Category Archives for General.
We now know a lot more about the airline bomb plot that was foiled in Sydney. The plan was to blow up an Etihad Sydney – Abu Dhabi flight. As usual much of the initial reporting was wrong.
The story at the beginning was that the bomb was hidden inside a meat grinder in a passenger’s luggage, but as luck would have it the bag was too heavy and didn’t get checked. Now that story has changed, and the bomb was supposedly hidden inside a large barbie doll.
There’s a new OTG restaurant at Newark that’s invitation only for United customers. It’s called Classified and the fact that it’s exclusive appears to be the primary thing that’s special about it.
American, though, didn’t just take away benefits from their most loyal (lifetime) customers. They took away travel benefits from legacy American Airlines retirees, too. Retiree travel priority changed in September 2014.
American Airlines travel waivers — the ability to change your travel when the air system is disrupted, such as because of weather or strikes — won’t fully apply to customers booking Basic Economy fares.
This is something American Airlines explicitly promised wouldn’t happen with new Basic Economy fares but that I predicted.
Under the new regime whether it bolts down onto the plane or not it’s for sale and nothing’s free. American has changed their policy, and effective August 30 full fare customers and AAnytime awards no longer receive complimentary Main Cabin Extra and they no longer receive complimentary preferred seats either.
No free extra legroom, no free seats closer to the front of the plane. Buy up, sit in back, or take what’s left.
There’s finally something good about the eclipse — free points.
Bear in mind that points earned via social don’t extend the expiration date of your account. And also that Marriott points transfer 3:1 into Starwood Preferred Guest. Points post quickly.
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.
Frontier Airlines is rapidly developing a reputation as worst airline in the United States and that’s no easy feat considering United and David Dao, and Spirit, normally all you have to do is say ‘Spirit’.
A 12 year old was kicked off a Frontier flight because the airline let him board without collecting the unaccompanied minor fee.
A British Airways flight once literally had to divert because a passenger’s lavatory trip created such a bad smell. But what happens when a British Airways passenger doesn’t make it to the lavatory?
One British Airways passenger flying London – Cape Town was assigned a seat in economy that he discovered was wet. He reports that a flight attendant agreed with him that the moisture was urine. She “handed him wet wipes to clear up the mess himself.”
Business class on Delta’s Airbus A350 is going to be a the Thompson Vantage XL seat with doors.
And for some reason right now saver level business class award availability — 80,000 SkyMiles each way — is wide open on the Atlanta – Seoul route. In fact it’s open for the whole family. There are plenty of days that have 9 or more saver business class seats available for this new business class with doors.
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 »
