In Case You Missed It – A Recap Of The Week (2 October 2016)

in case you missed it

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Summaries and links for all the posts which appeared on Traveling For Miles this week. Includes: A look at why British Airways status may be about to become a little harder to earn for some flyers, a review of the Aspire First Class lounge in Zurich, a review of Cathay Pacific First Class on their 777 aircraft, news of British Airways’ move to buy-on-board food and a lot more.

Monday

British Airways Status May Be About To Become Much Harder To Earn (For Some)

British Airways Economy Class A320

Rumors are circulating about a change in the way American Airlines codes its domestic First Class fares and, if these rumours turn out to be true, quite a few British Airways flyers are going to find it harder to earn or keep hold of status.

Cathay Pacific First & Business Class Trip – Introduction

Introduction to my recent trip to Hong Kong that took in Cathay Pacific First Class on the airlines 777-300 aircraft and the Cathay Pacific A350 Business Class cabin.

Tuesday

American Airlines’ Refitted 757s Are Excellent News For OneWorld Flyers

American Airlines is finally upgrading its internationally configured 757 aircraft that operate on a number of USA-Europe routes and this is good news for oneworld flyers.

Is American Airlines Offering Triple Elite Qualifying Miles?

This was a quick post to alert readers to a promotion that American Airlines may be running but that seems to be limited to, at best, a small subset of American Airlines AAdvantage members (none of the three accounts I control were targeted for this promotion). Still, if this promotion is genuine and if you’re lucky then American Airlines may be happy to offer you some bonus miles.

Connecting At Zurich Airport – A Quick Look

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A look at my experience connecting from an intra-Europe flight to a long-haul international flight at Zurich Airport. Details of how long the connection takes and a few tips on how to save time.

Great News! Tesco Improves Gift Card Offer (UK)

Tesco recently announced a deadline for its longstanding offer of 150 Clubcard points for a £50 spend on gift cards and we all feared the worst. Well, temporarily at least, Tesco as actually improved on its original promotion.

Wednesday

TopCashback (UK) Offering Avios For £0.008

TopCashback UK has increased the bonus payout on Avios from 5% to 25% and this has brought the cost of Avios right down – but should you be converting your cash to Avios?

Qatar Is Relaxing Visa Rules For Travelers On Short Visits

News that Qatar has decided to relax the rules surrounding its transit visas in an effort to encourage travelers to stopover in the country rather than just pass though on their way to somewhere else.

Review: Aspire First Class Lounge – Zurich

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A review of the Aspire First Class lounge at Zurich Airport’s E-Gates. See inside the lounge, get an idea of the food and drinks on offer and check out the coolest feature that the lounge offers.

Alaska Airlines Announces Havana Flights From 2017

Details of Alaska Airlines’ new route between Los Angeles and Havana that the airline is starting up from early 2017. With no competition from fellow US carriers it will be interesting to watch how fares on this route pan out.

Thursday

The Marriott/Starwood Merger – A Marriott Platinum’s Thoughts

Thoughts on the recent moves in the Marriott and Starwood merger as seen through the eyes of a Marriott Rewards Platinum member – are Marriott Rewards elites being treated fairly or not?

CONFIRMED: British Airways Will Charge For Food On Short – Haul Fights

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Details of the British Airways announcement that confirms that the airline will be charging for all food and drink in the Economy Class cabin on its short-haul flights from early 2017.

Delta Adds New East Coast – Europe Routes For 2017

Delta has announced plans to expand the services it offers between the East Coast and Europe from Summer 2017. The airline is adding two new services across the Atlantic and is also bringing back a route that it offered earlier this year.

Friday

I’m Cheating On American And It Feels Great!

Historically, even if I had elite status sown up for another year, I’d continue to book the rest of the year’s transatlantic flights on American Airlines to take advantage of my 8 systemwide upgrades, to enjoy my elite status and to earn more AAdvantage miles….but not this year.

Review: Cathay Pacific 777 First Class (ZRH – HKG)

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A review of Cathay Pacific’s 777 First Class cabin and product on the airline’s Zurich to Hong Kong route. This was my first time experiencing one of the more aspirational First Class cabins on the market so I was interested to see what I’d make of it.

Air France-KLM To Add WiFi To International Routes But A380 Refurbishment Is Put Back

Air France-KLM has announced that it will be installing GoGo’s 2KU WiFi technology in 124 of its long-haul aircraft from late 2017…but it has also announced a big delay in the A380 refurbishment program which may spell the end of the aircraft in the Air France fleet.