News and notes from around the interweb:
- There’s a lot of truth in this.
Being Premier 1k on United is like being an usher at a wedding. Important enough to stand around near the front, but your privileges end there
— Andrew Reed (@andrew__reed) January 13, 2024
- And in this.
if "I'm never flying Ryanair ever again" was a person https://t.co/b81gsRKi7H
— Ryanair (@Ryanair) January 11, 2024
- Imagine if the delivery driver didn’t want to carry this up to the door, so they just filled out a slip saying no one was there to sign for it?
Door plug from Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 Boeing 737-9 MAX arrived tonight at NTSB Materials Laboratory in Washington, DC. pic.twitter.com/DP8Gis3InE
— NTSB Newsroom (@NTSB_Newsroom) January 13, 2024
- American Airlines pilots are unhappy with the impending loss of cheap burritos prior to flight at LAX:
What if I were to just straight-up, straight-faced pretend this was it pic.twitter.com/phupL5rVb3
— JonNYC (@xJonNYC) January 13, 2024
- If a flight attendant labels you a ‘Philip’ then you’ve done something wrong and should probably expect to get bad service for the rest of the flight.
- LIAT expects to shut down January 24
- Shareholder lawsuit to block Alaska Airlines acquisition of Hawaiian but the deal is GREAT for shareholders, naturally the lawsuit is looking to extract a tax not really block the acquisition.
Glad to see that the union isn’t being useless for once
Only consistent value is mileage multiplier. Everything else suspect on the best of days.
Part of the issue is inflation has swelled the ranks of GS and other 1K’s, at the same time they removed the 100k miles butt-in-seat requirement. Spending $50k per year these days is pretty much the same as spending $20K pre 2010. When I was 1K back in those days my upgrade rate was north of 90%. If they put back the 100k mile flying requirement 1K experience would improve significantly.
So Leaving Island Any Time is closing. One of the worst airlines I’ve ever flown. Hours delay, no explanation, I could put my hand outside the plane by the “window” and they confiscated things they could resell claiming they were dangerous (non aerosol bug spray).
So long
So , LAX Employee Cafeteria serves pilots Better food than the FC meals ! We have it from the pilot’s association itself . I have actually eaten in the LAX employee cafeteria ( by invitation ) , and I can attest to the quality of the apple pie .
If going for acquiring or keeping top-tier status is costing you the chance to have mid-tier status in multiple programs, you may want to re-evaluate if your objectively “over-invested” in your preferred airline/airline alliance.
Pursuit of airline status has been more costly than the resulting prizes / privileges for many years. It’s mostly motion-based. Much cheaper and more rational to just buy the privileges / comforts you want on a per-flight basis.
ua1flyer on FT has frequent flyer status for which to live. His “celebrity” status as a very frequent flyer — well over 20 million+ miles with UA — not only serves him well with UA. It was said to even have saved him in a way on FT when FA admins/moderators flagged him, ua1flyerLilBro and a couple of other accounts as being duplicate member accounts for him and were considering suspensions/bans.
The site’s privileged actors seem to be on a suspension/banning kick, as they also shut down Mama. They also are said to have lsquare and AADFW in their sights for different reasons. In other words, celebrity frequent flyer status may count for even more with and beyond the airline.
@ GUWonder — WTH are you talking about?
Having status >> Not having status. But don’t start expecting it to be better than just paying for everything. But free >>paying.
I’m PP, SO is EP this year on AA. We’re “downgrading” to both be PP, as that will get us most of what we want, for “free”. MCE seats at booking. Business line check-in (more valuable than you think). Access to foreign lounges. Extra bags. Priority bag delivery (when they remember to do it). The occasional upgrade. (Kid1 has gotten more upgrades as Gold than we’ve gotten with SO EP status.)
The extra spend is being redirected to transferrable currencies and Hyatt, where Globalist really is worth having. When you’ve only got limited spend, allocating it properly is the real name of the game. Having some status, at the right places, is what you should be doing. The right mix for your situation is the key to more enjoyable travel.
@Nick: Well said about United 1K. I could not agree with you more.
Why is the lawsuit in NY? Why does it have standing there?
I’m one of those low-level 1Ks that Nick talks about. I do two or four cycles a week, usually. I earned my status in the modern era of PQPs. I would have barely made it for 2024 if not for that 2500 PQP kicker at the beginning of 2023 (now not in place for 2024, so that should satisfy Nick). I would never make 100K miles in a year for a simple fact: I fly out of ORD and only do domestic and flights that are only technically international (i.e. Toronto). ORD is the worst hub in United’s system to earn miles from unless you’re doing two round-trips to LAX or SFO a week, which I’m not.
Therefore, I have an imperative to earn PQPs, regardless of the length of flight. I do a number of flights to smaller airports that are, naturally, more expensive to fly into (pretty much all my trips are job-related, and they happen to be the closest airport to where I’m going). More PQPs that way, cha-ching. I never used to use my miles for personal trips until they started to offer PQPs for award flights; this year, I’m flying to Brisbane and Reykjavik on miles, and last year, I did Dublin. I used to have a policy about not having any credit card with an annual fee; now I’m the proud owner and heavy user of a Club Infinite card, which also earns me PQPs (I have backup points accruing with Bilt and bought points into Aeroplan as my backups; thank you, Mr. Leff for tips on those two).
As for upgrades, I never expect them to clear for hub-to-hub. But I have situations like today, where I got my upgrade cleared on ORD – JAX, and have JAX – IAD cleared as well for my flight on Tuesday. Not IAD – ORD on Tuesday, of course. Those hub-to-hubs are where I invest my PlusPoints in the futile hope that it pushes me far enough up the ranks to clear.
So I play the game with the rules as they are. No, I’ll never be a 100K mile flyer, but I do show my loyalty to United and get the rewards the rules allow me to earn.
I flew LIAT back in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. What a garbage airline. It was so blatantly engaged in predatory pricing when new competitors started up only to surge prices once the competitors pulled out of the market leaving residents and visitors alike with the same poor product and service.
The “The US Sun” article about being a “Philip” annoyed me. The flight attendants “are constantly up and down the aisles for regular drink and food service, so unless it’s vital, stay put and be patient”, rather than ringing the bell for such service. What crap. I’m sure you all agree that on many flights that’s not what happens, at all.