Delta Air Lines has canceled hundreds of flights while American, United and Southwest are barely canceling at all. Weather does not explain it. A tech outage does not explain it. And sickout rumors do not hold up — leaving internal Delta “crew restrictions” as the clearest clue to a meltdown at an airline once known for reliability.
A 21-year-old Chinese planespotter and aeronautical engineering student was arrested after photographing the E-4B “Doomsday Plane” and other military aircraft near Offutt Air Force Base, even though there is no espionage charge and no allegation that he trespassed.
United’s economy seats are tight enough that some tray tables now have cutouts for passenger bellies — which is either bleak or oddly pragmatic. Also: American admits broken seats mean passengers aren’t getting the product they paid for, the 50-day London-to-Calcutta bus makes Landline look easy, and the Philadelphia Centurion Lounge wine list gets more interesting.
I have about 26 credit cards sitting in a drawer, but only seven actually earn a place in my wallet. The strategy is not “get every great card” — it is knowing which cards are for bonuses, which are for perks, and which ones actually deserve your everyday spending.
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.
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 »
