Category Archives for General.
Amidst a government shutdown that affects only the Department of Homeland Security, where TSA screeners will have to work while waiting for congress to pass funding before they’re paid, we’re starting to see more employees failing to show up for work. That’s having a significant affect on security lines at several major airports.
American’s Admirals Clubs are starting to roll out morning bagel and waffle bars—a nice upgrade, even as the airline keeps getting dragged online for the condition of its cabins. < Also: Southwest keeps scolding passengers for sliding into empty seats, Bozeman’s RFP for an 8,000-square-foot common-use lounge, Tampa’s push for two common-use lounges, and a first look at the Virgin Atlantic Heathrow Clubhouse refurbishment.
Bilt launched a new “Neighborhood Concierge” AI that’s supposed to handle practical stuff like restaurant recommendations, rides, and booking travel with points — but it behaves like a general-purpose chatbot too. With a little prompting, it will troubleshoot problems, write usable code snippets, and handle the same kind of open-ended questions people normally pay for in standalone AI tools.
Southwest is now charging for seats, but passengers report that even after paying for premium emergency-row seating they’re still not allowed to slide into an empty seat when the cabin has open rows.
Plus, the JFK AirTrain price goes up again, American flyers gripe about ads before onboard Wi-Fi, and there’s a 20,000-mile AT&T switching promo.
ExpertFlyer just rolled out a new premium tier that can surface about 11 months of American Airlines systemwide upgrade availability in a single search, and it’s also adding more robust automated alerts plus AeroLOPA seat maps (while raising prices on other plans).
Also, the world’s deepest hotel room is shutting down, a passenger scolds someone else’s kid mid-flight, and Hotels.com in the U.K. is walking back Expedia OneKey to revive its old “stay 10, get 1 free” model.
“Vegas At Par” taking Canadian dollars 1:1 to pay U.S. prices is bringing back visitors to participating properties. Also, Southwest gets dragged again for blocking seat changes even with empty rows, plus a 100,000-point business card offer from a regional bank and new Air Tahiti Nui Sydney service.
American Airlines sent employees a pointed note accusing United of dumping capacity into Chicago O’Hare to manipulate a lease provision that allocates gates based on prior-year flying. What stands out is who didn’t sign it: the message came from the COO and Chief Commercial Officer, not CEO Robert Isom, whose job has been on the line.
American Airlines is running a new AAdvantage promo that awards bonus Loyalty Points on March and April flights that count toward status. Register in your account by April 30 to earn 500 extra Loyalty Points per flown segment (up to 5,000), with additional bonuses on select Mexico and Caribbean routes and for segments booked through AAdvantage Business/Corporate.
An American passenger watched a kid lick the seatback screen in front of him—and the airline’s removal of the last domestic seatback screens suddenly doesn’t feels so bad. Plus a groom dressed as Nicolás Maduro gets “kidnapped” through an Argentina airport and Airbnb’s refund fine print for Dubai turns into a dark joke.
After Southwest Airlines replaced open seating with assigned seats, wheelchair requests instantly plummeted, confirming long-suspected abuse of the boarding process. Plus, the abandoned Park Hyatt Los Angeles “ghost tower” might finally get new life, and Bilt launches a premium hotel program for luxury travelers.
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 »
