Monthly Archives

Monthly Archives for April 2023.

How Big Hotel Chains Destroy Their Business When They Franchise

by Gary Leff

Apr 07 2023

When chains actually owned the hotels that they marketed, there was better alignment of incentives for maintaining and extending their brands (and they found it much easier to deliver promises to guests on-property). Managed hotels are usually though not always better than franchised properties. An ‘asset light’ model where the chain simply rents out the brand (franchised) can work – but needs a laser-like focus on defending and growing the value of the brand, not merely living off of and depreciating it.

Continue Reading »

American Airlines First Class Passenger Kicked Off Flight After Demanding Predeparture Beverage

by Gary Leff

Apr 07 2023

A first class American Airlines passenger was kicked off of a flight after requesting a predeparture beverage. He refused to leave after being told to do so a flight attendant and a pilot, so police were called.

He wants to know what he’s done. It doesn’t matter, he’s been told to leave and in the moment there’s nothing he can do about it. The request does not have to be reasonable. He’s going to have to comply.

Continue Reading »

European Court To Rule If It’s Sexist To Give Flight Attendants Less Than Pilots For Meals, Hotels

by Gary Leff

Apr 06 2023

Pilots have a lot more sway at airlines than flight attendants. It’s harder to become a pilot, in part because government regulations make doing so time-consuming and costly. That makes it hard to replace pilots. Pilots also have a lot more say over an airline’s operation, so can slow it down dramatically.

Those are important reasons why pilots are paid more. They receive better benefits. And their life on the road often features better hotels, better ground transportation, and higher meal allowances. Is that… fair?

Continue Reading »

New U.S. Senator Blasts United Airlines, Posts His MileagePlus Number To Twitter

by Gary Leff

Apr 06 2023

New U.S. Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) got frustrated with United Airlines and tweeted out his boarding pass, complete with reservation number and MileagePlus number.

Vance had blasted United Airlines for something that airline passengers are frustrated with all the time – the failure to update customers in a timely manner. In this case the plane hadn’t yet boarded at the scheduled boarding time, but was still showing as though it would.

Continue Reading »

Airline Forgets To Send Arriving Passengers To Customs, Now They Have To Return To JFK Airport

by Gary Leff

passport getting stamped
Apr 06 2023

A passenger off of a transatlantic flight to New York has shared what happened when they were accidentally directed straight out of JFK airport – instead of being directed to immigration.

They were sent a note by the airline that they had to return to New York JFK airport the next day and given a specific time to do so in order to present themselves to the U.S. government.

Continue Reading »

Airbus Puts American Airlines On Blast For Losing Their Luggage, Then Claims To Be Hacked

by Gary Leff

american plane
Apr 06 2023

Aircraft manufacturer Airbus tweeted on Wednesday evening that American Airlines lost their luggage. Someone had flown into Washington, D.C. where Airbus has its headquarters, and the airline failed to deliver their bags – or to send the bags out to the customer when they said to expect them. American Airlines is the largest operator of Airbus aircraft.

Continue Reading »

7 Quick Takeaways From American Airlines Eliminating “Saver” Award Travel

by Gary Leff

an airplane on the runway
Apr 05 2023

American Airlines has eliminated its ‘saver’ and ‘anytime’ awards. Now when you’re using American’s miles to fly American Airlines, the only option is web special awards, which have been renamed Flight Awards. Nothing else changes at this time, though a number of things flow from this decision.

Most awards were already web specials. There’s a new award chart, but it doesn’t provide very much information. Overall I consider the change negative, but mostly just recognizing past devaluations rather than representing a new devaluation.

Continue Reading »