Category Archives for Airlines.
After breaking up the American Airlines – JetBlue partnership which competed against Delta Air Lines, Delta sees a clear path to dominating in the Northeast. That’s bad for airfares and consumer choice. Now the government has taken another step to limit choices and raise fares.
The CEO and CFO of Air Mauritius have been suspended pending an investigation of allegations that the pair accepted a hotel stay in Paris from one of the airline’s suppliers.
Krešimir Kučko, who over the past decade had served as CEO of Croatia Airlines and of Gulf Air, only took on the Air Mauritius CEO job in December. And the story strikes me as a bit… weird?
The girl took a photo of what’s apparently the flight attendant’s iPhone stuck to the toilet in the lavatory with maintenance stickers.
Department of Transportation rules are clear about airlines accommodating musical instruments on board their aircraft. But these rules aren’t often well-understood.
Customers in competitive markets should be looking at what makes the most sense for their travel. Maybe they should still fly Delta, as a free agent, and just not earn on a Delta credit card. Maybe they should take a fresh look at other airlines. Status matches make that easier.
Southwest Airlines has given its employees a refresher on why they have the most “customer friendly policies.” Noting that competitor airlines have made changes to offer no change fees on most fares, and free same day standby in some cases, Southwest presents itself as the leader and only airline offering customer-friendly benefits in ‘every category’.
Naturally the chart is misleading – but it also leaves out the most important customer benefit, something that Southwest never markets, and therefore that passengers don’t usually realize sets them apart.
This week Delta announced major changes to how SkyMiles elite status is earned, and to how people can access their club lounges.
There are consumer movements on Flyertalk and on Reddit to try to get Delta to reverse these changes. Similar efforts have worked before.
American has updated the AAdvantage terms and conditions to now say that, though they gave advance notice of program changes in 2022 and 2023, they have no obligation to do so in the future. They’ll specifically eliminate or change benefits without notice. And if your account is hacked they don’t have to restore your miles.
‘Spicy’ flight attendant Cierra Mistt is back, offering dubious advice. She says you’ll get upgraded if you give a gift card to a flight attendant on your flight. And she claims that this works *every time.”
Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker gave an interview to CNN’s Richard Quest, which aviation industry site Enilria flags as the airline CEO reportedly admitting to violating U.S. anti-trust law with American Airlines.
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 »
