Category Archives for Airlines.
At an employee “Crew News” question and answer session this week American Airlines explained why Africa flying isn’t on their radar any time soon. A recording of the discussion was reviewed by View From The Wing.
For April, July, August, and September 2022 there are plenty of dates with availability for two passengers on the Dallas – Hong Kong flight in first class at 84,000 AAdvantage miles apiece. Next year there may be hope of visiting Hong Kong, or of using this flight to connect onward in Asia on American’s partner Cathay Pacific.
Availability on American’s Dallas flight is great because it’s a useful connecting point for most of the country.
Air Canada was one of the worst offenders during the pandemic for keeping customers’ money even when they cancelled flights. This is clearly against U.S. law and Air Canada will pay the largest-ever consumer protection fine assessed by the Department of Transportation.
Make the currency worth less, consumers chase it less at some margin. Reduced consumer interest is bad for the long run proposition of the currency, which is bad for the price of financial instruments derived from that currency. Now that airlines have issued upwards of $30 billion in debt backed by their loyalty programs, this is a new issue for them to manage.
The U.S. federal government sets a minimum number of flight attendants on an aircraft for safety (generally, one per 50 passengers). But while many flight attendants announce that they are there “primarily for your safety” (don’t expect more than that!) they’re also the people in most direct contact with customers delivering an airline’s service.
So-called ‘full service’ airlines have historically staffed flights with more than the legal minimum. That started changing even before the pandemic, but accelerated when they weren’t providing much service at all.
American Airlines is looking to fast track business travelers to elite status. There’s no registration required, all you need to do is book your tickets including your AAdvantage number and either a Business ExtrAA (small business program) account number or corporate travel program identifier.
The new Alitalia is handing out elite status to most anyone that wants it. Meanwhile Emirates is aggressively status matching anyone who reports living in Italy, in their Skywards account and to StatusMatch.com in their latest promotion.
American Airlines and the Austin airport are announcing plans for a new Admirals Club near gate 14 that’s twice the size of the current club.
United Airlines has a new ‘cash and points’ option for using miles to reduce the price of a ticket. It is not a good deal, and not a good use of miles.
Gone or on the way out are Boeing 777-300ERs, 777-200LRs, and Airbus A330s. Gone as well the Airbus A380s featuring one of the world’s best first class products. Their long haul fleet instead will consist of Boeing 787s, 777-9s (when those are eventually ready), and Airbus A350s. Only a subset of Boeing 787s will even offer a first class cabin.
Etihad has finally revealed their Airbus A350 with new business class – or at least photos have been shared, rather than the airline officially releasing them.
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 »
