Category Archives for Airlines.
Delta SkyMiles Platinum and Diamond members get to choose from a variety of benefits. One Diamond member – with around half a million qualifying miles and over $50,000 in spending this year – was thrilled to be able to gift Gold status to two people.
Air France has shared updates on its plans for a new first class, and it looks to be amazing. They’ve dropped some new details on the product that will debut in 2024 and begin flying in 2025 in their Investor Day presentation.
Some anti-immigration Republicans are now calling for a boycott of Delta Air Lines after a commentator filmed the carrier flying migrants from Phoenix to New York.
Normally the complaint is that undocumented immigrants crossing into border states like Arizona and Texas overburdens those states and so they want them moved to New York (or Martha’s Vineyard)?
Politicians really ought to have disclosures by their names, highlighting whom they represent. For instance in the U.S. we’d have Patrick McHenry (R-Commercial Banking), Amy Klobuchar (D-Delta Air Lines), Chuck Schumer (D-Television Cameras), and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Private Equity).
In the U.K. they’ve made real advances along these lines.
On Monday I wrote about the struggles of American Airlines flight attendants, especially junior crew, who have seen their wages eroded by inflation and whose last pay increase was in January 2019.
Some report lacking gas money to get to the airport, being unable to afford meals (and living off of snacks from the first class snack basket) and not being able to afford Christmas presents. But there’s a lot of confusion over how flight attendants are paid and how much they work.
Air carrier JSX, which currently flies 50-seat regional jets with just 30 seats and operates their all first class product from private terminals, announced plans to acquire up to 332 hybrid electric aircraft with expected delivery beginning in 2028.
Printed wine lists are out in American Airlines long haul premium cabins. Instead of a menu listing options, the printed meal menu given to business class passengers now says “We invite you to engage with our flight attendants to learn more about the selection of wines available for your enjoyment.”
Flight attendants, of course, have been given no extra training on the wines being offered. You can ask, and maybe they’ll show you the bottle.
Sunday afternoon police officers removed a Polish man from Spirit Airlines flight 239 prior to departing Barranquilla, Colombia to Fort Lauderdale.
The man was judged to be inebriated, and any doubts about this were quickly quashed when he attacked the officers on board the aircraft who were trying to remove him.
On Friday it was possible to book transatlantic business class award tickets on Air France for as little as 13,500 Flying Blue miles each way and in fact in some cases for just 1,500 points (!).
This was an error in pricing. Some people who booked it will get to travel, while others will have their plans cancelled.
Flight attendants at American Airlines, frustrated by lack of progress on a new contract, have gone online to commiserate and share how much they’re struggling day to day with a raise. Some don’t have money for gas to get to the airport, or to pay their bills and buy food so they make up for it pocketing snacks from the first class snack basket. Some of the stories are heart wrenching.
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 »
