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Welcome to this week’s Frequent Miler Week in Review around the web, where we recap some great reads from this week around the ‘net. Highlights of the day include a change in the value of Southwest points and what it’s like flying Norwegian’s 787 to Europe. Read on for a possible change in policy at Citibank, how to make sure British Airways doesn’t rip you off, and where to go for your next weekend trip.
17% Discount on Some Southwest Award Tickets, Rolls Back Pricing By 3 Devaluations
When Southwest made the surprise move in January to kill the easiest path to a Companion Pass — and then had a change of heart and decided to reopen that path through March of 2017 — some speculated that a devaluation must be on the horizon. The theory there was that so many people must have redeemed Marriott Travel Packages as to create a massive supply of Rapid Rewards points and too many companions flying for free. If you were in that school of thought, would you be surprised to hear that the value of Southwest points seems to be increasing on some routes? Gary Leff at View from the Wing covers a surprising and very positive phenomenon happening at Southwest.
How to get expired ThankYou points back (Citi has changed the rules!)
Here are Frequent Miler, Greg has previously written about How to know if your when your ThankYou points expire and how to keep your ThankYou points alive if you’re cancelling your Prestige or Premier card. But we all make mistakes now and then, and Dan Miller at Points with a Crew recently experienced something that could have happened to any of us: he let more than 46,000 ThankYou points expire. In this post, Dan shows a great example of why it’s always good to hang up and call again and how persistence can pay off. As he reports, we may even be seeing a shift to a more customer-friendly policy with Citi – and we’lll certainly be keeping an eye out for additional data points on this.
LOOKING FOR A WEEKEND TRIP? YOU SHOULD FLY HALFWAY AROUND THE WORLD.
In the fun read of the week, Monkey Miles gives us some inspiration to live to the fullest and throw caution to the wind. I read this post and really wanted to go to Tokyo for ramen at Ichiran this weekend, but my wife gave me a hard no :-). One of the things I love about this hobby is the sense of freedom in knowing that miles could get me just about anywhere I want to go, and probably in a premium cabin, at the drop of a hat. I’m not sure I could keep up with Zachary and his 5,000-miles-from-home trips 2 out of the past 3 weekends, but it’s fun to imagine the possibilities. Where would you go for a crazy weekend adventure? Why not next weekend?
Why ba.com’s ‘upgrade using Avios to Club World’ pricing may have ripped you off
Avois are notoriously bad when it comes to redeeming them for premium cabin award tickets on British Airways due to the astronomically high taxes and fees. A much better use of Avois can be using them to upgrade a paid World Traveller Plus ticket to Club World (business class). You may well find a cash ticket that costs about the same as the fees component of an award ticket and be able to upgrade it for less Avios than an award — and earn miles on your flight. However, there is a glitch in the system that might be overcharging you. Rob at Head for Points gives a great summary of how this happens — and how you can avoid getting ripped off.
Norwegian across the Atlantic: On the Dreamliner JFK-Gatwick
We often write about airfare sales, and Norwegian and WOW have been heating up the competition in the low-cost market between the United States and Europe. I flew WOW a couple of years ago and was really happy with the XXL seating and service. I’ve been very interested in trying out Norwegian just to get a feel for the experience. Seth Miller at Wandering Aramean recently flew Norwegian’s 787 from New York to London and brings us the details on his flight. If you’re been curious about what it’s like to take one of these low-cost flights across the pond, read on.
That’s it for this week around the web. Check back soon for this week’s last chance deals.
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You must have miles out your wazoo if you can fly so long for just 2 day weekends.
Do you have a link to where “Gary Leff at View from the Wing covers a surprising and very positive phenomenon happening at Southwest.”
I looked on his blog and I couldn’t find it.
Yup – the headline right above the picture in this post says “17% Discount on Some Southwest Award Tickets, Rolls Back By 3 devaluations”. That’s the link to his article.
In our week in review posts, the headlines above the pictures are always the links to the articles summarized. Hope that helps!
Thanks for the shout out!