Category Archives for Airlines.
Award seats are not gone, but the way most people search for them is broken. After redeeming billions of miles over more than 25 years, the rules that still work are the same ones most travelers resist: be flexible on dates, routes, gateways, programs, and prices; book the workable trip first; and keep improving it as better space opens.
American Airlines now says that if it downgrades you from first class to coach, it may owe you just 40% of the affected segment’s fare — even when the coach seat it gives you sold for far less. A new DOT complaint argues that American’s policy lets the airline sell a premium cabin, fail to deliver it, and keep money that federal refund rules say should go back to passengers.
Citi points now transfer to Qatar Airways Privilege Club with a 30% bonus through June 30, and that can be more useful than it looks. Qatar Avios can be moved 1:1 into British Airways, Finnair and other Avios programs, while Qatar itself often gives its own members better award availability than partners like American or Alaska — just don’t count on the bonus posting instantly.
Flight attendants are right that passengers should stop touching them to get attention, make a point, or treat them like part of the cabin furniture. But that rule has to run both ways: if a galley cart bumps my arm, apologizing by touching my arm again is not fixing the problem — it is repeating it.
Spirit Airlines may be gone, but one of its remaining lawsuits just died too. Customers claimed Spirit’s website tracked clicks, keystrokes, searches and browsing behavior through session-replay code, but the court said that without a concrete injury or sensitive personal information disclosed, creepy website tracking alone was not enough to sue.
United Flight 236 was headed from Newark to Spain when passengers were repeatedly ordered to turn off Bluetooth — then the 767 turned back after a teen’s speaker reportedly showed up as “BOMB.” The flight landed back in New Jersey under a security response, passengers were deplaned and re-screened, and everyone eventually reboarded hours later over what may have been the dumbest possible Bluetooth name to use on an airplane.
Spirit Airlines’ final bankruptcy filing makes the blame game look beside the point: in its last full month, the airline lost $327 million and had just $72 million left in unrestricted cash. Even the proposed $500 million taxpayer bailout would not have saved it for long, because Spirit had not found a business model where customers would pay enough to cover its costs.
American Airlines is moving the end-of-flight shutdown earlier, which means laptops away sooner, seats upright sooner, and cabin service ending higher in the descent. The reason is flight attendant turbulence safety — but data suggests the injury risk this targets is extraordinarily rare.
An American Airlines million-miler says he boarded a Phoenix–El Paso flight and found a used condom at his seat — then got a customer service response that read like he had complained about crumbs. Airlines are not just selling transportation from A to B. They are selling basic sanitary transportation.
First class upgrades were once the reason to chase top-tier airline status. But with American selling those seats instead of clearing elites, and Southwest adding extra legroom, lounges, and likely a premium card, my loyalty math from Austin may be changing: mid-tier American status could be enough, while Southwest may become harder to ignore.
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 »
