Jul
07
2017
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.
7 Things Not to Miss Today
About Gary Leff
MARKETING FAIL: American Airlines Isn’t Using Their Big Data Effectively
Jul
07
2017
From a marketer’s standpoint the great thing about electronic communications — and data — is that your messages can be mass-customized so that they are directly relevant to the consumer.
In theory this drives far better response, and it turns unwanted marketing messages into useful information. You see what makes something “junk mail” is precisely that it isn’t relevant to us, not that it’s marketing.
American’s First Plane With Fast Satellite Internet is Now in Service
Jul
07
2017
A legacy US Airways Airbus A320, retrofit with Gogo’s 2Ku satellite internet technology, is now in service.
The registration on this plane is N102UW and you can track what routes it’s flying.
Passengers Questioned by FBI After Woman Who Wouldn’t Sit Down Attacks Flight Attendant
Jul
06
2017
American Airlines flight AA218 from Atlanta to Chicago on Wednesday was delayed several hours when a woman attacked a flight attended while the aircraft taxied on departure.
The passenger reportedly hit a flight attendant after arguing when she wouldn’t sit down.
Airline Lobbyists Are Ghostwriting the Letters from Members of Congress Trashing Gulf Carriers
Jul
06
2017
If you didn’t already understand that this is a crony capitalist play, with big airlines using their influence over Members of Congress to benefit themselves at the expense of consumers, the fact that the statements of Members are literally being written for them by United, American, Delta the change history in a Word document appears to prove it.
Bringing 19 Guests into a Lounge With One Priority Pass Card
Jul
06
2017
With so many premium credit cards now bundling Priority Pass membership, the number of people with airport lounge access has exploded.
Only about 5% of the 1000 or so participating Priority Pass lounges are located in the U.S. but an outsized percentage of members are U.S. based. That’s meant crowding in a handful of high demand locations, and even Priority Pass members turned away at peak times from places like the Alaska Airlines Lounge in Seattle and the Turkish Airlines lounge at Dulles.
Etihad Launches Mileage-Earning Paid Car Service Option for All Passengers
Jul
06
2017
Etihad used to have perhaps the most generous car service options for premium cabin passengers, and until recently even for most premium cabin passengers booked on award tickets.
Etihad’s new paid airport transfer option is just a referral relationship with another company, conxxe, but that earns miles.
American and Alaska Airlines Gut Their Partnership Effective January 1, 2018
Jul
06
2017
Alaska has already broken up with long-time frenemy Delta which had attacked the Seattle-based airline in its home market by building up a competitor hub.
Now their relationship with American is more or less falling apart at the end of the year, with some components surviving into the new year.
Delta Adds New Restriction to Booking Awards From Africa, Russia, and China
Jul
06
2017
Frequent flyer programs face significant fraud. A hacker takes control of an account, redeems all the points for gift cards, and uses the gift cards for merchandise before the account owner notices the points missing. By the time the theft is reported, someone has a ton of new iPads… that they’ve already liquidated for cash.
Or they’ll book travel.
American Selling Miles Again for 1.7 Cents: Tacit Admission Their Miles Have Been Devalued Too Far
Jul
05
2017
American keeps lowering the price that they will sell miles for. After the merger with US Airways they took the Dividend Miles approach of putting miles on sale three fourths of the year. The only purpose that ‘regular price’ serves is to be a reference point that allows them to announce a huge (always on) sale.
At first they hovered a little over 2 cents a mile, then the price point fell to 2 and then below 2 cents. Each promotion would vary a bit but the trend has been downward.
