What would you say if I told you that you could negotiate the price of a lap infant’s ticket on your next award? That if you don’t like the first fare you’re quoted just ask for a lower one?
If regulations are changed to allow for supersonic flight over land while controlling for noise, then there will be technological development and we’ll eventually see commercial flight at faster speeds. It’s unclear whether Boom Supersonic in particular gets there. But ultimately the technology is possible – and needs to advance enough so that the economics supports it.
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.
Always and everywhere poor service delivery is because of management not because of flight attendants.
Southwest Airlines and JetBlue rumors have been swirling all weekend. It’s not clear exactly what is going on, but some expect that there will be an announcement on Monday with markets closed for Presidents Day. Another rumor – without a JetBlue component – is that Southwest could be announcing a 10% layoff.
Passengers had been told after takeoff that “they would not be permitted to leave their seats” for the entire flight due to weather-related turbulence expected for the full flight. Cabin crew would not be getting up, either – and “that includes to unlock the bathroom doors.”
What Bilt has done is found a way to solve the distribution problem. Card companies pay airlines billions of dollars for help finding customers. Bilt spun up from scratch, created a brand and pipeline for finding customers that partners are interested in reaching. They want to earn Bilt’s points and benefits. And that is worth billions of dollars.
They want to cram in as many passengers as possible. Every inch that’s used for something else – like lavatories and gallies – is seen as money left on the table.
A Marriott Courtyard has a sign posted on every floor that ‘outside food and drink’ is not allowed. Like a movie theater, if you want to eat at the hotel you have to buy your food from them. You can’t carry in food (or leftovers from where you went to dinner), and you can’t order DoorDash either.
Bilt Rewards has opened a cafe on the ground floor of their headquarters. It offers really good coffee and pastries. But this is more of a to go place, there’s no space for lounging, and they don’t have staff to talk to you about their program or credit card. So I’m not sure what the value proposition is?
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 »
