This is a lightning round, I’m going to give one quick thing that overwhelms everything else and I’m not going to offer a detailed explanation — just a simple statement of the one worst thing about an airline, a hotel chain, or a rental car company.
These choices are, of course, influenced by my idiosyncratic preferences — but I think they stand up:
Southwest Airlines flight attendants are unionized. They offer some of the best service in the US airline industry.
American Airlines has some fantastic flight attendants, but the service customers receive is like Forrest Gump’s proverbial box of chocolates.
The truth is that frequent flyer programs will have to experience lower margins to remain competitive and defend their income streams into the future. And a successful loyalty marketing program actually needs to keep its members at the center of its thinking. When was the last time a US major airline program did that?
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 family flying JetBlue from New York JFK to Las Vegas for a 40th birthday on May 3 brought along a cake from Tonnie’s Minis bakery for the celebration and that cake became a flash point that led to their removal from the plane.
American Airlines started selling ‘basic economy’ fares three months ago.
American Airlines is intentionally making the travel experience worse, in hopes you will spend more to avoid the pain points. Here are the routes they’ve where they’ve started using this tactic.
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 Chinese woman on Pakistan International Airlines flight PK853 from Tokyo to Beijing spent over two hours in the cockpit including time alone with just the pilot, staying there for landing.
An airline spokesperson said “inviting a single passenger into the cockpit was not a security concern.” However it violates airline rules and an investigation was undertaken two years ago when the former wife of the airline’s chairman was allowed to sit in the cockpit during a Lahore – London flight.
When I heard that Jeff Zidell was leaving Hyatt, I didn’t jump to post about loyalty program news instead I was just sad to learn news about a friend (whether it’s good or bad news for him, it change, and it’s bad news for us).
Here’s the thing: as someone covering travel companies and frequent flyer schemes, I do not have any friends. And it’s always important for someone doing what I do to remember that.
SFO 1K photographed a Delta sign, all professionally produced, announcing the electronics ban has begun on flights from Europe to the U.S.
The electronics ban is not in fact in effect, however it was expected to be apparently even by Delta Airlines.
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 »
