Category Archives for Airlines.
Airlines have sold away the single best reason to chase elite status: free first class upgrades. When the seat an elite member hoped to clear into is being offered to anyone for $26, loyalty programs need a new bargain — one built around discounted buy-ups, earned upgrade credits, guaranteed extra-legroom access, giftable benefits, and real help when travel goes sideways.
Breeze Airways has reportedly told flight attendants they can no longer call crew scheduling directly — they have to text and wait for a callback, with no guaranteed timeframe. That may save scheduler time, but crew communication is exactly where airlines cannot afford friction: missed contacts, legality issues, hotel problems, and uncovered flights are how small operational problems turn into cancellations.
Delta’s plan to fix its most important premium domestic routes just hit another setback: the new flat-bed business class seat it wanted for Airbus A321neos appears to be dead after certification delays. Instead of a differentiated suite that faced passengers toward the window, Delta now seems headed for a more conventional replacement — years later, while its JFK–LAX reliability problems mount and rivals move faster on both seats and Wi-Fi.
Award seats are not gone, but the way most people search for them is broken. After redeeming billions of miles over more than 25 years, the rules that still work are the same ones most travelers resist: be flexible on dates, routes, gateways, programs, and prices; book the workable trip first; and keep improving it as better space opens.
American Airlines now says that if it downgrades you from first class to coach, it may owe you just 40% of the affected segment’s fare — even when the coach seat it gives you sold for far less. A new DOT complaint argues that American’s policy lets the airline sell a premium cabin, fail to deliver it, and keep money that federal refund rules say should go back to passengers.
Citi points now transfer to Qatar Airways Privilege Club with a 30% bonus through June 30, and that can be more useful than it looks. Qatar Avios can be moved 1:1 into British Airways, Finnair and other Avios programs, while Qatar itself often gives its own members better award availability than partners like American or Alaska — just don’t count on the bonus posting instantly.
Flight attendants are right that passengers should stop touching them to get attention, make a point, or treat them like part of the cabin furniture. But that rule has to run both ways: if a galley cart bumps my arm, apologizing by touching my arm again is not fixing the problem — it is repeating it.
Spirit Airlines may be gone, but one of its remaining lawsuits just died too. Customers claimed Spirit’s website tracked clicks, keystrokes, searches and browsing behavior through session-replay code, but the court said that without a concrete injury or sensitive personal information disclosed, creepy website tracking alone was not enough to sue.
United Flight 236 was headed from Newark to Spain when passengers were repeatedly ordered to turn off Bluetooth — then the 767 turned back after a teen’s speaker reportedly showed up as “BOMB.” The flight landed back in New Jersey under a security response, passengers were deplaned and re-screened, and everyone eventually reboarded hours later over what may have been the dumbest possible Bluetooth name to use on an airplane.
Spirit Airlines’ final bankruptcy filing makes the blame game look beside the point: in its last full month, the airline lost $327 million and had just $72 million left in unrestricted cash. Even the proposed $500 million taxpayer bailout would not have saved it for long, because Spirit had not found a business model where customers would pay enough to cover its costs.
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 »
