I fly United almost exclusively for work. The biggest change I’ve seen is in how you can request an upgrade. You used to accumulate upgrade points and could cash them on when there was an opening available, the upgrade possibility was visible to you, and the upgrade was immediate. I have back issues so a larger seat helps on long flights
Then United switched to the plus-point system, where you were awarded upgrades based on your airline status and how much you spent. Then you could request an upgrade without knowing whether one was available, and you were only charged points if you actually got an upgrade, which rarely happened. And if you drop in status you lose ALL your plus points. Start over, sucker.
Basically their program became one where they were issuing coupons for a product that was never in stock. I had accumulated hundreds of points over six years, got one upgrade in that time (spent 30 points), then lost the rest.
At the same time the points needed for a flight have gone way up. I was recently looking to book flights for a trip where I knew the points I spent for an identical trip (location and dates) two years ago. The points had gone up 50%
When my dad died — of very old age, so he had done all the necessary planning — his airline points were gifted to me. Unfortunately, the timing of that meant that what had been a miraculous number of points at AA before his death translated to only a couple of free flights for me when I got around to using them. I don’t remember the %, but it was a lot more than 50% higher.
A lot of point systems cash out into Costco and grocery cards at a rate comparable to flights.
I did this with Aeroplan after spending many points on a trip to LA with an onward leg, only to find out that I could have booked the whole thing a week later for less than I paid for the onward leg.
Points? Until Loblaws takes “points” at the cash register: just the cash please…
I don’t know the reason(s), but having been there, I’d say a modern grid system would be highly appreciated for national bureaucratic functioning. The traffic is usually impenetrable in Cairo. And since it’s a country that has moved its capital a number of times already, it’s not unprecedented.
I don’t even know what airline miles are. It’s like one of those mythical American things we grew up hearing about like Disneyland that we would never see.
But then I fly incredibly rarely. Like on average years per flight rather than flights per year.
It’s one of those “keep giving us your money” things. Say you get like, 10 points for every $100 you spend, and each point is worth $1. Whatever you then amass, you can apply as a discount toward the cost of future flights. If you amass enough, that can add up to a free flight.
That’s how I understand it. I’ve never flown enough to participate in such a program.
… “The project was so, so good that it got out of hand, which was something we didn’t expect,” Salazar says.
Pedro Salazar, founder of Amigos del Mar, speaking to his team ahead of a beach cleanup
“We started with about 20 people, bringing us around 2 or 3kg of plastic caps over the first three months. Suddenly, in seven months, we had almost 18 tonnes of plastic lids and more than 370 people involved in the project.
“We had to stop and rethink how to manage it because our production of surf fins and [the machines that make them] simply cannot cope.”
Local families that participated in the programme continue to collect and store bottle caps in their homes, content with helping to clean the streets, and hoping that the programme may soon have life breathed back into it.
The island’s plastic problem is aggravated by the mass tourism that Cartagena receives. The popular resort received about 624,000 tourists in 2023, a 35% surge compared with the previous year, according to local government figures. …
The project was too successful and they are currently out of money because they got overwhelmed by the volume of plastic. Their mission is great. They just need more funding or fewer tourists and less plastic.
