An American Airlines passenger was upgraded to first class along with his girlfriend, but she was subsequently moved to economy due to a supposedly broken seat, which was then occupied by a pilot. This incident raises questions about the airline’s priorities and policies, especially in light of a new contract allowing pilots first-class seats when deadheading.
United Airlines has announced modest changes to elite status for 2024. In a nutshell, co-brand card spend can contribute somewhat more towards status and they’re again giving current elites a jumpstart towards requalifying for status.
Flights between the U.S. and China have been severely limited since the start of the pandemic. Even as China re-opened, they’ve limited flights by U.S. airlines, and the U.S. government has limited flights here by Chinese airlines. Neither side’s decisions are supported by the bilateral agreement between the U.S. and China.
With limits on flying between the two countries slowly being lifted, United has filed to operate more flights. One of those is San Francisco to Chengdu. They’ve filed to fly to an airport there that no longer accepts international flights.
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.
Whether flying with someone that you’re plotting with, or traveling on your own, there’s nothing like an empty middle seat. Having extra space makes everything about the journey seem better. The flight attendants are friendlier. The food is somehow delicious!
Lines to get into a Centurion lounge can be just as bad as at a Delta Sky Club. This is what things looked like at 1:45 p.m. on Monday in Las Vegas.
The whole point of an airport lounge is not to wait in the terminal. There’s nothing luxury about queueing.
Virgin Australia flight attendant Ashlee Jane recorded a TikTok explaining why she quit her job. The flight attendant lifestyle seems rewarding at first, but is actually grueling.
You can’t really switch airlines, since you will start out at the bottom (seniority rules). But it’s easy to see why people stick with it once flexibility start to improve a little and pay goes up a bit with seniority – but also easy to see why the job drains you – and why so many flight attendants burn out on the job without leaving it like Ashlee Jane does.
Over the past couple of weeks British Airways has seemed to limit partner access to awards. The space available to its own Executive Club members is much greater than that which is offered to those in partner frequent flyer programs. And this has taken both loyalty program members and executives in partner programs by surprise. Discussions are ongoing.
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.
Marriott may be offended by this. Bilt probably won’t like it either. But I’m laying down truth here, and it’s simple math. Marriott points transfers are simply a low value use of Bilt points. You can transfer to Air Canada Aeroplan, United or American, Turkish and more. Anyone paying a little bit of attention can do better than a transfer to Marriott.
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 »
