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.
What President Donald Trump Means for Travel
I don’t know what a Trump administration will do on very many policy areas. Unlike a traditional candidate, there isn’t the litany of well-crafted proposals published and ready to hand to a stable of clear choices to lead cabinet agencies. And of course we have campaign rhetoric to go off of, but politicians aren’t known for keeping promises.
In the travel space though there are some things we can expect.
Donald Trump Gets Water Cannon Salute at LaGuardia as He Prepares to Upgrade His Plane
Donald Trump’s 757 received a water cannon salute as it departed New York LaGuardia airport for Washington DC so that the President Elect could meet with President Obama.
He could have taken the American Airlines Shuttle to Washington National, of course, it used to be the Trump Shuttle. On the Trump Shuttle, there were gold colored fixtures in the lavatories. On Trump’s 757 the seat belts — and everything else — are gold plated.
Passenger Threatens 3 Year Old, Threatens Crew, and Takes Off His Clothes
What happens next is exactly what you’d expect.
According to the criminal complaint (.pdf), Oliver Charles Halliday Gee was onboard Condor flight DE2115 on November 2 from Cancun to Frankfurt…
3 Things We Just Learned from Marriott’s CEO About Their Plans Now That They’ve Acquired Starwood
I’ve argued that if Marriott really wanted they could make their loyalty program the best in the world. While it remains to be seen what path they choose, we learned three things that should be relevant to consumers from yesterday’s quarterly earnings call:
New Credit Card Approval Data Point and What Trump’s DC Hotel is Really Like
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.
Alaska Airlines is Introducing Upgrades on Awards and Changing Upgrade Priority
Effective December 5, Alaska Airlines will start taking fare class into account when determining upgrade priority.
In addition, coach award tickets will become upgradable. Full, refundable coach awards (these book into ‘Z’ inventory) will be eligible for instant upgrade to first class for elite members.
American Airlines Figures Out How to Get Inflight Internet Exactly Wrong
American Airlines was the first Gogo inflight internet customer in 2008. Four years later most, but not all, mainline aircraft had the service.
They installed the air to ground service, and largely didn’t upgrade to newer generations of the technology. As a result on many planes it’s super slow.
American should be driving quickly to a fast, consistent solution — not taking years to get to a fragmented one.
HURRY: Free JetSmarter Private Jet Flights This Week and Next Week (No Membership Needed)
JetSmarter is a membership service that lets you take available seats on private jet flights for free, or get access to charter a flight yourself. There are last minute deals which vary and they run certain routes as shuttles.
They are running all seats on New York – DC flights free for anyone, member or not this week and next week. Non-members can download the app and schedule a free private jet flight between Washington Dulles and Teterboro in New Jersey.
Dangerous: Someone is Pretending to Be Air Traffic Control, Instructing Planes to Land
On October 27, Virgin Australia flight VA740 from Gold Coast to Melbourne was instructed to land by someone who wasn’t air traffic control
The plane came witin 275 feet of the runway before the real air traffic control called off the landing. The Virgin Australia 737 climbed to 3800 feet and made a go-round.