Monthly Archives for February 2024.
Avoiding checked luggage saves time and reduces the risk of loss, but if unavoidable, using specific credit cards for protection, maximizing baggage allowances, not checking valuable items, and considering luggage trackers can mitigate the hassles.
1999’s big toy innovation was Furby, a robot toy that was kind of like a furry, colorful owl. 14 million were sold that one year alone. As long as it had batteries, Furby was on and talking. It began by speaking its own Furbish language, but as it listened to its owner it would learn English. Tickle the Furby and it might kiss you. If you rewarded that behavior with pets, the frequency of kisses would increase. If you had two Furby (Furbies?) they would talk to each other.
A woman with Montezuma’s Revenge was kicked off a WestJet flight leaving Mexico as it prepared to take off. Journalist Joanna Chiu kept going to the bathroom during the plane’s boarding process, and crew decided that she made one too many trips to fly.
You have heard about the woman who sued McDonalds and won $2.7 million after spilling a cup of coffee in her own lap. It became an exhibit in how we desperately needed tort reform. And yet the judgment made a lot of sense to anyone who actually went and learned the facts of the case.
Korean Air has a lot to learn from McDonald’s.
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.
Tipping is out of control. We now get presented with an option to tip even at self-checkout. At the Austin airport I was asked to tip when buying a water from a machine that was programmed not to accept $0 as an input.
The U.S. tipping culture always seemed strange, with customers supplementing worker wages, but this used to be limited to personal services provided by low wage workers. Now it’s everywhere.
VistaJet’s flight VJT993, a Bombardier Global Express,, is operating as “The Football Era.” It is currently estimated in over an hour early, at 3:07 p.m. Pacific time.
Reportedly charter provider VistaJet made two unique preparations, besides having the plane ready for Ms. Swift’s swift departure following her Tokyo show.
I love premium products, and innovative ideas. So I’m rooting for Beond to succeed. But I’ve been skeptical of filling an all business class plane (most airlines go with a mix of products for a reason), based in a highly seasonal destination, operating only a few flights a week to each destination.
Fortunately on Thursday I had the opportunity to speak with the airline’s Chairman and CEO, Tero Taskila, to see whether he could turn around my skepticism.
American Airlines sent a redeye flight from Los Angeles to New York on February 2 without working electrical systems. There was only emergency lighting in the cabin. Flight attendants couldn’t prepare food in the galley of the cross country flight, and business and first class seats didn’t have power so could not recline. Toilets did not flush.
Earlier in the month I flew to LA as a favor to Peter Greenberg, to speak at the Travel Adventure Show. I flew out on a Saturday, back Sunday. I didn’t want to leave too early, since I didn’t actually need to speak until Sunday, and wanted to fly back as quickly as possible after I was done. United, American, Southwest and Delta all operate the Austin – Los Angles route and both ways Delta had the schedule that worked best for me.
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 »
