Category Archives for Airlines.
In January, eight black men were removed from an American Airlines Phoenix – New York flight ostensibly due to their odor. The men did not know each other and were not traveling together.
The airline has now settled a lawsuit filed by three of the men – and changed their rules for kicking passengers off of flights.
Former American Airlines CEO Doug Parker co-hosted this week’s Airlines Confidential podcast and was asked for his best travel tip. He offered don’t ever check a bag. Parker though goes on to offer something much more important.
Parker offered that when he was acquiring US Airways as CEO of America West, David Bonderman no longer had a financial interest in the Arizona-based airline. However he called Parker three or four times, and urged him to name the combined airline America West rather than US Airways. And Parker concedes Bonderman was right.
American Airlines has long partnered with Hawaiian Airlines. Hawaiian has now been acquired by American’s ‘West Coast Alliance’ and oneworld partner Alaska Airlines. And so a change has been made to using American AAdvantage miles on Hawaiian Airlines: you can now redeem AAdvantage miles to fly to Hawaii!.
According to a passenger on board, the issue began after someone used the lav. No one could stop the water flow. The situation was “chaotic” with passengers lifting their feet and retrieving belongings from the floor to avoid contact with the “disgusting” lav water.
America First Legal, which has been led by incoming Trump administration deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller, is claiming victory against American Airlines. The organization says American has agreed to “end illegal DEI practices.” But is that true?
These prices are available for 3 days only, through December 19th. The good news is that Delta Amex cardholders should pay a bit less, since SkyMiles charges a premium to customers who don’t have their card. Awards booked online by cardmembers should cost 15% fewer miles.
I experienced the most interesting gate agent strategy I’ve ever seen – a passenger threat that helps align incentives with passengers to get the plane out on this, but that seems like the last thing the airline would want to be telling its customers: if you don’t do what I say, we’re going to lose your bags.
Southwest Airlines will begin assigned seating for bookings made in the second half of next year, for flights operated in the first half of 2026.
They’ve announced what this means for their A-List and A-List Preferred elite members, and how this will affect Companion Pass.
Airline first class hasn’t been for the wealthy in 40 years. Domestically, it went from a place filled with upgraded upper middle class middle managers to a place filled with people who have $40 or, sadly, people who have $40 available on a credit card.
Whether or not first class is ‘worth it’ depends, of course, on how much you value it and on your available funds but the modest increment means the extra cost is frequently easy to justify.
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 »
