News notes from around the interweb:
- Uber is going to start putting ads on vehicles like old school taxis. The pilot starts April 1 in Atlanta, Dallas and Phoenix, with Uber and Uber Eats drivers who opt in earning $300 plus $100 per week they drive at least 20 hours.
- This was an amazing sand storm.
All flights in and out of Gran Canaria and all flights leaving Tenerife suspended due to a storm carrying sand from the Sahara. https://t.co/Ll8cz3cLdl pic.twitter.com/ji1vMpUuky
— Breaking Aviation News (@breakingavnews) February 22, 2020
- Just how big a mess South African Airways is at the management level
- United catering changes
- Expedia is laying off 12% of staff. Don’t expect the miserable booking platform to get better…
Expedia Dancer Positions May No Longer Be Available. Flickr: Juggernautco - American Express lounge in Mumbai now reserves its sit down dining section for Centurion cardholders
- Southwest Airlines will fly Denver-Steamboat Springs starting this winter. That’s not a new city I’d have predicted for Southwest but of course it doesn’t take a ton of aircraft time. Denver – Steamboat Springs is largely a connecting market not Southwest’s traditional short and medium haul point to point.
Don’t understand your comment on Expedia. How is a “miserable” platform capable in $25B in bookings, $2.75Bin revenue and generate a $75M profit, all in 3 months?
These layoffs are a result of good management and streamlining the business before it gets bloated an weigh down the company.
Having a hard time understanding how this makes Expedia “miserable” and why we should expect things “to get worse”
@H – Expedia does a poor job helping consumers to navigate travel. They buy a ton of eyeballs, and they’re well-established players dating back 25 years. However consumer experience is in my experience and that of myriad readers quite awful – especially when there are bumps along the way and customer service is required.
For instance,
https://viewfromthewing.com/one-reason-not-book-expedia/
https://viewfromthewing.com/how-the-craziest-resort-fee-ever-was-made-worse-by-expedia/
https://viewfromthewing.com/expedia-blacklists-haiti-says-it-no-longer-exists/
https://viewfromthewing.com/41371/
https://viewfromthewing.com/expedia-quietly-eliminate-best-price-guarantee/
https://viewfromthewing.com/45389/
They don’t even do an especially good job of advising travelers on the choices they might make. It’s a self-service platform geared towards selling, IMHO.
I had horrible customer service from Expedia
I not only won’t book through the platform.
Anyone who does business with them I drop immediately
Getting worse? that’s a hard thing to imagine
H,
you are the best expedia dick sucker i have ever known. what made you?
seems like a classy response ^^
@steven k
That’s one way to put it.
The sandstorm-related flight cancellations in the Canaries have caused lots of kids and teachers in Europe to miss a few days of school. I guess that’s one way to have an extended all-inclusive vacation.
Hey Gary, can you write a post about ways that airlines actually gained from the corona virus? For example, I’m sire airlines who need more capacity due to the 737-Max situation can now utilize aircraft that was previously scheduled for China. One specific airline that crosses my mind in this scenario is Air Canada.
@JamesP – I don’t think that’s a net gain, if it was they’d have redeployed aircraft to begin with (except where they need to squat on slots) in any case demand for travel is falling and not just on China routes – that’s not good for airlines.
Expedia is the worst travel company I’ve had the misfortune to deal with ( to put that in context, I’ve flown on Libyan Airlines, PIA, Air China in the ‘80s and a multitude of other shitty airlines). Expedia takes the cake, by a country mile. Abysmal beyond description…..
@Gary – I saw an ad on top of an UberX two weeks ago in Atlanta, so they’ve been going for some time. Interestingly, the ads have GPS tracking because some areas do not permit such advertising, so the ads automatically turn off in some parts of greater Atlanta.
What OTC does Chase use for its UR travel program? Was it Expedia? If so, how will the Chase UR desk be possibly affected?