Insights from the Inside
If you haven’t started already, it’s time to start planning your summer air travel. If your plans include air travel within the US and you haven’t yet made your reservations, it’s not too late to score some good fares. The Boeing 737 MAX groundings have reduced capacity, which seems to have propped up fares and this will likely last through the summer.
B-737 MAX operators in the US and Canada
- Southwest – 31
- American Airlines – 24
- Air Canada – 23
- United Airlines – 14 (MAX 9)
There have been 387 MAX aircraft deliveries around the globe, 92 of which are in the US and Canada. Don’t wait too much longer to make your plans as fare sales may be few and far between this year.
If you’re traveling internationally, there is less concern for your long-haul travel. Large, wide body aircraft aren’t affected. If you’re planning to use points and miles, airline awards should still be available if you know how to search. Business class and first class award booking are still be available, too.
Those Business Class (and, yes, even First Class) awards are still out there. It requires fewer points and miles that most people think. International premium awards seats can be found for not much more than economy tickets. Enhance your travel experience with exclusive club access, priority boarding, lie-flat seats, and a shower on arrival. The talented staff at PointsForDeparture.com can help to make this a reality for you.
Go to sleep in the winter and wake up in summer
You can too for fewer points than you may think!
A few days in Buenos Aires, Argentina
As my regular readers know, I work for a US based international airline, so I can take advantage of the fantastic travel benefits and share my experiences and insights. I often blog about “Insights from the Inside” and have helped many get through difficult travel roadblocks.
In this chapter, I’ll review my latest trip: Buenos Aires, Argentina
We decided to take a quick trip to Buenos Aires (BA) partly due to the convenient flight schedule that maximizes time on the ground. I was able to work a full day then catch an overnight flight to EZE that arrived before noon. That allowed most of a full first day to spend in the city. The return two days later was at 9:00 PM giving us effectively three days to tour and explore the city.
An advance warning:
Your UBER app may not work. Mine didn’t work at all but my traveling partner’s did work on Wi-Fi inside the airport. Another option is Cabify, though it wasn’t completely reliable either. Submit a comment below for more details.
We had a few things we wanted to do in the short time we were there.
- Visit La Recoleta Cemetery. It contains the graves of notable people, including Eva Perón, presidents of Argentina, Nobel Prize winners, the founder of the Argentine Navy, and a granddaughter of Napoleon.
- Take a city walking tour
- There are many options for city tours in BA. I always recommend a free tour where the guide works for tips only.
- Visit La Boca, a neighborhood on the southeast side of the city
- EAT!!! (Sorry vegetarians)
- Argentina has outstanding, inexpensive beef and BA has some very good places to try it.
It was an easy three day trip with overnight flights in both directions allowing maximum time all three days. It was a great visit and getaway from the northern hemisphere winter.
If you’re looking for an easy, exotic getaway, Buenos Aires is a must-consideration and PointsForDeparture.com can help!
Vienna Christmas Markets – December 2018
My new tradition of visiting European Christmas Markets drew me to Vienna this year. The Viennese Christmas Markets start in mid-November and continue until Christmas and the end of the year. The city hosts several markets scattered throughout and all have a slightly different flavor from one another. Here are just a few that we visited:
- Christkindlmarkt at Rathausplatz
- Dozens of vendors including gifts, traditional food and drinks
- Ice skating with skate rental
- Christmas Village / New Year’s Eve Village at the Maria Theresien Platz
- Popular market that lasts until the New Year
- Old Viennese Christmas Market at the Freyung
- Very small market near Town Hall with a few
We found great local foods and the obligatory Weihnachtspunsch (Christmas Punch), a warm and sweet alcoholic drink. The crafts we abundant and too many to list. One of my favorites was jewelry made from the graffiti street art around the city and along the banks of the Danube Canal.
If a November or December visit to Europe is on your schedule, a trip to a city with traditional Christmas Markets is well worth the effort.
I’ve started a new personal tradition of visiting European Christmas markets. Before I get to Vienna, I’ll share the trip details. Flying standby requires a little extra planning so at the last minute I chose Washington Dulles Airport (IAD) as our gateway to Europe. This is all based on which flight loads look best for us. We arrived at IAD from out origin at about 12:00 EST so we had several hours to kill. Using the great benefit of my Priority Pass Lounge Card, included with my Chase Sapphire Reserve Visa, we had a couple lounges from which to choose for our four hour wait.
- Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse (Concourse A)
- British Airways Galleries Lounge (Concourse B)
- Turkish Airlines Lounge (Concourse B)
There’s also a restaurant option of Chef Geoff’s in Concourse C.
I had never been to any of the IAD lounges so I wanted to experience all I could. We started at the Virgin Clubhouse. We entered the lounge and found it mostly empty. There was a limited selection of food. While the lounge was quiet and comfortable, I was a little disappointed. I’ve flown Virgin Atlantic Upper Class and expected more from its fun, hip reputation.
After we finished our coffee and eggs, we moved on to the Turkish Airlines Lounge. We found this club much more inviting and comfortable. The food and drink options were typically Middle Eastern including hummus, tabbouleh, olives, lamb and beef. There was a nice vegetable and fruit selection and of course, Turkish coffee. One wall had several televisions with American football playing as well as two TVs, each connected to a Roku. The largest of all screens seemed to be for Turkish self-promotion. There was plenty of seating, though it did fill up as we got later in the afternoon.
The British Airways Club is only open until 2:00 PM so we didn’t try it.
