General

Category Archives for General.

Miles are Still More Important Than Revenue — Even at United, Delta, and American

by Gary Leff

wallet with credit cards
Nov 05 2017

If frequent flyer credits at United, Delta, and American are earned based on the price of a ticket rather than the distance flown, why are those credits called miles?

Frequent flyer programs were meant to provide differentiation amongst airlines where none existed. Airline seats are more or less commodity products. Programs create brand loyalty, and get a customer to take a connection rather than a non-stop or wait for a flight 2 hours later instead of flying at the ideal time.

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Etihad First Class Award Booking Trick is Back – Use Your American Miles Now

by Gary Leff

cot
Nov 05 2017

With American and Etihad in a political spat, American killing their codesharing with Etihad, it’s unclear how long this partnership would last. However it remains one of the best uses of miles in the world. First class is 115,000 miles each way between the US and Mideast or “Indian Subcontinent” which includes the Maldives. Get booking using this trick for sure!

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Why Airlines Now Like Connecting Passengers More Than Non-Stop

by Gary Leff

Nov 04 2017

n traditional airline economics, a major airline makes money by locating its hub in a major city with significant business travel.

Ideally owning that hub, business customers will pay a premium for non-stop flights and there will be limited competition for those non-stops. The airline builds its schedule around meeting the needs of those business customers, and then fills empty seats at a discount with leisure passengers.

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The Really Offensive Thing About the Viral 9/11 Math Problem Is It Gets 9/11 Facts Wrong

by Gary Leff

Nov 04 2017

By all means teach what happened on 9/11. Offer context for why it happened, and what the response to the attack was. And use math problems to engage directly in the learning.

But if you’re going to do that please start with getting facts right. Otherwise it really is just a math problem with random numbers with a story of mass murder attached.

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Cool Test: Airline Picks Up Checked Bags From Your Home, Hands You Boarding Pass

by Gary Leff

plane with loading dock
Nov 03 2017

Federal rules notwithstanding the need to check in is a bit of an anachronism. Requiring it of every passenger does let an airline know a few minutes earlier how many people haven’t checked in, therefore losing their seats, and making seats available to accommodate other passengers. But is it really worth imposing the (small) cost on millions of people per day?

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Virgin America Flight History Won’t Count Towards Alaska Airlines Lifetime Elite Status

by Gary Leff

Nov 03 2017

A reader asked me how his Virgin America flight history would count towards Alaska Airlines lifetime elite status once the Virgin brand was completely folded in Alaska Airlines.

Alaska Airlines awards lifetime MVP Gold status after 1 million actual miles flown on Alaska (and not counting flights on partner airlines besides, for instance, Horizon).

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