Airline and hotel dining programs look like separate loyalty products, but most of them are really just different labels on the same underlying business. For decades, one company lineage — from Transmedia to iDine to Rewards Network — has powered nearly all of them, using the same basic model to bring in diners, buy points from loyalty programs, and delier guests to restaurants through rebates.
Air Force One food is not Biscoff and pretzels. Reporters following the president got beef ragu, lobster salad, key lime pie, chocolate cake, and all the Diet Coke they could want — though they still get billed for the privilege.
JetBlue flight 882 from St. Lucia to New York JFK couldn’t operate on Friday due to a birdstrike. The airlnie delayed the flight until 11 a.m. on Saturday, but it telling passengers stuck overnight in the Caribbean that the airline will not provide hotel rooms.
A flight attendants union wants airlines to screen passengers for hantavirus symptoms, provide masks, and keep some travelers from boarding. Plus: Amsterdam bans airline ads while Europe’s air traffic system burns extra fuel, Southwest points keep losing value, and Capital One faces rewards litigation.
An 82-year-old American Airlines passenger says his seatmate beat him “without warning” mid-flight while a flight attendant stood within arm’s reach and watched. Now he is suing the airline — but the harder question is whether American can be blamed for failing to predict another passenger’s sudden violence.
New passenger video shows the aftermath of Frontier flight 4345’s fatal Denver runway strike: visible engine damage, evacuation slides deployed, and passengers leaving the aircraft with carry-on bags in hand. Authorities now say the person hit by the aircraft was killed, while 12 passengers reported minor injuries and five were taken to hospitals.
United CEO Scott Kirby has tried to beat American Airlines, mocked its Chicago operation, and even floated buying the airline. So naturally, there he was in first class on American — flying home to Dallas on the rival that once fired him.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s family road-trip reality show is pitched as a patriotic YouTube series for America’s 250th birthday. The problem is who helped fund it: companies including United, Boeing and Toyota — all with major business before the Department of Transportation and FAA.
A Frontier Airlines pilot aborted takeoff in Denver after reporting an engine fire and telling the tower, “We just hit somebody.” The Airbus A321 had 231 people onboard when crew said a pedestrian was walking across Runway 17L, forcing an emergency evacuation by slides.
Taliban-controlled Afghanistan owes a Dubai airport-security firm more than $15 million, and the company tried to collect by going after airline overflight fees held by IATA in a frozen Swiss account. A D.C. court agreed the arbitration award could be enforced — but said it had no jurisdiction over the money, sending the fight over Afghanistan’s aviation cash cow to another venue.
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 »
