Airfare Deals tips

Yep, that’s “billion” with a ‘b’.

Predictably, the U.S. State Department has issued a travel advisory following yesterday’s terrorist attacks in Brussels.

Following is our regular summary of the latest travel news and best frequent traveler promotions reviewed during the past week.

The AP reports that while travelers are currently enjoying a prolonged period of cheap fares, even for international flights, airlines are already taking steps that will result in steadily increasing airfares over the coming months. All good things must come to an end.

Yesterday’s big travel story was Delta’s announcement that the airline’s CEO, Richard Anderson, will retire on May 2, and be succeeded by Ed Bastian, currently Delta’s president.

Spirit Airlines waived fees.

I’m not a fan of flash sales. If a company discounts its product or otherwise adds value to a purchase, then it should allow sufficient time for the offer to be widely communicated, considered, and acted on. “Snooze you lose” has always struck me as disrespectful and a bit nasty.

Following is our regular summary of the latest travel news and best frequent traveler promotions reviewed during the past week.

On Friday evening—traditional timing for bad-news announcements that companies hope will go unnoticed by the public and unreported by the media—American published the new mileage-earning rates, effective from August 1, for travel on AAdvantage partner airlines.

Following is our regular summary of the latest travel news and best frequent traveler promotions reviewed during the past week.

In 2015, flyers filed 15,260 complaints with the Department of Transportation. That was a 34 percent increase over 2014’s 11,365 complaints.

Enter the Babich Wines “Trip to New Zealand” sweepstakes by August 31, 2016, for a chance to win the grand prize: a seven-night trip for two to New Zealand, including air to and within New Zealand; hotels in Auckland, Marlborough, and Queenstown; choice of activities; and a NZD$1,000 gift card.

Following is our regular summary of the latest travel news and best frequent traveler promotions reviewed during the past week.

Overall, Delta’s SkyMiles program has established itself as one of the industry’s least generous loyalty schemes. To play, you’ll pay. But with this limited-time award sale, you can at least pay less.

In a historic agreement signed this week, the United States and Cuba have now resumed commercial air traffic between the two countries for the first time in 50 years, with routes expected to be running by fall 2016. Currently, only chartered flights are allowed to operate between the two countries.

Does it feel like 2010 all over again? As far as U.S. domestic airfares go, it is. Or so the government would have us believe.

Enter the AFAR Media “Glasgow Getaway” sweepstakes by March 14, 2016, for a chance to win the grand prize: a trip for two to Glasgow, Scotland, including air, four nights’ hotel, airport transfers, tours, one dinner.

The Department of Homeland (DHS) plans to continue its confusing and controversial policy on searching some electronic devices at U.S. airports. In remarks to the Senate Homeland Security Committee, DHS Secretary John Kelly claimed the searches are valuable in the fight against terrorism.

Tired of slow, expensive inflight WiFi? So is American, and it’s suing Gogo, the industry’s largest supplier of inflight WiFi, demanding that Gogo either up its game or allow American to switch providers for 200 of its planes.

In April, when the FAA removed restrictions on additional flights at Newark Liberty International Airport, the hope was that other airlines would increase their share of the airport’s flights, in the process eroding United’s dominance and near-monopoly pricing in that important market.

I recently dubbed Alaska Airlines’ loyalty program, Mileage Plan, the “Best Mileage Program for Average Travelers.” It’s a hard-won honor, awarded for two principal reasons. First, Alaska has chosen to retain Mileage Plan’s distance-based earning scheme, even as most other airlines have adopted less generous spend-based earning. And second, Alaska has cobbled together a roster of earning and redemption partners that rivals those of the world’s largest airlines.