Monthly Archives for May 2020.
Travel isn’t returning quickly to China, and if you want to see what two months into our future looks like the Chinese experience is certainly one clue. So is the risk of continued flare ups in the virus, which will scare people even further away from flying.
Airlines now require face masks for passengers to fly. But while they’ll make announcements prior to boarding, and enforce the requirement at the gate, the major airlines say they won’t enforce it to the point of diverting a flight is a passenger doesn’t wear a mask on board. They’ll still get a high degree of compliance, and that’s important.
Some of the funds went to the cleverly-named Rite Bros Aviation, some to Eastern Airlines which chartered Mike Pence his campaign plane in 2016, Guardian Helicopters which doesn’t even seem like an airline and $27 million went to Clay Lacy Aviation which charters private planes.
The E.U. acknowledges that travel vouchers are a bad deal for customers. They might expire unused. Fares might go up. And airlines might go out of business. Individual airlines and governments should work to resolve these issues to make vouchers more attractive, and once that happens they think vouchers should be endorsed as an option. However the E.U. stands behind its requirement that cancelled flights entitle a customer to a refund.
Within hours of the story hitting several media sources, a Homewood Suites by Hilton has reversed course and will refund $10,000 owed to a 5th grade class in Florida.
In a rather bizarre story the Homewood Suites by Hilton Washington DC Downtown wanted to charge an elementary school $20,612 when they weren’t able to travel to D.C. in March due to the coronavirus pandemic. The hotel eventually agreed to take just $10,000, withheld from the group’s deposit. In an unexpected twist, the kids are getting the money back thanks to intervention by an incarcerated rap artist.
Incarcerated rapper Kodak Black, in prison until October on gun charges, grew up near the school and has offered to pay for a future trip if Hilton refuses a refund. Black’s attorney is representing the school PTA as it seeks a full refund from the hotel.
Southwest has made earning elite status and a companion pass easier and also made credit card spend more lucrative for earning elite status too. Adding double points for flights into the mix makes it an especially rewarding time to travel. I suspect this is only the beginning.
Airlines are required to provide a refund when they cancel a flight, or make a significant change to their schedule. Federal law does not define what either of these two things mean, so airlines can create their own definition as long as it’s reasonable. United has adopted an unreasonable interpretation.
However the Department of Transportation reminds that even that new interpretation cannot be applied retroactively to tickets that were purchased before it went into effect.
One of Ryanair’s new guidelines is no queuing for the lavatory. In the front of the plane post-9/11 security measures have usually included this guidance, though people frequently do line up in the back.
What’s new at Ryanair is that passengers will have to ask permission to use the toilet before getting up. Apparently it’s perfectly safe to sit beside someone in your seat, and dangerous to do so near the loo.
Delta and American Airlines are limiting the number of seats they’ll sell on each flight, to give customers confidence they can travel without having another passenger squeezed up next to them in a middle seat. United is not doing this, and says if you don’t want to be crammed in next to someone else then don’t take the flight.
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 »
