As Nick blogged about earlier today, Air Canada and Aeroplan have modified their elite qualification requirements. Starting next year, travelers crediting to Aeroplan need to fly at least 10,000 miles or five segments on Air Canada metal in order to qualify for elite status--of any level.

AC hasn't addressed why it made these changes, but I think Nick's got the right idea when he suggests that it just didn't pay off under the old policy. In addition to the Canadian taxes issue, which ...

We just returned from Kiev on Lufthansa First Class last night.  After a wonderful flight, I came home and crashed for 11 hours, only to awaken to news that Lufthansa is “enhancing” Miles & More, the frequent flyer program for Lufthansa and eight other airlines, effective January 3, 2011.

Of course, the announcement of “enhancements” begins with the usual positive spin, by listing the following significant ...

In a wide-ranging interview with Air & Business Travel News, British Midland International (bmi) CEO Wolfgang Prock-Schauer shared further details on the future of bmi and its Diamond Club mileage program.

What is the vision for bmi?

The vision is for it to be a top quality product, to be embedded in the Lufthansa group and Star Alliance, for it to be contemporary British and covering all the UK regions, so not only London-centric but the whole of the UK, ...

As some folks know bmi miles have been rather valuable since they have some great redemption opportunities.  With bmi's Diamond Club going away sometime next year, I figured it was a good time to start some redemptions. 

I decided that I wanted to use my miles for something I wouldn't be able to do with other programs.  After much debating, I decided a trip to South Africa was in order routing via South America.

After much planning ...

It's not much, but if you are planning a trip on British Midland in October or November, you can save 10% by entering 10FLYBMI in the promotion code section.

The promotion only discounts the base fare, is only valid for economy fares, and is only valid on BD metal. Book by August 1st for travel from October 1st to November 30th.

As if BD's route map hasn't been thinned out enough the last two years:

The Lufthansa Group plans to cut 25 percent of the capacity of its recently acquired United Kingdom subsidiary BMI, according to reports published today. The axing of unprofitable routes, which will involve the loss of 800 jobs, is expected to save £100 million per year.

Chief executive officer Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, who was parachuted into the job by ...