Category Archives for Airlines.
Southwest Airlines just pushed back the return of alcohol on board to “late in the first quarter maybe early in the second quarter” a week ago blaming virus spread. And now they’ve reversed course. Booze will be back on board February 16th.
Good news Southwest is honoring free drink chits with 2020 and 2021 expiration dates. Here’s how you can still get free drinks on Southwest.
Alex Cruz was passed over to lead airline group IAG in fall 2020 and stepped down as CEO of British Airways. The former head of low cost carrier Vueling is largely credited with cost-cutting at the British flag carrier that led to a deterioration of employee morale, customer satisfaction, and a series of IT meltdowns.
Last week British Airways CEO Sean Doyle pledged to restore the airline’s reputation for premium service. Now, in a leaked memo to staff, we have a window into changes that BA is making. And so far they seem to amount to fairly weak sauce.
United’s financial advisors “have begun contacting potential investors including private equity firms” about a sale of less than 15% of the MileagePlus program. The buyer may be a strategic partner “to help better monetize data from the business.” A sale could bring over $3 billion in cash.
Delta is testing free checked bags. They are “sending texts to passengers departing from its Boston (BOS) hub the day of their flight, urging them to check their carry-on bag … for free.”
The month-long test began this week.
For years the issue would arise largely when an offer was published with a mistake that consumers took advantage of. Now there are more offers that will just be more expensive than retailers have budgeted for. And consumers may have more of an interest in spotting these opportunities both because stacking makes them more attractive, and because American’s Loyalty Points scheme makes doing so more rewarding.
American Airlines has converted options on 30 Boeing 737 MAX 8s into firm orders and – as I told you to expect recently – delayed delivery of some Boeing 787-9s in a way that should allow for those planes to become more useful to the carrier.
Qatar Airways will give you free miles when you join by March 31, 2022 and more miles if you fly by September. Qatar’s program has gotten a lot more useful since they’ve reversed a devaluation, points no longer expire with activity in your account, and because they’re a Citibank points transfer partner.
Airlines are all promoting enhanced cleaning standards but the truth is often that may just mean a weekly spray of the cabin. Airline ‘deep cleans’ used to happen just every year or year and a half which is just gross.
But what about those airline blankets? A blanket in sealed plastic should be clean. However dog poo on a Delta blanket made it onto the Conan show a few years back. And this American Airlines blanket doesn’t look great, either.
I’ve argued for a year that the time to expect mask mandates to be lifted for planes would be before the mid term elections. It’s not case counts or hospitalization that will drive an end to pandemic rules, as much as political necessity.
This is what betting markets are predicting, too.
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 »
