Monthly Archives

Monthly Archives for May 2023.

How Throwaway Ticketing Can Reduce Your SkyMiles Award Ticket Costs By Two-Thirds

by Gary Leff

first class seats
May 10 2023

I’ve written several times that the biggest and worst devaluation of the Delta SkyMiles program only seems to apply to flights that either start or end in the United States. SkyMiles now charges for partner awards, which are all saver awards and limited in availability, as though they were awards on Delta. That’s how you can get over 500,000 miles one way for a coach award between the U.S. and Thailand.

But if you start a trip in Mexico, you’re effectively rolling back to the last devaluation where partner awards are merely super expensive. And this creates an opportunity.

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Why You Could Lose Your Seat The Next Time You Connect On American Airlines

by Gary Leff

american airlines lounge
May 09 2023

American Airlines has a new system for automatically rebooking passengers when their flights are delayed or cancelled. It’s more powerful than what they’ve used before, but there’s also the potential to cause problems for passengers who would have made their flights – passengers who may come in off of a delayed flight, run through the airport hoping to make their connection, and find that even though the door is still open for their next flight their seat has been given away.

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Inside The Political Theater Of President Biden’s Airline Compensation Plan

by Gary Leff

May 09 2023

There’s a strong likelihood we do not see this rule happen unless President Biden is re-elected because promulgation of a final rule would quite likely not occur prior to the end of the President’s first term, which comes perhaps just a year after a proposed rulemaking is published.

There still needs to be a public comment period on the as-yet released proposed rule. Then DOT will have to consider each comment, respond, and update its rule based on comments received.

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