Episode 14 of the PointsHoarder podcast is now up! In this episode Fozz takes the helm and walks us through the announcement that Alitalia will honor (some of) the mistake fares they issued, Singapore Airlines canceling the two longest non-stop routes in the world, American adding new (and old) routes, Turkish cutting their economy plus product, Qatar announcing new routes, and recent trips taken by both Fozz and Seth.
We did have some technical issues in recording this episode and we apologize for some of the popping you may hear. We were also a tad bit late publishing this episode due to Hurricane Sandy.
Length: 39 minutes
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Show Notes
- Alitalia to Honor Mistake Fares (With Limits) (ABC Travel)
- SQ Canceling Two Longest Routes to U.S. (Yahoo! News)
- American Airlines Announces New Routes (Business Traveller)
- Turkish Airlines Apparently Cutting Comfort Class Premium Economy (The Wandering Aramean)
- Qatar Announces a Host of New Routes to U.S. (USA Today)
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I have listened to every Pointshoarder podcast since the beginning and it seems they are getting less useful. I don’t know if I’m your target podcast listener but I fly 80,000-100,000 miles a year, a mix of business and vacation. Will have gone overseas 4 times this year (Italy, Scotland, Israel, Argentina), all paid for personally . . . my business travel is all domestic. I can’t charge my clients for first class, so I’m dependent on my airline status (US Airways Chairman because I live in Phoenix) to be able to fly first for the business travel. That’s why I pay for my personal travel rather than using miles. I almost always get upgraded on the domestic travel.
Here is what I would like to hear in podcasts: At least one segment in each podcast that is a how to on getting favorable business or first fares or upgrades for long haul flights. Where to find the fares, how to book them, how to get free/cheap stopovers, best time to book, domestic or foreign carrier, etc. My wife and I (she’s US Air Chairman also) are in our 60s and we like to travel . . . at our age we refuse to fly overseas in coach.
Example, for our last trip to Israel we flew to LAX, booked a separate RT itinerary on THY to Tel Aviv, changing in IST both ways (in Business Class . . . great lounge in IST, we planned extra layover time there), and booked a separate flight back from LAX to PHX. Great trip, but I’m not sure I can always find itineraries like this. Next year we are thinking of going to Provence and India in separate trips, plus whatever else comes up and is affordable. E.g., the Scotland trip, arranged a couple of weeks in advance, was $750 per person RT, upgraded to Business Class for free with US’s Chairman’s certs (similar to United SWUs).
Sorry that you’re finding the episodes less useful, Brooks.
We try to make sure that there is actionable information in each episode but, to be blunt, there isn’t always going to be a special trick to share every time. We have talked about free stopovers, for example, from a few different programs. I’m guessing we’ll circle back and cover that again in a little while so that new listeners who haven’t gone back through everything still get that information. But talking about it every week isn’t going to do anyone any good.
This podcast is a mix of tips-and-tricks and our actual experiences trying them out and visiting places around the world leveraging these deals. And I think we’ve been pretty true to that goal so far.