Category Archives for Airlines.
I really like point.me award search and I use it myself when trying to find award flights. Quickly search across most frequent flyer programs to see what flights are available to book using points, compare the cost of those awards, and get help with how to make the bookings at the lowest cost possible. This is a premium service, but did you know that you can access it for free? And if you haven’t used it lately, it’s gotten far better in the last few months.
Delta Air Lines flight 419 from Seattle to Honolulu was cancelled on Thursday night after a lengthy delay. The aircraft was finally pulled up to the gate, but crew accidentally deployed the emergency slide.
Lufthansa is putting the superjumbo Airbus A380 onto the Denver – Munich route April 30 through September 30th. The plane will also operate from Munich to New York, Boston, Washington, Los Angeles and Delhi.
That’s a lot of airplane with a lot of seats to fill, and award space especially on the Denver route is wide open using miles from partner frequent flyer programs.
Airlines may give you a free room when you’re faced with a controllable overnight delay. But you get what you pay for – you probably don’t want to sleep in the room they’re going to give you. There are exceptions, but it can be very much worth venturing off on your own rather than rolling the dice on free.
American could lose its Gol partnership too – or be forced to put in a lot more additional money. The Brazilian airline is in bankruptcy, and looking for new financing. United Airlines may swoop in.
Lufthansa’s “Project Fox” aims to completely overhaul its long-haul product offerings to turn around declining passenger satisfaction. FOX here is Future Onboard Experience and seeks to transform every aspect of the airline’s long-distance travel experience by 2026, aligning with the carrier’s centennial celebrations.
George W. Bush used to talk about the soft bigotry of low expectations. All I could think when American Airlines CEO went into his carrier’s fourth quarter earnings call oddly triumphant is that former Texas Governor Bush must have had the Texas-based airline in mind.
United’s Scott Kirby has been predicting the demise of low cost competitors for years. So far he hasn’t been wrong. On Wednesday morning’s earnings call, he placed the blame for this on the airports and the federal government as he explained why his airline would outcompete them in the major cities where they have their biggest operations.
Once you make the decision to pursue a premium strategy, getting the details right is as much about creativity and commitment to the details as it is cost. Budgets still matter a great deal, but finding the right investments that move the needle on customer perception matter – otherwise spending on those expensive seats is wasted.
Japan Airlines has announced a second Chicago flight, more flights between San Diego and Tokyo and between Los Angeles and Osaka, and that the new product Airbus A350 will start flying to Los Angeles.
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 »
