What Happens to People Who Die on Planes and a New DC Lounge for United Elites

News and notes from around the interweb:

  • This is how it’s done, people. El Al is making some minor adjustments to mileage-earning for flights. But those changes have been announced now and don’t go into effect until September 2017 (which necessarily means tickets that haven’t been purchased yet). (HT: David H.)

    Change in Point Accrual for Economy Class Tickets on Flights as of September 1, 2017
    On flights as of September 1, 2017, point accrual in K and V classes will be doubled.
    Point accrual in W, B or Q class is in effe​ct only for departures until August 31, 2017.

  • Watch this video of a man who missed his flight in Madrid — but managed to get onto the tarmac to chase after the plane. This happens more than you’d think, like last year with a United flight in Denver. (HT: One Mile at a Time)

About Gary Leff

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 »

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Comments

  1. I could have done without reading about how they handle people dying mid flight. That was somewhat of a brutal article to read.

  2. A little over two years ago my sister and I were on a redeye TPE>SEA when a fellow business passenger passed on peacefully. The crew had a body bag for him, and put him back in his seat. Biz was at best half-full and the other passengers were offered to be re-seated. (We did not request re-seating…we were not adjacent and have worked in professions where we lost our ‘squick’ reactions at being near deceased persons.)

  3. The subject line of this post could use an edit—lots of options!

    With that said, once opened, the content is -as usual- good reading. Thanks Gary!

  4. My friends who work for Delta, told me long ago (this was before the merger with NWA– and I don’t know if the policy has changed) , that NO ONE EVER DIES ON A DELTA FLIGHT. When I asked for an explanation, they said that even if someone apparently dies in flight, the crew is not supposed to have that person pronounced dead by a doctor, etc. They said that if a person dies in flight (i.e. pronounced dead in flight), then upon landing the plane is impounded for 24 hours for an investigation. That’s the last thing Delta wants, so the crew’s orders are that nobody dies in the air.

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