Category Archives for Airlines.
Emirates flight EK203 from Dubai to New York JFK landed this morning and was been placed under quarantine awaiting a response from the Centers for Disease Control.
Immediately reaction on twitter suggested possible terror, or pandemic, however such speculation is premature at best. So far there are no reports of other flights with similar issues, or of similar illnesses being reported at the Dubai airport or in Dubai more generally.
American Airlines Basic Economy fares are highly restrictive. The purpose of these fares is to make the travel experience worse, in hopes that you will spend more money to avoid them. However they need to balance that with the risk that you will just give up on them and choose to fly someone else instead.
American Airlines President Robert Isom, speaking at the Cowen and Company Global Transportation Conference, admits that “the premise of basic economy, it wasn’t a price cut…[but] an upsell.”
While passengers urinating on seat opponents doesn’t happen frequently compared to the number of flights and number of passengers each year, it happens frequently enough to make me wonder whether an airline would attract business by requiring passengers to certify that they’re potty trained, and to blow into a breathalyzer at the boarding gate. And it makes me wonder if airlines not doing this suggests they’d rather have the ticket revenue than discourage the behavior.
For fee-happy airlines like Spirit, Allegiant and United another approach could be onboard sale of Depends.
I absolutely hate fuel surcharges. They’re a scam which is basically just a tax on frequent flyers’ loyalty. On some itineraries they can amount to $1000 roundtrip. Although bear in mind that you may pay lower fuel surcharges when you book two one way awards than a roundtrip.
When I’m in an absolute pinch I can talk myself into paying fuel surcharges for a first class award. I think of it as a discount coach ticket which doesn’t earn points but where I’m spending miles for a confirmed triple upgrade.
Emirates has one of the world’s best first class products. Their business class wouldn’t come close to ranking, and their new first class is only on a limited number of planes. But their decade-old first class, while a bit tight on space for its fully enclosed suites with doors, is still a marvel with great amenities, good alcohol and catering, and generally good service.
It’s very very available using miles. Perhaps that’s because there are so many first class seats on so many flights and very few people know how to redeem for these seats at a reasonable price.
Routes are often discounted when flights aren’t full, suggesting that there should be good availability which is what we’re seeing for New York JFK – Paris Orly premium economy.
You can connect elsewhere in Europe if you wish. American Express, Chase, and Citibank points all transfer to Flying Blue.
If you want to go to Asia with the family in business or first class, there’s one airline that’s got you covered and even one best route though there are several good routes.
Star Alliance member Asiana simply offers fantastic award space. The United website is great for seeing this quickly at a glance. Their award calendar will show you which dates have availability — in this case non-stop availability from Los Angeles to Seoul for four passengers. Dates with solid lines have coach award space and dates with dotted lines have premium cabin award space.
It seems to me that if checked bags are going to be separately charged, then customers should be refunded if their bags are lost and offered compensation if their bags are delayed. But it’s a special type of gall to raise the price of checked bags and not offer such basic assurances in return.
As we enter Labor Day weekend, it’s important to remember that union shop or not management cannot abdicate its responsibility to select and retain the best talent while transitioning out employees who aren’t a good fit for the company — ensuring that everyone inside the business is able to respect the contributions of their colleagues. And management has to set a vision that inspires employees to be their best.
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 »
