Airlines

Category Archives for Airlines.

The Star Alliance Routes to Asia That Have 4 Business Class Award Seats Every Single Day

by Gary Leff

people in airline seats first class
Sep 01 2018

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.

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American Airlines Says They Love Unionization, But Unions Don’t Love Them

by Gary Leff

american airlines hangar
Aug 31 2018

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.

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United Shares Member Info With Other Airlines to Combat Status Match Fraud

by Gary Leff

united plane docked
Aug 30 2018

You might want to defect from United to American or from Delta to Alaska, but it’s pretty tough to do that and start from scratch with a new airline. You’re well treated as an elite, and it’s rough out there flying without any status (although bottom tier of status can be approximated in many cases with the airline’s co-branded credit card). It’s hard to move your business when you’re used to getting upgrades!

So airlines came up first with status matches. That can be helpful but – from the perspective of the loyalty program – it can also be abused.

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How Much Money the Qantas Frequent Flyer Program Makes and What That Tells Us About US Airlines

by Gary Leff

planes on runway
Aug 30 2018

Earlier in the month I wrote about how much money US frequent flyer programs have earned so far this year.

There’s no need to do back of the envelope with Qantas, in fact Qantas shares real numbers about its frequent flyer program. It’s not hard to extrapolate to the US market, or to pinpoint devaluation of existing points as well as reduction in points-earn.

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American Airlines Shutting Down 3 Admirals Clubs in October

by Gary Leff

lounge
Aug 29 2018

Effective October 15 American Airlines will be closing its Admirals Clubs at Hartford (BDL), Greensboro (GSO), and Caracas (CCS).

The airline says they’re doing this to control costs, offering in a statement that “These decisions are never easy, and we must always ensure we are striking the right balance of providing the level of service our customers have come to expect while keeping our costs in-check.”

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JetBlue Increase the Price of First Checked Bag to $30, Will Other Airlines Match?

by Gary Leff

baggage claim
Aug 27 2018

Over the last year JetBlue has made several moves to squeeze more revenue from customers. The airline has been eliminating its product advantages over competitors, and diminishing its customer-friendly approach. They still offer more legroom and their inflight internet generally works, but the legroom advantage is less than it used to be and the airline no longer offers a free checked bag to everyone.

Now JetBlue has made a move that its domestic rivals hadn’t yet — increasing the cost of a first checked bag to $30. And what everyone wants to know is, will other airlines match?

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