DELTA
CHARGES FOR AWARD TICKETS. By
now you’ve received the blast email from Delta regarding
its new $25 (domestic) $50 (int’l) fee for award tickets
for tickets booked after Aug 15. Folks, this is one of a
long string of examples of the diminishing returns of
frequent flyer programs. As we have said in the past, if
you are banking miles for the future, you are losing
value. Redeem your miles now, all of them, as their
value is going to continue to decline with moves like
this. Remember, you have agreed to terms and conditions
that allow airlines to make any changes they feel like,
even retroactively, with your hard earned frequent flyer
miles. US Airways already charges for award travel and
we expect other carriers to embrace and match this new
fee with vigor. We’re afraid that that whole frequent
flyer game is nearing “game over.” Delta’s Jeff
Robertson explains the move to TICKET readers: “As
you know, we're in a situation where we must work
quickly to adjust to the record-high and continually
rising cost of fuel. The price of fuel has nearly
doubled since this time last year, causing considerable
financial stress to our business. We are implementing
initiatives across all areas of the company to help
mitigate the impact of fuel costs, including adding this
fuel surcharge on award tickets. Our hope is that
this surcharge is temporary, and should fuel prices
subside from current levels, we will reevaluate it.”
(emphasis added by us, since we expect this charge to be
permanent…) What
do you think?
LET US KNOW and we’ll post your comments in a
future issue.
PROFITABLE QUARTER FOR AIRLINES?
YEP. Despite all the tumult and teeth-gnashing, Delta
says that it expects a profitable June quarter. It also
said that despite the run on fuel, it expects to end
this year with $3.2 billion in cash. Last Spring, Delta
CEO Richard Anderson said that airlines would have to
increase fares by 15-20% to survive the current spike in
oil. Guess what? Airlines HAVE raised prices by an
average of around 20% according to multiple sources.
Demand has not tanked. The higher fares combined with
the new buffet of obnoxious fees lead us to believe that
the airlines might be doing a little better than they
are letting on. What do you think?
LET US KNOW.
WI-FI
IN THE HIGH SKY.
We have always been super skeptical of claims by
airlines that they were going to offer real wi-fi access
on planes—wi-fi as good as we can get
at Starbucks or in our rooms at the Hampton Inn. Well,
we are thinking that the newest iteration of in-flight
wi-fi might be getting close to the real thing,
especially after reading
WSJ’s techie journo Walt Mossberg’s take on it.
Here’s the deal: This month American Airlines is rolling
out a new inflight wi-fi system on a single Boeing 767
flying between NY and LA and says more planes will get
it in coming months. SF-based Virgin America says that
it plans to begin installation of the system on its
entire fleet in coming months. Both plan to charge
$10-$13 per flight, depending on length. Now THAT’s a
fee I’d be happy to pay. (No word from Delta or AirTran
on plans to get wi-fi any time soon….)
DELTA
SHANGHAIS CHINA FLIGHTS.
Delta’s long sought nonstop service between ATL and
Shanghai (awarded just a few months ago) is already
getting trimmed, from the current daily service to just
five days per week starting Nov 7 2008.
Don’t
Forget! BOOK ALL YOUR ONLINE TRAVEL VIA
LINKS FROM THE TICKET!
SAT-NIGHT-STAYOVER IS BACK.
It never went away completely, but the maddening
Saturday-night-stayover rule for airlines’ most
inexpensive flights is making a big comeback. Starting
this October, United will imposed a one- to three-
night, or weekend stayover requirement on its lowest
fares. While Delta pretty much gave up on the onerous
requirement when it installed “Simplifares” early this
century, our bet is that they’ll embrace it once again
as a way to squeeze more bucks out of business travelers
whose work schedules (or lives) don’t allow for multiple
night or weekend stays. Good news: Low fare carriers
like AirTran, JetBlue and Southwest have not ever, and
we don’t think they will start imposing such
restrictions. That means Delta will impose them only on
routes where they don’t compete with AirTran, which are
few and far between from ATL. In
any case, this means a return to the practice of "back
to back ticketing" in order to save.
CELL
PHONES + DRIVING = ILLEGAL.
Many business travelers or vacationers in rental cars
might be unaware of new laws banning driving while
talking on cell phones. These “hands-free” laws are
already in effect in New York, Washington D.C. Chicago
and New Jersey, and will start in California and
Washington on July 1. Tourists in these hands-free
areas must also comply with the new laws, so bring along
that earpeice!
