Airlines

Category Archives for Airlines.

American Discloses That Percentage of Seats Redeemed With Miles Fell — Again

by Gary Leff on February 21, 2018

Feb 21 2018

American used to share a ton of information about the financials of the AAdvantage program in their annual 10-K SEC filing. They stopped doing that last year. They no longer tell us how many members there are in the program, how many miles were issued, sold to third parties, and remain outstanding like they did up until two years ago.

Nonetheless as a result of their newly filed 2017 SEC 10-K form we know that the percentage of American’s seats occupied by award travelers dropped again in 2017, after a drop in 2016. When US Airways management took over there was clearly a new philosophy of not releasing award seats to customers.

Passengers Who Take Carry On Bags During an Evacuation Shouldn’t Be Fined

by Gary Leff on February 21, 2018

Feb 21 2018

Whenever there’s an aircraft evacuation there are photos of passengers taking personal items out of the plane. Sometimes it’s a purse or laptop bag from underneath their seat. Other times it’s the rollaboard out of the overhead bin.

American Will Start Charging for ViaSat Satellite Internet Next Month

by Gary Leff on February 21, 2018

Feb 21 2018

ViaSat internet has been free. They’ve been working out kinks since the beginning. On the inaugural 737 MAX flight at the end of November ViaSat internet simply didn’t work much. When it did work it wasn’t fast.

ViaSat installations are working better now. A few planes have Gogo and ViaSat retrofits now. And American is prepared to start charging in March.

American May Remove Several Business Class Seats From Boeing 787-8 Aircraft

by Gary Leff on February 20, 2018

Feb 20 2018

Dropping to 20 or 24 business class seats would make awards and upgrades super difficult on the aircraft (awards are nearly impossible now in business class as it is).

It would represent a loss of 14% or 28% of the business class seats on the aircraft. In contrast United’s Boeing 787-8s have 36 business class seats.

Great Singapore Airlines DEAL: Premium Economy <$1000 Roundtrip, Business <$2000

by Gary Leff on February 20, 2018

Feb 20 2018

Through February 25 premium economy starts at $999 for US-Asia roundtrip and business class starts at $1999 for US-Europe roundtrip.

You can travel May 1 through August 31 for business class, May 1 through December 14 for premium economy.

Air Canada Just Introduced More Restrictive Basic Economy Fares

by Gary Leff on February 20, 2018

Feb 20 2018

Air Canada has introduced ‘basic economy’ fares on domestic flights within Canada.

The goal remains to discourage customers from buying the cheapest fares in hopes they pay more to avoid these restrictions — while not taking their business elsewhere to another carrier.

American and KTLA LA Television Promoting the Devaluation of AAdvantage

by Gary Leff on February 20, 2018

Feb 20 2018

American Airlines and Los Angeles television station KTLA are running a giveaway. It’s a trip to New York ‘like an A-Lister’ and my first thought was they’re encouraging Southwest Rapid Rewards status challenges.

The contest reveals the airline’s view of the devaluation of AAdvantage.

Alaska Airlines May Add Lie Flat First Class Seats for Cross Country Flights

by Gary Leff on February 19, 2018

Feb 19 2018

Virgin America offers padded leather recliner chairs in first class with foot rests and 55 inches seat back to seat back. That’s incredibly generous for most domestic routes. American is shrinking their first class from a ‘generous’ 38 inches for their new domestic standard product.

However it’s not competitive on premium cross country routes where American, Delta, United, and jetBlue all offer flat beds in business class.

The U.S. is the Biggest Air Market in the World – And No One is Catching Up Soon

by Gary Leff on February 19, 2018

Feb 19 2018

The biggest aviation market in the world – by far – is the U.S., based on the number of departing seats. So this isn’t just domestic flights, it’s domestic flights plus outbound international flights as well. Here are the top 10.

The EU as a whole is roughly comparable to the Chinese market. The UK as a whole is the biggest aviation market in Europe, though their former colony India is a bigger market still.

British Airways Crew Behaving Badly and Hotel Promo Terms Changed After Launch

by Gary Leff on February 19, 2018

Feb 19 2018

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.

Airlines

American Discloses That Percentage of Seats Redeemed With Miles Fell — Again

Passengers Who Take Carry On Bags During an Evacuation Shouldn’t Be Fined

American Will Start Charging for ViaSat Satellite Internet Next Month

American May Remove Several Business Class Seats From Boeing 787-8 Aircraft

Great Singapore Airlines DEAL: Premium Economy <$1000 Roundtrip, Business <$2000

Air Canada Just Introduced More Restrictive Basic Economy Fares

American and KTLA LA Television Promoting the Devaluation of AAdvantage

Alaska Airlines May Add Lie Flat First Class Seats for Cross Country Flights

The U.S. is the Biggest Air Market in the World – And No One is Catching Up Soon

British Airways Crew Behaving Badly and Hotel Promo Terms Changed After Launch

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About Gary Leff

	Bilt Mastercard® Earn Points Paying Rent (up to 100,000 each year) plus earn 3x at restaurants; 2x on travel; as long as you make at least 5 purchases per month. No annual fee.
	Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months (See rates and fees)
	Citi® / AAdvantage Business^TM World Elite Mastercard® For a limited time, earn 75,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after spending $5,000 in purchases within the first 5 months of account opening. AAdvantage miles are the currency I've redeemed most.[See rates and fees]