Monthly Archives

Monthly Archives for July 2018.

Alert: American Airlines South America Award Space Open For Spring

by Gary Leff

airline cabin
Jul 11 2018

Award availability on American Airlines can be tough. I love my AAdvantage miles, mostly for booking travel on partners rather than on American. They’ve made coach award space better over the last 8 months or so, but premium cabin international award space can still be tough to get.

That’s why it’s notable when awards become booking on American flights, whether you’re using American AAdvantage miles or partner airline miles. And right now awards on South America flights in business class for spring are especially bookable.

Continue Reading »

Singapore Airlines Adding More Than One Los Angeles Non-Stop and 2nd San Francisco Non-Stop

by Gary Leff

globe map
Jul 11 2018

There’s been a lot of speculation about what Singapore Airlines would do with its extra Airbus A350ULR (ultra long range) capacity beyond a daily Newark and Los Angeles flight. And the answer is additional Los Angeles flying and additional San Francisco flying. San Francisco will not only have 2 United non-stops to Singapore and a Singapore Airlines non-stop to Singapore, they’ll have a second non-daily Singapore Airlines flight as well.

Continue Reading »

Starwood Is Losing a Third of Its Dubai Portfolio in One Shot, Which Chain Will Get These Great Hotels?

by Gary Leff

two white rolls royce
Jul 10 2018

Marriott is losing the St. Regis, W, and Westin in Dubai all at once. That’s a one-third hit to the number of legacy Starwood rooms in Dubai, including the same owner pulling the St Regis Habtoor Polo Resort and Spa in recent days.

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.

Continue Reading »

American Airlines Asked Its Employees About Therapy Pets in the Cabin. Here’s What They Think.

by Gary Leff

turkey in airline cabin
Jul 10 2018

American’s employees believe the current state of affairs where a flight departing a hurricane region could easily adopt the call sign ‘Noah’s Ark’ is disruptive. Employees agree the best approach is to allow service animals as defined under the Americans with Disabilities Act — and not other animals — on board outside of existing ‘pet in cabin’ guidelines. In other words, accommodate passengers under the ADA instead of applying the more ambiguous Air Carrier Access Act rules.

That seems a reasonable policy response, using existing legal frameworks to provide for people with real needs while eliminating untrained animals of all stripes from the passenger cabin. Do you agree with the majority of American’s employees? What do you think?

Continue Reading »

Southwest Airlines Eliminates Peanuts – And Part of Their History

by Gary Leff

airline seats
Jul 10 2018

Southwest Airlines will stop serving peanuts August 1 citing passenger allergies. That’s really notable because of the history of ‘peanuts’ intertwined with the airline since its founding.

While peanuts are now a snack, they once stood for how frugal the airline was: other airlines served meals while Southwest served just peanuts. Peanuts at Southwest were once known as ‘Love Bites.’..

Continue Reading »

New York Giants Player Lost His Mother. The TSA Spilled Her Ashes.

by Gary Leff

tsa logo with text on top
Jul 09 2018

New York Giants defensive tackle A.J. Francis lost his mother unexpectedly two weeks ago.

He’s been traveling to visit with family in Arkansas and then to spend time with friends in California. He had to carry home his mother’s ashes. He checked his bag, and that’s when things went wrong because the TSA decided to inspect it. And open the urn inside. And. Spill. It.

Continue Reading »