A month ago I wrote that American would be introducing ‘seat coupons’. Presumably this means that non-elites may be able to earn preferred seat assignments on American Airlines.
Apparently the functionality is now live.
Airlines have historically been able to offer outsized value to consumers through their frequent flyer programs. Instead of merely offering a rebate on spending, where points are a modest currency that can be used to buy tickets at retail.
A problem arises, however, when there just aren’t many unsold seats. With airline consolidation and capacity discipline, load factors are at historic highs.
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.
An American Airlines flight attendant shares her Phoenix – Dallas story. The airline’s CEO Doug Parker was on the flight. She was serving predeparture beverages – sparkling water, gin and tonics – when her drink tray went flying.
However she had “a tray of about 8 drinks on it” when a passenger right in front of her “stops in the aisle and backs up,” they “hit[..] the tray and the drinks go flying.” And they went all over… CEO Doug Parker!
he flight was delayed and a brief delay becomes an extended delay. And then the team’s coach gets on the speaker and instructs the girls to dance.
A Spirit agent trying to make announcements about delays for another flight at a nearby gate was drowned out. And since the agent doesn’t make ends meet working for Spirit along, and moonlights as a nearby resort’s activities director, he knew the songs and dance moves.
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.
A former senior loyalty executive with extensive knowledge of United’s MileagePlus program told me that yesterday’s elimination of award charts was “the day United died.”
United has now followed Delta in ending transparent award pricing, leaving American and Alaska as the only major US carriers with award charts.
In January there was much buzz about the Frontier Airlines policy of supplementing flight attendant wages with customer tips.
Most airlines don’t permit flight attendants to accept tips, and they have mixed feelings on the subject — some simply want more money (although tipping may ultimately mean lower salaries), while others worry the emphasis would then shift from safety to service. But what about other agents you encounter at the airport?
American has some of the most complex routing rules of any frequent flyer program. They do not publish those rules publicly. So it’s important to lay out what goes into determining how many miles an award costs, so you know what to expect (and how to save your miles).
You need to know about maximum permitted mileage, the most direct routing rule, and the prohibition on travel between two regions via a third region unless there’s an exception allowing you to do so.
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 »
