Days ago we learned of the crash of a TransAsia flight from Taipei to Kinmen which hit a bridge and landed in the water. This was a horrible event, and it’s tough to shake the images we saw caught on a dashcam. Since the aircraft and its recorders were recoverable, we already know much of what happened. With the caveat that there are still unanswered questions, and a final report will ultimately likely explain even those, it appears that: There was a malfunction with the aircraft’s right engine. The pilots shut down the left engine. So they were essentially operating without either engine. One presumes they intended to shut down the right engine, which was neither necessary nor desirable to do in any case. Data from the ATR 72-600’s flight data recorder (FDR) and cockpit…
Monthly Archives
Monthly Archives for February 2015.
The Strangest Gift I’ve Ever Received Just Came in the Mail from Citibank
One of my first projects after graduating college was marketing a program where the low hanging fruit was just fixing the processes for responding to people that were interested. They’d see the program on a poster, call up and ask for information. Since there wasn’t really anything to send out yet to people wanting more information, they got mailed… a poster. Not every project I’ve worked on has required a rocket scientist to leave better off. I was brought back nearly two decades to the project when I checked my mailbox today and found a thank you gift in the mail from the Citi Executive / AAdvantage Card. This is the premium American AAdvantage co-brand card from Citibank. It comes with Admirals Club membership and lets you earn 10,000 elite qualifying miles after $40,000 spend…
Chef of San Francisco Centurion Lounge is Out After 3 Months
I’m a huge fan of American Express Centurion lounges. They’re orders of magnitude better than what’s offered by US airlines. They’re stylish and offer good (complimentary) food and beverages. They even pair with a local celebrity chef for each lounge, as well as with a celebrity mixologist. I was fortunate to attend the pre-opening dinner of the San Francisco lounge back in November. Unquestionably the food presentation was going to be at the top of its game, three-Michelin star chef Christopher Kostow was there supervising. SF Eater reports that Kostow and American Express have split after the lounge had been open only a few months. (HT: Daniel W.) According to a statement from American Express, the decision to depart the project was ‘mutual’ so that “he can focus on other projects.” Kostow declined to comment…
Southwest is Devaluing AGAIN — But They Won’t Tell Us How
A year ago Southwest devalued their points, a mere 2.5 years into their revenue-based Rapid Rewards program. Now they’re about to do it again — but so far it’s a secret how they plan to do it. News went out yesterday: This is what we know.
The DOT is Now Investigating United’s Cancelled Mistake Fare. Here’s Why United Will Prevail.
Earlier in the week flights originating in the UK were pricing in Danish Kroner at a price that’s pennies on the dollar what they normally run. You could fly from the UK to pretty much anywhere in the world in business or first class at price hovering around $100 or less. This wasn’t a United-specific glitch, but United.com was the most common place to buy these tickets. United voided these tickets. Via commenter Elo, the Department of Transportation has posted an update on the United Danish Kroner fares. I have several thoughts on this: This was an obvious mistake. United addressed it in less than 12 hours. They shouldn’t be ethically obligated to honor these tickets. The Department of Transportation stuck themselves in the middle of these fares. Previously, airlines often honored mistake deals (either…
Alaska Airlines Flight Delayed By Drunk Flight Attendant!
The Alaska Airlines Boston – Seattle flight this morning is delayed 12 hours. Per Flyertalk the reason is a drunk flight attendant: They report that first, the flight was delayed as everyone waited for the missing FA to show up. When she arrived, the flight was delayed >12 hours since she was drunk. 740am departure is now scheduled for 745pm. The crew was sent back to their hotel for rest (not sure what was done with the drunk one). I assume AS is deadheading an extra FA in via the 915am SEA-BOS flight to work the flight tonight. …So far, they have magnanimously refunded checked bag fees. By the way, as you might expect, AS is only acknowledging a “sick” flight attendant, but family reports indicate that all pax are well aware she showed up…
Delta SkyMiles Has a New VP, Amex Loses Costco, and the Korean Air Nut Rage VP Gets Sentenced to Work for United
News and Notes from Around the Interweb: American Express is losing its Costco co-brand relationship. (HT: Alan H.) That will also mean the end of buying with Visa/MasterCard on their website and returning in-store where they can’t return payment to your non-Amex card and have to cut you a check. Amex is also expected to lose its JetBlue co-brand to Barclays. Delta has a new Vice President in charge of SkyMiles. Sandeep Dube started last month, though I never saw any announcement. He comes from Wells Fargo and HSBC, with a background in credit cards and consumer lending. Just hours left: New day room booking site and app Hotels By Day is giving away free day rooms. There are surprisingly few entries, so your chances of winning are good. So enter. Korean Air’s ‘nut rage’…
14,000 Miles of oneworld Business Class Flying for $1300, and Where the Best Fares Are
@deovratk tweets: Found this deal from CMB-AKL $1300 RT in Biz. Do share If this can help your readers. Colombo, Sri Lanka has long been one of the cheaper places in the world from which to buy airline tickets — and a place where mistake fares seem to originate with regularity as well. Just last year there was an Etihad first class mistake fare between Colombo and Dallas. One of my all-time favorites was Colombo to New York one-way for $1100 in business class without any routing or maximum mileage restrictions, which meant that folks could fly on a ton of different airlines, all over the world, as long as they started in Colombo and the ticket concluded in New York. Folks flew well over 20,000 miles one-way. Not a mistake fare, but for quite…
How to Find Mistake Fares Like $85 First Class Between Europe and the US
Yesterday I wrote about one of the most amazing fares I’ve ever seen, under $100 roundtrip in business or first class between the UK and most anywhere in the world. United isn’t honoring the tickets. But there have been many amazing deals that airlines and hotels have chosen to make good on in the past. I traveled on those Alitalia $33+tax business class fare to Larnaca, Cyprus with Italy stopovers I stayed in the $33 per night The Le Meridien Khao Lak Oceanfront Villa And the $3 Hilton Tokyo (Executive Floor) I booked the Hilton Moorea Lagoon Resort $120 Overwater Bungalow with Breakfast and Dinner, but wound up cancelling in favor of the 50 euro a night deal at the Prince de Galles Paris …to name just a few Naturally several readers wanted to know,…
You’re About to Lose Choices in How You Book Travel. What the Expedia/Orbitz deals Means For You.
Expedia, which was already announced a deal last month to purchase Travelocity. Orbitz also made clear they were shopping themselves, and now Expedia is buying them, too. (HT: S.) The Travelocity deal wasn’t meaningful, they had long since given up investing in their search and booking platform. The Orbitz acquisition is a much bigger deal.
