Category Archives for Airlines.
A passenger bought Singapore Airlines tickets online and then decided to call their U.S. customer service line to change their seat assignments. They looked up the number on their American Express statement underneath the charge, since they happened to be logged into the Amex website, and came up with 800-742-3333. The agent picked up right away and informed them a seat change costs $200.
A frequent flyer on Reddit asks whether they’re a jerk for reclining their seat. As background, they’re 6’3″ and in first class, and they try to be polite – making sure the person in the seat behind them “doesn’t have a laptop out… then slowly recline[s their] seat back.” And they still wound up in a hostile encounter with a passenger when they did it. They gave in the first time, and kept their seat straight, until after the meal when a flight attendant gave them ‘permission’ to try again.
According to Delta President Glen Hauenstein, cancellation rates vary far more than they did before the pandemic so Delta plans to increase overbooking and ‘see what happens’ – because without change fees on most fares, people are changing plans more at the last minute. This could result in more passengers denied boarding.
Atlas Air subsidiary Polar Air Cargo, 49% owned by DHL, has apparently been requiring kickbacks for shipments for over a decade. Several of their executives – including the Chief Operating Officer, VP of Operations and VP of Marketing, are now under indictment.
According to the government, if you wanted to ship with Polar you’d have to pay shipping rates plus a bribe.
There’s a certain genre of travel article that gives advice on how to upgrade your flight, with advice that’s nearly always wrong or at least highly misleading.
Here’s the latest piece on how to “blag” a free upgrade to first class “because you deserve to travel like Beyonce’.” And they’ve consulted “travel insiders and airline experts” to show you how to do it. You’ll know what your fellow passengers are reading when they look like an idiot at the airport.
ITA Airways, the ‘new’ Alitalia, is running a fare sale between New York and London via Rome. Business class tickets are available as low as $1585 roundtrip when purchasing for travel in August and beyond. That’s roughly half the price you’d expect to pay for a non-stop, and more than $1,000 less per passenger compared to connecting itineraries on Aer Lingus and Austrian.
Airline check-in kiosks were supposed to be a money-saving investment – a classic example of automation replacing workers. But Alaska is moving to the next stage of evolution in cost-savings in the Portland airport where they’re now eliminating even kiosk jobs.
British Airways is launching ‘Avios Only’ flights – flights they aren’t selling for cash, just making available for redemption.
More airlines should offer more availability once they properly understand the value in delivering to members over the long-term. Programs should be willing to spend more with their airline on seats, to avoid killing their golden goose – in the U.S. the biggest airline loyalty programs are worth 11 figures, and generate $5 billion-plus annually in revenue. Frustrated members reduce that long-term value proposition
Before the pandemic, when Norwegian was operating the route, Delta planned to fly to Gatwick using a Boeing 757 without Delta Suites. It was totally obvious what they were doing, with a product well-matched to Norwegian’s.
This was supposed to start in May 2020, but didn’t happen because of the pandemic – and because Norwegian ceased its transatlantic flying. Now that JetBlue offers a real business class on the route, Delta has upgraded to a Boeing 767.
Star Alliance member TAP Air Portugal is selling business class roundtrips from New York JFK and Newark to Vienna starting at $1918, with other European destinations – like Zurich, Nice and Frankfurt – $100 to $200 more.
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 »
