Category Archives for Airlines.
One of the major complaints I see from flight attendants (and other employees, but mostly flight attendants) is that standby passengers make it difficult for them to fly free as nonrevs. All they see if passengers filling up a flight as a standby, ahead of them on the list to get onto a flight. They do not ‘see’ the flight the passenger comes off of, freeing up more seats for nonrevs.
I think this is the best guess we’ve seen that puts it all together. Philadelphia to Copenhagen, Nice, and Naples; Chicago to Venice; and Dallas to Barcelona. It’s good to see American viewing itself as more than just the airline that connects Tulsa and Indianapolis, but they’re not doing anything nearly as ‘exciting’ as United launching routes like Manila (American will likely pride themselves on this, to be fair).
One woman flying American Airlines did a great job. She packed a great-looking snack box. A well-fed kid will be a happier kid, and that’s great for everyone in the cabin! But her three year old nephew didn’t get a chance to eat the snacks, because a crewmember on the St. Louis to Dallas… took them away?
American Airlines will announce 5 new international routes on Thursday. They will cover departures from Dallas, Philadelphia, and Chicago, and there hints about what these routes will be.
How about being first on the upgrade list, there’s a seat available, and the gate agent doesn’t bother processing upgrades? Or someone no shows and the agent doesn’t bother coming on board to upgrade someone into the seat.
Or, there’s what happened to this American Airlines passenger: they were first on the list, a first class seat was available, but it was broken? It’s always the American Airlines Airbus A320s.
Finnair will adopt Avios as its frequent flyer currency next year. That’s the same currency as IAG airlines British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, and Vueling, and also that Qatar Airways adopted last year. This will occur “in 2024” and no additional details are provided. That’s great, since some of you bought a whole lot of Finnair points.
Several readers have complained recently that Qatar Airways simply has not been releasing business class award seats to and from the United States. My refrain has been that this is typical, not something new. Qatar releases business class awards in batches. It’s feast or famine.
On Thursday American Airlines flight 5916 from Charlotte to Gainesville, operated by their wholly-owned regional carrier Piedmont, experienced a cabin pressurization issue about 200 miles out from Gainesville. Oxygen masks deployed in the cabin, and pilots initiated an emergency descent in order to get down to 10,000 feet.
The American Airlines flight attendants union reports that more and more American Airlines have been failing their continuing qualification requirements.
Mexicana, which shut down 13 years ago, will be re-launched by the Mexican government and run by the military. They will start selling tickets next month, take delivery of 10 leased Boeing 737-800s in September and October, and launch flights in December.
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 »
