Category Archives for Airlines.
On November 4, United Airlines sent out a remarkable email to customers where they trolled their competitors for the operational problems they’d had, and promising that United would be the carrier everyone could rely on for their holiday plans.
I wrote at the time that’s called tempting fate and – right on schedule – United’s operation appears to be melting down.
If you place an award on hold for 5 days, that space will likely cancel out. And American can’t restore the award for you if availability is gone when you notice. The most American can do is find you an alternative, or perhaps open up space on one of their own flights for your travel.
American Airlines will let you confirm an upgrade at booking or any time before travel using miles (plus a cash co-pay) or systemwide upgrades (which are a choice benefit for Platinum Pro elite members and above, and given out to million milers upon qualification).
However the airline is super stingy with this space, even on flights that are completely empty and likely to remain so. But a glitch is giving away upgrades to customers that American Airlines didn’t intend to offer.
Qatar has one of the best business class product in the world in its ‘QSuites’. These are revolutionary suites with doors and movable partitions that allow two and even four passengers to travel together in their own space. Right now there’s fantastic award availability booking for August through November 2022 for Qatar’s QSuites product – out of several U.S. cities – with four business class seats available.
On December 1 I covered an incredibly generous status match offer from Frontier Airlines. For $49 they’ll match against 15 different airlines and 15 different hotel programs. And they’ll even match up to top tier which basically waives all fees at this fee-based airline and makes tickets cancellable without penalty. This offer runs through December 31.
Two things have changed since the offer launched – including that they will now re-match folks who took advantage of this in 2020.
Delta and Alaska Airlines commit to delivering checked bags within 20 minutes of each flight arriving. If they fail to meet that, you’re entitled to miles or a credit towards a future trip as compensation. Neither United nor American offer this.
A brief moment of honesty from an American Airlines manager explains why they can’t do it.
For several airline employees, calling in sick when they’ve got Covid-19 costs them their attendance pay. For flight attendants at American that can be thousands of dollars. The incentive program drives employees to show up for work, but it drives employees to do that even when they’re sick and even when they’re potentially infectious.
The American Airlines caterer at Dallas – Fort Worth, LSG Sky Chefs, is short on ice and blaming supply chain for the problem. Flights are getting notes, instead of ice, in their catering drawers.
Many public health officials see mask requirements as an ultra-low (or no) cost step to take to require them. There’s been a push from Biden insiders to make masks on planes permanent.
Anthony Fauci, on ABC’s This Week, was asked whether we would “get to the point where we won’t have to wear masks on airplanes?” His answer: “I don’t think so.”
It’s easy to rage at an airline on social media. But unless your tweet goes super viral it’s not likely to get you much. Better to take ownership of the situation yourself. Here’s 9 ways to make sure this doesn’t happen to you.
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 »
