I’m driven nuts by upgrade issues like American Airlines agents not handing out upgrades to passengers who aren’t waiting in the gate area or not bothering to process upgrades at the gate because they’re too busy (so first class seats go out empty while passengers on the upgrade list sit in back).
Most of the time though what looks like shenanigans turns out to have a perfectly logical explanation on closer inspection.
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.
ANA first class availability, booked far in advance, is outstanding right now. And it’s accessible using miles from a variety of programs — in the Star Alliance and through other airline partnerships as well. They offer one of the best and most consistent first class products in the world. It’s not as flashy as Emirates or Etihad, but the service and food are fantastic.
Star Alliance member Avianca LifeMiles is selling miles with up to a 125% bonus.
They bonus miles purchases very frequently. Sometimes selling miles for even less than the 1.47 cents apiece under this deal, for instance at the end of November they were selling at 1.35 miles apiece.
Delta is apologizing after one of their employees in Portland was caught on video telling a customer, “You can take my f’ing picture if you want to, a-hole.”
They offered the passenger a $200 voucher. They also delivered his luggage. And they report that the employee “has been suspended.”
United flight UA1175 from San Francisco to Honolulu today declared an emergency around 30 minutes prior to arrival. The aircraft appeared to lose an engine cowling.
Boeing has talked about a possible new “middle of the market” jet, something between the largest 737 and the new smaller 787 widebodies, since at least 2003. This plane would be a replacement for the Boeing 757.
It’s unofficially dubbed the ‘797’ and is expected to seat 220 – 270 passengers and fly up to 5,200 nautical miles.
Alaska Airlines has a fantastic award chart compared to many other airlines for premium class travel to Asia. And they have great partners, though they don’t always seem to have as much access to Cathay Pacific award space as other airlines do.
Now Cathay Pacific — and JAL — booking is about to get worse because Alaska will no longer allow reservations within 3 days of travel.
Business class awards on Cathay Pacific between New York JFK and Hong Kong are wide open starting in August and running through end of schedule. Space beyond Hong Kong is generally very nicely available.
Now’s the time to lock in those business class awards to Asia for later in the year.
One of the strangest things about the screening process to me is that at most airports when a passenger alarms or is flagged for random additional testing the whole line stops. It would be far more efficient to divert the passenger and continue moving the line through.
Sometimes going through the checkpoint I’m stuck waiting to get screened while my bags have already gone through. I never want to be separated from my bags where I cannot see my bags.
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 »
