Monthly Archives for January 2022.
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.
The Mexican government sent National Guard troops to patrol the beaches. Tourism is too important to the economy there to be disrupted out of fear. However two tourists have no been killed (and other visitor wounded) in a shooting at another resort in the same state as the Hyatt Ziva beach shooting in November.
Outgoing American Airlines CEO Doug Parker made a point in his opening remarks to employees after completing the carrier’s fourth quarter earnings call this past Thursday. His remarks suggested that masks are an impediment to the return of business travel. The full return to normal is therefore going to necessarily involve lifting masking requirements.
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.
President Xi Jinping seeks an unprecedented third term at the country’s 2022 party congress. It’s this upcoming solidification of his power that, in part, makes the nation cautious of missteps. It can’t risk a blunder like an invasion of Taiwan that goes badly. And it can’t risk losing face by losing control of Covid-19.
After all, China lacks significant background immunity to the virus due to low levels of prior infection and homegrown vaccines that didn’t work well even against ancestral strains of the virus. So it’s not surprising that international flights to China remain down 95% compared to before the pandemic as they attempt to control entry of the virus.
On Wednesday’s American Airlines flight AA3573 from Key West to Miami, passengers missed connections after a 40 minute delay caused by a flight attendant kicking off a mother and her crying two year old who wouldn’t keep their mask on.
The whole planeload of passengers was offloaded, and when another passenger expressed frustration the flight attendant threatened to have her kicked off too for ‘smelling like alcohol’. On a 7 a.m. flight. Where both that passenger and flight attendant were wearing masks. The American Airlines slogan is caring for people on life’s journey.
The American Airlines flight attendants union asked the airline to cut service levels for passengers because they don’t want to work because they’re concerned about the spread of Covid-19.
Needless to say, starting mid-next week, on your next American Airlines flight in back you may be thirsty. Plan accordingly.
On January 7 a passenger on board Delta flight 45 from Dublin to New York JFK reportedly refused to wear a mask. According to an indictment he also “threw an empty beverage can, which hit the head of” another passenger.
While the captain was out of the cockpit he took off his cap and placed it on the captain’s head twice, and put his fist up to the captain’s face. The man left economy for business class, complained about his food to one of the flight attendants there – and mooned them.
“Choice benefits” in the past have included things like bonus miles or confirmed international upgrades though require crediting at least 30 flights to an AAdvantage account. These benefits are earned at the 125,000 point level and above:
American has announced what these choice benefits are for status levels earned in 2022.
Last year we learned that Chase is launching its own airport lounge network in collaboration with Airport Dimensions, a Collinson company which brings you Priority Pass and The Club lounges.
We now know about 5 Sapphire Lounge by The Club lounges in the pipeline, including details on the latest in Phoenix.
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 »
