Monthly Archives for December 2021.
When American Airlines announced that Chairman and CEO Doug Parker would become non-executive Chairman on March 31, 2022 and current President Robert Isom would take over as CEO and join the board, I wrote that Executive Vice President of People and Communications Elise Eberwein would step down as well. That’s now official.
Robert Isom has named his new leadership team and it’s interesting as much for what hasn’t been stated as what has.
Los Angeles is surprisingly lightly served from Memphis, with Delta offering non-daily service and Allegiant flying the route. There’s no United or American flights. Memphis – Las Vegas has limited service, from Allegiant and Frontier. And Memphis – Orlando has very limited service from Southwest and Frontier. All are routes where Spirit has a shot. And, for their strategy, if the fares are low enough people will come from all over.
On July 1, 2021 Hilton replaced breakfast as an elite benefit at U.S. hotels with a daily food and beverage credit. This was temporary for 2021.
The concept is amazing (use the credit for a meal other than breakfast, use the credit for room service) but the amount was too low and didn’t cover the least expensive items in major cities. At some hotels it wouldn’t even cover a cup of coffee with tax if you tip (which is expected).
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.
I’ve always known that the key to award travel is flexibility. The best deals are on seats that are going to go unsold. An airline doesn’t always know what seats those are, and may play it conservative not releasing award space until very close to departure. And even then they may be reluctant, worried that someone might redeem miles instead of spending big money on a ticket.
Right now uncertainty is even greater for airlines. How many people will be traveling? Will there be any business travelers, or will it be all leisure? Will there be restrictions on actually flying to a destination? Or perhaps restrictions on the number of flights a week that can be offered?
This is useful if you have points spread across different transferable currencies since you can pool them in the same account. And LifeMiles has access to Star Alliance awards. Here’s a primer on getting the most out of LifeMiles and a warning why it’s much better to deal with them by email than over the phone.
Virgin Australia is strategically important because they’re one of two significant airlines in Australia. Qantas is closely tied through a joint venture with American Airlines. So most airlines outside of the oneworld alliance (and Emirates) go looking for domestic feed for their long haul Australia routes with their competitor, Virgin Australia.
Virgin Down Under has been linked with Delta Air Lines through a joint business venture, leaving United Airlines in the cold. Its Australia flights have largely had to survive on local market passengers, rather than connecting people from all over Australia. That’s changing.
American Airlines launched its New York JFK – Delhi flight, marking its return to India, but it’s been plagued by massive problems. They haven’t been granted the right to fly over Russia, and so the flight takes two hours longer than flights on other airlines. That means more fuel and more crew and the plane has frequently had to take a diversion – further lengthening the trip and inconveniencing passengers.
Right now fares would have to be a lot lower for anyone to want to fly American over even Air India, let alone United from Newark. Addressing the issues has been a company-wide priority for the airline.
It seems as though airlines are getting better at this just as the craziest inflight incidents – though still appalling – are becoming a bit more rare, and the FAA is ramping up enforcement just as there’s a bit less to enforce.
After receiving around $10 billion in direct payments from taxpayers, the airline is spreading its cash around the world. Delta is investing $1.2 billion in three airlines where it’s held an equity stake:
Before the pandemic Delta saw the U.S. market as mature and limited, but it had opportunities for growth around the world. Instead of focusing on alliances, it took stakes in foreign carriers to give them tighter control and greater participation in upside.
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 »
