One Mile At A Time: "Hong Kong-based oneworld member Cathay Pacific will be introducing a new business class on its Boeing 777-300ERs, and the product will be known as Aria Suite. This new seat was initially supposed to be introduced as of the second quarter of 2024, but there’s no longer an exact timeline, beyond the product debuting in 2024."
Skift: "Kayak this week released a tool that it says can read flight fare information from a screenshot and then search for a better price."
"After finding a flight on another site, take a screenshot that includes the complete itinerary and price. Click the “upload screenshot” button within the PriceCheck tool and select that screenshot."
"Kayak says it searches hundreds of sites to see if it can find a better price for that same flight."
Enilria reports that JetBlue is telling employees that they plan to open airport lounges at New York (JFK) and Boston (BOS) and that the lounges are expected to be called Mosaic Clubs. Currently, that's the only info that's been shared, but more details may be shared in May 2024.
Personally, I think this has the potential to help make JetBlue even more competitive on transatlantic and transcontinental routes. They already offer a fantastic business class (Mint) experience and having lounges could take that to another level, especially if they can continue to offer competitive fares.
If they do end up opening lounges, just keep in mind that it could be a while as they'll have to get the requisite approvals first.
Bloomberg: "The UK’s airline passenger duty will increase for non-economy passengers, which Hunt said was to account for high inflation in recent years. The increase will amount to an extra £20 ($25.45) for long-haul flights and £22 for ultra-long haul flights. The duty will be frozen for economy passengers on domestic and short-haul flights while long-haul economy fliers will pay £2 more."
Yes, this applies to award tickets as well as cash tickets.
Points Wire Note:
I'm often asked if there's a way to avoid the Air Passenger Duty (APD) fee flying out of the UK.
The short answer is no. The longer answer is that you can start your journey from somewhere else in Europe. The APD fee is only imposed on flights originating in the UK. That means you won't be on the hook for the APD fee if you only connect in London.
Additionally, flights from the Scottish Highlands and Islands region are exempt from paying the APD fee. The most common airport in the Highlands is Inverness.
One Mile At A Time: "Chase has been aggressively expanding its airport lounge portfolio, with the opening of Chase Sapphire Lounges by The Club. Up until now, four Chase Sapphire Lounges have been open, including in Boston (BOS), Hong Kong (HKG), New York (JFK), and New York (LGA). A fifth lounge has just quietly opened as part of the network, which is pretty exciting."
As Chase did at JFK, they've taken over the management of the Etihad lounge at Washington Dulles.
Skift: "Hilton has signed deals for three new hotels in Saudi Arabia: There are two Curio Collections, one focused on “eco” and the other on adventure. And an LXR resort will be an “agritourism” property as part of a tie-in with Saudi’s new farming tourism organization, Dan Company."
"Al-Ahsa Agritourism Resort, LXR Hotels & Resorts will be the most high-end of the bunch and connected to a garden, an amphitheater, dining and retail options, a farmers’ market, and spaces for local agricultural vendors."
"On average, LXR properties are the most expensive in the Hilton network – above the rates of the historic Waldorf Astoria. Average daily rates were $519 according to Hilton’s latest results. It is also one of Hilton’s smallest brands in terms of footprint, with 13 locations."
Points Wire Note:
We've seen quite a bit of movement in the luxury hotel space in Saudi Arabia lately. I'm not surprised to see Hilton getting in on the action. I'll be curious to see the cash rates and award rates at the LXR property.
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If you pay for your CLEAR Plus membership with an Amex Platinum, Amex Business Platinum, Amex Green, or Hilton Aspire Amex, you can also receive a statement credit covering the $189 fee.
One Mile At A Time: "Delta has updated its baggage page to reflect new fees for tickets purchased as of March 5, 2024. For domestic flights, the airline has increased checked bag fees from $30 to $35 for the first bag, and from $40 to $45 for the second bag."
Points Wire Note:
Not exactly a shocking move considering Alaska, American, JetBlue, and United just recently increased their checked baggage fees. Still, it's always annoying when airlines choose to sneak in negative changes.
British Airways will start allowing free messaging on a single device via their inflight WiFi on April 3, 2024. Free messaging will be available on all aircraft with Wi-Fi capability within two weeks of the rollout. For context, all BA flights out of London Gatwick (LGW) and 80%+ out of London Heathrow (LHR) have WiFi with the remaining aircraft operating out of Heathrow expected to have WiFi by the end of next year.
Frequent Miler: "Shopping portal Retailmenot is currently offering 20% back on Hotels.com. That matches a previous deal from Retailmenot for the best site-wide deal on Hotels.com that I can recall in years. The catch is that’s it is only up to a maximum of $50 back."
This deal ends March 10, 2024. However, Retailmenot could pull it early if enough people use it.
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