Monthly Archives for July 2022.
80,000 miles for Delta travel between New York and Austin. How about 90,000 miles? Those aren’t saver award prices, but they’re now being charged by Air France KLM’s Flying Blue.
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.
Outside of a limited set of legitimate interests, government functions in publicly-owned airports are generally open to filming. Passengers can’t pass through TSA checkpoints without a ticket or other authorization, but prior to the checkpoint it’s generally not a problem as long as the activities don’t interfere with the function of the airport or screening activities.
To be sure I wouldn’t want to be filmed in my workplace either. At the same time without documentary evidence of bad actors, a passenger likely has little recourse against TSA or airline employees who treat them poorly.
Rep. Frank Mrvan (D-IN) has been spending thousand of dollars of campaign cash on ‘upgrades’ and flights for his wife, according to FEC filings. He’s coming under criticism for doing so, since campaign funds can’t be used for personal expenses. However I suspect that the freshman congressman, who is locked in a toss-up race for re-election, is getting a bad rap.
The single best way to protect yourself against airline screwups is to make more than one flight booking to get where you are going. And doing this has been made easier and less costly by changes to airline policies over the past two years.
When your flight is delayed and you’re going to misconnect, or your flight is cancelled, other flights ae often too full – your airline may not be able to re-accommodate you quickly or even for several days. But is already having a backup flight in case – taking a seat you may not intend to use, that the airline cannot sell and other passengers can’t use until you give it up – ethical?
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 summer before the global pandemic, Delta Air Lines revamped its long haul economy product. In a sign that they had forgotten they were an airline they introduced amenity kits, welcome drinks and hot towels, and course-based dining in economy class.
To show just how different of an airline Delta is now, compare course-based dining in economy with this.
I wrote on Thursday that American Airlines could find itself in chapter 11 bankruptcy. It wasn’t a prediction that this would happen, or a claim that it’s somehow inevitable. Instead it was an explanation that it is now thinkable because of their vulnerable financial position combined with high fuel prices, increasing labor costs, and looming recession. If these stars misalign for them, they’re the most likely big airline to take that hit.
Last week a man on board a United Airlines flight sat in his coach seat and pulled out a full-sized iMac to work. A standard United coach seat has just 30 inches of pitch – the distance from seat back to seat back – making this impossible most of the time.
The top line message from the American Airlines second quarter was record revenue and a return to profitability. But their financial statements actually show that flying planes from one place to another, and selling tickets, doesn’t generate profit for American Airlines. Instead, the AAdvantage loyalty program is responsible for all of American’s profits.
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 »
