In case you hadn’t noticed, the airline blogosphere pays a lot of attention to frequent flyer matters. And recent changes have been fodder for a lot of words and pixels. Much of the focus is on matters of interest mainly to “road warriors” who spend a lot of time flying around and might belong to a handful of different lines’ programs. You know who you are, and there isn’t anything I can tell you that you don’t already know. Instead, I’m addressing those of you who might take four or fewer airline round trips a year and want to get as much as you can for your money. And you’re a big group.
Earning Miles. One big change gaining a lot of attention is American’s move to restrict the places you can buy tickets that earn miles. Basically, starting in May, you won’t earn miles and status credit unless you buy your ticket either directly from American or through a “preferred” agency. And, at least for now, American hasn’t yet announced which agencies are on its preferred list, although it says it will do so soon. The reason for this lies in back-office stuff and doesn’t affect you, so you don’t really need to go into details.
From a consumer standpoint, this means that for the foreseeable future you should buy your tickets directly from aa.com. It’s OK to search for good deals on third-party search engines, but if your best deal turns out to be on American, buy direct. Maybe you'll also like one of the preferred agencies, but using aa.com eliminates any risk that you won’t earn credit.
Baggage Fees. American again led the way, hiking the fee for a first checked bag up to $35 and $45 for a second. Most big lines immediately copied.
- Even if you travel only once or twice a year and like to check bags, getting the co-branded airline credit card that includes free checked bags is a good deal: currently, that includes Alaska, American, JetBlue, and United.
- Southwest, which retains its “two bags free” promotion, gains a fare advantage of $70 or more round-trip over most competitors. If you like to check a bag, always look at Southwest as an option.
Bill Would “Kill” Frequent Flyer. The Durbin-Marshall Credit Card Competition Act has caused a lot of hand-wringing and doomsday predictions that it would mean the end of frequent flyer programs. Basically, the intent of the bill is to lower the “swipe fees” merchants pay to the giant networks—AmEx, MasterCard, and Visa—that actually handle the transaction. Currently, at about three percent, that fee is the margin allowing credit card issuers to buy and dole out airline miles and points on charges.
My take is that for now, you can ignore all the wails and alarms. First, the bill hasn’t passed and may well never be passed, and second, even if it passes, banks and airlines will figure out how to keep their programs going. If you have to worry about something, worry about your favorite baseball team.
Hottest Credit Card. The relatively new Bilt MasterCard from Wells Fargo is getting a lot of attention. It’s a good no-fee card with lots of benefits, but the key is that you can use it to pay your home rent without paying the typical fee. If your rental company, as with mine, isn’t set up to handle rent electronically, Bilt cuts and mails a paper check.
Given its other features, including rental-car collision coverage, it looks like a good deal for any traveler with a hefty rental bill. Other than coming from Wells Fargo, I don’t yet see a downside.
