Monthly Archives

Monthly Archives for September 2020.

American Airlines Won’t Put Their Full T&C Online, Says DOT Can’t Make Them

by Gary Leff

Sep 25 2020

American’s argument boils down to DOT rules were never updated for the information age so they’re permitted to keep their rules off the website where customers would normally expect to find them. As American puts it, “[t]he tariff public inspection requirements were first adopted by the Civil
Aeronautics Board (“CAB”) in 1965, well before the development of the World Wide Web.”

In other words, American says they haven’t broken any rules because the rules themselves are broken.

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15 Things I Love About the Southwest Performance Card

by Gary Leff

Sep 25 2020

Last year Chase launched a new premium Southwest Airlines business card. This was the card I wanted most in the fall and fortunately I was able to get approved for it. It puts earning a companion pass in reach and I’m loking forward to traveling with my wife and daughter again (my wife as my companion, daughter on points) — and the points from the card go a long way to a bunch of those tickets, especially when I then top off with Chase Ultimate Rewards points which’ll essentially become doubled in value.

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Thai Airways Is Earning Cash Offering Training Courses To Anyone With $89

by Gary Leff

Sep 25 2020

Necessity is the mother of invention, and the coronavirus pandemic has created plenty of necessity. Thai Airways is in the midst of restructuring and they’re looking for revenue anywhere they can find it.

Among the course options, for 2800 Baht ($89) you can learn to be a flight attendant. Their safety course lets you head down the emergency slide and put a real fire out on a plane. You can even take cooking classes to make inflight Thai meals.

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American Airlines Top Executives Have Been Calling Their 50 Best Current Flyers

by Gary Leff

Sep 24 2020

American has been speaking to the customers that are traveling the most now during the pandemic – and it’s not the ‘executive liaison’ callers doing the dialing, it’s the airline’s senior management.

American Airlines President Robert Isom told pilots last week that Chief Revenue Officer Vasu Raja and Chief Customer Officer Alison Taylor thought it would be “neat to find out who it is that’s traveling and still earning elite status throughout the pandemic.” So they “pulled a lit of the top 50 customers and assigned 10 [each]” to various senior executives, including Isom himself who reports that this was the “first time [he] cold called customers in a long time.”

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United Introduces At-Airport Covid Testing For San Francisco-Hawaii Flights

by Gary Leff

Sep 24 2020

There are two new important testing developments in travel today, both United Airlines announcement. United is partnering to provide Covid testing for its San Francisco – Hawaii flights. They’re providing testing at the airport, and they’ve worked with Hawaii to accept an Abbott rapid test rather than just a PCR test.

The airline expects to expand this to other airports and destinations.

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No More American Airlines Elite Membership Cards, But You Can Still Call For Employee Recognition Certs

by Gary Leff

Sep 24 2020

American Airlines no longer sends membership kits to frequent flyers when they earn AAdvantage elite status. This means that elites are no longer sent a membership card, luggage tags, or employee recognition certificates. Instead the airline tells newly minted elite members that AAdvantage is “a fully digital experience.”

However they will still allow elite members to call and request certificates to give to employees for ‘above and beyond’ service.

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