Category Archives for Airlines.
I’m shocked to see that Alaska Airlines appears to have wide open award availability for Singapore Airlines business class awards between the U.S. and Asia. In fact it seems they have at least as good availability as is offered to Singapore’s own members.
Alaska Airlines does a nice job taking care of customers one at a time – not always and in every case, of course, but on the whole my dealings with them have been just a touch more ‘human’ than average for the U.S. airline industry. So it didn’t surprise me to see this tweet about Alaska successfully recovering a laptop left on one of their planes.
This shouldn’t be a standout, but how often do you expect to actually receive valuables returned to you if you’ve left them on a plane?
Business class award space flying long distances can be tough to get when you want it. There’s one approach that isn’t written about very much, but that can get you the seats you want – when you want it – on a great airline: waitlisting.
When Scott Kirby criticizes the government what he wants is more government. And specifically, more government that benefits him and his airline.
Some passengers simply will not change seats when asked, and that is ok. One woman absolutely won’t change seats, unless it is a celebrity doing the asking. She insists on seat 8A on Virgin Atlantic, and will take a different flight if she cannot have it. And she absolutely won’t fly in a backwards-facing business class seat.
The woman reports that a father was furious when she wouldn’t switch seats so that family could sit together – wishing her “ill for the future” and “storm[ing] off.”
Last year pilots were making announcements “Let’s Go Brandon” and that made it into air traffic control chatter too. I thought this had died out, and was now being crowded out by the counter Dark Brandon meme but pilots are still bringing their politics on board with them.
Here’s a Southwest Airlines pilot with a “I used to be liberal / Then I left home and got a job” sticker on his bag.
Air Wisconsin’s fleet of around 60 small metal tubes will shift from flying as United Express to American Eagle starting in March. United wasn’t interested in this big fleet of small planes anymore, and American was – so this deal aligns with the strategy of both airlines. Here’s why.
It would be a shame to see Flagship First Class disappear from American Airlines. I’d far rather see them invest in a truly first class product. They have Flagship First Class Dining, Five Star service on the ground, and aircraft selling the product already. And it’s a market that few airlines compete against them to service. Modest tweaks would go a long way, but unfortunately signs point in the opposite direction.
Two days ago there was Delta business class award space to Zurich and now there’s space from New York JFK to Amsterdam and from Salt Lake City to both Paris and Amsterdam in business class for two passengers for January through March.
Stretched thin as they’ve rebuilt their route network, Qantas hasn’t restarted Los Angeles – New York. They’re planning to fly non-stop to New York using new Airbus A350-1000 aircraft potentially as soon as 2025.
Until then they have a new solution for serving the New York market. They will fly Sydney – Auckland – New York JFK starting in June 2023.
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 »
