Business Travel Tips

Members of SkyMiles — the Delta Air Lines frequent flyer program — will no longer pay redemption fees for award tickets redeemed within 20 days of departure.  

Before this change, the fee to book an award ticket for travel within three days was $150 per ticket; for travel within four to seven days the fee was $100; and for travel within eight to 20 days the fee was $75.

In its press release Delta lists the latest changes to its frequent flyer, including:
- Introducing a Diamond Medallion tier in March and the industry’s first rollover Medallion Qualification Miles for 2010.
- Launching a “first checked bag free” benefit – up to a $50 savings per person on a round-trip ticket – for customers with a Consumer or Business Gold, Platinum, or Reserve Delta SkyMiles Credit Card from American Express which began June 1.
- Increasing the allocation of preferred Economy seats to ensure the most frequent travelers are guaranteed the best seats on all Delta and Delta Connection flights by August 2010.
- Allowing Delta’s most loyal customers – Diamond, Platinum and Gold Medallions – flying on domestic award redemptions to be eligible for complimentary upgrades by September 2010.
- Re-engineering the online award calendar at delta.com to make it easier to find and redeem award seats.  These changes began in May and will be completed by November 2010.

Delta says it also has changed award ticket redeposit and reissue fees which have increased from $100 to $150. These fees will continue to be waived for SkyMiles Diamond and Platinum Medallion members.
For a complete list of Delta’s upcoming SkyMiles changes, visit http://delta.com/whatsahead. (source)

Beginning June 4, Delta Air Lines will start nonstop flights between Seattle and Beijing.
The airline announced it has received final Chinese government approval to launch the route.

The new service, which will operate five times weekly, will connect customers from destinations throughout Delta’s and codeshare partner Alaska Air Group’s network to the Chinese capital via convenient connections at Alaska’s Seattle hub.

Departure and arrival times have been revised from the initial announcement of the route.
Flights will operate as follows:

(source)

Beginning Feb. 1 American Airlines will raise its domestic luggage fees to $25 and $35 for first and second checked bags, respectively.

American Airlines follows the same move US Airways, Delta and Continental announced last week — with fee hikes already in place.

Unlike the other airlines reducing the price a few dollars if you pre-pay the baggage fee online before you go to the airport, American doesn’t offer a discount for paying checked bags fees online. (source)

Continental and United matched checked bag fee increases by Delta.

The airlines are now charging $23 online and $25 at the airport for the first checked-bag, $32 online and $35 at the airport for the second checked-bag.

American Airlines, Continental and United have also raised fuel surcharges on travel to Europe by $20 per roundtrip.

Fuel surcharges were raised to $242 for London per roundtrip and to $280 for most cities in Europe.

rickseaney.com offers a helpful advice about delays and cancellations and the airlines’ winter weather policies.

“A number of airlines have altered their policies for travelers facing bad weather issues over the holidays, allowing for date changes without penalties for flights to specific destinations.
I put together a short list of links to some of the airlines’ winter weather policies and advisories. If you’re traveling over the next few days, monitor your flight status and contact your airline.”

- AirTran Winter Weather Advisory

- American Airlines Winter Weather Advisory

- Continental Airlines Weather Summary

- Delta Air Lines Winter Weather Advisory

- Midwest Airlines Winter Weather Advisory

- Southwest Airlines Winter Weather Advisory

- United Airlines Winter Weather Advisory

- US Airways Winter Weather Advisory
(source)