Monthly Archives for December 2015.
The Department of Homeland Security has published a privacy impact assessment for the use of ‘Advanced Imaging Technology’ — in other words, ‘nude-o-scopes’ the whole body imaging machines that you step into and ‘assume the position’.
They published this assessment because they are changing the procedure for these machines, giving themselves the discretion to eliminate the option of passengers opting out of these machines.
Expert Flyer is a pay site, though they offer free 5 day trials.
I find it invaluable. Historically it has been a must for any American AAdvantage member since it’s been one of the only sources for real-time availability of American Airlines flight inventory and because it also displays confirmable upgrade availability for American’s flights.
Two weeks ago they added support for awards across the Star Alliance. Now they’ve just added British Airways as well.
The Skytrain at Miami International Airport which makes it easier to traverse to long D concourse that houses American Airlines had an accident last night.
A train derailed at 2 a.m. during a maintenance run. An employee was onboard but wasn’t hurt. The Skytrain is currently shut down, making connections more arduous and the need to clear security at the closest checkpoint more important.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
A cat got loose in first class on a Delta flight this weekend. The flight attendant up front was not amused. And it took a surprisingly long time for the cat’s owner, with noise cancelling headphones on, to come up and claim her kitty.
When we talk about airlines mistreating their employees, we usually think about allegations of how oneworld member and American Airlines partner Qatar Airways’ flight attendants are treated.
It’s rare that we’d even entertain the notion of pilots being treated as anything less than Skygods — in some measure we had US Airways acquire American Airlines because American’s pilots decided that they wouldn’t work with CEO Tom Horton; he had to go. At Kuwait Airways it was literally two years after a pilot invited a porn star to take the controls that the pilot was even suspended.
Now that American and US Airways have combined reservation systems so that they’re a single airline from a passenger perspective, I’ve written that what they absolutely must do is have a common product. That means introducing ‘Main Cabin Extra’ extra legroom seating into the legacy US Airways fleet.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean actor Orlando Bloom, invited to India by the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh (the head of government for the Northern Indian state), was deported on arrival in Delhi from London.
He made the trip to India, arriving on Saturday to promote tourism, but discovered that his e-visa which was applied for November 30 had been rejected.
While passenger airline deregulation is controversial (since so many of us fly), air cargo deregulation which happened about the same time is far less so.
Scott Mayerowitz spent one night in Louisville (doesn’t have quite the ring as One Night in Bangkok) to see how UPS sorts up to 4 million packages a night off one plane and onto another. Amazon isn’t quite as impressed.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
