Monthly Archives for May 2023.
Mere days after we learn that refused to rent a car to a Puerto Rican and called the cops who threatened to have the customer deported, because he wasn’t carrying a passport inside the United States comes a story that Spirit Airlines is just as challenged which probably comes as little surprise. Americans working for travel companies aren’t very good at geography or American history, it seems?
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.
Airlines will usually be happy to sell you more than one seat for your trip although they really don’t advertise it. One woman, with three seats to herself, felt that wasn’t quite enough and decided to build a fort.
She turned her row in coach into a business class suite with walls, using plastic wrap. She even gave herself a roof while a passenger across the aisle from her filmed the pre-departure construction project.
A Boston-based United Airlines flight attendant, who was granted a religious exemption to the airline’s Covid-19 vaccine mandate, is suing the carrier because the form of her exemption was unpaid leave and she reports she did not have income for six months as a result.
In her filing made Wednesday she suggests she would be unable to go to Heaven when she dies if she became vaccinated – somewhat oddly only vaccines which are not “scientifically proven, safe, and effective” are precluded.
Usually the complaint is that seats aren’t large enough, that people who don’t fit in them have to buy bigger seats in order to fly.
“Big Curvy Olivia” points to a different issue entirely: she says it is discrimination that aircraft aisles are so narrow, and posts video of herself struggling to get through a United Airlines Polaris business class cabin.
I don’t write about a lot of mileage purchase offers, because they usually aren’t a good deal. Even with a bonus of 85% or 100% the points still frequently cost more than they’re worth.
One exception to the rule on why I don’t cover too many airline mileage sales is this one from Air Canada Aeroplan: up to 110% bonus on purchased miles, no tax for U.S. residents, and a favorable exchange rate. That brings the mileage cost down to $0.0124 per point. I value Aeroplan miles at 1.4 cents apiece.
A mom who offers travel advice on Instagram stirred up controversy by showing an upgrade she got with her husband – while she said her 10 year old son sat in coach for their 13 hour flight.
American Airlines has a new rating system for gate agents, ranking each one on a five star scale. Based on details from multiple agents, this rating system includes everything related to the flight – including things they have no control over whatsoever. If they touch a flight that delays, that’s on them, even when it’s a maintenance delay.
The Association of Flight Attendants has told its members to prepare for a strike vote. This riles up the members, and makes it sound like the union is militant, when in fact they’re continuing to negotiate with the company and if all continues to proceed apace they won’t end up in a strike.
This is the union playing politics with its own members, not against the company.
Between homeless and refugees an increasing number of low-end properties are being used to house people by the city – and even relatively better hotels are being converted for this purpose. The 50% number may not be right, but the magnitude of the challenge – financial, and opportunity cost – is real.
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 »
