Category Archives for Airlines.
American does very little ultra long haul flying. And Doha’s premiums cabins are consistently empty in his observation, filling up only at the last minute (presumably with nonrevenue employees and upgrades). And they can’t be making money off of just a full coach cabin with their costs. As a result there has been speculation about this route being pulled. Here’s why I don’t think that will happen in 2023.
Shark Tank start and former New York real estate broker Barbara Corcoran has a message for frequent flyers: you’re using your miles wrong, don’t upgrade or redeem for first class, and bring your own booze to drink on the plane.
American Airlines loses and delays more checked bags than competitors – at times up to 1% of bags. The airline has 3 changes to make baggage reliability better, according to Julie Rath who is American’s Senior Vice President of Airport Operations (and had a brief tenure running the AAdvantage program). She offered these comments during an employee meeting following the airline’s first quarter earnings call on Thursday.
When you check a bag with an airline, the airline is responsible for the bag even though they aren’t the only one that touches it. You may have seen the slips that TSA sometimes sticks into bags saying that they’ve opened and inspected it.
One woman shared her story of flying Delta from New York JFK to Los Angeles, only to discover that her bag had been opened and one of her packing cubes removed.
American Airlines has updated the script that gate agents are supposed to use when boarding planes. It should be the same, each and every time. The goal in streamlining the script is to help them get planes out exactly on-time, reducing the time it takes to board the aircraft, and giving passengers instructions that – if followed – help towards this goal.
United Airlines is telling its employees that they are now the world’s largest airline. They’ve sent a message from CEO Scott Kirby trumpeting this claim. But the data tells a different story.
The FAA’s Air Traffic Organization is severely understaffed with controllers. New York TRACON is less than 60% staffed with fully-trained controllers. And the government is asking airlines to reduce their summer schedules out of New York airports. Ironically the government won’t let JetBlue and American Airlines fully participate to help solve this challenge.
This is a fabulous reminder for me to stay grounded. I’ve flown most of the world’s great international first class products, and I tend to see business class as ‘transportation’. But most people fly coach, and most never see a forward cabin. When they do, it’s like a dream. I think I’ll give away my first class upgrades a couple times in the coming month, for the joy I’ll feel seeing the joy that another passenger gets to experience.
Starting in July – through end of March 2024 (!) – you’ll frequently find four or more business class award seats per flight on Singapore Airlines between New York JFK and Frankfurt. And these flights aren’t bookable just using Singapore’s miles, they’re available if you want to spend Air Canada Aeroplan points as well – which will save you miles.
One customer who had ConciergeKey status for 10 years with American Airlines lost their status this year – but it’s not the usual story. They were essentially duped out of it by the airline.
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 »
