Category Archives for Airlines.
In what may be the strangest airline Catch-22 I’ve ever head, an American Airlines passenger can’t get a refund that they’re entitled to, because of an ongoing murder investigation. It’s almost like Joseph Heller is working the refunds department at an airline.
In late December United filed a “large development review” plan with the City of Denver. Yes they’re going to initially going to add 12 flight simulators for pilot training. They are also working on a new corporate campus that would support 5,000 employees, enough to move all the workers at the current Chicago Willis Tower headquarters.
Delta SkyMiles suspended status matches in September and it was anticipated this was related to a revamp of the elite program.
Well, that became a debacle with Delta rolling out major changes and facing such a huge customer backlash that they partially and temporarily pulled those back. Now status matches are supposed to be returning this month.
When American lounges do get crowded they prioritize customers paying for membership, either directly or with their premium $595 annual fee credit card, and to customers traveling on qualifying business class tickets. They have an obligation to deliver for those customers before offering complimentary access to others.
Would making everyone – paid club members, long haul business class passengers, and complimentary military guests alike – stand outside in the terminal in a line during their layover be better?
Flight attendants on a December 20 QantasLink flight from Melbourne to Hobart, Tasmania wore Palestinian flag pins. One (non-Jewish) passenger reported feeling “incredibly uncomfortable.”
A crewmember who was photographed with the pin inflight, and whose photo has gone viral, has vowed to “fight against” this passenger.
American Airlines offers incredible value through its partner award chart. Pricing for premium cabins especially on its own long haul flights is a big mess. Fortunately it’s still possible to get a decent deal occasionally – you just have to jump through some hoops to do it.
Three Orthodox Jewish passengers were kicked off of the JetBlue New Year’s Eve redeye from Palm Springs to New York JFK after changing seats on board.
One of the men moved to an open seat in order to avoid sitting next to a female passenger (that wasn’t a relative) who had the assignment next to him.
Spirit Airlines made international news by sending a 6 year old first time flyer to the wrong airport while his family panicked. But what was the family doing sending a 6 year old off alone, as an unaccompanied minor in the first place? Spirit Airlines messed up, but I bet they also regretted offering the service in the first place.
A coach passenger on board American Airlines 1883 from Los Angeles to Miami reports that a first class flight attendant decided to keep people from coming up to use the first class lavatory by parking a galley cart in the aisle, blocking their path.
That way customers on board the Boeing 737 MAX could only walk the aisle to the back of the aircraft in order to use the bathroom in their ticketed cabin.
Aviation analytics company Cirium released its 2023 On-Time Performance results for airlines and airports. I’m most interested in the final numbers for North American airlines. Delta performed best, but American Airlines has really improved, and JetBlue remains abysmal.
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 »
