Monthly Archives for May 2022.
On the day that the federal mask mandate was vacated by a district court, many employees were understandably excited. There were several inflight announcements that people could remove their masks, as the requirement was lifted by airlines.
Crew were, in many cases, elated. Perhaps too much so.
Citibank has a card-linked rebate program that’s like Amex Offers, but to date it’s only been available on a limited number of their cards. That’s changed. All of a sudden you’ll find it, for instance, on American Airlines cards and Citi Premier.
This is especially useful because Citi issues a number of Mastercards, which are eligible to be used with SimplyMiles, the American Airlines-Mastercard card-linked offers that award both AAdvantage miles and credit towards elite status.
The federal transportation mask mandate was vacated and unruly passenger incidents immediately fell. That’s great news for airline crew safety. It’s great news for passengers trying to get to their destinations on time. And it’s great for airline bottom lines since it means fewer diversions and delayed passengers to reaccommodate.
Pilots are one of the few unionized work groups at Delta. They’re complaining that Delta gave non-union flight attendants a raise by adding pay for boarding time (in addition to their pre-pandemic raise, post-pandemic raise, and special profit-sharing).
However Delta cannot unilaterally change the pay of their pilots. Their pilots literally agreed to – voted on – a contract that paid more for time flying the plane and didn’t calculate pay including boarding time. Not only haven’t pilots made boarding pay a priority, they’ve chosen the current arrangement because it benefits senior union members at the expense of junior ones.
Executive Platinum, Platinum Pro and Concierge Key members have received premium economy upgrades free when they are available (and when they aren’t being upgraded to business class).
For Alaska and Hawaii routes, these complimentary premium economy upgrades at the gate are now available to all elites. Gold and Platinum members are now eligible for complimentary premium economy upgrades when listed for an upgrade to business and not clearing.
United Airlines redeye flight 2478 from San Diego to Chicago O’Hare landed this morning – and a passenger opened an emergency exit door – and walked out onto the wing of the moving aircraft. Here’s video from inside the cabin.
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.
American Airlines took a $200 million stake in Brazilian carrier Gol, after Delta stole LATAM from oneworld and a pending joint venture. Delta had to divest its ownership position in Gol to pull this off.
Gol is American’s exclusive codeshare partner in Brazil, and American is Gol’s exclusive codeshare partner in the U.S. And the relationship doesn’t just come with reciprocal earning and redemption of miles. Elite customers receive benefits across the two carriers.
Bilt Rewards, the first major loyalty program for people who rent their homes or apartments, is bringing on two new instant points transfer partners: United Airlines MileagePlus and Cathay Pacific’s Asia Miles. This gives Bilt transfers to two major U.S. airlines (2 of the big 3!).
Despite adding the minimum spend requirement (which Starwood didn’t have) on top of staying 100 nights, Marriott has stopped providing an actual Ambassador to Ambassador members. They’ve said they’re going to make an investment in the program and they’re sending out emails asking for members to give stay preferences to an online form, instead of to an Ambassador agent.
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 »
