Category Archives for Airlines.
American Airlines is trying to look more premium, but one passenger reports the pretzels they were served expired in 2020. Packaged pretzels that old probably are not dangerous if the bag is intact, but six year old snacks are still a ridiculous look for an airline trying to convince passengers its product is improving.
A viral video appears to show United raising a fare by $400 after a passenger enters a senior-citizen date of birth, with the website saying the price changed “based on traveler information.” But this looks like a recurring website glitch where United pulls a senior fare that is not actually the lowest eligible fare.
British Airways already charged some of the highest cash surcharges in the award world. Now it is raising the cash element on Avios redemptions by as much as 33%, while giving members almost no detail beyond a few London-origin examples — because apparently paying hundreds of dollars on top of your points still was not enough.
A United flight from Newark to Guatemala City diverted to Washington Dulles after a passenger tried to open a rear cabin door at cruising altitude and then assaulted another traveler, according to air traffic control audio. The door could not actually open at 36,000 feet — but the behavior was serious enough to send the 737 MAX off course.
Frontier says its online booking fee is optional because passengers can avoid it by buying tickets at the airport. But when customers actually show up at the airport, Frontier has told DOT it charges a $25 booking fee there too — turning a tax-arbitrage trick into something that looks to me like fraud.
DHS officials reportedly told airline leaders last week that they are serious about pulling Customs officers from airports tied to sanctuary cities after the World Cup. That would not just punish local politicians — it could cripple international flights at JFK, LAX, O’Hare, San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, Denver, Newark and more, hitting lawful travelers, cargo, airlines and the national economy.
Spirit’s March operating report shows just how impossible the airline had become: it spent $1.61 for every $1 of revenue, lost $157 million on operations in one month, and still would have been deeply underwater even if fuel had been free. They could not have been bailed out.
Delta SkyMiles has been underdelivering for a quarter century, and somehow customers kept swiping the cards anyway. But when someone with 2 million miles says she still has to pay retail to get to France, you have to ask whether the “SkyPesos” problem is finally becoming obvious to normal people.
An Air France flight from Paris to Detroit diverted to Montreal after passengers were told U.S. authorities refused landing over a “virus” concern. Crew reportedly put on masks, onboard service stopped, and the diversion comes just as the CDC has started enhanced screening and entry restrictions tied to Ebola-related outbreaks in East and Central Africa.
Self-tagging a bag should mean the airline has removed the bottleneck. Instead, passengers can print their own tags in two minutes and still stand in line for an hour just to hand the bag to an employee — a completely unnecessary failure when automated bag drop already exists and some airlines do use it.
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 »
