Airlines now charge you more if you’re traveling alone than if you’re part of a group of two or more passengers. This isn’t on all routes or all flights. Instead, they’ve quietly introduced new fare rules that require at least a second passenger to be eligible for the cheapest fares.
The IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card has a best-ever initial bonus offer by a lot, worth 5 free night awards which can have a total value of 300,000 points. That’s more than double the value of the previous offer, and something I recall their offering only once before.
JetBlue’s CEO admits that the airline hasn’t felt like it’s winning – and that’s caused morale issues across the company. Flight attendants are demoralized, pilots are demoralized, and so are corporate employees: “We’re in a very challenging situation.”
I’m completely blown away by the American Airlines Boeing 787-9P, their new premium-heavy aircraft with business class suites and an all new premium economy. The truth is that even coach is improved. There’s way more attention to detail throughout the cabin than in any plane I have seen from American Airlines, ever, or frankly from a U.S. airline in the past several decades.
Back in January I reported that United Airlines and JetBlue were in talks over a partnership. Today the two carriers made it official with a “Blue Sky” partnership that is frequent flyer linkup, slot trade, and long-game move in New York.
American Airlines will debut its new Boeing 787-9P aircraft – new delivery planes with all-new interiors – in about a week. It will initially fly Chicago to Los Angeles and then Chicago – London, before being added to routes from Philadelphia.
And we now know the stats on seats in the cabin. I’ve been sent a copy of the mockup for this page that’s expected to go live on June 1 for the new 787-9P by an insider.
Delta now sometimes charges you more if you’re traveling alone – add a second passenger and the fare drops. It’s written right into the fare rules for some of their least expensive fares, that you must be accompanied by someone else on the itinerary to be eligible for their lowest price.
United’s brand-new Brooks Brothers uniforms hit airport concourses on Wednesday. Thousands of navy blazers, suiting pieces, and pilot epaulettes just became obsolete overnight. So why won’t those old threads pop up on eBay or in a thrift shop? It isn’t because a shirt or skirt unlocks the jet bridge by itself—but airlines, the marketplaces, and the TSA work to restrict crew uniforms from ending up in civilian closets.
Now that the new rule has gone into effect (May 28), there’s another wrinkle. It’s only supposed to apply to tickets purchased going forward. But people making a change to their tickets are seeing this, too. It’s concerning if someone bought a ticket that came with unlimited same day confirmed changes and no travel credit expiration, but now gets just one change that forces a six month expiration.
About an hour into the five hour flight, flight attendants were alerted that a dog was in distress. A call for medical assistance produced an onboard veterinarian who stabilized the animal, but the assessment was that the dog needed professional treatment. The Airbus narrowbody with 181 customers and six crew aboard made a 300-mile detour to Delta’s Minneapolis–St Paul hub.
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 »
