Monthly Archives for February 2023.
American Airlines became the first U.S. airline to offer a guarantee that families could sit together, by writing it into its customer service plan. That’s a commitment which is enforceable by the Department of Transportation.
Conservative groups have targeted American Airlines over its push for diversity hiring and that’s… a little weird?
The publicity is actually good for American Airlines, burnishing its credentials with a group like the NAACP which had previously issued a travel warning against the company. And it’s odd for conservatives who used to believe that companies should be free to hire as they wish.
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.
When Lufthansa first started teasing their new first class product, it didn’t look especially impressive. Details began leaking out that suggested it was going to be very nice and indeed they’re out with a lot more information now and it looks awesome.
However new first class will be on some of their Airbus A350s, and those that have it will offer just a single row of three seats. Do not plan on flying this with your points.
Jem Jebbia, a PhD candidate in Religious Studies at Stanford, loves Southwest Airlines and its route network from California so much that she’s made a special baking tribute to the airline and its snacks on TikTok. Ms. Jebbia decided to make dessert out of snack mix.
She used the airline’s free snack mix as a crust to make Jell-o cheesecake. The pan was heart-shaped, natch, so that her creation would take the form of Southwest’s logo.
The old Flagship First Dining space is now part of the Greenwich lounge, re-opened as the Tasting Room to take advantage of the bar there.
United Airlines MileagePlus is somewhat less lucrative for the airline than American’s and Delta’s frequent flyer programs. You can get some insight into the economics of their loyalty program from their latest SEC 10-K filing as well as disclosures made around raising debt backed by the revenue from its mileage offering.
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 Department of Transportation Inspector General’s office will be auditing Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s use of FAA aircraft. This is stupid, the Transportation Secretary often should fly private at times.
He won’t come out and say that. Instead Buttigieg maintains it was cheaper to fly private than to buy airline tickets. If that were true, his office is paying insufficient attention to the scourge of high ticket prices! (Hint: it is not actually true.)
Delta hasn’t been nearly as aggressive with mileage partnerships over the past several years, outside of its main credit card partner, as competitor airlines.
That could be changing. Through March 31, 2023 hotel and car rental bookings through their portal earn qualifying dollars towards SkyMiles elite status.
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 »