Turkish Airlines has done well with their club and that will be my first choice when killing time at IAD.
I purchased the tickets for this flight using my Chase Sapphire Reserve Visa card, which includes very valuable insurance for just such an event. Even though Vueling Airlines unfairly rejected my claim, Chase Sapphire Reserve Visa insurance partner (Allianz Worldwide Partners/AGA Service Company) approved it and reimbursed the entire claim. It took about seven weeks but that was primarily due to lack of cooperation from Vueling Airlines. They wouldn’t provide certain documentation and the claims management had to review it for approval.
I highly recommend getting a card that includes good travel protections. It can save you when you need it! Need help wading through the many choices of cards that offer these great benefits? We can help!
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…And what you can do to help yourself
Whenever I check a bag for a flight (which I try not to do) I wave goodbye and hope I’ll see it at my destination. Unfortunately, luggage delays seem to happen to me more than they should. I just returned from a two week trip to three countries in Europe. All went well and our American Airlines Priority tags (an international Business Class amenity) got our bag to us at baggage claim quickly. Our next flights, a few days later, were within the EU so they were considered “domestic”. We had a flight from Oporto, Portugal to Paris connecting in Barcelona. The flights were purchased from Spanish carrier Iberia Airlines but were operated by their partner Vueling Airlines. It was a short connection of 45 minutes but that should have been plenty of time since we departed on time. In Barcelona, the arriving flight had remote parking and we waited for 30 minutes for a bus to take us to the terminal. Well, we made our flight but found in Paris that our luggage didn’t. Since I work for a major US airline and occasionally work in Baggage Service, I know the process and to what we’re entitled. When American Airlines lost our luggage for several days in the Caribbean, they gave us cash to immediately purchase clothing and toiletries. Not so with Vueling. In fact, they would provide nothing if the bag was returned to us with 24 hours and even then it would only be 50 USD per day. That doesn’t go very far in Paris. But, OK, I can live with that. We filed the report at about 3:00 PM and went to our hotel. We finally received our bag two mornings later. We were without our luggage from Thursday to Saturday. We filed a claim with Vueling, including all time-stamped e-mails which clearly indicated that the bag wasn’t located and out for delivery until late day two, but our claim was denied.
Luckily, I purchased the tickets with a credit card that provides lost and delayed luggage insurance if the delay is more than six hours. While that claim is still pending, I expect it will be approved.
So, what should you do if you find yourself in a similar situation?
- Get and use a credit card that provides travel insurance. Different cards provide different coverages. I use the Chase Sapphire Reserve. It’s well worth the fee with all the benefits, including the insurance.
- I recommend getting a luggage tracking device. I have two that use cellular and GPS technologies. They require a subscription but I find it worthwhile. Do your research as some may use outdated cellular technology (2g) that is no longer supported.
- If your luggage doesn’t arrive when and where you do, file a claim immediately. Do not wait.
- Ask the airline what you’re allowance is for necessities and how to get it.
- Keep all receipts and make copies before submitting them.
- Get email correspondence to have a trail of dates and times.
I understand that lost and delayed luggage happens. The differentiator is how the airline handles it. Vueling has failed and Iberia, the airline from which I purchased the ticket, didn’t help either. It wouldn’t have cost them much to make this a very different blog posting.
Remember, next time you plan to check a bag, use the right credit card, keep all documents and know your rights!
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- Travelers to Asia
- Groups
- Families
- Unaccompanied minors
The challenges we face in airport customer service are primarily due to flight delays causing missed connections. I’m pretty good at finding alternate routes to get people to their destination. One of the best ways to avoid finding yourself in need of this help is to give yourself as much time to connect as possible. It’s one of the things I recommend to travelers every day. While an hour or less can be a “legal connect time”, it’s way too short for comfort. Personally, I try to give myself at least three hours at the gateway airport. This past winter I went to Paris and had over six hours at the connecting airport. By departure time, it was snowing, inbound flights were delayed and a mostly full flight went out with many empty seats, even in Business Class. I can’t stress it enough, if you’re connecting to your international gateway, don’t risk a tight connection!
We have a few ways to re-accommodate travelers and there are different lengths to which we’ll go.
- Reroute on the same airline the same day
- Reroute on the same airline another day
- Rebook on an alliance partner (Star Alliance, One World, etc.) airline
- Reroute on a non-partner competitor
Tools at our disposal
If the delay reason is out of our control (weather, Air Traffic Control, etc.) we may not go past the second bullet, though there may be other circumstances such as frequent flier status or availability on later flights. If our flights are full for days, which often happens, I’ll send you to another airline. If the delay is our fault, like a mechanical or crew issue, we’ll do whatever we can to get you moving. Travelers are entitled to much more if the delay or cancellation is “controllable”.
So, the airports are not as crowded, the flights are not quite as full and the weather delays are not as frequent. We get a little rest after Labor Day from the craziness of summer travel…until the holidays!
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Our future blogs will focus on:
• Hacks to make your travel experience less of a hassle
• Reviews of our many travel experiences
• Tips and tricks on how to navigate frustrating travel speed bumps
• Experiences and insights from the airport customer service front line of a major US airline
We hope to keep you informed and entertained. Let us know if you have any questions and the topics you’d like to hear about!
It was only supposed to be a couple of days; time enough to check out the temple you’d read about, pick up some bargains in the market, and mosey round the town before you head off to the next stop on your travels.
With an infinite wealth of cat videos, celebrity pouts and awkward status updates at our fingertips, it can be hard to stand out from the crowd on social media.