Asian low cost carrier AirAsia X, affiliate of various Asia Asia short haul carriers, reports that it has received permission to fly to the US.
Whether or not AirAsia X serves U.S. markets in the near- or medium-term, the long term trend is greater low cost competition for international routes. Norwegian’s Irish subsidiary has been approved to fly to the US finally. Their UK subsidiary is in the queue.
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 flies to two destinations in the ‘South Pacific’ — Sydney and Auckland — and award seats on those flights are tough to get. American has made AAnytime awards much more expensive over the past couple of years, and they’re tweaking the ‘extra miles award’ price of these specific flights higher again.
Twenty five Russian models stayed at the Waldorf Astoria Dubai Palm Jumeirah for a fashion shoot and took their own racy photos for social media while on property.
The hotel isn’t pleased and they’re asking the models to remove tags of the hotel from Instagram.
Etihad CEO James Hogan will be leaving the airline in the second half the year. Etihad’s CFO will also be leaving with Hogan, and the two are expected to join “an investment company located outside the United Arab Emirates and not affiliated to Etihad.”
Upside is the new travel booking site from Priceline founder Jay Walker. It’s finally launched with its full functionality. They raised $50 million on a $200 million valuation even before they were fully operational. Because a new idea on how to deliver value to consumers from the guy who created Name Your Own Price bidding is a big deal in the travel world.
It’s also a widely misunderstood site.
Two Aer Lingus employees and a potential illegal immigrant have been arrested as Irish authorities broke up an illegal immigrant smuggling operation at the Dublin airport.
The employees would use catering trucks to move inbound passengers directly from aircraft to a car park outside the airport facility, bypassing immigration. This operation has been ongoing for several years and authorities believe at least 500 people have managed to skip customs and border formalities using this Aer Lingus Catering VIP Arrivals service.
If you ask the top leadership at American what airline they admire most, it’s Delta. Now that former American Airlines President Scott Kirby has taken the President job at United, the same can probably be said for United.
But they misunderstand the lessons of Delta, and blindly copy Delta moves assuming that if Delta does something — since they run the more profitable, better operation — it must be both right and best for their airline.
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.
While United, American, and Delta have complained about growth of the Mideast carriers, who offer one-stop service to smaller cities in India, Pakistan and surrounding areas that US carriers do not serve (and that in some cases even their European partners do not serve) some have suspected the real concern is fifth freedom routes — to date, only Emirates has flown transatlantic, offering New York JFK – Milan.
This flight then represents something of a watershed. It will no longer be just one transatlantic flight offered by a Gulf carrier.
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 »
