Category Archives for Airlines.
American has a special phone number for use by passengers during weather events and similar breakdowns. This is part of the Reservations Irregular Ops Customer Assistance Program and gates have “RICAP cards.”
American Airlines internal reference materials show that they’ve begun the wind-down process for the Northeast Alliance.
Turkish Airlines Chairman Ahmet Bolat shared on LinkedIn that the carrier would update its rules to allow pilots to pray in the cockpit. I suspect that the airline’s pilots aren’t actually the audience for any such change.
A teen traveling solo for the first time from Gainesville, Florida to Charlotte was taken to a security room by American Airlines. There he was interrogated – and forced to buy a new ticket – according to the boy’s father.
A Ukranian soldier, injured during Russia’s invasion of his country, was kicked off of a Wizz Air flight from Tel Aviv to Warsaw because of his prosthetic leg. The airline says he either needed to be “fit to fly” on his own or “accompanied by someone” for support. He had reportedly been in Tel Aviv for medical treatment, and was traveling with gifts to visit family.
On Monday my American Eagle flight took a delay for catering after doors close. A crewmember announced to the aircraft that we were delayed “to cater first class.” The glares from coach were palpable.
Last month American Airlines fully rolled out a new tool called AURA, the “AUtomated ReAccommodation” tool to rebook passengers when their flights are cancelled or delayed.
But this tool does so predictively. And it’s causing seats to be given away from passengers that make their flight.
Whether or not a single Orlando and Las Vegas flight can work for Delta is a question, though these are two leisure destinations that are said to almost always work for everyone, or that at least can be filled at some fare by everyone.
A couple was caught reportedly joining the mile high club – on video. A passenger who saw the man and woman enter the lavatory pulled out his phone and recorded their exit – one at a time, without anyone else entering in the meantime.
The woman opens the door first, and has a serious look on her face, while you can see the male passenger still inside the lavatory – with a huge grin. A few moments pass and then he steps out, too – a bit more serious but with an eyebrow raise as he heads back into the aisle of the aircraft.
Many travelers are at the mercy of airlines when things go wrong. They wait in line to be rebooked and curse at how bad their options are. They become, as my grandfather used to say, “farbissen” or mad at the world.
I write a lot about taking control over your own travel destiny. Here’s what that means.
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 »
