News and notes from around the interweb:
- Where we really need Priority Boarding. I bet this would generate credit card signups for American, too.
Hey @AmericanAir do you think you could offer priority boarding for the shuttle bus from the Eagles Nest at LAX? pic.twitter.com/3veB4r2TOu
— gary leff (@garyleff) April 6, 2018
- Uber ratings inflation
- Surprising absolutely no one American Express will kill Plenti on July 10
- Air New Zealand’s “flat beds designed for infants which allow them to lie down during take off and landing”
- American adding 15 regional gates to DFW terminal E satellite. They’re converting 9 unusued mainline gates into 15 regional gates.
- LAX is installing ‘Tooshlights’ so people know when bathroom stalls are free (HT: @aheeger)
When you hosted the TES in Atlanta before the Freddie Awards,
http://renespoints.boardingarea.com/2015/05/02/reflections-on-the-tes-travel-executive-summit-at-the-freddie-awards/
…and Plenti was talked about it was one of the biggest eye roll worthy points programs ever introduced. Anyone in the points game could see this would not last. Happy to see it go.
Next, can we see the 1x lifetime Amex bonus go away just like Plenti?
Interesting that the bathroom stall lights glow green to show un-occupied and red to show occupied. That won’t be particularly helpful to the 1 in 12 males who are red-green colorblind.
It reminds me of the red-green bathroom lights on Airbus aircraft, which similarly are indistinguishable to the color-blind population. Compare to Boeing aircraft, which show different shapes (as well as colors) for occupied/un-occupied.
The lights like these work well in many parking garages so it makes sense.
CLEAR says they have security checkpoint at DFW terminal E but the article mentions it as an empty remote terminal. Seems like some info is off somehow. I’ve never orginated out of E. I also worry more about taxi way waiting times at DFW if AA increases flights.
The Eagle’s Nest already has priority shuttle service, Gary, you know this.
It’s called Five Star Service.
You’re important enough (in your own mind, anyway) to fork over the cash for it.
I’ve done it through LAX coming back from Sydney. Was worth every cent.
There are issues with Five Star Service that kill it as an option.
Limited personnel available to perform the service, so if it’s fully booked doesn’t matter how much one “forks over”. It is simply not bookable.
The time you need it is during IRROPs/when your inbound is delayed, and that is generally not a predictable event. The service is not available within 24 hours of the time you would need it, so even if there were personnel, nothing can get scheduled for you; you’ll just miss your flight.
Gary likely didn’t mention Five Star Service since it would not be practical for most of his readers.
I’m certainly FAMILIAR with Five Star, I’ve written about it, I’m suggesting that priority boarding of this shuttle bus is more valuable for many LAX passengers than priority boarding of AIRCRAFT