A customer who rented a car from Budget detailed how their vehicle broke down two and a half hours outside of Denver. There was no Uber or public transit. Budget Rent a Car sent a tow truck for the vehicle, but they weren’t allowed to ride in it. Instead two senior citizens “fighting altitude sickness added to pre existing respiratory challenges” were left stranded in the middle of nowhere to fend for themselves.
Airlines lost billions of dollars during the pandemic. But their leaders shed costs, in many cases by downsizing staff and brought in government subsidies (designed to keep them from shedding staff). It was a test of leadership, and CEOs were rewarded handsomely for the task.
It’s a wet hot American summer of flying through delays, cancellations, and long lines at airports. It may be a comfort to know that airline CEOs were well paid bringing it to us.
Air Canada offers an excellent if dated business class product and is very competitive between North America and Australia. Food lacks somewhat on the post-11 p.m. departure and service was somewhat indifferent but it was a good flight overall.
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 common point I’ve seen made since the Supreme Court’s abortion ruling is that pregnant women shouldn’t travel to Red States. But some Red States have constitutional protection for abortion!
Are travel warnings common for Europe, where abortion laws are generally more restrictive than in the U.S.?
What makes the Signature Suite special isn’t that it’s an exclusive space within the Air Canada lounge. What makes the lounge is the food – a nice buffet, sure, if you’re in a hurry but a menu to order from that’s a cut above other lounges with sit down dining.
The food here is better, for instance, than I’ve had in United Polaris lounges or Qantas First Class lounges (and the latter can be quite good). Signature Suite dining is curated by Canadian chef David Hawksworth.
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.
I booked the Hyatt Regency Vancouver and used a confirmed suite upgrade. That put us in a parlor suite, which is basically two connecting guest rooms where one room has been converted to a living room (a sofa bed replaces the bed in the second room).
This hotel had no room service and its club lounge has closed (whether it’s ‘still’ closed or permanently closed is unclear). Nevertheless full housekeeping service was available and Globalist breakfast in the hotel’s restaurant was remarkable for one thing: stamping that tip is included on the bill to sign.
We need more competition and we need more capacity, at airlines and in airspace. Hand waving that ‘the government should do something’ isn’t enough without specifying what the government should do. But, as Erin Andrews demonstrates, there’s a felt need out there for ‘something’ to be done.
Frontier Airlines increased its offer by $2 per share to acquire Spirit, and the Spirit Airlines board unanimously recommends it over JetBlue’s more lucrative – but regulatorily more risky – offer. That’s still less than the closing price of Spirit Airlines stock on Friday.
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 »
