The Government Plans To Impose New Fee Disclosure Rules On Airlines: I Read The Full Rulemaking So You Don’t Have To

by Gary Leff

Sep 26 2022

Airlines and travel agencies (including online travel agencies) will be required to display passenger- and itinerary-specific fees. Airlines will have to provide those fees in a format usable by agencies.

I read through the entire underlying document, to find out what’s actually in it that the press summaries might not offer. It’s always the details that determine whether a proposed rule will benefit consumers or inhibit innovation that might make them better off. Here it looks like something of a mixed bag.

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Award Space To Europe Is Back With A Vengeance!

by Gary Leff

Sep 26 2022

Just a few weeks ago the prospect of trying to coordinate changes to Europe awards would have given me heartburn. There was simply very little award space, save for a handful of airline and routes that I used as ‘worst-case scenarios’ when helping people to redeem their miles. And I didn’t want worst-case scenarios traveling with my wife and daughter.

Fortunately things are really looking up for those of us looking to use points for travel abroad, especially to Europe.

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Southwest Passenger Assaults Woman Sitting Behind Him Using His Seatback

by Gary Leff

Sep 25 2022

Software engineer Saarah Sareshwala was flying Southwest Airlines from Orlando to Phoenix on Saturday. She expected an uneventful trip after an enjoyable ‘women in computing’ conference. She walked away with a head injury, and she’s left shaking her head trying to understand why.

Ms. Sareshwala’s husband took to social media to detail what happened when the passenger seated in front of her slammed his seatback into her head while she was asleep against it.

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Delta Passenger Scolded For Pushing The Flight Attendant Call Button

by Gary Leff

Sep 25 2022

A Delta Air Lines passenger shares what happened when they rang their flight attendant call bell to ask for a drink while flying from Atlanta to Boston recently.

Seated in extra legroom coach, which offers free cocktails, they asked for a Jack Daniels and Coke during the drink cart pass through the cabin. Half an hour later they wanted another drink so they pushed the button about their seat. It lit up. About five minutes later a crewmember showed up and declined their request.

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American Airlines Penalizes Employees Who Buy Their Own Travel To Ensure They’re Ready To Work

by Gary Leff

Sep 25 2022

There are numerous rules that go along with flying so-called ‘free’ (there are often fees for international travel, and for some there can be tax consequences as well).

One of the stranger ones on American Airlines is that employees cannot book conflicting paid travel and non-rev travel. In fact, they aren’t even allowed to list for non-rev travel on American is they have paid or mileage award tickets with the same origin and destination within 24 hours on another airline like Delta. This actually makes American Airlines less reliable for customers.

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