As usually happens in the travel industry, when one airline makes changes, others follow suit. Please note that British Airways has made major changes to their checked baggage allowance, for any tickets issued on or after October 7, 2009.
Customers traveling in the World Traveller economy cabin to and from the USA, Canada, Bermuda, Argentina, Mexico and the Caribbean will now have a one bag free allowance of 51lbs. (23kgs). Customers travelling in First, Club World, Club Europe, and World Traveller Plus, in addition to Gold and Silver Executive Club members travelling in World Traveller, will retain their existing cabin allowance.
Many of Ministry Travel clients take advantage of the ‘one additional bag’ for missionary purposes. The new checked baggage policy will affect this. Previously, each person was permitted 2 checked bags and 1 additional bag for missionary/humanitarian purposes. The new policy will guarantee one free checked bag and one free additional bag (51 pounds or less) at no additional cost. A 3rd checked bag may be granted at the check-in counter without additional fees, depending on the load and weight limits of the plane. British Airways will have the ability at check-in to waive the fee for the 3rd bag or charge the fee. Please know that the 3rd checked bag is NOT guaranteed to be free.
To avoid any changes in the current policy, be sure to purchase all tickets prior to October 7th. Contact your Ministry Travel specialist today with questions.
In October, the Northwest Airlines WorldPerks program will officially merge into the Delta SkyMiles program. As a SkyMiles member, your frequent flyer number and login will remain the same and you don’t have to do anything.
Given the significant challenges in combining two programs currently located on very different technology platforms, you will experience a few changes. Effective October 1st, your flight miles will no longer post immediately at departure but may take up to 24 hours after your flight departure. The merchandise redemption program (Medallion® Marketplace) will temporarily close on September 25th, but will return by year-end with a broader selection of products and offerings.
And, good news – on October 1st, Platinum and Gold Medallion members will no longer pay a $20 per ticket service charge when purchasing tickets via reservations or at our airport locations. Plus, all members will no longer pay a $25 per ticket partner handling charge when issuing Award Tickets. These new elite benefits and fee reductions are part of our continued effort to build a best-in-class loyalty program. For more information, please visit delta.com/what2expect and delta.com/integrationtimeline for a specific timeline.
Humanitarian Travel is able to extend to our clients a special offer in conjunction with the oneworld Alliance’s Tenth Anniversary Celebration. For travel purchased by April 12th, 2009 and on specific fare categories we are able to extend a discount of 10%. This travel must be completed within 11 months.
The program is for fare types with specific guidelines for use; generally understood to be circle or around the world type trips. Our team of agents is well versed in these rules, with planning and flexibility the offer can work for your extensive itineraries between the US – Europe and South America OR from the US to Asia and Australia.
Fare types include: Explorer, Circle Pacific, Circle Atlantic, Circle trip Explorer, Circle Asia & South West Pacific and the oneworld Visit Passes. When considering, these fares they often offer lower price value from standard retail and now you can save an additional 10%. Start planning now by giving us a call.
Recently we received two communications on Frequent Flyer programs that may be of interest to many of you.
In last month’s newsletter you read about the implementation of the US Government’s Secure Flight rules that will require all international travelers to use their complete name on air tickets purchased.
As this new program moves forward there have been a few challenges arising for travelers. The air carrier’s loyal travelers are finding that when they attempt to exercise their benefits at security check points they are prevented due to the differences in their name on travel documents.
The Secure Flight program will be implemented over time once the carriers and the industry reservations systems complete the programming to collect the required details. However, it appears there may be little effort focused on making changes to the member’s name on the frequent flyer accounts. In an article released on January 29, 2009, it stated that many in the industry are suggesting that frequent travelers begin to contact the carrier’s member program service centers to make name changes on frequent flyer accounts (Jonas). It is crucial that you contact your frequent flyer service desk as soon as possible to make these name changes, because in some cases it could take two to six weeks for these changes to be implemented. The changes can be made over the phone, through fax, or by mail depending on the situation. Check the carrier’s web-sites for service center contact information.
On a brighter note, customers that are members of Delta’s SkyMiles and Northwest WorldPerks programs will have the ability to link their accounts. This may also be an opportunity to change the name on the account to reflect the same as that on your identification used when traveling; reducing the hassle of having to do it later in the year.
Linking these two accounts together will be simple; you only need your SkyMiles and WorldPerks member number and the pin numbers. Then the carriers will validate to ensure the names match on both accounts and the two accounts will be linked. Once this online linking program combines your Delta and Northwest accounts into one, you will have all mileage combined, making it easier to track and accumulate mileage.