Delta is back on top in airline on-time performance rankings for August. They were followed by Spirit and Alaska, with United, Southwest and American in the middle of the pack of the U.S. airline industry and JetBlue and Frontier at the bottom.
Based on 22 million award searches, Air France Flying Blue ranks as the world’s best frequent flyer program, with American Airlines AAdvantage surging to #2 ahead of United, Delta, and others.
Kona coffee beef = “Australia”? That’s the new American Airlines business class menu logic. leading today’s roundup of today’s news.
Hilton has quietly devalued Honors points yet again. Standard “free night” awards at top properties can now reach 250,000 points — the third hike since December. With no award chart and no notice to members, Hilton continues to erode trust while gutting the value of its loyalty program.
British Airways has restored the ability to transfer Avios to Iberia after a sudden suspension, reopening a key option for members to maximize points value across airline partners.
Delta partner Kenya Airways will status match anyone with a heartbeat (well, anyone with a credit card) and they have a separate promotion that lets you claim triple status miles to keep what you’ve matched.
Here’s what Delta is telling employees – they get 15 preferred use gates (not actually ‘exclusive use’ which is a term of art). They’ll stay on the current concourse with American (and British Airways, KLM and Lufthansa et al) while Southwest and United move to the new concourse.
The woman, seated in 21J at the aisle in the back, “already didn’t smell great” and stuck her bare feet through the gap in the seat in front of her. Yet, oddly, there were no signs she was intoxication.
New York JFK airport put out that rideshare pickups for arriving passengers are no longer available at terminals 4, 5, or 7. That’s a miserable experience under all circumstances, but the need to take a shuttle or train to pick up an Uber is compounded for families and those with plenty of luggage.
Free breakfast is a common feature of many hotel brands, especially in the limited service category. You’ll find it at Hampton Inn, Best Western and Holiday Inn Express among numerous others.
Here’s the thing: I don’t think I’ve ever seen a hotel actually check that you’re a guest before giving you access. If you look like you belong there, you can park in the lot, walk in, and eat.
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 »
