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 Express losing Costco set off a chain reaction that rocked the credit card world. American Express moved quickly to re-up their co-brand deal with Delta (which was second largest to Costco, Starwood is third). They set a new high price benchmark, that defined terms for Chase renewing United and Southwest and ultimately led to expected higher revenue from a new Citibank-Barclaycard deal with American Airlines.
Given our politics in the U.S. over the last 20 years perhaps it’s not at all strange for the President of Ghana to be complaining to British Airways about specific elements of their service.
Here’s what Ghana’s President told British Airways’ head of sales for the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia when the BA sales officer came to congratulate him on his election:
Carmen Maria Montiel, the 1984 Miss Venezuela and second runner up for Miss Universe, is suing United in what’s surely one of the most bizarre stories of a passenger behaving badly, an airline overreacting and getting law enforcement involved and a pox on both their houses.
West Coast – Hawaii flights are about 5 hours long. That’s not much shorter than Eastbound flights from the Northeast to nearer Europe. Flights from the East Coast to Hawaii are longer than most Europe flights.
And yet while there’s a product war across the Atlantic, trying to provide premium experiences that will attract lucrative business class flyers, premium cabins on Hawaii routes tend to be more modest.
As an earn and burn program — the value of a program’s miles, not its elite status — it’s hard to imagine a program that’s done more to become less useful.
Members want to fly places from their home city, usually on American and usually domestic. And what’s most striking to most members is the sheer lack of award availability — which means awards at the saver level, not awards where American wants 55,000 for a one-way first class seat from Austin to Dallas.
Trey Harris suffers from a spinal condition which impairs his ability to walk and gets around on a segway.
While planning his honeymoon, he says he spoke to the TSA and to United’s Special Needs desk and that both confirmed he’d be able to bring his segway onboard his flight….
It’s simply disgusting what happened to the doctor booted from the flight in Chicago on Sunday. Watching the videos of the incident is hard, it’s disturbing, and cringe-worthy. And that’s just watching, even now, several days later. That’s not actually living it, the way Dr. David Dao did.
Outrage can be useful in focusing attention and agitating for change. It can also act as a fog making it difficult to see clearly, internalize facts, and target problems correctly.
A leaked email says United will no longer substitute crew for passengers on sold out flights within an hour of departure.
The Airbus A321 was in its takeoff roll when the thrust reverser on the plane’s right engine opened. The crew rejected takeoff when the aircraft was about 4600 feet down the runway.
A passenger on board in the window seat was filming takeoff, and then — pop.
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 »
