Monthly Archives for April 2020.
There seems to be a new reason that American is shutting down accounts, that I had not seen before: fraudulently submitting rental car receipts for credit.
There’s one wild card that could throw a monkey wrench in the story about cheap flights as a result of limits on travel, concern about travel, and economic recession all combining to depress demand – and that’s government social distancing requirements that could be in effect in the future.
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.
Avatar Airlines applied for $15 million in CARES Act funding seeking a portion of the federal airline bailout – even though by their own admission they “have no flights, no overhead, administrative expense, or fixed costs at the present time.”
In December New York State law began allowing undocumented immigrants to get drivers licenses and stopped sharing applicant information with immigration enforcement agencies.
In Early February the Trump Administration announced that because of this law, New York residents would no longer be allowed to enroll in or renew Global Entry. They claimed they needed access to New York’s DMV database as part of their identity verification process. Several New Yorkers are suing.
The $100 million sale of the Renaissance Austin hotel< failed to close with the buyer forfeiting $2 million in earnest money. The deal was announced in February and hotels are worth a lot less today than they were two months ago – enough so that it made sense to walk away from a $2 million deposit. Whether the unnamed buyer no longer wanted to do the deal (reasonable) or was unable to get financing (also a challenge now) is unclear.
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 year and a half ago police stormed the Westin Denver airport room of a United Airlines pilot, arresting him for dancing, gyrating and waiving” naked in front of the TSA screening checkpoint below the window of his room.
Police entered with guns drawn. He was naked. He took a phone call, he said, just as he was about to get into the shower…
So far $2.9 out of $25 billion has been disbursed “to 54 smaller passenger carrier and two major passenger airlines,” and agreements have been reached with Allegiant, American, Delta, Southwest, Spirit and United.
It turns out the government has put itself on a payment plan to fulfill its bailout commitments.
American Airlines today has increased first check bag fees on flights between North American (or Central or South America) and Europe on basic economy fares from $60 to $75.
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 »
