McDonald’s Coffee On Board? Color Me Caffeinated!

It’s become an industry-wide marketing trend recently for airlines to serve branded coffee and promote the association. Boast the roast. Delta, for example, began serving Starbucks brews on select flights in 2013, and has since expanded the offering worldwide. Here’s how Delta touted the global rollout, in 2015: “With a high-quality global brand like Starbucks…

Read More

Win This: a Beer Lover’s Trip to Germany for 2

Enter the DRAFT Magazine “500 Years of German Beer Culture” sweepstakes by December 15, 2016, for a chance to win the grand prize: a trip to Germany for two, including airfare, accommodations, ground transportation, brewery tour, and some meals. To enter, provide the requested contact information (name, email, etc.) on the sweepstakes landing page and…

Read More

Thanksgiving Forecast: the 20 Most Delay-Prone Airports

It goes without saying that the Thanksgiving holiday is among the year’s most stressful travel periods, not least because of the airport experience. Long lines, chaotic gate areas, more toddlers and teens, fewer road warriors. Another holiday travel irritant, flight delays, is a double whammy, both dialing up the anxiety level and prolonging it. There’s…

Read More

Spend $12 to Save Up to $400 on Flights? Thanks, AARP

I’ve been on the receiving end of more AARP promotional mailings than I can count, having passed the 50-year milestone some years ago. Periodically I’ll read the latest brochure, on the chance that there’s something on offer that would justify my paying the modest $16 annual membership fee. So far, disappointingly, nothing. While the association…

Read More

New InterContinental Promo: Up to $100 Back After 3 Nights

InterContinental is reprising its so-called Priceless Surprises promotion from last year. Offer Details Between December 1, 2016, and February 15, 2017, IHG Rewards members who use a MasterCard to pay for two stays, one of which is at least two nights, can earn a MasterCard gift card worth up to $100, as follows: $50 gift…

Read More

The Trump Effect: a ‘Nosedive’ in Travel to the U.S.

Donald Trump. Love him or hate him—and the U.S. election results suggest you’re as likely to do one as the other—he’s become a fact of everyday life. And not just for Americans. His election has reverberated throughout the world. Although it’s unclear exactly how, his policies regarding government regulation, trade, and immigration are sure to…

Read More

Free Uber Airport Transfers. Happy Holidays!

Free Uber rides from the airport? Yes, if you use an American Express card to pay for them. Offer Details Through December 31, Uber customers can get two free rides from select airports, worth up to $65 apiece, when charging the rides to an American Express card. To receive the discount, Uber users must enter…

Read More

Warren Buffett Is Buying Airline Stocks. Consumers Beware!

Warren Buffet is famous for being one of the world’s savviest investors, earning billions for himself, and plenty for his stockholders as well. As chief of the Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate, he’s been accorded the honorary title of the Oracle of Omaha. He is also famous in investing circles for his decades-long aversion to airline stocks,…

Read More

The Winner of This New ‘Best Airline’ Award May Surprise You

AirlineRatings.com, which bills itself as “the world’s only safety and product rating website,” is best known for its airline safety ratings. But it also rates airlines on other dimensions of interest to a broader segment of the traveling public. Its just-published Airline Excellence Awards goes beyond safety, in an attempt to identify the world’s top…

Read More

United’s New Basic Economy Fares? Nasty!

If so-called basic economy fares aren’t yet a pervasive fact of travel life, they soon will be. The stripped-down fares, which Spirit famously refers to as Bare Fares, are designed to appeal to the most price-sensitive consumers, who are willing to forego such niceties as seat selection, boarding priority, changeable tickets, and so on in…

Read More