General

Category Archives for General.

Customers Who Have Booked on the British Airways Website Just Had Their Payment Details Stolen

by Gary Leff on September 6, 2018

Sep 06 2018

British Airways issued a press release saying that the “personal and financial details” of customers that have used its website and mobile app to book travel have been stolen, but that this does not include travel details (itineraries) or passport information. This all happened late Wednesday night London time, From 22:58 BST August 21 2018 until 21:45 BST September 5 2018 inclusive, the personal and financial details of customers making bookings on ba.com and the airline’s app were compromised. The breach has been resolved and our website is working normally. They say they’re reaching out to customers they believe have been affected, but that anyone worried about it should “contact their banks or credit card providers” and do whatever those companies suggest. In other words they have no suggestions and aren’t funding options at this…

Media Mogul and Hotel Owner Denied Check-in Because He Wouldn’t Take Off Prescription Sunglasses

by Gary Leff on September 6, 2018

Sep 06 2018

Robert L. Johnson is best known for founding BET, Black Entertainment Television in 1979 and selling it to Viacom for $3 billion in 2000. He serves on boards like Lowe’s, the NBA Board of Governors, the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture and is a past board member of Hilton Hotels, General Mills, and the United Negro College Fund.

He’s an accomplished man, he’s well traveled, and he owns hotels — his RLJ Lodging Trust owns about 150 of them. So he’s certainly used to checking into hotels. But not this one.

Atlanta Says Don’t Drive to the Airport After Passengers Stuck for Hours in Traffic Jam

by Gary Leff on August 31, 2018

Aug 31 2018

In 2010 a traffic jam in China lasted for two weeks and stretched 60 miles. There were drivers stuck in the jam for five days, with some cars moving no more than a single kilometer per day.

Perhaps the closest we come to that in the U.S. was Wednesday night at Atlanta airport’s north terminal parking garage.

Coca Cola is Buying Costa Coffee for $5 Billion – and That Means a Lot More Premier Inns

by Gary Leff on August 31, 2018

Aug 31 2018

Costa Coffee is a UK coffee shop chain, with over 2100 locations in there and over 1200 internationally about a third of which are in China. They began expanding outside the UK 20 years ago, with their first international location in Dubai which probably explains why I know them mostly from the Mideast.

The company that owns Costa Coffee also owns Premier Inns. I never realized the connection though it makes sense why I’ve always gotten my morning coffee from a Costa when staying at a Premier Inn.

How John McCain Supported America West and Ultimately Helped Put Doug Parker in Charge at American

by Gary Leff on August 28, 2018

Aug 28 2018

Senator McCain wanted to eliminate the perimeter rule at Washington National airport, but maintained that if that wasn’t politically feasible he wanted airlines based outside the 1250 mile perimeter to have access to Washington National airport. This meant America West getting a Phoenix – Washington National non-stop.

McCain also supported the Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act which handed out airline subsidies after 9/11 to America West Airlines, US Airways, American Trans Air, Aloha Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Evergreen International Airlines, and World Airways.

The Capital of a Small European Nation Figured Out How to Get The World Talking About a Visit

by Gary Leff on August 27, 2018

Aug 27 2018

They call themselves the ‘g spot’ of Europe, “nobody knows where it is but when you find it, it’s amazing.”

Their quiz actually made me blush a little. Their things to do – like the National Gallery of Art – are described as “pleasure spots.”

Truth is though that while this isn’t likely to directly cause people to visit, it is likely to raise awareness for Vilnius, Lithuania.

The World’s 15 Best First Class Products, Ranked

by Gary Leff on August 23, 2018

Aug 23 2018

The key to these rankings is subjective weight that goes into different components of the product. I value personal space more than anythnig else, so a first class configuration that’s four seats across isn’t going to rate as well for me as one that’s two or three seats across.

I’d never rate Air France or Garuda as highly as others — despite phenomenal ground service and attentiveness — because of the lack of real estate each first class passenger gets in the cabin.

Taiwan May Retaliate Against Airlines for Complying With Chinese Speech Demands

by Gary Leff on August 7, 2018

Aug 07 2018

When the US administration amped up trade rhetoric on China, China began squeezing US companies especially ones with visible brands. Marriott fired a social media employee who ‘liked’ a Friends of Tibet tweet, and even self-reported a banned book in the lobby of one of its hotels. China has insisted travel companies not list Taiwan as a separate country.

Of course, they’ve largely complied. US airlines though haven’t gone so far as to identify Taiwan as explicitly part of China as many world airlines have. Indeed US airlines are trapped between their Chinese regulators and needing to appease the government at home which has publicly rebuked China for attempting to regulate US corporate speech.

New TSA Program Assigns Americans Personal Air Marshals Who Report Back if They Board Last or Sleep

by Gary Leff on July 29, 2018

Jul 29 2018

The Federal Air Marshal Service is arguably the least competent law enforcement agency in the country. Naturally they are part of the TSA, which reportedly has a program to make sure air marshals don’t show up tot he airport drunk.

No air marshal has ever stopped a terrorist or hijacker since the service was founded in 1962. Although an air marshal did shoot and kill a US citizen in 2005. If something really bad did happen on a flight and an air marshal was onboard they lack the training to do anything about it.

Robert Mueller and Donald Trump, Jr Spotted Together – at Washington National Gate 35X

by Gary Leff on July 27, 2018

Jul 27 2018

They were both on American Airlines regional flights. It doesn’t matter whether you’re the son of the President, or if you have an unlimited scope and the full resources of the federal government at your disposal to investigate that President. Everyone is brought down to size at Gate 35X. Truly, it is the most humbling aviation experience in the country.

I’ve written before that the previous administration could have closed the Guantanamo Bay detention facility and just moved terrorism suspects to this gate.