Airlines

Category Archives for Airlines.

New United Airlines Status Match Program

by Gary Leff

united-planes-runway
Jan 05 2020

There’s a new United Airlines status match program. Elite frequent flyers are valuable customers – to the airline they’re loyal, and also potentially to other airlines who might poach their business. The same holds for elites in hotel loyalty programs.

Status makes it difficult to switch, you’re better treated by an airline or hotel chain and it’s tough to start somewhere else from scratch. That’s why many loyalty programs offer to match your current status in order to win your business.

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The Post-David Dao Era – and the $10,000 Bump Voucher – Is Ending

by Gary Leff

airline ticket
Jan 05 2020

Airlines are tightening their belts, trying to cut what it costs them to give out denied boarding compensation to passengers when they overbook a flight. Both United and American have copied Delta in soliciting ‘bids’ from customers for what compensation they’d accept, hoping to avoid bidding wars at the gate.

In the wake of United’s April 2017 passenger dragging incident – where David Dao was told to give up his seat for two crewmembers and refused, winding up bloodied by airport – there was a huge public backlash against bumping passengers off of overbooked flights. And airlines started paying out far more compensation to avoid involuntarily denying boarding to passengers.

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New Restaurant That Sells Airplane Food On The Ground Isn’t Very Good

by Gary Leff

Jan 05 2020

AirAsia wants to create Santan Restaurant and T&CO Cafe as a franchise with 100 outlets within 3-5 years, even expanding to New York. They see a market for an Asian version of American fast food chains. U.S. chains succeed even though they aren’t inherently great and charge more than local equivalents.

A model of bad food and high prices isn’t a great starting place except at airports and tourist spots, but that’s usually driven by high rents and a need to meet highly diverse tastes – people aren’t there for the food.

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American Airlines is Being Sued for “Trafficking” the Havana Airport

by Gary Leff

capital building
Jan 02 2020

The plaintiff says his father owned the Havana airport when it was taken by the Cuban government during the 1959 revolution. He purchased what was then Rancho Boyeros Airport seven years earlier from Pan Am and made investments to “modernize[.] and improve[.] it by extending the runway and building a new terminal building.”

It was taken during the Cuban Revolution and he’s suing American Airlines (and LATAM) under the Helms-Burton Act.

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Former ‘Bachelor’ Producer Took An American Airlines Mileage Run And Wound Up In A Mexican Prison

by Gary Leff

Jan 01 2020

Andrew Kimmel arrived home in Los Angeles after his last trip of the year to find that he had over 125,000 qualifying miles with American Airlines – but was still about $250 short of the 15,000 qualifying dollars needed for Executive Platinum status.

American will let you ‘buy up’ or ‘buy back’ your status, but Kimmel – a producer for The Bachelor & The Bachelorette between 2012 and 2015, and before that a field producer for Dancing With The Stars – reports that they wanted $1875 for him to keep his status. So he embarked on a mileage run that led to a Mexican prison instead.

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Air India Could Be Forced To Shut Down In June

by Gary Leff

air india plane
Dec 31 2019

India’s aviation market has been a mess. Jet Airways is out of business. oneworld member Kingfisher is no more. And Star Alliance member Air India is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.

The government-owned airline is currently surviving on subsidies while the country looks for a buyer to take over the flag carrier. However they’ve committed to spend no more cash on the airline, and unless a buyer is found by June the airline is expected to run out of money and have to close.

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American Airlines Experimenting With More Flexible Approach to Same Day Flight Changes

by Gary Leff

american plane
Dec 30 2019

American Airlines offers same day changes for $75, waived for Platinum Pro (75,000 mile) elite members and higher. The rules for these changes are more restrictive than United’s or Delta’s though.

Fortunately American appears to be experimenting with a more liberal approach to same day confirmed changes, specifically making more inventory available on certain flights to test if that’s something they’re willing to move forward with.

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