Category Archives for Airlines.
Etihad owns a 49% stake in Air Serbia, and the Serbian government owns the other 51%. This was one of the better airline investments previous Etihad management made in its effort to acquire stakes in airlines and redirect their traffic through its hub in Abu Dhabi. But it’s now falling apart.
Etihad has terminated flights from its Abu Dhabi hub to Belgrade, and will reportedly end its codesharing with the carrier it half owns next year.
Alaska Airlines has changed how elite status will be earned in 2021. Alaska used to require more miles flown if you include miles on partner airlines than if you’re using miles flown exclusively on Alaska. That’s gone.
Starting in 2021, Alaska and partner flights will count the same towards elite status, and the lower “Alaska-only” status requirements apply. But they’ll require a minimum number of Alaska flights for status – to keep low yielding American Airlines flyers from just dumping their American segments into Alaska.
Alaska Airlines has announced how oneworld elite status levels will apply to their Mileage Plan elites one the airline joins the alliance on March 31.
The sixth edition of CAAC’s Technical Guidelines for Prevention and Control of Epidemics in Transport Airlines and Airports lays out the country’s plan to avoid spreading infection while managing inbound international traffic. Domestic travel has largely recovered to pre-pandemic levels, but strict limits are placed on international travel to avoid importing SARS-CoV-2 back into the country.
Wearing diapers and avoiding the lavatory are just one of many strategies – including masks, gloves, goggles, hair nets, and hazmat suits – that are recommended for crew on flights bringing people back from places where the virus is spreading. Planes have quarantine sections of the aircraft cordoned off for anyone who shoes symptoms of infection, in order to separate them from other passengers and crew.
It’s interesting that they waited an extra month to program their schedule, but they’re publishing it three months farther out than they’d previously led customers to believe.
And it’s useful to know when the schedule becomes available for access to the cheapest fares on presumed peak travel days, such as July 4th weekend. Southwest hasn’t had change fees, even before the rest of the airlines jumped on the bandwagon for some fares and certain flights. So you can book forward-looking cheap tickets if it makes sense and retain flexibility.
Platinum Pro members can have choose a confirmed international upgrade, miles and other choices – and get new higher-tier oneworld alliance benefits. Executive Platinums can choose several options like miles and a club membership instead of confirmed upgrades if they’d like – and get the Platinum Pro choice, too.
Airline mask rules are likely to be watered down by a new executive order, but may last longer than they would have if left up to airlines.
Sandra Jeenie Kwon is a former Emirates flight attendant with over 180 million likes on TikTok and with four million followers across social media platforms (here’s her instagram. At times she’ll post several videos a day, acting out the funny behaviors of passengers, and of cabin crew.
Here she acts out when a cabin crewmember finds a passenger attractive…
Is it time to stop traveling given the Covid-19 wave we’re experiencing in the United States? There are certainly many people who shouldn’t travel right now, and many places where there’s not much to do. But those who have already had the virus, and those who will soon have been vaccinated, are probably ok to travel. And many travelers are more responsible than non-travelers. The focus should be on how to be responsible rather than moralizing against all travel, telling people to stay home so then they gather with their neighbors locally.
What this also allows United to do over time is have fewer agents, or at least fewer agents per passenger. Instead of having agents deployed at airports across the terminal in case customers need them, and having down time throughout the day, they can locate agents centrally and optimize staffing based on predicted needs.
That makes this the perfect ‘United under Scott Kirby’s leadership’ initiative: it fosters on-time performance while reducing cost.
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 »
