Category Archives for Airlines.
Two premium services updates: American Airlines has no plans to return meal service up front to the way it was before the pandemic, instead working on “meaningful changes.” There are, however, 3 Admirals Clubs that will re-open in the next month.
Marriott hotels – though not only Marriotts – ignore elite breakfast benefits because of Covid-19. In fact you now need to do a lot more research on hotels when considering a booking to find out whether they’re offering the facilities and services that you want and are paying for. No towels for the pool? Blame Covid.
Union boss Sara Nelson doesn’t want flight attendants working on flights because Covid. The CDC, apparently, needs to update its guidance on virus spread to include catching Covid-19 from aircraft galley ovens because the temperature of food is a risk – Nelson thinks flight attendants serving hot food is unacceptable in first class, but wrapped sandwiches are ok.
When parents travel with a child under two years old, the child doesn’t need their own seat. A so-called ‘lap infant’ travels free when flying domestically. In general for international travel the lap infant will need a ticket, and so the parents have to purchase an ‘infant fare’.
Fortunately as of April 23, 2021 American Airlines no longer requires customers to pay more for their infant ticket when they upgrade which can mean a savings of hundreds of dollars – and a lot of headaches since the process used to be confusing.
Mileage Plus founder Steve Grosvald writes in the comments of a post on the launch of American AAdvantage about the speed at which United built and rolled out it frequent flyer program i 1981.
On April 20, American Airlines made a change to policy that helps customers who show up late for flights get to their destination – at no charge. The airline will let customers be confirmed immediately on the next flight with space available at no cost, but only if they make it to the airport within a short window of time.
Before the pandemic American Airlines was losing money flying planes – the sale of frequent flyer miles accounted for its profit.
During the American Airlines first quarter earnings call Stifel analyst Joe DeNardi asked CEO Doug Parker whether he realized how profitable the AAdvantage program is, and why he doesn’t devote more time during the earnings call to discuss it?
He offered that “in 2019, your loyalty program generated roughly the same amount of EBITDA as Marriott did” and wondered “”why don’t you allocate 40% of the time on these calls to the loyalty program” given its importance?
The TSA’s mask rule is set to expire May 11. It will absolutely be extended, given the language of CDC regulations and lobbying by airlines and unions. However the mask rule is no longer needed for domestic flights.
Reminiscent of Qatar Airways CEO declaring that ‘Delta flies crap plans’ Chief Customer Officer Alison Taylor suggested United is adding seat back video to older aircraft “to pretty up old planes, and we should be proud about our new planes and aircraft.”
CEO Doug Parker explained they’re removing video at passenger seats because that’s what passengers want.
In a meeting last week with pilots, American Airlines CEO Doug Parker was asked what the airline is doing better than competitors, in particular Delta and United. And Parker’s immediate response was, “at the moment..?”
Then he offered a discussion which, I think, really points to what Parker sees as the most important thing for an airline: it’s schedule.
American Airlines is known for being particularly stingy with international business class award space on its own flights. I redeem AAdvantage miles more than any other airline currency, but almost always for flights on their partners.
Right now, though, there are some good opportunities to spend miles for summer business class to Europe – just as several European destinations plan to re-open at least to vaccinated Americans.
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 »
