Monthly Archives

Monthly Archives for June 2021.

American Is Re-Opening Its International Business & (Most) First Class Lounges

by Gary Leff

Jun 09 2021

American Airlines is re-opening its Flagship international business class lounges and most of its Flagship First Dining this fall, starting with Miami. They’re also re-opening all of their Admirals Clubs except Honolulu this summer. And they’re going to introduce a new way for premium passengers to access Flagship.

That’s wonderful because these lounges were fantastic. United’s Polaris lounges were probably a step above American’s Flagship lounges, but Flagship lounges were open to many more people and nicer than anything American had ever done before. American’s Flagship First Dining product was nicer than anything any U.S. airline has done in recent years, period.

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We’ve All Gained Too Much Weight, And Now Planes Require More Fuel To Fly

by Gary Leff

Jun 09 2021

Americans have gotten fatter, and that’s making a big difference for airline operations. Each aircraft has a maximum weight it can take off with, and the weight of passengers and cargo contributes to how much fuel a plane is going to burn on a trip.

American Airlines this week updated its passenger weight assumptions. That’s going to mean they need more fuel for some trips. It even means that some aircraft will be ‘weight restricted’ and not allowed to carry a full load of passengers and cargo.

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American Airlines Cancun Flight Turned Back Because Passenger On Board Skipped Security Screening

by Gary Leff

Jun 09 2021

This morning American Airlines flight AA881 from Charlotte to Cancun was forced to return to Charlotte – before heading back out to Cancun. Multiple reports of the incident suggested that a passenger on board hadn’t cleared TSA security. In one version it was an employee, and in another version a non-rev flying on a buddy pass.

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CDC Lowers Travel Risk Levels For 110 Countries, And US State Department Will Too

by Gary Leff

passport getting stamped
Jun 08 2021

In April the U.S. State Department issued ‘Do Not Travel’ warnings for 80% of the world’s countries due to coronavirus risk. They suddenly discovered the pandemic more than three months into 2021.

They updated their guidance to conform to CDC recommendations. But now the CDC has suddenly discovered vaccines – and is updating their guidance, too. The State Department will follow. And a new working group has been formed to talk about lifting travel restrictions where those restrictions are absurd based on the data.

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Boeing 737 MAX Gets Hit By A Flock Of Birds – While Still On The Ground

by Gary Leff

Jun 08 2021

On Saturday an American Airlines Boeing 737 MAX managed to stop itself after a bird strike while accelerating during its takeoff roll Saint Vincent, as aircraft N339SU prepared for a trip to Miami.

Numerous plane spotters were filming the takeoff from runway 22 as the crew rejected takeoff and managed to stop the aircraft prior to reaching the end of the runway.

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Hotel Complains About Marriott Elite Members Trying To ‘Scam’ Free Breakfast

by Gary Leff

Jun 07 2021

At Marriott’s Hotel Distil, an Autograph Collection property located in Louisville, Platinum elite members and above get a voucher for a ‘continental breakfast’ or $15 off anything on the breakfast menu. Only they don’t offer a “continental breakfast” on the menu. And nothing on the menu was $15 with coffee, fruit or juice, tip and tax.

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