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.
United flight UA878 from Houston to Minneapolis diverted twice last night, never made it to Minneapolis (at least the ground there) and finished up after 3 a.m. with passengers waiting at baggage claim in Wisconsin.
When hotels began their loyalty programs a lot more attention was paid to airline programs. Guests were regularly given the choice to each points with the hotel’s program or earn airline miles. Hilton made their name with the ‘double dip’ giving you both points and miles, you didn’t have to choose. Hotel programs have all grown up, and double dipping (earning styles) go away April 1.
Hyatt though is offering its own double dip with American AAdvantage through June 30.
Through July 4 and then starting again August 7 and ending December 6 there’s great availability for four passengers in business class on American’s New York JFK – Rio de Janeiro flight.
Not quite as good but there’s availability for four passengers in business class New York JFK – Sao Paulo as well, and a bit better for two passengers.
The latest American Airlines “Tell Me Why” podcast for employees explains how they choose aircraft for routes, where to fly to, and why they’ve scaled back so many destinations from New York.
There’s little transparency in large Chinese conglomerates. They’re often layers of companies with unclear ownership and difficult to verify financials. Their leadership is often politically well-connected.
At the same time regulation of these entities is unclear as well. When the Chinese government decides to take an interest in the operation and systemic risks posed by these companies which rapidly expand through acquisitions both domestically and around the world, it’s not always clear whether it’s because of regulatory violations (or explicit as to which ones) or a signal of internal power struggles inside the government — whose faction is in and whose is out?
Over time the American Airlines video will take on less importance on domestic flights. That’s because the new standard domestic configuration does not include seat back video or drop down screens in the cabin either.
However in the meantime the airline has made a minor tweak to the way the video plays on overhead screens, and in March the change will roll out to those aircraft with seat back monitors.
British Airways is back with their buy business, fly first promotion.
British Airways business class isn’t a very good product so if you can get into first you want to.
A father and daughter were traveling from Toronto to London. The 14 year old girl is quadriplegic and has cerebral palsy. They had gone to Canada to watch ice hockey after her deep brain stimulation treatments.
At the airport staff dropped her wheelchair and broke it. Here’s British Airways’ response.
There’s a business class fare from June through early December of $1292 roundtrip between New York and Buenos Aires on Star Alliance carrier Avianca.
In contrast American Airlines non-stop business class is generally over $3000 (and sometimes $4000) on this route.
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 »
