Category Archives for Airlines.
Air New Zealand has arranged for former U.S. President Barack Obama to visit New Zealand for an event on March 21. The visit is “due to be announced this [coming] week.”
Vietnam’s “Bikini Airline” low cost carrier VietJet, whose CEO is a woman, came out with their 2018 bikini calendar last month.
Sometimes their stunts are controversial.
In 2015 Etihad created an Amsterdam-based special purpose vehicle “SPV Equity Alliance Partners” which issued bonds for Etihad and other airlines it controlled. Etihad has since walked away from its investments in Alitalia and air berlin, each of which reportedly held 19% of the debt.
Etihad is discussing “how to support the bonds” given the “political and reputational pressure” not to default. It will be expensive for the Al Nahyans to cover the commitment, but embarrassing for them not to.
Style and Shave still appears as an Etihad Guest mileage redemption option and it’s on the airport website. However reports are that the facility has closed in both the first and premium lounges in their home airport Abu Dhabi, “[A]s one shift ended, the[ staff] had no idea there was nobody coming in to replace them.”
During United’s earnings call last month they explained they would be tweaking Basic Economy fares.
The idea of Basic Economy is to offer such a bad experience that you’ll spend more money to avoid it. However when United first rolled out the fares they lost about $100 million — because customers were avoiding United.
Delta is offering free spa treatments in Atlanta for SkyMiles Diamond members.
Through July 31 Diamonds receive complimentary services at the Asanda Spa Lounges in Atlanta terminal E, New York JFK terminal 4, and the Seattle Delta Sky Club.
A few weeks ago I wrote that American is giving flight attendants a new tool to hand out onboard compensation for service failures. If something bad happens during your flight, they can give you AAdvantage miles on the spot.
We now know something about what situations are programmed for miles (and what will get you bupkis) and how much you can expect to get.
American Airlines was the first US airline to let first class passengers pre-select their meals, having rolled it out in fall 2012.
Now American has rolled out pre-orders to coach on a test basis.
American Airlines has been appallingly bad at offering award space on their own flights especially in premium cabins. When they’ve offered it, it’s been for a brief moment. And that space is crucial because awards on their primary transatlantic partner British Airways, while more available, incur punitive fuel surcharges.
We need American award space on American’s own flights, and when it’s available it’s worth jumping on.
There was no limitation on flights from Doha to the U.S. And it turns out that the actual agreement contains only a side letter indicating that Qatar’s civilian aviation authority is “unaware of any plans by Qatar Airlines to start” flights between third countries and the U.S. There is no promise about avoiding such flights in the future.
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 »
