Category Archives for Airlines.
With the introduction of the ability for American frequent flyers to earn miles and elite status flying JetBlue, and vice versa I’ve gotten several questions about the relationship centering around taking advantage of both programs at once.
BA announced that they are doubling their committed minimum award seat availability for coach and business class, and introducing minimum availability for premium economy. This is effective immediately for travel July 28, 2021 onward.
American Airlines flight 2558 from Fort Lauderdale to Dallas took an hour-long mechanical delay on Thursday morning. On Facebook, a flight attendant shared that “naturally everyone has a connection in Dallas.” However one lady in particular approached for help, looking “very distraught.”
Apparently her whole family was traveling on to Guadalajara, Mexico for a funeral and it wasn’t looking like they were going to make it.
Starting today, Alaska Airlines MVP Gold 75K members and a companion are eligible for same day space available complimentary upgrades on “500-Mile eligible short haul markets.” That is, most domestic, Canada, Mexico, Central America and Caribbean flights. Up until now they’ve been offered ‘day of departure upgrades’ at check-in, if those are available, but not added to the airport upgrade standby list.
Here’s full detail on how these upgrades work for Alaska’s top tier elite frequent flyers.
American Airlines refers to its premium long haul and cross country product as ‘Flagship’ and even calls its business class lounges Flagship. Delta used the term Flagship in releases – in its ordinary sense of the term, describing something as being premier – when talking about its Atlanta Sky Club, its business class suite, and its Airbus A350. American sued. The case has settled on the eve of trial.
On Tuesday I wrote about the American Airlines plan to reduce labor costs with ‘single agent boarding’. Airline CFO Derek Kerr brought up the plan at an investment conference after saying that employees just “have to work harder in certain areas.”
This is going to be a disaster for customers, and tough on employees.
Reciprocal mileage and status-earning on all flights operated by either airline is now available to members of both the TrueBlue and AAdvantage programs. Codeshares – which can be challenging for consumers – are no longer required.
Presenting at the Wolfe Research conference on Tuesday, Delta Air Lines President Glen Hauenstein shared that traveler confidence is up because “people booking further out” than before. Instead of just making a last minute flight reservation, they’re willing to plan ahead, confident in the direction of the global pandemic.
People are buying more premium seats than they used to, they’re promising to change policies if necessary to ensure as many people have status going forward as did in 2019, and they plan to keep investing in club lounges because their clubs sell credit cards.
On Tuesday’s American Airlines flight AA2547 from Phoenix to Orlando a passenger barely made it on board before the doors closed. He apparently was in a rush to make the flight and didn’t manage a needed stop at the restroom while enroute, according to the flight’s notes.
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby reported at the Wolfe Research conference on Tuesday that leisure demand is back over 100% of pre-pandemic levels, and business travel is going to fully recover too. He’s seen a spike in people using MileagePlus credit cards. And United will win customers with technology, soft product, and lower costs rather than investing in hard product.
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 »
