American Airlines is offering double miles, up to an additional 10,000 miles, for new tickets booked by June 30 and travel by September 30. They’re also promoting a fare sale through June 14 and vacation package discounts to goose summer bookings.
Starting today there are several changes to American Airlines catering: more hand sanitizer and substantial changes to beverage service.
I’ve been consistently hearing from American Airlines employees that several Admirals Clubs are expected to open in June. I’ve heard about major hub clubs, and the dates being offered are late in the month.
Asked about what I’ve been hearing, an American Airlines spokesperson offered “We hope to have more information to share this week.”
This morning I covered a fantastic story about an interaction between American Airlines CEO Doug Parker and a Southwest Airlines flight attendant, where they connected over issues of race and the challenges confronting our country right now. This story, initially shared by the flight attendant to Facebook, is gaining broad coverage across the internet.
Doug Parker actually shared his version of the encounter as well, first with American’s executive leadership and then with employees on their company intranet. Here’s what he wrote.
Update: American’s new award change and reinstatement fees have been pushed off from June 1 to July 1. That’s an extra month where you can take advantage of waived change fees, booking before the potential for big new costs go into effect.
Yesterday British Airways announced a change to its frequent flyer program purporting to preclude members from taking it to court or participating in any class action lawsuit.
However that would seem to run directly contrary to the express provisions of 14 CFR § 253.10. In other words, it appears that British Airways may be breaking the law.
Working as a flight attendant has been transformed over the last 40 years from high status to much lower status in American esteem. One day a year though we’re supposed to re-elevate the role. Yet somehow I’ve never really internalized that May 31 is international Flight Attendant Appreciation Day.
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 Airlines CEO Doug Parker was flying Southwest Airlines out of Dallas to end the week, an airline he’s called ‘the cattle car’. A flight attendant notices the book he brought on board, but not who he is. He’s not her CEO, after all.
Parker was reading White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard For White People To Talk About Racism. During the trip the flight attendant sat down next to him, he was in an empty row, and she asked him how the book is.
For people not quite ready to go back to the way things were, there’s a restaurant that’s opened for only one guest a a time. In the middle of a field.
When a guest arrives they’re “greeted with a sign and a rope.” The rope leads to a table in the middle of a meadow. The restaurant asks you for a list of your closest friends, and they solicit a note from someone you know. The note is at the table, so the meal begins with ‘social interaction’.
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 »
