Monthly Archives for October 2023.
American Airlines and JetBlue dissolved their partnership following a Department of Justice anti-trust suit victory, leading to the cessation of joint ticketing, frequent flyer benefits, and key operational elements.
Three more consumer benefits end this week.
“Lost in Charlotte” delves into the challenges frequent flyers face at Charlotte Airport, notorious for 30 minute connections. However, the article also highlights two saving graces that can transform the travel experience, offering hope amidst the chaos.
American Airlines is imposing new hurdles for identity verification when redeeming miles over the phone.
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 “Crazy Plane Lady” who became a worldwide sensation back in July is trying to extend her fifteen minutes with a new grift.
On July 2, an American Airlines passenger declared that a man seated by her was “not real” and warned everyone that if they stayed on board the flight they would die. Since then she’s been trying to keep herself relevant, and now she’s revealed her first grift.
The self-upgrading woman was black. The passenger American made her give up her seat in front of the (Air?)bus was black. The passenger being moved up was white. She was asked to go to what she says was “the back of the bus” to her assigned 14A. She objected and she was invited to get off the plane and onto the jet bridge to discuss her concerns.
While nearly all other airlines have ceased operations that Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport, Israel’s national carrier El Al continues to operate nearly its entire schedule, every day.
Yet there’s video of an aircraft on approach to Tel Aviv while Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system takes out inbound rockets.
Some of the variance is based on how much people spend on airports and save in the Centurion lounge. Others value it as an ideal, a real escape from the terminal and good food and drink and what that might retail for.
The problem is that, as I wrote five and a half years ago, Centurion lounges have gotten so busy nobody goes there anymore. The experience rarely measures up to the ideal where you experience peace, a nice meal, and even a spa treatment.
There’s confirmation from internal leaks that American is indeed looking at a narrowbody order and of the specific aircraft under consideration. The airline needs a plan to replace their oldest Airbus A319s and A320s, as well as their oldest Boeing 737-800s.
The blog post challenges the claim that the U.S. has the best airport security and immigration, highlighting the convenience of paid services like Global Entry, PreCheck, and CLEAR but also emphasizing TSA’s inefficiencies, flawed procedures, and lack of external regulation. It contrasts U.S. practices with more lenient yet effective measures in countries like Australia, the U.K., and Hong Kong, questioning the true efficacy and purpose of the U.S. security system.
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 »
