Monthly Archives for April 2016.
You can book New York or Boston to several cities in Europe and return from Lisbon for as low as $308 roundtrip.
The fare appears to be available for September through November travel.
American Express hasn’t even lost Costco charges yet, and it’s reeling. Here’s the inside story on how Amex lost the Costco deal. Delta is their second largest co-brand, but with Marriott buying Starwood they presumably lose the ability to issue Starwood co-brands at some point when the programs are expected to merge. Although American Express wants to find a way to keep the Starwood card post-merger.
American Express revenue is down and earnings are down. Their problem is lack of growth and paradoxically their strategy is cutting costs. They may have unnecessary expenses, and if they’re going to be a slow growth company for the foreseeable future they need a sustainable cost base. But the cuts won’t return them to growth. So the cuts aren’t a winning strategy unless the idea is to sell the company.
Jeremiah Thede flew United from Rome to Chicago in June 2015. His flight was delayed, and he “had eaten only an apple during five hours waiting.” His credit card wasn’t working, and he repeatedly asked flight attendants if he could get something to eat once onboard.
United diverted the flight to Belfast. The passenger was arrested and charged with endangering the aircraft. The case went to trial and a jury acquitted him. He’s now talking about suing United.
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 Muslim woman was kicked off of her Southwest flight when she switched seats with another passenger.
She was connecting in Chicago, took a middle seat, and she asked if the passenger in the aisle seat would switch. That’s the strangest thing in the story, that an aisle seat passenger was willing to take a middle seat.
A flight attendant instructed the passenger that she wouldn’t be allowed to change to the aisle. When asked why, the flight attendant kicked her off the flight.
There’s a new economy seat that turns into a bed. It’s possibly an improvement over Air New Zealand’s ‘Sky Couch’. I especially like the demonstration of the ‘Piuma Sofa’ with mattress pads and bedding.
The pitch to airlines is not about passenger comfort (which wouldn’t sell too many airlines). It’s an ancillary revenue opportunity, so we may actually see it installed!
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.
Between July and November Virgin Australia is selling Los Angeles – Bali (via Brisbane or Sydney) for $568 roundtrip.
The fare is widely available, and should be bookable on most travel sites:
Earlier I wrote that Delta appeared to be having an unannounced award sale. Now they’ve announced it (HT: skdelta in the comments).
Of course the very idea of a ‘sale’ suggests that there are ‘regular prices’. We know that there are, Delta has inventory buckets and those buckets correspond to price charts. Despite Delta’s protestations to the contrary that prices are simply quoted at will, we know that all Delta has done is removed their award charts from public view in order to ensure members have less information. An uneducated consumer is SkyMiles’ best friend.
Alaska Airlines CEO sent an email to Virgin America employees about what they can expect as Alaska acquires Virgin America. I reproduce the full email below.
Brad Tilden shares that frontline employees likely won’t see cutbacks, and that there’s more opportunities with growth. He commits to share information as they know it. And that’s the best they can do, while recognizing the anxiety that employees feel.
Here’s the merger timeline that was shared with employees:
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 »
