Delta is gutting confirmed international upgrades awarded to top elite customers. Top tier SkyMiles Diamond members can select confirmed global upgrades as a ‘choice benefit’. These have moved a customer on a coach ticket to business class on any Delta flight where upgrade space is available.
However starting February 1, 2022 that’s changing.
I had the opportunity to visit the very first Capital One airport lounge at Dallas – Fort Worth on Wednesday, a couple of weeks before opening. This is a great space, really thoughtfully designed with a lot of details built-in. They’ve invested a lot, and what impressed me most was the food which wasn’t just ‘good for an airport lounge’ but genuinely good. I’m hoping it scales and is sustainable, because you’re going to want to check it out.
Delta’s operation melted down over last year’s holidays. Southwest has melted down over lack of crew. American melted down over the summer without enough pilots and then at the end of October without enough flight attendants. And now everyone’s worried about holiday travel with the government requiring airlines to have their employees vaccinated – with deadlines coming up.
United Airlines sent out a remarkable email, both for its candor and effectiveness but also for the way it brutally subtweeted these competitors. Under CEO Scott Kirby’s signature, United obliquely references news of airline meltdowns and says in effect ‘this won’t happen to us.’
On Monday, a Gol flight from São Paulo Guarulhos airport to Minas Gerais in Brazil took off but wound up diverting back to São Paulo due to weather.
Passengers got frustrated with a lack of help getting rebooked, and facing spending the night where they started. And they started to riot.
Marriott got cash up front during the pandemic by extending their co-brand deals. Banks gave them money early, and so that money isn’t coming in now. They’ve “effectively repa[id] one third of the $920 million received in 2020” so far and Marriott “continue[s] to anticipate modestly negative cashflows from loyalty” because of these deals.
Prompted by my writing about wide open availability for two first class Suites awards on the Singapore Airlines New York JFK – Frankfurt flight, a reader asks about other ‘fifth freedom routes’ between the U.S. and Europe.
They wanted to fly between the U.S. and Europe on an Asian or Middle Eastern carrier and wanted to know what their options looked like using miles for the best seats possible.
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.
American Airlines has been promising that it would bring back hot meals to domestic first class. The timeline for this has been fall 2021, with a slow rollout across various routes blamed on supply chain challenges.
It looks like this is all finally starting to come together.
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.
The American Airlines operation began having real problems on Thursday. High winds in North Texas slowed down takeoffs and landings at the airline’s largest hub in Dallas. That led to cancellations, and crew out of position. They had to use their available employees on reserve.
As they faced the end of the month, they ran out of backup employees. The airline blames weather, but weather happens all the time to every airline.
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 »