SALT LAKE – PARIS NONSTOP MORPHS INTO ONE-STOP. The
Salt Lake City Tribune reports that Delta’s
highly publicized “non-stop” 767-300 flight from SLC to
Paris has actually had to stop in Cincinnati for fuel.
Delta blames overweight planes and hot weather for the
unscheduled stops….
DELTA
SLASHES FLIGHTS IN ORLANDO AND LAX.
Starting this fall, Delta will dump flights between
Orlando and Nashville; Key West; Raleigh-Durham;
Birmingham; Columbus, Ohio; Lexington, Ky.; New Orleans;
Panama City, Fla.; Richmond, Va.; Louisville and
Knoxville. From LAX, Delta’s cutting nonstop mainline
jet flights to Boston, Hartford and Columbus. (This
pretty much puts a nail in the coffin on Delta’s
frequent attempts to make LAX some sort of secondary hub
operation…)
THE
TASTE OF THE TICKET.
"This
was the first time I had experienced Singaporean
cuisine, though I generally fancy Asian food. I was not
sure what to expect. "
Want to hear more? Then check out the latest dispatch
from our fearless taste-tester in
THE TASTE OF THE TICKET!
DID YOU KNOW....that
THE TASTE OF THE TICKET is one of the most popular
elements of THE TICKET newsletter-- thousands of readers
check it out every month!
CONSIDER BOOKING HOLIDAY FARES NOW.
If you know your
plans for Thanksgiving or Christmas already, it might be
time to go ahead and book your flights. Some spot
checking on flights from ATL to NY during the weeks of
Nov 23-30 and again around Xmas on AirTran are in the
$300 to $400 range. Delta’s fares are significantly
higher—in the $500 range. For Chicago, AirTran’s are
$400-ish, but Delta’s are $550-ish. Flights from ATL to
LAX and SFO are in the $500 range on both AirTran and
Delta. As usual, peak days like the Weds before
Thanksgiving or the Sunday after are higher. But with
fares expected to continue their fast climb, now might
be the time to lock in. (NOTE: Fares mentioned above we
found on Friday June 27 and are subject to change.)
SOUNDS LIKE ATL IN 1996.
Remember when everyone in ATL thought they’d cash in on
the Olympics and rent out their houses as B&B’s? When
hotels jacked rates up wildly? Remember how let down
everyone was with the thin crowds? Same thing is
happening in Beijing. And they don’t even have someone
like ex-mayor Bill Campbell to blame. From a
recent AP story on the sorry state of Olympic
tourism: “The 17-day games [in mid August]were supposed
to generate a buzz throughout the summer, leading to a
tourism windfall with fully booked hotels, flush
customers and a jubilant atmosphere. Instead Beijing's
summer tourism season is slow, with hotels and travel
agencies
saying many potential travelers are being put off by
tightening visa rules, polluted Beijing air and
officials who seem more concerned with keeping out
foreigners than welcoming them.”
NEW
MILEAGE
RATES.
From our crack accountants at
10-Key Solutions: “Effective July 1, 2008 through
December 31, 2008, the new mileage rate is 58.5 cents a
mile for business miles driven [up 8 cents from 50.5 cents a mile now],
and 27 cents a mile for medical and moving miles. You
should begin to collect two sets of mileage – one for
miles driven before July 1 and one for miles from July 1
to the end of the year. I know you ALL have those
mileage books going!”
UPDATE: JUNE 4, 2008
AIRTRAN AND DELTA REPORT RECORD LOADS IN MAY.
Who said travel is taking a nosedive? Delta
reported record load factors for May (although total
enplanements are down, but by less than 2% so
statistically irrelevant.) AirTran also
reported record loads for May, and an 8% increase in
total enplanements. We know that airlines are taking a
hit with oil prices, but what is up with all this bad
news bears about people staying home this summer? It’s
just not playing out in the numbers….
GOT A COMMENT, TIP OR ADVICE YOU'D LIKE TO SHARE?
Email us and it could end up in a future issue
of THE TICKET! Send yours to
ticketatl@travelskills.com. Thanks!
A FRIENDLY
REMINDER:
Luv ya! Mean it! Return the love by booking your
travel via links in THE TICKET! We need readers to book all trips on links
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on the ads to the right, or the links below!)
See
you again next month or sooner with a NEWSBITE if or
when hot news breaks.
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In
any case, this means a return to the practice of "
