Category Archives for Airlines.
Delta has begun imposing basic economy restrictions on their cheapest coach awards for international travel. Not only does Delta charge a ton of miles for travel, they now will require you to pay for seat assignments and pay a fee to cancel and redeposit your miles unless you spend even more. They’re uncompetitive with American and United in this regard.
Tuesday’s United Airlines flight 1274 from Hartford, Connecticut to Washington Dulles had to return to Hartford shortly after takeoff when pilots realized that a cockpit window had been left unlatched – and popped open once they took off and climbed to 4,000 feet.
While it was difficult for air traffic control to hear pilot transmission due to the noise of wind entering the cockpit with this window open, the plane was cleared to return immediately.
Spirit Airlines, the low cost and fee-based carrier, is offering the opportunity to fly them without paying most of their fees for a year.. They’re offering 12 months of status to almost anyone with status of any kind either with another airline or even a hotel chain. That could even be Hilton Silver status from a credit card. And the offer is about to be pulled.
United Airlines is making business class award space available in a way that will not last for travel at the end of the booking window (mid-March 2024). Book right now and cancel later if you change your mind.
This is saver award space, so it can be booked through any of United’s partners and not just via MileagePlus.
The union reported at the end of last week that they’ve come to an agreement over how to handle flight attendants who ‘sell their seniority’ (a group known as ‘the cartel’) offering up their trips to more junior crew in exchange for cash ($200 on average) or other favors.
A Southwest Airlines passenger spilled food on the floor of the aircraft prior to departure. And a flight attendant wasn’t having it. She demanded that the culprit fess up and clean up – otherwise nobody would be going anywhere.
The Delta flight to New York JFK was hit between two taxiways as the Aeromexico plane’s wing tip impacted Delta’s horizontal stabilizer. The two aircraft returned to their gates, with both aircraft taken out of service.
United Airlines is the largest U.S. international carrier, the largest Pacific carrier, and is doubling down on being the largest U.S. airline between Australia and New Zealand by adding several new routes and increasing capacity on several of their existing routes. They were unique among peers in not suspending service to Australia during the pandemic, and with partnerships with Air New Zealand and now Virgin Australia they’re able to connect passengers Down Under as well as across the United States.
A change.org petition from plus-sized activist and influencer Jaelynn Chaney demanding that the FAA require airlines to offer multiple seats for free to passengers who don’t fit into a standard seat is gaining thousands of signatures.
She reports that on a United Express regional jet flight from Pasco, Washington to Denver she was “subjected to hateful comments” which is sad, and she had just a single seat with immovable armrests on another flight which was very uncomfortable. And so she wants FAA action.
I love the choice benefits. I love that more activity than just flying counts towards status. And they’ve simplified elites receiving confirmed extra legroom seats. They’re finally introducing meaningful elite upgrades as well. Since benefits aren’t really based on waitlist or status priority, though, higher tiers seem a bit thin to me. 15,000 bonus points as a choice benefit at each level helps a little bit, but I’d like to see higher bonus point amounts at higher tiers.
Still, the path to Mosaic 1 is rich enough that I’m not bothered by requiring $50,000 in credit card spend to get there (and it’s about right at $5000 in travel spend). At the same time I don’t love the revenue-based rather than trip-based nature of the new program for those who do earn status by flying. I think they get plaudits for trying something interesting, even if they’re not first down this path. And they’re offering richer benefits than they ever have before.
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 »
