Happy new year! Today we’re talking about airline PR blunders, plans for 2015 and how the new mileage earning rules are changing behavior (or not).
How does United Airlines manage to piss off a group of monks? The company is blaming an anti-fraud company but the story stinks from all angles. The airline also faced a bit of a firestorm from a disgruntled mother, but that story wasn’t nearly as strong and it seems the mom actually managed to convince the public to support United. Oh, and lots of MileagePlus accounts have apparently been hacked which is bad. United’s handling of the situation is worse.
And everyone seems to be talking about Skiplagged and hidden-city ticketing. Seth’s take on the situation (like with many) is a bit different.
Lots of discussions about where we’re planning to travel this year as well which should be interesting.
Enjoy the show (and the new year!):
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Don’t forget that after March 1 Singapore Airlines Krisflyer is a good program to credit cheap (but long distance) trips on United. SQ credits all United economy fares at 100% — 1 mile earned for 1 mike flown.
A very good point. Even though I don’t love the award chart it is a reasonable option and earning can be augmented with a US-based CC at a reasonable rate. Plus the discounted online redemptions are a nice touch.