Monthly Archives for December 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.
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.
The symbol of Southwest Airlines is a heart. This has been a theme of the airline’s since the beginning. They launched at Dallas Love field. Their flight attendants wore pink hot pants (designed by founding airline President Lamar Muse’s first wife). Automated ticket machines were called “Quickies.” Peanuts at Southwest were once known as ‘Love Bites.’ Their New York Stock Exchange ticker symbol remains LUV.
On Sunday, though, it took on a whole new meaning because one of their planes had to turn around because a human heart was left on board.
There’s a change in policy coming to short United effective January 1. Instead of trying to offer a full drink service to economy passengers, flights attendants will pre-pour a selection of beverages and place those onto a “pick up pan” for customers.
It’s a quicker drink service that is easier to complete and also means less choice for customers. Flight attendants will choose what to pour, though they’re encouraged to offer coffee on morning flights.
Yesterday United Airlines made a big announcement of new flying from San Francisco. Today American Airlines is out with their own announcement of new flying as well.
American is expected to grow at both Dallas Fort-Worth (in 2019 with new gates coming online) and Charlotte (in 2020 with new gates coming online) and at Washington National (by operating larger regional jets at the dreaded gate 35X is replaced with a new regional concourse). The airline says these are their most profitable hubs.
American Airlines will let you buy back your status if you aren’t going to requalify. On the one hand it’s expensive. On the other if you were going to mileage run to reach the status level, this saves you time.
American may realize their prices are too high, or at least that they have plenty of time to market to members in different ways. If a member doesn’t buy, why not put elite status on a clearance sale?
A US citizen is suing Customs and Border Protection because when he returned to the U.S. from his native Nigeria, where he traveled for his late father’s memorial service, he was put through extreme measures.
Here’s why the federal government says they suspected him of smuggling drugs (which has since been proven false).
Iberia is offering transatlantic redemptions on sale for just 17,000 miles each way.
This is useful because Iberia is a transfer partner of both Chase Ultimate Rewards and American Express Membership Rewards, and you can move British Airways points over to Iberia provided your Iberia account has earned miles and been open for 90 days.
What’s Alaska’s path forward? It’s interesting to see their survey about what their customers want in airport lounge partnerships.
The airline is having customers compare features and membership price points for combining an Alaska Lounge membership with access to United Clubs, American Airlines Admirals Clubs, and Delta SkyClubs as well as with an unnamed partner lounge network.
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.
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 »
