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.
Two weeks ago I wrote that Etihad First Apartment award availability from Abu Dhabi to New York JFK was wide open. It still is.
When you search award space on Etihad’s website only Abu Dhabi – New York JFK appears to be available — not flights originating in New York. It turns out that’s an optical illusion.
United Airlines hasn’t just come under criticism for how it treats its human passengers, it’s received recent attention for how it (mis)treats animals as well. The biggest story was that the airline reportedly locked the World’s Biggest Rabbit in a freezer for hours and them cremated it without permission.
And United just screwed up another pet transport.
American Airlines usually offers terrible — meaning absolutely no — premium cabin saver award space on its own planes.
Their pattern though is to occasionally dump award space that remains open for a day or two. So you need to pounce when it’s there.
An Aussie woman says she was stripped naked and imprisoned while trying to visit her boyfriend in Hawaii. Molly Hill was entering as a tourist with an allowable 90 day stay, and she had tickets to return home after 88 days.
American Airlines flight AA31, an Airbus A321 from Los Angeles to Honolulu, was escorted by F22 fighter jets today.
A man standing by the forward lavatory had his laptop with him. The man was “waiting for the bathroom” and “a flight attendant asked him to sit down.” Reportedly he “appeared to try the cockpit door before he was subdued.”
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.
One of the best things about Starwood Preferred Guest is that they have many participating properties that are really nice, aspirational places where I really want to spend my points.
I make a lot of business stays at cookie cutter hotels domestically. I like to reward myself with special, unique stays which the points I earn make possible.
Here’s a story from my Facebook feed this morning. It comes from a woman who flies American Airlines regularly (she’s a top tier Executive Platinum member). And she’s the kind of customer American likes.
Except she bought a business class ticket, and they kicked her off a flight after complaining about the large dog in a row behind her that “tried to jump on” her during boarding.
American has been less generous than Delta or United who allow 24 hour refunds regardless of how far in advance you book travel. The Department of Transportation only requires offering 24 holds or refunds for travel purchased a week or more in advance.
Last year American went from the most generous policy to the least generous one, complying only with the minimum DOT standards.
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 »
