Category Archives for Airlines.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
US airlines reported $4.9 billion in checked bag fees in 2018, up from $4.6 billion in 2017 according to data released by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. That’s often taken to mean money they’re making on checked bags but it’s highly misleading.
The National Education Association, the teachers’ union, is threatening a boycott of Delta. Their President has sent a letter to Delta President Glen Hauenstein, and they’ve tweeted “We won’t be flying Delta.”
Here’s the NEA’s letter to Delta.
There are several services that will do the heavy lifting for you if you’re owed compensation, in exchange for a percentage of the proceeds. Many customers can’t be bothered to deal with compensation on their own, or fight for it when an airline first denies a claim.
One such company is AirHelp, and they have their own ranking of airlines based one third each on on-time performance, their rating of service quality, and how good the airline is at honoring compensation claims.
At the beginning of the year there was an incredible first class mistake fare on Cathay Pacific from Vietnam to the U.S. It was quickly followed by an Air New Zealand business class mistake fare from Chicago to Sydney. Both fares were honored.
But fares like these are now rare. And they rarely occur with US airlines anymore. That wasn’t always the case.
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan has introduced a new frequent flyer relationship with El Al.
Earning Alaska Airlines miles for travel on El Al starts July 1. It will presumably be possible to redeem Alaska Airlines miles for travel on El Al at some time in the future. Often it takes longer to get the IT in place for redemptions than for mileage-earning.
American Airlines announced a number of new routes and increased frequencies under the Game of Thrones rubric “Winter is Coming” — several weeks late of course since the Night King is already dead and everyone is headed to Westeros. Fortunately for fans in search of their place on the Iron Throne, American did already add Dubrovnik to their route map.
Delta is telling employees that if they unionize, union dues are going to cost them $700 per year. And they could buy video games with that money.
Why not make the same argument this way instead?
Delta’s pilots and dispatchers are unionized. However Delta clearly benefits from having fewer unions.
The IAM is working to organize Delta’s flight attendants and fleet service workers. Delta has a counter-campaign.
U.S. airlines are lobbing political grenades at Air Italy, which flies from Milan to New York, Miami and now seasonally to Los Angeles and San Francisco (cities with no other non-stop service on the route). Air Italy has a total of 15 aircraft in its fleet, and has already reduced service on the Los Angeles and San Francisco routes, and cancelled Chicago service before it even began.
Air Italy is defiant. They say they plan to launch two new North American routes in 2020, at least one likely just summer seasonal, and they hope to re-instate Los Angeles and San Francisco’s service to year-round status.
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 »
