.
My Take: With all due respects to Mies van der Rohe, less is not always more. This move by Delta is a bad one.
New Routes: Launching in 2014, pending government approval: Seattle-Seoul (June 2) and Seattle-Hong Kong (June 16). See link here for more information. See chart below for mileage-award inventory availability.
Survey of Award Availability on Delta in Business Class From Seattle
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Singapore Airlines (Star Alliance): Is showcasing its new B777-300ER First and Business Class cabins on select Singapore-London flights. See link here for more information.
My Take: One of the best premium seats in the air just keeps getting better. With many airlines now offering flatbed seats in First and Business Class, other items will play a bigger role in setting 5-Star airlines apart from 2-Star ones. Singapore is set on being a half-decade or more ahead of the competition. I hope you have a Multi-Airline Credit Card that allows transfers to Singapore.
United loyalists take note: You can use Singapore miles for mileage upgrades, usually on much lower fares and, at times, with much better availability than you can with United miles, while still earning United elite credit, on these routes: U.S. to Asia, NYC-Frankfurt, and Houston-Moscow.
Virgin Raises Mileage Purchase Limit: Now you can buy 100,000 miles at 2.7¢ per mile (including taxes, plus the $25 transaction fee)—a relatively low rate. In other words, you can buy all the miles needed for a Business Class award ticket (80,000 to 100,000 miles, depending on U.S. departure city). See link here for more information.
My Take: Always great to have easy access to more miles, and especially at a lower cost.