Let’s mix metaphors for a second. After a game of airline partner musical chairs in South America, everyone is solidifying the relationship with their new dance partner.
Delta began mileage earning and redemption with LATAM a month ago and just signed their joint venture agreement. Now American Airlines has introduced frequent flyer reciprocity with new partner Gol, based in Brazil, which Delta used to own a stake in.
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.
American continues to spend money they do not have in order to squeeze more seats onto planes that they cannot sell. American is densifying aircraft to prepare for a future in which passengers demand the ability to buy more space for themselves.
That’s odd enough. Once they complete this retrofit, they go do it again to fix the flawed first class they continue to install.
The Points Guy ran a video by Brian Kelly arguing “against any unnecessary travel at all.” I’m not persuaded, and hashing this out publicly should help people make up their own mind.
It can certainly make sense to do limited domestic travel this summer if you aren’t living in a coronavirus hotspot, aren’t heading towards one, and are not in a high risk group (and do not live or work with people that are). I’m not telling anyone that they should travel for leisure but the argument doesn’t hold that no one should.
Southwest Airlines flight WN1392 from Dallas Love Field with 53 passengers and 5 crew on board landed in Austin Thursday night at 8:12 p.m. The plane struck and killed a man on runway 17R, despite seeing him there and – according to the airline – maneuvering to avoid him, though air traffic control audio doesn’t seem to support that explanation.
The CEO of the American Association of Airport Executives told Congress that $10 billion is the minimum that airports want in a second bailout, and they aren’t even coming first offering to clean up corruption at airports including Atlanta, Detroit, and Washington Dulles and National and New York LaGuardia, JFK, and Newark.
The first $10 billion, which distributed funds to 3200 airports, became such a mess that some airports received 25 to 50 times their annual expenses.
SkyWest flies as United Express, American Eagle, and Delta Connection. They’re a large passenger airline operating regional jets and they actually made money during the first quarter. That’s because the major airlines largely pay them for capacity whether there are passengers or not.
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.
I’m more excited about air travel today than I have been in a long time, and it’s all because a promotion Air Canada ran became so frustrating, the incredible demand for Aeroplan’s first-ever mileage sale offer.
And that was before Aeroplan decided to award even more bonus miles than they had promised.
Early on in the pandemic I told you to wait to cancel your travel plans. Two months ago I suggested that future plans shouldn’t cancelled right away because if the travel provider cancels on you then you’ll be entitled to a refund, while if you cancel plans when a flight is still operating all you can get is a voucher.
Many consumers were duped by airlines into taking vouchers when entitled to a refund. It’s not too late for them to get their money back.
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 »
