General

Category Archives for General.

Premium Cabin Airline Seats Haven’t Improved in 30 Years

by Gary Leff on June 15, 2019

Jun 15 2019

Thirty years ago airlines offered a mostly flat comfortable seat at the front of the plane with upgraded dining. They called it first class. They also offered a middle cabin featuring recliners and 38 to 40 inches between seats, along with upgraded privileges like priority boarding. They called it business class.

Today airlines offer mostly flat seating up front with upgraded dining. They call it business class. They offer a middle cabin featuring recliners and 38 to 40 inches between seats, along with upgraded privileges like priority boarding. They call it premium economy.

JFK Airport Has the TWA Hotel. LAX Says ‘Hold My Beer’

by Gary Leff on June 14, 2019

Jun 14 2019

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.

Delta Destroys Priceless Cultural Artifacts After Forcing Woman to Gate Check Her Bag

by Gary Leff on June 13, 2019

Jun 13 2019

We all know the usual tropes, like ‘there are only two kinds of luggage: carry on and lost’ and that someone who checks a bag for a trip every week is spending at least 2 days a year at baggage claim. Checking bags is something you want to avoid if you possibly can.

Here’s how to avoid being forced to gate check a bag when the contents inside are too important to risk.

Be Careful of Hidden Restrictions Booking Coach Awards on American at AA.com

by Gary Leff on June 5, 2019

Jun 05 2019

I recently wrote about American’s two different award search tools, and how to access the old one for the better ‘calendar view’ that will also tell you whether you’re getting a saver award or more expensive AAnytime award.

I mentioned that the new award search tool won’t show ‘web special’ awards. That actually isn’t true. They’re just not well-disclosed on the new award search tool.

New Restriction on Transferring American Express Membership Rewards Points to Friends and Family

by Gary Leff on June 5, 2019

Jun 05 2019

Up until June 2014 you could transfer American Express Membership Rewards points to whomever you wish. At that time they instituted new restrictions without warning: they would only allow transfers of your points to people who have an authorized user card on your account.

That was always the rule but the website never enforced it up until that time. You could link anyone’s frequent flyer account to your Membership Rewards account and transfer points to it. Now there’s a new rule or rather a waiting period to transfer points to someone else’s account.

Is Detroit Challenging Atlanta as the Most Corrupt Airport in the Country?

by Gary Leff on June 2, 2019

Jun 02 2019

The airport’s former manager is in the midst of a federal criminal trial. James Warner is accused of “fabricating invoices, overcharging the airport for work performed by contractors and receiving more than $5 million worth of kickbacks during a four-year period” — which is even more than Detroit’s former mayor Kwame Kilpatrick took in payoffs.

United’s Air Canada Award Availability Problem Fixed

by Gary Leff on June 2, 2019

Jun 02 2019

Last month I received several questions from readers about why United wasn’t showing award space on Air Canada that appeared to be available to every other Star Alliance partner?

If you called United and spoke to an agent they’d generally be able to ‘see’ the inventory (in other words, X and I buckets for economy and business appeared to have space) but they couldn’t book it. What’s more that’s at a time when Air Canada availability looked excellent when searching on other partner websites, like Singapore Airlines Krisflyer, even for tough-to-get flights like Vancouver – Sydney.

Don’t Panic Over Report That American is Making Changes to Upgrades ‘For All Classes of Service’

by Gary Leff on May 30, 2019

May 30 2019

There’s a report of a project underway with a target completion date of July 31 that involves further development of dynamic award pricing and changes to upgrades.

My advice: don’t panic. Here’s what I think it means.

1000 Easy Amex Points and Freebies at Kimpton

by Gary Leff on May 25, 2019

May 25 2019

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.

Chase Surveying How to Redesign an Airline Credit Card

by Gary Leff on May 18, 2019

May 18 2019

Chase is surveying how to design an airline card. I’d normally think they would be look at the United product, since Chase and United have been in ongoing and vigorous discussions about how to improve their program (although the United card was recently revamped).

There are two references in the questions that suggest to me they could be thinking through the British Airways product: carrier surcharges on award travel and European destinations.