Monthly Archives for April 2017.
When Oscar Munoz was brought on to be United’s CEO after Jeff Smisek had to resign in disgrace amidst allegations of corruption, the plan that was he’d also gain the Chairman title in 2017.
However as part of a deal with activist shareholders Robert Milton, former CEO of Air Canada became Chairman a year ago — and Munoz’s promised ascendancy was pushed off until 2018.
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.
At the end of January I wrote about global entry being revoked from dual citizens of countries included in the President’s travel ban.
There was some initial indication that Customs and Border Protection was revoking eligibility for trusted traveler programs from U.S. permanent residents originating in countries covered by the ban.
United pulled out of New York JFK entirely in fall 2015. Now United President Scott Kirby says that was a mistake.
United’s bean counters looked only at revenue and expense for the those particular flights, missing the bigger revenue picture — they had lucrative corporate contracts which made other routes profitable, and which they couldn’t keep without those flights.
Two months ago I wrote that it’s the golden age of air travel with cheap fares all over the world. Most of those fares have been in economy, with sub-$400 roundtrips to Europe and Asia with amazing flash sales.
I certainly prefer travel in business class, and readers have been asking for those deals.
Delta eliminated award charts a couple of years ago off of their website. They tell you the price they give to you on any given day is ‘the price’. This makes it easier to raise prices without members knowing, and since they made a happen of changing their program without notice anyway it eliminates the need to bother informing members as the value of the SkyMiles currency changes (gets worse).
Of course no matter what Delta tells you, they still price off an award chart, it’s simply hidden from view. They have buckets of availability and each bucket corresponds to a price. With partners that availability is in a single bucket, and whenever it is available it is the same price — except that Delta now bumps up pricing for certain partner awards booked close to departure.
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.
Ever since United launched its new international business class ‘Polaris’ soft product (service) on December 1, the airline has been gaining a reputation for having stepped up its premium class game.
The new product was sufficiently good — and really closed the gap enough with other carriers that I thought it would ultimately no longer be necessary to book away from United (once the seats were sufficiently widespread) — and so out of character for the airline that I also wondered how long would it take before they started cutting back on the service?
In 2015 Plastc promised chip and pin support, water resistant features, and capacity to hold 20 cards.
Plastc, like Coin, was delayed in production. It’s 2017 and they never shipped. And now they’re calling it quits.
A few days ago I shared reports from the Bangkok Post and elsewhere that the military administration was pushing out street food vendors.
I suggested that some vendors rent space in front of stores rather than squatting on public streets, and that local jurisdictions were all interpreting the new edicts the same way so some street food would survive — and some of the best places are in actual hole in the wall restaurants — however limits on street vendors raise costs and create barriers to entry, reduce competition, and will limit food quality over time.
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 »
