Category Archives for Airlines.
With so much time on hold it’s easy to call Delta and listen to their hold music and really pick up the beat. One customer did just that. And played the French horn.
I’ve written several times that the biggest and worst devaluation of the Delta SkyMiles program only seems to apply to flights that either start or end in the United States. SkyMiles now charges for partner awards, which are all saver awards and limited in availability, as though they were awards on Delta. That’s how you can get over 500,000 miles one way for a coach award between the U.S. and Thailand.
But if you start a trip in Mexico, you’re effectively rolling back to the last devaluation where partner awards are merely super expensive. And this creates an opportunity.
Star Alliance member EVA Air has opened up award space wide for available dates in 2024 on most of their North America routes. This means nearly every day at least through March, and in many cases it means that if you are looking for 8 award seats, and want everyone on the same flights, now is your chance.
Private jet company Wheels Up is reportedly on the verge of bankruptcy. It’s also on the verge of being de-listed from the New York Stock Exchange, with a share price that’s gone from high flyer to penny stock since going public and trading at over $11 a share two years ago.
American Airlines has a new system for automatically rebooking passengers when their flights are delayed or cancelled. It’s more powerful than what they’ve used before, but there’s also the potential to cause problems for passengers who would have made their flights – passengers who may come in off of a delayed flight, run through the airport hoping to make their connection, and find that even though the door is still open for their next flight their seat has been given away.
There’s a strong likelihood we do not see this rule happen unless President Biden is re-elected because promulgation of a final rule would quite likely not occur prior to the end of the President’s first term, which comes perhaps just a year after a proposed rulemaking is published.
There still needs to be a public comment period on the as-yet released proposed rule. Then DOT will have to consider each comment, respond, and update its rule based on comments received.
There are times you need to fix the name on a ticket, and times you need to change the name on a ticket altogether. Here’s the latest guidance from American Airlines on how to make this happen.
Some airlines are silly ideas from the start. A local business leader decides the best opportunity for a new airline happens to be flying from their city. But even where there are good ideas for an airline – an underserved market, a new product, a lower fare that stimulates demand – many such markets aren’t good all year round. And upstarts have a more difficult time since it’s harder to diversify their flying across more routes and established bases of customers.
The challenge any new airline faces, starting up to serve a highly seasonal set of routes, is what do you do during the off-season?
According to a White House official, President Biden and Transportation Secretary Buttigieg plan to introduce new airline regulations along the lines of Europe’s EU261 compensation rules that require payment to passengers for flight cancellations that are within the carrier’s control as well as in the event of significant delays.
Allegiant Air executives believe ticket sales will remain strong in a recession because their flight product is an inferior good, and their credit card deal is more lucrative than anyone realizes because it generates 90% margins. I’m not sure either of these cashes out exactly as strong as they claim.
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 »
