Category Archives for Airlines.
Just days after 526 people were listed for Alaska Airlines’ inaugural Rome flight, the standby list has ballooned to 1,145—more than the aircraft can even carry. At this point it’s turning into a meme, with staff asking people to cancel unless they’re truly planning to show up, even as seats are still for sale at higher fares.
American Airlines is touting a new app-and-website feature that can automatically book you a “free” hotel when an overnight delay strands you. The demo in its own promo is the perfect reminder of the catch: the airline room you’re offered is often the cheapest option available, not the one you’d choose to sleep in.
If you can front the cost, you can usually do better—using trip-delay coverage, distressed passenger rates, or points—without spending an hour in a voucher line.
An American Airlines passenger says the first class lavatory on a domestic Boeing 737 was so filthy—water, urine, and toilet paper everywhere—that it looked unusable after a line of coach families had been waiting to use it. When he asked the crew to address it, he says they told him it wasn’t their job and handed him towels to clean it himself.
American Airlines updated its app and aa.com trip-management page to make irregular-ops rebooking clearer. New color-coded banners tell you whether your flight is delayed or canceled, whether you can self-rebook, or whether American is already automatically reaccommodating you. The website also adds digital hotel and meal vouchers for eligible delays.
A Delta passenger got drenched in deicing fluid as the aircraft taxied out. The crew turned the plane back to the gate to get it off his skin, delaying the LaGuardia–Jacksonville flight by more than three hours. Here’s what the ATC audio reveals and how deicing fluid can end up inside a cabin.
American Airlines has brought back its annual offer to let flyers pay cash (or redeem miles) to keep—or even buy up to—elite status for another year. The prices can be steep, from a few hundred dollars for the lowest tier to $2,000+ at the top, and there are often cheaper ways to qualify before the end of the current status year.
Delta’s new order for 30 Boeing 787-10s (with options for 30 more) doesn’t actually solve its near-term widebody replacement gap, since deliveries don’t start until 2031. Now an insider who correctly flagged the 787 deal months in advance says Delta isn’t done shopping—and the strongest bet is a sizable Airbus order next, most likely A330-900neos, with a case for additional A350-900s as well.
A United 737 MAX ran off the runway after landing in Houston, and the newly released incident report includes cockpit voice recorder audio from the aftermath. In the recording, the captain calls ALPA while passengers are still evacuating and is told not to “say another word,” then coached on what to do next—raising uncomfortable questions about how quickly self-protection can take priority even while the situation is still unfolding.
A Taiwanese captain allegedly punched his Malaysian first officer multiple times during taxi out of LAX on an EVA Air flight to Taipei after a dispute over taxi speed. The first officer reportedly issued repeated “Speed” callouts and applied the brakes when the captain didn’t slow, after which the altercation turned physical—prompting an internal investigation and scrutiny from Taiwan’s aviation regulator.
Delta’s domestic “First Class” is supposed to buy you breathing room — until it doesn’t. On a Delta flight from San Antonio to Los Angeles, a tall passenger’s knees made it physically impossible for the seat in front to recline, sparking a mid-cabin standoff over a feature the airline sells as part of the upgrade. A flight attendant ended the debate with an honest apology, “I can’t make his legs smaller.”
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 »
