The airline bailout provided cash to continue to pay employees. They aren’t allowed to involuntarily lay off employees or reduce rates of pay through September 30. However one U.S. airline found a workaround: requiring unpaid time off. That way they keep the money to protect shareholders at the expense of employees.
It appears these account shutdowns were based on a belief that they could be the victim of hacking. In this case, accounts that were suspected to have been hacked are being replaced by brand new accounts with miles transferred – though apparently the transfer of elite status, systemwide upgrades, and the like is not instantaneous.
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.
Frequent flyer programs have done an amazing job of turning marketing from an expense into a profit center. But without travel, members are less engaged in the programs. And that means less spend with credit card partners, too.
It takes creative effort to get members continuing to earn in the program when they aren’t likely to redeem right away. But that earning means cash now – and is even more valuable than ever both because of the premium on cash for struggling businesses and because the redemption expenses won’t come until later.
Norwegian’s failure was one of 10 things I told you to expect from the coronavirus crisis. They’re now putting four subsidiaries which employ crew into bankruptcy and terminating other staffing agreements. They’re blaming the choice on which companies to put into bankruptcy on lack of subsidies by the governments of Sweden and Denmark.
Virgin Australia is entering ‘voluntary administration’, the Australian equivalent to bankruptcy that envisions continued operation in some form. This follows the country’s government declining to extend a bailout of approximately US$892 million.
Citi has added Emirates Skywards as a points transfer partner for its Citi Premier and Prestige cards. Emirates is now a partner of Citi, Chase, American Express and Capital One – this strikes me as a problem for Barclays which is rolling out an Emirates credit card in the U.S.
Emirates offers great award availability from a variety of U.S. destinations, however fuel surcharges (which depend on the destination flown) are often very expensive and premium cabin awards are priced at 2x coach for business class and 3x coach for first class.
Plans to re-open the economy in phases are still speculative, and still just plans. They haven’t yet hit the reality of local politics (sustaining closures in the face of a struggling economy) or European politics (and pressure, perhaps coming from Germany and in exchange for economic aid, to follow a more unified approach). Thus pronouncements about re-opening Spain ‘at the end of the year’ and Italy ‘after March 2021’ are at this point merely suggestive of the challenges that international travel will face, rather than something to be taken at face value.
Before we were all grounded, air travel had become incredibly small-d democratic, with people of all walks of life, cultures, and belief systems mixing in a small metal tube. It had become far more affordable over the past 40 years, no longer something you dress up for but also a place where behaviors clash and people come into conflict with one another. (This was the worst passenger of 2019.)
Now with only the most pressing or somber of occasions leading people to travel by air, you’d expect the level of bad behavior on planes to lessen.
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.
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 »
