Monthly Archives for January 2016.
United CEO Oscar Munoz has gone home from the hospital after a heart transplant.
United has said they expect Munoz to return to work by the beginning of the second quarter. Munoz says he “expects to participate in key meetings” now that he’s left the hospital.
Earlier in the week I wrote that the Department of Homeland Security wants hotel desk clerks to snitch on guests as possible sex traffickers based on a set of behavior that could match that of plenty of guests.
It turns out that they want flight attendants to do this also, and so a married couple was detained at New York JFK because the crew thought they fit the ‘profile’.
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.
Spirit’s pitch is that if you didn’t win the powerball jackpot, you still need to get the best deal on airfare. So you’ve got 29 inch seat pitch and no TSA PreCheck in your future.
Qantas has started flying San Francisco – Sydney now that American has picked up a Los Angeles – Sydney flight as a part of the joint venture between the two airlines.
And Qantas has now released business class award space on the route for two passengers in February, March, and Apri. You won’t see the space on American’s website, however…
Here’s a video on Facebook that’s gotten more than 10 million views since yesterday. (HT: Rob R.) It mocks up a concept that’s supposed to enhance aircraft safety.
There’s a breakaway cabin that can be detached from the rest of the plane when the aircraft is going down. Presumably the pilot would emergency-eject the passengers (I guess the captain goes down with the ship), who ostensibly float to safety while the rest of the aircraft goes down in a ball of mess.
Hyatt elite status matches and challenges were originally meant to be tools for Hyatt’s sales team to use in bringing business over. As they became public in social media Gold Passport publicly acknowledged and welcomed members into them.
A little over a year ago, Hyatt eliminated their fast track elite status methods. Then they brought them back as tools for Sales only. That’s because only a small percentage of people went on to maintain the status they were granted through these offers.
In June Hyatt began offering fast track to Diamond status again but without granting Diamond status during the challenge period.
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.
Marriott is the only program that lets you buy back your elite status if you didn’t re-qualify at the same level as the year before (or re-qualify at all).
They’ve been making this offer for years, every year and at the same pricing.
Here are the stats on the major US airports that are growing the most — and those that aren’t growing at all.
Growth at Dallas Love Field and Seattle should both come as no surprise. The end of the Wright Amendment in Dallas means airlines can fly to many more destinations. Indeed, airlines have greater demand to fly from the airport than the legal limit on gates there can support. And Seattle is seeing a massive buildup in flights by Delta, growth that is fueling even more flights from Alaska Airlines. My home airport of Austin is building more gates…
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 »
