Airlines

Category Archives for Airlines.

Airlines May Sacrifice Aircraft Interior Maintenance But That Doesn’t Make Them Unsafe

airline seats
Jul 28 2018

Most of the things that raise concerns for airline passengers aren’t safety issues.

It’s natural for passengers to wonder if seeing broken items in the cabin means that’s also how important maintenance are being neglected. Is the aircraft safe? Except U.S. airlines really haven’t sacrificed safety even during the toughest times.

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Deal of the Year 90,000 Iberia Points Now Transferrable to British Airways – With a Catch

stock airline bed
Jul 28 2018

Oh the drama! First Iberia offered up to 90,000 points at a cost of around $300 for booking flights you never even need to take. That’s because the points were supposed to post right away, and expire if unused December 1, while flights could even be for next year.

Iberia started freezing accounts that took advantage of the promotion and coming up with reasons not to honor the deal for some members. However they honored the deal for most people and even have been unlocking some accounts and continuing to post bonus points.

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Delta Names Raleigh-Durham Their Next Focus City (Mini-Hub)

to all gates sign
Jul 28 2018

Austin’s airport is adding 37% more gates next year, and Delta is preparing to make it a focus city complete with SkyClub with outdoor deck.

Focus city status isn’t official for Austin yet, but as of Friday it is for Raleigh-Durham which serves the Research Triangle area of North Carolina, where Delta is already the largest airline (carrying one-third of passengers, with 10% connecting connecting traffic). Delta’s other focus cities are Cincinnati and Boston (of course Cincinnati used to be a hub).

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Using Delta Miles for Family of Four Saver Business Class Availability to Asia

flight chart
Jul 27 2018

Delta sometimes makes decent business class award space available to Europe, generally when prices are at their lowest for paid tickets. Getting to Asia on Delta can be much harder without paying exorbitant mileage costs (e.g. 200,000-plus miles per person in each direction).

However Delta’s partners, especially their Chinese partners China Southern and China Eastern, offer good availability from West Coast gateways.

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5 Things American Airlines Told Their Employees After Yesterday’s Earnings Call

delta and american plane tails
Jul 27 2018

After each quarterly earnings call American Airlines senior management holds a ‘State of the Airline’ town hall with employees, where employees can ask questions and get answers.

Some of those questions were about American’s decision to become less restrictive (allow full-sized carry on bags) with their basic economy fares, and the mechanics contract (an issue that never seems to get resolved). However there were several items of broader interest to customers or that offered new insights as well,

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Delta Vassal Aeromexico Makes a Cheeky Ploy to Buy Back Its Loyalty Program

aeromexico plane
Jul 27 2018

Aeromexico which is in some sense a vassal of Delta these days doesn’t own their own frequent flyer program in its entirety. Aimia owns nearly 49%.

And following on Air Canada’s public offer to buy Aeroplan, Aeromexico came in with a lowball offer to buy back their stake in the Club Premier program. It was an offer that was already rejected, but included a kicker straight from the Air Canada playbook.

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Wide Open 4+ Business Class Awards Singapore Airlines Non-stop to Asia

flight attendants posing
Jul 26 2018

Singapore Airlines will be flying non-stop from Newark to Singapore — the world’s longest flight — starting October 11.

When the flight was first loaded into the schedule you couldn’t get premium awards. However for some reason they’ve opened the floodgates. Most flights have business class awards available. And many have four or more business class awards available.

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