Category Archives for Airlines.
The good news is Boston and New York – Madrid remain 34,000 miles each way in business class. Iberia Plus is a transfer partner of both Chase and American Express, and members with Iberia Plus accounts with activity can move their British Airways points over. This can be desirable because Iberia’s transatlantic awards on their own planes are so inexpensive and fuel surcharges aren’t significant.
United Airlines is bringing back meals to domestic first class flights over 1500 miles as well as flights between the airline’s hubs that are 800 miles or more. There will be a choice of entree, side dish, and a dessert served wrapped on a tray and this will replace the airline’s hot sandwiches and snack boxes.
Did you know that eight years into the American Airlines-US Airways merger, not all work groups were on a single system, and the merger wasn’t ‘complete’?
American was one airline to passengers long before it was a single airline to employees. The airline’s systems for tracking aircraft maintenance were still separate – until last week.
How about this for worst timing ever? Right at the start of the pandemic Star Alliance airline TAP Air Portugal launched a huge marketing campaign for its 75th anniversary, to make their frequent flyer program relevant for Americans. They offered miles for sale at less than a penny each and an elite status match program.
Members who took them up on the status match, fortunately, had that status extended. And it turns out that the status match offer is still available.
Delta has serious staff shortages. Telephone calls from their best customers are taking up to 41 hours to answer. Now it seems they can’t get anyone to clean their lounges, so they asked various work groups to volunteer as cleaners.
Video has surfaced showing a JetBlue Airbus A320 running over a tug that was pulling it at LAX.
American is working through whether it’s feasible to operate large widebody aircraft – Boeing 777s – from other hubs on their flights to Charlotte. They’d gas up the 777s, which can fly to Asia, with full tanks of fuel in places like Dallas. Then they’d siphon out the gas for flights that need to depart from Charlotte.
Russian hacking group DarkSide appears to be responsible for the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack which caused the shut down of the pipeline which supplies over 2.5 million barrels per day of oil to the Southeast especially but also to the northeast.
We are already seeing scheduled re-fueling stops for the longest flights out of Charlotte. American Airlines has scheduled its Charlotte – Honolulu and Charlotte – London flights with fuel stops for Tuesday.
Today American Airlines introduces new amenity kits with Shinola bags and fragrance items from D.S. & Durga. These are available now on London Heathrow flights (Dallas-Fort Worth; Miami; Chicago O’Hare; Los Angeles; Charlotte; New York JFK; Philadelphia; Seattle) and “will roll out across other long-haul international and transcontinental flights throughout the summer.”
In addition, there are limited-edition MD80 desk clocks for sale from Shinola with the American Airlines logo and without. Shinola wall clocks will appear in some Admirals Clubs this summer.
What’s it like to fly domestically in Thailand right now, where your snacks and water are confiscated before departure (but flight attendants happily nibble away)? And what about connecting in Singapore, where business class passengers are treated to microwave mac and cheese and can’t use the restrooms?
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 »
