A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
Qatar Airways owns a 49% stake in Air Italy and is attempting to revive what was once Meridiana into the dominant airline in Italy. With Delta partner Alitalia struggling, that seems possible. Although given Alitalia’s challenges, draining subsidies from Air France and then Etihad and the government of Italy the Italian aviation market isn’t a place that’s likely to produce profits. Delta sniffed around looking to invest in Alitalia, but no deal has been done.
US airlines don’t want to compete with Air Italy, though. They don’t want to compete with anyone, and there’s always a chance to go to the administration and complain about foreigners.
The JetPrivilege program has value. Last summer investment group Blackstone looked at buying it outright.
Indeed the frequent flyer program has been preparing to operate independently of Jet Airways.
When American Airlines launched their ‘web specials’ they were discounted awards, for less than the cost of a saver award. These awards allow no changes versus traditional awards which permit date changes free of charge and routing changes for a fee.
Now though these non-changeable web specials appear to be offering fully dynamic pricing.
British Airways appears to be testing a redemption option to spend more points on an award ticket in exchange for reducing or eliminating taxes and fees.
Back in January there was a ‘bad passenger’ story so terrible and disgusting that it reverberated on both sides of the Pacific.
A man insisted that EVA Air flight attendants provide assistance to him in the bathroom — assistance he may not have needed, but apparently enjoyed. The airline’s flight attendants union demanded changes at the Taipei-based carrier.
Under the Obama administration the US relaxed rules on citizens traveling to and spending money in Cuba. They even reached an agreement to put air marshals on planes so air marshals could party in Havana and Americans were allowed to bring back unlimited Cuban cigars from their travels.
The new Trump administration though moved to crack down on the ability of Americans to travel there. These travel restrictions required Americans to go as part of organized tours and forbade spending money anywhere owned by the military. Now get ready for a new round of even tougher restrictions on traveling to Cuba.
Japanese Star Alliance carrier ANA is partnering with a company called OpenJaw Technologies to implement the IATA NDC standard.
OpenJaw’s miles redemption platform provides for both “Transparent and Opaque. Dynamic Pricing” for revenue-based redemption.
Washington Dulles airport plans to open up an interesting lounge opportunity for bidding that would make a perfect (albeit slightly too-small) Centurion lounge or Plaza Premium lounge.
What’s on offer is 9100 square feet at the base of the Historic Control Tower.
It’s not clear who is in charge at the airline, as the carrier’s third largest owner claims to have been appointed by the board as CEO while the previous head says no such change has been made.
There aren’t just dueling chief executives but also dueling spokespeople. Over a dozen representatives of the new CEO entered company headquarters yesterday “to enforce the message about the leadership change.”
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 »
