Welcome to The Morning Shave. We read a ton of travel articles each day for our personal research and to share the best travel tips and tricks with you. Here are the articles for Thursday, June 20, 2019, that we think you should read.
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The Morning Shave
How to Check Flight Delays Nationwide, in One Map. – Knowledge is power. Bookmark this site! If you can see that your flight is going to be delayed or canceled ahead of your fellow passengers, this gives you a head start in rebooking your flight. And you’ll have plenty of time to let family, friends, or business associates that you may not be there on time.
Emirates Becomes First Airline to Offer More Affordable ‘Basic’ Business Class Fares. – Good news for people who actually pay cash for business class flights and don’t need the extras that come with a chauffeur or airport lounge access. This worries me because airlines may start doing this to award tickets as well. What do you think?
Don’t Cut Your Nose Off to Spite Your Face With Frequent Travel Loyalty Programs. – Brian makes excellent points about not overreacting because you may be causing yourself more harm than good. The loyalty world is totally fluid and changes all of the time. You have to roll with the punches and realize that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.
The Beginning of the End for TSA PreCheck? Will it Be Needed Soon with New Technology? – I’m glad that new technology is being tested and implemented to make travel safer. And that airport security lines will be quicker is a valuable byproduct of these advances. There is too much money to be made in TSA PreCheck, so I’m sure that new benefits will be added to the program to maintain its attractiveness.
Alaska Airlines Creates New Restriction for Annual Companion Fare. – It was good while it lasted. The once-per-year companion pass is still a great benefit worthy of the annual fee, but it is significantly less valuable now that I won’t be able to use my Capital One Venture or Barclays Arrival Plus to erase the rest of the cash portion of the ticket. We still have a few months left, so I guess it is time to start booking some flights. Here’s a refresher on how to use the Alaska Airlines companion pass.
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I have to admit to some serious skepticism on the Emirates basic business fares. In every instance that I can recall, creating a “basic” fare is just a way to offer less for the same price. I also share your concerns about things like this spreading to award tickets.
For now, the in-air product isn’t changing, just the perks on the ground. We’ll see how long that lasts.
>significantly less valuable now that I won’t be able to use my Capital One Venture or Barclays Arrival Plus to erase the rest of the cash portion of the ticket
But you can always cash out Cap1 and Barclay’s points by booking refundable travel? Is there any reason you don’t liquidate them that way?
True, but under the current rules, you can pay for the Alaska primary and companion flight using your Venture or Arrival card. That all changes in a few months under the new rules. Then, you’ll have to use more complicated methods like what you’re talking about to make it happen.