Monthly Archives for August 2021.
Many of you signed up for Brex when they were offering 110,000 points to new accountholders. I know I did. Well I’ve mentioned getting 100,000 Brex points (which transfer to miles) for signing up for Paypal merchant processing. And it was probably the quickest and easiest 100,000 points I’ve ever earned.
American Airlines CEO Doug Parker gave an interview to the New York Times, and much of it covered familiar ground for readers. Five things stuck out to me, though – including that Parker loves viral videos where passengers are being removed from planes, and everyone on board cheers.
The incident on board a Frontier Airlines Philadelphia – Miami flight where a passenger was duct taped to his seat has gained worldwide attention. The man reportedly spilling a cocktail on himself, taking off his shirt, touching up flight attendants and getting into a fight. The flight attendants who used the duct tape were suspended.
Now this man’s take on being a flight attendant, dealing with an unruly passenger, may be the best (and only good?) thing coming out of the incident.
United Airlines will require all of its employees to be vaccinated. This requirement will be effective the sooner of 5 weeks after FDA full approval of a Covid-19 vaccine, or 5 weeks after September 20.
We won’t be able to impose national ‘no dine lists’ for restaurants, but the ex- Assistant Secretary for Homeland Security in the Obama administration Juliette Kayyem wants those who haven’t been vaccinated placed on the government’s ‘No Fly List’.
Via Air had an F-rating from the Better Business Bureau and 71% of TripAdvisor reviews that were poor or terrible (at the time even Allegiant was only 27% negative and Southwest Airlines 6%).
After bankruptcy and an acquisition, the airline is asking the FAA to change its name.
JetBlue appears to be hiring an airport supervisor for… Brisbane, Australia. There are multiple people on LinkedIn identifying themselves in administrative roles working for the airline in Brisbane already. While JetBlue doesn’t have planes capable of flying from the U.S. to Australia, Australia has no limits on foreign ownership of domestic airlines.
If Marriott can’t deliver the most value to guests, those guests have options – more so than with airlines or car rentals in many markets. They don’t just compete against Hyatt and Hilton but also Airbnb.
However Marriott’s CEO – who says workers make too much money and guests need to have more sympathy for hotel ownership groups – says Marriott needs to balance “the expectations of our guests..and the financial realities that our owners and franchisees face.”
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.
Video has surfaced appearing to show an American Airlines flight where a pilot made an announcement prior to passengers deplaning where he shared his sins as he found Christ. In the man’s testimony he offers details on his childhood and his journey away from pornography and promiscuous sex. He tells a story about being raped as a child, becoming a sex and pornography addict, and having suicidal thoughts. He says he’s been married for 5 years but cheating on his wife with men.
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 »
