Welcome to my weekly miles, points, credit cards plus other travel news from the blogosphere. Here are some topics:
- Etihad First Apartments might be coming back for a short while
- What Your Pilot Won’t Tell You
- JetBlue will upgrade Mosaic+ members to Mint
- Nomadic Matt shares his terrible Airbnb experience
- Two incredible deals are supposedly being honored
To access publications hidden behind the paywall, I have three words for you: Firefox. Bypass. Paywalls. Seriously, no need for any kind of trickery (beyond that ).
Planes
Are you missing Etihad First Apartment as much as I am? Then this is great news! I don’t care what some snobs are saying; I still believe it’s the best First Class cabin ever. And fortunately, there is a chance Etihad First Apartment is coming back, by Insider.
Priority Pass adds GameWay Lounge at LAX, by Travel Codex. I guess these can be useful if you travel with kids.
This is a fun piece from Reader’s Digest: 13 Things Your Pilot Won’t Tell You.
Delta wants to raise their paid domestic First Class load “into the mid to high-60s” by 2024. I don’t see it happening unless they start offering premium seats at bargain prices. What I do see happening is Delta planes taking off with empty seats, which is something we’ve been seeing from multiple airlines for a long time all over the world. Wishful thinking is a powerful thing. Delta Premium Revenue Push, by Simple Flying.
JetBlue will provide four upgrades to Mint to Mosaic+ members and more, by DansDeals.
Hotels
This would be funny if it weren’t so sad: Hilton Expands Daily F&B Credits to 2022, by MilesTalk.
Here is the latest Vegas acquisition: Hard Rock Gutting Mirage, by Miles to Memories.
Nomadic Matt calls to boycott Airbnb after several bad experiences.
And here is another Airbnb story by Skift: Airbnb and Vrbo Start Sharing Information on Party House Offenders.
Credit cards
It looks like the “deal of the century” is getting through: The 240x SimplyMiles deal is being honored, by Frequent Miler via VFTW.
Here is another deal of the century, this time from AmEx — and that “offer” (which I didn’t receive — again!) is way more incredible. Read on Reddit: Amex Too Good to Be True Offer Update.
Here is a useful feature from Capital One, by Thrifty Traveler.
Covid-19
I can’t help but feel that this CNBC report is slightly premature: The pandemic could end in 2022 — here’s what “normal” life might look like soon.
Kelly is wrong about masks not being useful on a plane, but I wish him a speedy recovery: Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly Tests Positive for Covid, by Skift.
This is my latest update on where vaccinated Americans can travel without considerable restrictions: expect this list to shrink in the coming days and weeks due to omicron variant.
TBB
- Case Against Crypto, Latest on Omicron, Bird Power Rankings, Credit Card Combos
- 2021 Lists: Best Music, Best Podcasts, Best Investment Writing, Best Bars
My favorites:
- Case Against Crypto
- The $65 Million Art Heist That Put “Ocean’s Eleven” to Shame
And now just for fun
30 Hilarious Private Conversations People Overheard In Washington DC, by Bored Panda
The pandemic isn’t over until I see Fauci make out with a complete stranger in public
Image credit: By David Berkowitz
Did you get in on the 240x promo Andy?
Nope. 🙁
Hey Andy, thank you for the post. Hope y’all get well soon and can enjoy the holidays!
Thanks David!