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.
We’re in a recession. We’re not traveling. Rewards credit cards that are optimized for travel may not be top of wallet. Cards that are optimized for heavily travel customers may also not match current spending patterns. We’re beginning to see brands and issuers adapt.
American Airlines lost over $2.2 billion in the first quarter, even though things didn’t begin to go south until March. They’re pulling in new cash everywhere they can, cutting costs, and expect not to have any difficulty securing not just payroll protection grants from the U.S. treasury but also subsidized loans.
Those financial metrics aren’t what I’m most interested in at this point, nor the $40 billion in debt they could soon be carrying. Those issues are well covered elsewhere. I wanted to highlight 6 other things last may get less play in broader coverage.
Airports across North America – 22 in the U.S. and one in Canada – will be bringing you JetStreamFest, the JetStream Music Festival, on Facebook Live beginning May 6 at 6 p.m. Eastern time. The event, hosted by my home town Austin airport which features live music throughout the year during normal times, will feature local musicians from each participating airport’s city. “Austin is the Live Music Capital of the World. Typically, we have 31 live performances across 7 stages in our terminal. Live music and supporting our local artists is who AUS is, even during the difficult times,” said Jacqueline Yaft, Chief Executive Officer of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. “Airports are known for bringing people together, and we want to continue doing so even when you can’t travel. Virtual music is a great way to…
As part of raising funds on the private market and from the U.S. government, the airline had its unencumbered assets appraised. Parker reported that the value of these assets came back at $10 billion “excluding the AAdvantage program.”
During the airline’s earnings call Parker was pressed on what appraisals found the AAdvantage program to be worth.
Star Alliance carrier TAP Air Portugal has filed $1 each way base fares between New York JFK and Barcelona with a connection in Lisbon. This translates into roundtrip airfare starting at $168 including all taxes and fees.
Delta lawyers submitted a filing to the Department of Transportation in which they make the case that travel is unsafe and flights should be limited if at all possible.
That’s not the position Delta takes in public or emphasizes with employees. But it’s a convenient argument to make when they’re trying to reduce their service obligations under the federal airline bailout.
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.
The French government has placed several conditions on the 7.5 billion euro bailout it’s providing. The biggest one is that the airline will no longer be allowed to sell purely domestic trips between Paris and domestic cities that are within a 2.5 hour train ride of the capital.
United is effectively saying that they will not provide refunds for cancelled flights, only for significant delays, because cancelled flights do not exist. They are treating DOT rules – which specifically provide for two separate reasons for a refund – as though they only provide for one.
If an airline used to fly 8 times a day between two cities, and now flies just 3 times a day, that airline has cancelled 5 flights even though the airline can still accommodate the customer. United disagrees, but that is absurd on its face.
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 »
