The 2018 IdeaWorks award availability study is out.. The top line that’s getting reported is that Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards offers the best award availability. Another key takeaway is major improvement in American Airlines award availability.
Both of those conclusions can be somewhat misleading.
American’s President Robet Isom says the airline has done well with Tokyo, Seoul, and Hong Kong flights but that China has been hard. Chicago – Beijing, which they’re cutting, “is a route that we’ve lost tens of millions of dollars for years and years and years.”
American Airlines first class passengers board in group one. But group one isn’t first. ConciergeKey members board first, before group one.
But what about the people they need to wait for?
American Airlines President Robert Isom told employees in a Dallas Fort-Worth question and answer forum on Friday that everyone should expect higher airfares because “in the long run higher fuel prices are passed on [to customers] through higher prices.”
American has consistently said they believe airfares rise with fuel. With fuel prices rising, American says your tickets are going to cost you more. Are they right?
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.
America West took over US Airways, which then took over American Airlines. American and US Airways had each been the combination of several carriers after mergers and acquisitions. And overall the US industry now has 3 large legacy airlines.
And yet the President of American Airlines, Robert Isom, consistently complains about lack of competition – when he is the customer. His favorite targets are the two big airline catering companies.
Delta said they couldn’t fly to India because of the volume of US flights offered by Emirates, Etihad and Qatar. Now Delta says a deal that will not change those flights at all means they could look at flying to India again. And doesn’t mention their new close partnership with India’s Jet Airways.
American’s Doug Parker says this agreement to do nothing addresses ‘illegal subsidies’ even though the agreement itself spells out that subsidies aren’t illegal. What would it even look like if airline executives told the truth?
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.
American Airlines has just announced a change to its policies on emotional support animals. And they’ve gone much farther than Delta or United.
American’s policy is serious if it’s actually enforced.
aybe you’re flying that airline just once but it’s a special trip like a honeymoon. Maybe you fly that foreign airline’s US partner and want better treatment like priority check-in and boarding and lounge access when you do.
Many flyers, when they first discover status matches, will apply for all of them just for the ‘wallet candy’ because they can. Here’s how to think about asking for elite status — and how to actually do it.
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 »
