Category Archives for General.
United Airlines accidentally emailed its entire flight attendant group telling them they were being transferred to London, creating instant chaos and confusion. Plus why airports using private screeners are holding up better than TSA airports, how erratic security lines waste even more of travelers’ time than the waits themselves, and signs Marriott may be preparing a new brand launch.
Elon Musk says he wants to pay TSA salaries as the DHS shutdown drives airport security lines into chaos, with staffing shortages leaving checkpoints overwhelmed and passengers stuck waiting for hours. But can a private citizen legally step in and pay federal workers?
Denver Airport lost power, the trains went down, and passengers were suddenly stuck with no easy way out of the terminal. Plus, Chicago making hotel taxes the highest in the nation, a line to enter the American Airlines Admirals Club in Miami, and more stupidity.
The line to get into the Delta Sky Clubs in Orlando and New York LaGuardia stretch through the terminal. Delta admits its pilot contract has made meltdown recovery harder, American adds premium economy hot entree pre-orders on some long routes, and politicians still want airport rules that do not apply to them.
Southwest CEO Bob Jordan says his top travel rule is never checking a bag, which is a revealing thing to hear from the head of an airline that’s now charging for checked bags.
Also, Delta is tightening its bag guarantee, JetBlue is adding more domestic first class seats, Hyatt is chasing growth through lower-end conversions.
Austin may finally be on the verge of landing its first nonstop flight to Asia, with Delta, Korean Air, and Samsung reportedly discussing service to Seoul. Also, newly released Delta deportation footage, Spirit’s branding problem, Lufthansa’s basic business fares.
Southwest had open seats on a lightly loaded flight, but one passenger says the airline still made her stay crammed into a full row and called her rude for asking to move. Plus Delta snack shrinkflation, American’s scuffed cabin ceilings, and Amex dropping Uber VIP.
United flight attendants still have not gotten a real new contract after 5.5 years, but their union dues are rising anyway. Alaska passengers stuck on the tarmac during a snowball fight, Citi killing ThankYou point sharing, American’s denser new cabin without seatback screens, and more airline absurdity.
American Airlines shut down airport customer service counters, but at Washington National the counter and signage were still sitting there when flights were canceled — sending passengers to line up for help that no longer existed. Also a Delta passenger’s lost $9,000 watch, Finnair blowing up a Hawaii award sweet spot, and the Dutch king’s final KLM 737 flight.
A short boarding video from an American Airlines flight captures two things at once: a flight attendant sees a phone aimed at a woman in front of the camera and quickly checks whether the pair are traveling together, defusing what looks like a potentially creepy situation. But the same clip also fuels the familiar complaint about American’s onboard culture — the front-galley posture and tone read as “couldn’t care less,” even while she’s trying to do something genuinely situationally aware.
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 »
