Monthly Archives for April 2019.
Nothing renews an airline like new planes but absent a giant plane order there always seems to be the thought that the airline can be refreshed by painting planes. It’s a years-long process and costly to undertake.
Ultimately though what United is unveiling is just an evolution. So for me at least it doesn’t induce a strong reaction at all, which is good compared to so many other attempts. But that leads me to wonder why bother at all?
A Brookings Institution piece argues that the “poor subsidize wealthier consumers” in financial transactions from checking accounts to credit card rewards. I do not think this is quite right, but let me first lay out the argument.
United’s CEO Munoz says they’ve reached the limit on how much they can shrink seats personally I already avoid flying United coach, and would choose JetBlue or Southwest domestically and many foreign airlines internationally.
Last Thursday Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly express confidence in the Boeing 737 MAX and said they had no plans to alter their order for new jets. Southwest has more 737 MAX aircraft on order than any other airline.
At least that’s how his remarks were broadly reported, when he actually hedged a bit more. Now we learn that members of their team have been off in Europe evaluating the Airbus A220.
You can buy more than one seat if you want extra space (ghetto premium economy or business class). The major US airlines let you do this in fact it’s one of the very best, least well known tricks in travel.
What’s surprising is how cheap it can be.
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.
Saturday afternoon Cathay Pacific flight CX360 from Hong Kong to Shanghai took off just in advance of the worst of the region’s storms.
Lightning was filmed from inside the cabin striking one of the aircraft’s wings. It also damaged the plane’s nose. Reportedly the plane “was rattled by turbulence for a solid 15 minutes” flying through the storm.
Chase’s points normally transfer one-to-one to their airline and hotel partners. However Chase is offering a 30% bonus on transfers to British Airways through June 16. This is significant because I believe it is the first time Chase has run a bonus on transfers to one of its loyalty program partners.
Cathay Pacific is now cracking down on flight attendants stealing from their aircraft and the list of items they’re interested in — from pens to ice cream — is surprising. Several flight attendants have been ‘caught red handed’ in searches of employees on arrival in Hong Kong.
My wife and I spent our first night together alone since our daughter was born. We escaped to Chicago and made plans to revisit Kyoten, an absolute favorite restaurant of ours and certainly one of the most acclaimed openings in Chicago over the past year.
The restaurant in Logan Square and I decided to stay at The Robey, a Design Hotel in the Wicker Park-Bucktown area about a mile away. We didn’t have a need to be downtown in the Loop area, this is an interesting trendy neighborhood, and it would be my first Design Hotel. What’s more I could use Marriott points because of the relationship launched in 2015 with Starwood.
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 »
