Spirit Airlines’ shutdown was supposed to leave a hole in the market. JetBlue is already treating it like an opening — shifting planes, crews and new flights into Spirit’s Fort Lauderdale home base while cutting flying elsewhere.
American Airlines is offering 10,000 miles to new AAdvantage Business accounts, and the move is more interesting than it looks. Join the business program first, then apply for the Citi AAdvantage Business card, and you can stack that 10,000-mile signup bonus on top of the current 75,000-mile card offer while also bypassing the usual redemption restrictions.
Spirit Airlines has plenty of stories people will mock, but one flight attendant’s farewell to the airline’s final passengers was unexpectedly gracious. As Spirit shuts down after 43 years in the air, he told passengers he did not remember the bad times — just the good ones — and thanked them for staying with the airline until the end.
American Airlines spent years ripping seatback entertainment screens out of domestic aircraft and telling passengers their phones were good enough. Now its customer chief says “stay tuned,” suggesting one of the airline’s most visible passenger-experience mistakes may finally be getting reversed.
The Sheraton at Amsterdam Schiphol did not catch fire — just its giant illuminated logo did, sending burning pieces falling from the roof and forcing about 380 guests out in the middle of the night. They were evacuated to the nearby Hilton, which is almost too perfect for a Sheraton brand metaphor: the sign still lights up the sky, but the energy behind it has burned out.
The final Spirit Airlines commercial flight to land asked DFW Tower whether any other Spirit flights were coming in behind it. When the answer came back that they might be the last one, the crew signed off with grace — “it was a pleasure working with you guys” — a quiet, dignified ending for the employees who stayed until the end.
United CEO Scott Kirby keeps insisting airfares should rise, and that airlines are too timid to charge what passengers will pay. But after years of predictions that have not panned out, the flaw in his theory is simple: airlines hate empty seats, and supply and demand still set fares no matter how badly CEOs want prices higher.
American Airlines is giving coach passengers something they do not get very often: an actual onboard food upgrade. New snack boxes, name-brand items, a refreshed cheese plate, and a turkey sandwich are coming to buy-on-board — a small but meaningful improvement in the part of the plane where most customers actually sit.
A woman standing in line at a TSA checkpoint can’t going through airport security with her booze – so she chugs the full size clear liquor bottle. Reports are this was Don Julio. She chose to drink the tequila rather than give it up – or return to the ticket counter to check it in.
An Aeroméxico passenger showed up at the gate for a Mexico City–Barcelona flight seven minutes after its scheduled departure time, then demanded to be let onboard anyway. Once she started shoving staff and pushing toward police, her case was not being made better…
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 »
