Monthly Archives for November 2023.
In March 2022 Marriott officially eliminated award charts. It turns out that Marriott didn’t actually eliminate award charts they just hid them and raised prices.
Gave a Mile’s year-end campaign to raise United Airlines miles and MileagePlus is offering a 50,000 mile match.
Would you make a year-end donation of United miles for a good cause? I’d appreciate it. No need to do so, but please share in the comments if you’d like. And thank you.
Robert DeNiro says his assistant stole 5 million Delta SkyMiles from his account. A lawsuit previously claimed it was 7 million miles, valued at 4.3 cents apiece.
He says his former assistant-turned-Vice President of Production and Finance, who is suing him, misappropriated company funds including using the corporate Amex for personal trips. She says that as his $300,000 a year personal assistant he had unreasonable expectations (like ordering UberEats for him at 11 p.m.) and creepy ones (like scratching his back).
JetBlue’s consideration of a merger with Alaska Airlines before proceeding with Spirit Airlines, as revealed in an anti-trust trial, raises questions about strategic fits and anti-trust issues, given their respective strongholds on the East and West coasts. The complexities of airline mergers, such as fleet commonality and culture integration, along with the current administration’s stance against mergers, make the JetBlue-Spirit deal contentious, despite potential benefits to competition and market growth.
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.
Air Canada refused to divert during a passenger’s medical emergency. The airline says that they followed proper procedure. The man died. Clearly they bet wrong. What obligation does an airline have to incur costs and inconvenience passengers and their operation in an uncertain medical situation?
JetBlue’s award travel has been restricted, offering low value for their points and making transfers from credit card programs unattractive. However, the partnership with Qatar Airways now allows for point redemption for JetBlue flights, with a distance-based award chart and wide availability for transatlantic business class bookings.
The traditional hub-and-spoke model, once dictated by local traffic generating high fares, is being redefined by cities like Charlotte and Atlanta, which have become central nodes for connecting flights. Despite their non-central geographic locations, these hubs thrive by leveraging strategic north-south connections, outperforming traditional expectations and contributing to the evolving dynamics of airline profitability.
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.
A flight attendant working Aeromexcio flight 520 from Mexico City to Cancun was filmed taking video that appears to be up a passenger’s skirt as she walks by the galley of the Boeing 737 MAX to board.
The man appears to slide his phone across the galley floor, while pretending to check the drawer of a galley beverage cart. The camera moves as the passenger moves.
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 »
