Category Archives for Airlines.
American Airlines issued a memo to flight attendants on improving the inflight Barclays card announcement experience for customers. It shouldn’t be made early morning or late night, it should only be made once, and it should be read verbatim from the script.
What we can assume is that Delta is getting a sweetheart deal, will have a say in how the company is run, but will provide enough heft to Wheels Up that could push the company over the line to become the winner in the space or at least a solid long-term viable competitor.
Dubai-based Emirates Airlines was the first airline in the world to put showers in international first class. Even though Etihad, whose home airport is a mere 72 miles away in Abu Dhabi, added showers to their Airbus A380s the Emirates shower suite remains the gold standard.
They also installed a bar at the back of business class. They’re hardly the first airline to do this, but they dedicated significant real estate to the bar. It’s tended throughout the flight, there are snacks and good libations on offer.
Starbucks has a Happy Hour discount with Alaska Airlines. Book flights by this Friday, December 13th for travel January 7, 2020 through March 4, 2020 (excluding February 13-23, 2020) at up to 20% off
American Airlines will still let you earn elite status next year from flying and meeting minimum spend requirements. However they’re copying United with a new spending-only path towards status.
Cathay Pacific’s Asia Miles is a transfer partner of American Express, Citibank, and Capital One. Up until now it hasn’t been a great store of value, a place to transfer points and hold them, because Asia Miles expired after 36 months – this didn’t get extended with more activity in your account.
The good news is that this is changing – effective January 1, 2020 you can extend the life of your miles with any activity in your account every 18 months. Earning any miles, or redeeming any miles will extend validity.
American Airlines announced this morning several new routes, the biggest of which are from my home airport in Austin. They also announced several one-off services to major events like the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting and Augusta National Masters Golf Tournament.
The Austin flights in particular are exciting because they’re a departure from American’s usual strategy. These are point-to-point flights that don’t touch hubs, instead they’re aggressively competing with new flights between Delta focus cities.
When residents complain about airport noise I’m not usually sympathetic, the airport was there before you were and planes aren’t as noisy as they used to be. And when you see thousands of noise complaints about an airport it’s frequently just one to three residents making them all believe it or not (the complaints process has been automated).
But what about when the FAA redirects air traffic overhead?
The new Aeroflot business class has been revealed. Aeroflot’s Airbus A350’s will feature new business class suites with doors. Aeroflot is a partner of Delta, and member of SkyTeam.
Here are photos of the new suite, routes where it will be featured, and tips for booking award travel.
Right now saver awards are available for Singapore Airlines new suites on the longest route where the airline operates the Airbus A380: London – Singapore Right now there are about 80 saver award seats between the two cities over a two month period.
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 »
