Monthly Archives

Monthly Archives for July 2018.

A Simple Tip for Using My Home Airport: Austin

by Gary Leff

airport drop off
Jul 31 2018

Avoid pickups at arrivals altogether especially in the evening and get picked up at departures instead. There are few evening departures from Austin, so the upstairs departures level is mostly empty.

And this is permitted, too. Electronic signs beneath the names of airline names in front of the terminal read “DROP OFF PICKUP ONLY.” The airport officially encourages upstairs pickups! I’ve also never had an Uber driver refuse an upstairs pickup. You have to specify a pickup location at arrivals, but I then immediately send a pickup message asking for upstairs pickup. The driver almost always thanks me (and this is probably why my Uber rating has climbed to nearly 4.9).

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New Worst Airline in the Country? Meet Via Air

by Gary Leff

via air plane
Jul 31 2018

Via Air moved from public charter operations to running commercial Essential Air Service subsidized flights out of Beckley and Parkersburg, West Virginia to Charlotte in 2014. They also ran unsubsidized flights from Beckley and Parkersburg to St. Augustine, Florida.

The Florida-based carrier has since expanded operations and has a fleet of 6 fifty seat Embraer ERJ-145s and 4 thirty seat EMB-120 Brasilia turboprops.

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American Airlines: Department of Transportation is Rethinking Approach to Joint Ventures

by Gary Leff

qantasplane
Jul 31 2018

oint ventures seek anti-trust immunity to allow airlines to work together on schedules and pricing, and to split up the revenue they earn together on designated routes.

Proponents argue that they’re a second-best workaround to limits on foreign ownership of airlines. However joint ventures remove competitors from the field. Foreign ownership could increase competition, bringing more capital, while these joint ventures reduce competitors.

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With GOP Primaries Over and Fewer People Watching, Governor Suspends Georgia Jet Fuel Tax

by Gary Leff

delta badge
Jul 31 2018

Delta and United rescinded their group discount offer for NRA members. United is based in Chicago and everyone expects gun violence there. Delta took a lot of heat for their position and tried to walk it back claiming they weren’t really taking a position on the issue.

The state legislature dropped an attempt to repeat the jet fuel tax that would have been a big subsidy for Delta. This was signaling to GOP primary voters.

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An Airport Lounge United, American, Delta and Frontier Elites All Can Access

by Gary Leff

lounge
Jul 30 2018

Back in April I wrote about hidden lounges: airport clubs your membership gets you into but that your airline doesn’t tell you about.

The perfect example of this is The Club at Bluegrass in the Lexington, Kentucky airport can be accessed by any Admirals Club member, United Club member, or Delta Skyclub member.

It turns out there’s an airport lounge that grants access to pretty much everyone’s elites.

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Korean Air Eliminates Award Holds

by Gary Leff

first class cabin
Jul 30 2018

Korean Air has eliminated the ability to put award tickets on hold, with or without points in your account. This applies to awards for Korean Air travel (which could generally be held a month, and used to be able to be held nearly indefinitely) as well as to partner awards (which could be held ~ 5 days).

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Hilton Resurrecting ‘LXR Collection’ and Picking Up 1/3 Of Starwood’s Dubai Portfolio

by Gary Leff

dubai hotel by pool
Jul 30 2018

Earlier in the month it was reported that Marriott-Starwood would be losing the St. Regis, Westin and W hotels in Dubai all at once. The same owner of these hotels — Al Habtoor Group — also pulled the St Regis Habtoor Polo Resort and Spa out of the chain.

Dubai was one of Starwood’s most important markets, they had a legacy Emirates partnership similar to their Delta partnership in the US and a UAE co-brand credit card. Marriott’s loss, though, appears to be Hilton’s gain.

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