Monthly Archives

Monthly Archives for March 2020.

No, A Government Airline Bailout Wasn’t Necessary, And Just Makes Things Worse

by Gary Leff

hand holding hundreds of dollars in cash
Mar 30 2020

The U.S. airlines have long survived on government cash and government protection from competition (whether through foreign ownership, or long term gate leases at government airports). We continue to feed that, and then complain when effectively nationalized airlines don’t deliver the product consumers want. We have only ourselves to blame.

A bankruptcy-first approach would have meant equity and creditors take a haircut before taxpayers. It’s not at all clear a bailout would have been needed even then.

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Don’t Expect The Travel Experience To Be The Same When Flying Returns

by Gary Leff

Mar 30 2020

The service we’re used to from airlines doesn’t come close to what was offered in many ways in the late 1990s, but it’s a lot better than we experienced from 2001 through 2010. The ups and downs of the airline industry have determined the level of investment in its product, and we’re about to see what down times mean for product again – even once we’re able to fly in a way that’s closer to ‘normal’.

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How to Sanitize Your Credit Cards (That Clerk You Handed One To May Be Sick)

by Gary Leff

phone in case that cleans germs
Mar 30 2020

A year ago I offered advice on sanitizing credit cards. Since then I learned that your credit cards are actually dirtier than the bathrooms at New York’s Penn Station.

Now as we try to sanitize our hands, and everything we touch, especially the few times we go outside this has greater relevance than ever. Did you hand your card over to a store clerk? Did you stick it inside a card reader machine, and what was on the last card that was in there? I actually sanitized my cards, even before the current crisis.

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United Now Waiving Fees for Award Ticket Cancellation and Mileage Redeposit

by Gary Leff

united plane
Mar 30 2020

I’ve cancelled American AAdvantage award tickets and Delta SkyMiles tickets for travel in the next month and neither program charged their usual mileage redeposit fee. These fee waivers are normally in place for top tier elite frequent flyers, but where a ‘no change fee’ fee waiver applies to travel, the redeposit fee for mileage tickets has been waived as well.

Not so with United, although that finally seems to have changed.

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Airlines Expected To Ask Permission To Reduce Service Through Broad Domestic ‘Codesharing’

by Gary Leff

Mar 29 2020

The airline bailout passed last week requires carriers taking the money not to furlough employees through September, and to maintain air service to all of the cities they serve. However that’s going to mean ghost flights, that don’t make cost sense (or environmental sense).

So they’ve already come up with a way around it that will be broached with the Trump administration. It basically calls for waiving anti-trust rules so that airlines could codeshare with each other, and have those codeshares count as retaining service.

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What Should You Do If The COVID-19 Economy Gets In The Way Of Earning A Credit Card Bonus?

by Gary Leff

credit cards
Mar 29 2020

Everything has changed. You may have opened a new small business credit card, and your business is temporarily closed under a ‘shelter in place’ order. Or you’re just pending less in light of uncertainty in the economy.

Maybe you’re stuck at home, buying groceries but you had planned for big expenses you’re putting off (like travel!). I’m sure there are many readers wondering how they’re going to meet the minimum spend requirement for those credit card bonuses.

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