Monthly Archives

Monthly Archives for February 2018.

Flights Cancelling Over Airbus A320neo Engine Problems

lufthansa plane
Feb 10 2018

The Airbus A320neo or ‘new engine option’ was first delivered to Lufthansa in 2016. Over 6000 of the family have been ordered. The plane comes with either a CFM or Pratt & Whitney engine..

And the Pratt & Whitney version has problems. European air safety officials have issued emergency restrictions grounding affected aircraft after “several occurrences of engine in-flight shutdown.”

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Horrible: Woman Videotaped Abandoning Her Baby at Tucson Airport

woman walking through airport
Feb 10 2018

With hundreds of millions of passengers passing through US airports each year every issue and problem imaginable arises. People bring their baggage both literally and figuratively. All of life’s challenges that happen outside the airport happen inside it too.

Video footage from the Tucson airport last month shows a woman carrying her baby that was then abandoned at the airport.

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57,000 Miles Business Class Roundtrip to Europe – 40% Off Virgin Atlantic Miami Awards, Any Class of Service

miami to london promo
Feb 10 2018

Virgin Atlantic is a transfer partner of Chase, American Express, and Citibank. So Virgin Atlantic miles are really easy to get. In general I don’t value their miles as much as many other currencies but there are strategic uses like 120,000 miles roundtrip for first class from the East Coast on their partner ANA.

Another strategic use is when they discount their own flights. Virgin adds fuel surcharges to awards, but when the mileage cost is low enough even that makes sense.

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American’s Front Line Employees Think Getting Rid of Seat Back Entertainment is a Very Bad Idea

back of airlplane seat
Feb 09 2018

Yesterday I wrote about American’s “Tell Me Why” podcast with Senior Vice President Kurt Stache. He laid out the airline’s plans for satellite internet and explained why the airline is getting rid of seat back video screens.

American employees comment internally on these discussions. It always amazes me how frank they are. Union protections and management promises notwithstanding I don’t think I’d be so forceful in my criticisms of management as American’s employees often are in these forums.

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The Best Rewards Credit Cards in a Nutshell

people playing music with piano and singing
Feb 09 2018

We often delve into the extreme detail and minutiae of rewards cards, there are tons of benefits and features and lots of details but it’s easy to lose the forest from the trees.

I thought I’d try to keep it simple, with just a single statement to encapsulate the key value proposition offered by several of the best rewards cards. See if you agree with my cutting to the chase on each.

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