Monthly Archives for June 2019.
Delta has introduced new Tumi amenity kits, and the business class kits contain Le Labo products. Perhaps most notably all long haul passengers flying Delta receive an amenity kit, including coach passengers, although the separate kits for coach and Comfort+ extra legroom seats aren’t branded… but are still creative.
The US government is ending ‘people-to-people educational travel’ to Cuba for US citizens. If you purchased a flight or reserved a hotel prior to June 5th, though, you can still travel. The regulations will not publish in the Federal Register until June 5. That means you still have today to make bookings.
The lounge is after security and passport control, so it’s unlikely she’d have been stopped prior to her flight. However if she was thinking at all clearly she may have been worried about holding onto the cocaine while heading through immigration formalities at the Dubai airport.
So this woman traveling solo decided to swallow $75 worth of cocaine while drinking champagne in the Priority Pass-accessible Aspire Lounge at the Manchester airport.
Swapping which carrier in the revenue-sharing joint venture operates which route could both match capacity to market and better optimize schedules for customer demand. One theoretical option to do this was having American operate out of Washington Dulles.
That was the rumor a year ago. However sources at American Airlines tell me that is now off the table.
Hilton Hotels CEO Christopher Nassetta told Andrew Ross Sorkin during a panel for the NYU International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference that he does not tip hotel housekeepers. He said “I typically do not leave a tip.”
The truth is that tipping is a terrible way to pay housekeepers. And the more guests tip, the less hotels have to pay to attract workers.
Earlier today the US government announced its approval for American and Qantas to join forces in an anti-trust immunized revenue-sharing joint venture across the Pacific.
The combination is already announcing they’ll roll out two new routes, including the longest Qantas route from the U.S. and fourth-longest flight in the world.
The last major airline to add a hub was Delta — at Seattle — in 2014. Now Delta, which has been building its presence in Boston and taking on JetBlue there, has declared that city to be a hub. Although with 150 peak day departures I see Boston more as a ‘hublet’.
West Coast – Europe award travel is tough, getting premium cabin to Europe on American Airlines (and thus not paying surcharges) is tougher still. This is definitely worth taking ‘AAdvantage’ of. And if you have a stash of Etihad Guest miles, ring up about your preferred itinerary to see if they can book for 50,000 miles each way in business (vs. 57,500 from American) or 62,500 in first.
However if there was any doubt that American’s married segment award availability logic was in play for premium cabin awards now (and with ensuing negative consequences for making changes to awards) this should illustrate the extension beyond coach — and is a part of dynamic availability if not pricing.
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.
Three and a half years ago American Airlines and Qantas announced an expanded joint venture. American was launching Sydney and Auckland service, Qantas Sydney – San Francisco. And they indicated there would be more new routes in the offing as a result of the partnership.
They proposed to extend their partnership to coordinate schedules and pricing and share revenue on Pacific flights (but not Hawaii routes). The Obama administration said no. The Trump administration has now said yes.
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 »
