Category Archives for Airlines.
A Delta Air Lines passenger flying from New York JFK shared what happened when they received a last minute upgrade from extra legroom coach up to business class. A flight attendant came up to them and brought them to their new seat – and their neighbor up front was a “very well behaved” dog.
The business model isn’t working. They don’t have long haul international service that customers have wanted to buy. They don’t have airline partnerships to sell those products on other carriers, or pick up connecting traffic from other airlines either. And they’ve been the downmarket product that’s very much out of favor, as customers have increasingly been interested in paying more for a better experience. (Spirit has even shifted its business model chasing that business.)
I’ll take it a step further and explain how airlines offering these buy ups actually discourages passengers from buying first class outright (and you should consider this as a strategy to buy first class for less).
The elimination of change fees during the pandemic mean that you should consider buying coach instead of first class.
Air travel is supposed to be about making it from one place to another as quickly as possible. It seems as though we’ve forgotten this.
Lately there have seemed to be fewer 50,000 point business class awards between the U.S. and Europe – at least if you’re looking to fly non-stop to Paris or Amsterdam.
However Find Flights For Me reminds that an important tip for finding the best award pricing with Air France KLM Flying Blue is to remember that they often charge different prices for different destinations, even when traveling on the same flights across the Atlantic.
American Airlines is going to start offering the ability to spend miles as a form of payment for upgrades starting next year. That means upgrades will be available to AAdvantage members much more often. But you may not like how much it costs.
Season 17 American Idol contestant Dimitrius Graham sang “You’ll Be In My Heart” by Phil Collins when he was eliminated in that show’s Top 10. American Airlines is now in Graham’s heart, after CPR was performed on his mother and the plane’s captain wound up diverting the flight – saving her life.
I’m going to make some readers mad talking about flight attendant pay for a moment. Flight attendant unions love to highlight the struggles of their newest members, but rarely represent those members well.
A JetBlue passenger is suing the airline, claiming she suffered severe injuries from a “dangerously cold” ice cream sandwich served during an August 20 flight from New York JFK to Paris. Karla Quinonez of New Jersey alleges in a lawsuit filed on October 22 that the frozen treat was so hard that it fractured one of her teeth..
The U.S. Departments of Justice and Transportation have launched a wide-ranging probe of consolidation and anti-competitive conduct in air travel. What they will come to learn is that the federal government has fostered consolidation, and has made it nearly impossible to have competition in aviation as a matter of policy for decades.
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 »
