Last night American Airlines flight AA730 from Charlotte to London discovered problems with its flaps shortly after takeoff. There were 258 passengers and 16 crew onboard.
American Airlines is reporting that Qatar Airways CEO Akbar al-Baker and American Airlines CEO Doug Parker have discussed Qatar acquiring a 10% stake in the airline.
Etihad has announced big changes — cutbacks and new initiatives to raise more money from passengers.
Virgin Atlantic is 49% owned by Delta. It is no surprise that an already largely-mediocre program has been getting worse — first late last year and now announced for Delta earn and burn.
On the other hand it is only 49% owned by Delta so they still offer award charts and inform members in advance when they are devaluing the program.
After landing off my Etihad flight from Abu Dhabi I needed to connect in Melbourne to finally reach Sydney. First class award space on the non-stop Abu Dhabi – Sydney flight never opened, and I had decided to take this connection rather than Qantas A380 first class non-stop to Sydney from Dubai.
Hyatt is letting folks know that the signup bonus for the Hyatt Credit Card will be changing on June 29, 2017. Get in while you can.
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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, which often flies from the Northeast to Western Europe (and runs into challenges sometimes Westbound during winter, United’s Newark – Europe service has been said to operate focus cities in Goose Bay and Gander). Production of the 757 ended in 2004.
There are two lavatories at the front of business class and two lavatories at the back of business class. And there are two lavatories in the middle of the economy cabin.
Assuming that premium economy passengers are allowed to use the two lavatories at the back of business class, then there are 4 lavatories for 226 coach passengers or one lavatory per 56.5 passengers in back.
For a 13 hour flight though I will choose Etihad’s First Apartment over pretty much anything else every single time, and even adding a connection I’ll choose it over Qantas first. It’s not merely an academic argument that Etihad’s A380 has the best first class, it’s how I actually behave in practice when making flight choices.
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 »
