Monthly Archives for January 2020.
A man posted a video of himself where he explains how he scammed a business class upgrade. He bought an orthopedic in an airport pharmacy and looked like he’d hurt himself and needed assistance to walk. Then he feigned difficulty sitting in his coach seat with the boot on. Cathay Pacific moved him up to business class.
American AAdvantage has eliminated close-in booking fees. They used to charge a $75 fee for awards booked within 21 days of departure, waived for all AAdvantage elite frequent flyers. They no longer charge this fee effective today, January 15.
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.
Terry Rolin is 79 years old. He grew up skeptical of banks, and kept his life savings of $82,373 squirreled away in his house. His daughter came to visit from Boston and help him downsize into an apartment. They agreed she would set up a joint bank account for him.
Banks were closed for the day. Her flight departing Pittsburgh was early the next morning. So she had to take the cash with her. The cash was spotted at security and seized. No crime was ever charged, but the government decided to keep the money anyway. This is surprisingly common at airports across the country.
She doesn’t have a rollaboard. She doesn’t have a purse. And she’s dressed in what looks to be a swimsuit, at least at the beginning of the video. As she continues walking she loses even that.
Airlines aren’t a monopoly. Airfares inclusive of fees have fallen. Low cost carriers like Spirit and Frontier have been driving down prices.
Southwest Airlines sells most of its tickets directly. It doesn’t pay third parties to distribute its flights to consumers. It was the first major airline with a website (1996) and one of the first e-commerce sites to hit a billion dollars in revenue in a year.
Major U.S. airlines are a lot larger now and most transactions have migrated online. American shared with employees last week that they hit a new milestone for revenue generated at their AA.com website.
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.
Several airlines sell Catholic indulgences that go by the name carbon offsets. The idea is that they’ll funnel donations to non-profits that do good for the environment in some amount the counteract the effects of carbon attributable (on average) to a given passenger’s travel.
I’m skeptical of these measures for several reasons. Not least of which because adoption rates are infinitesimally low.
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 »
