Airline policies often baffle me. The carry-on luggage restrictions are mind-boggling, to say the least. There are no standards and each airline sets their own rules. I was reminded of this a few weeks ago. I was in a mall and walked by a House of Samsonite store. Inside the store were signs showing luggage dimensions and weights for a few airlines. I found the signs helpful, but also realized they were obviously incomplete for those of us who travel a lot and use a broad variety of airlines.
I’ve made a resolution! From now on, when a credit card I currently have comes up for renewal, I really want to consider more deeply than I have in the past, whether or not to keep the credit card. I’m determined to look more closely at the annual fees I pay to keep the credit card and the benefits I receive. And whether I’m actually using those benefits… maybe that’s the most important question of all.
Since I made this resolution, the first credit card to come up for renewal is my Barclays American Airlines AAdvantage Aviator MasterCard. Like many of you, I got this credit card because I had the Barclays US Airways World MasterCard, which became the Aviator credit card when American Airlines bought US Airways. The yearly fee for the Aviator credit card is $89. My first action was to actually read the Reward Summary on my statement and really understand the potential of this credit card, whether or not I actually put much spend on this card. Continue reading
Do you ever wonder what it would be like to have had a 30+ year career with the airlines? I know people who are currently working in the airline industry, but I’ve never had the chance to really sit down and talk to an airline veteran of so many years… until the other day. I was on one of my walks in Coronado making notes for my Coronado / San Diego series when I struck up a conversation with a woman who was also taking a walk. I figured she was a Coronado local, which she was, but I came to find out she was also retired from a 30+ year career with the airlines. So later that week, over coffee and scones at Tartines, I talked with Janet. I figured if I was intrigued by the changes she’d seen in all those years, and her other impressions of the airline industry, as well as any places she’d been and enjoyed, you might want to eavesdrop on our conversation and hear what I learned from Janet.
I’ve always wondered how people got started when they work for the airlines for so many years. Janet had one of those I-guess-it-was-meant-to-be stories. In her early 20s, she and a girlfriend came out to San Diego from the east coast. No job. No plans. They stayed with a friend and, one day, a neighbor came by. Naturally, he asked Janet what she would do for work, and when she said she had no idea, he said he worked for the airlines, they were hiring, and she should come by and see about getting a job.
That was the summer of 1968 and the airline was PSA! Pacific Southwest Airlines was the first large discount airline and billed itself as the “World’s Friendliest Airline”. Maybe you remember PSA, I sure do! At first, they only flew intra-state in California. So imagine a lot of up and down and up and down in one day kind of flights. Janet mentioned that this was great for the women crew because they could be home with their kids every night.
Another interesting fact she mentioned was that one of the reasons the PSA crews were so young was because they could hire 18 year olds. PSA didn’t cross state lines. They did, however, serve small bottles of alcohol, but didn’t open them for you. The bigger airline carriers did serve alcohol, so they couldn’t hire anyone younger than 21! The crews were young and fun, and Janet told me they still have PSA get togethers and parties :)
PSA Pacific Southwest Airlines flight attendants. Image source: http://www.psa-history.org/sights_and_sounds/stewardesses
The yearly Alaska Airlines Companion Fare that comes with the Bank of America Alaska Airlines Visa Signature Credit Card is awesome. However, the question becomes, WHICH trip is the best trip to use it on? I’ve had the credit card and gotten the companion fare deal for many years now. But this year was the first year that I had three potential uses for it. A good problem to have. Maybe you’ve had this good problem as well :)
It did, however, require a thorough look at comparing prices and hotels. If I’m paying cash for a hotel stay, I always use Pruvo to monitor for price drops, so that figures into my choice too. I also looked at what other miles/points I had available for these routes to finally make my choice. It was a lesson in perseverance! Here’s what I did. I was originating from San Diego and my trips were to Hawaii, New York City, and Boston. My dates for Hawaii and Boston were somewhat flexible, but my New York City dates were not.
Great Circle Mapper: http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=hnl-san,san-bos,san-jfk
Good morning everyone, happy Wednesday. Yesterday, Citi sent out emails to all Citi AT&T Access More Credit Card members telling them that Citi AT&T Access More Credit Card will Earn 1x for Gift Card Purchases & Real Estate Payments (Effective July 22, 2017). This caused mass panic in the miles and points community and got me thinking, is there a better card to use than the Citi AT&T Access More Credit Card? Maybe!
I searched on Google for a no annual fee Citi AT&T credit card and stumbled onto the Citi AT&T Access Credit Card that has no annual fee. That credit card has a 10,000 Citi Thank You Point sign up bonus and earns 2x for online purchases and AT&T purchases, and 1x on all other purchases. Unfortunately, that credit card does not offer a 10,000 Citi Thank You Point bonus when you spend $10,000 or more during your cardmember year. This credit card also has the same change in earning on gift card purchases and real estate payments effective July 22, 2017.
