A dirty secret is that cash has its drawbacks, too, and it’s often cheaper for a merchant to accept credit cards than it is to take cash. It’s not so secret anymore when businesses start adding extra steps and costs for cash acceptance.
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 Biden administration broke up the JetBlue-American Airlines partnership because they were concerned with competition in New York, and didn’t want competitors colluding. Or maybe they just wanted to make sure there wasn’t a third viable competitor to take on Delta?
Because it sure seems that the administration is more interested in keeping competition out of New York than ensuring it.
The smart thing would have been to take the money since nothing was required in exchange – it was literally just allowing the airline to increase paychecks without a new contract or accepting any company terms whatsoever. You don’t leave free money on the table especially when you… need the money. This would have set a new baseline to negotiate upwards from.
Seven years ago the NAACP issued a ‘travel advisory’ against American Airlines, lifted in July 2018. The civil rights organization says a “troubling pattern of a failure to address harmful behaviors” at the airline has it considering reinstating the warning.
American Airlines is offering a 17% raise and increased profit sharing to its flight attendants immediately, without waiting for a new contract. The union just has to allow them to pay cabin crew more, and doesn’t have to give anything up in return. That’s the message that airline CEO Robert Isom sent in the form of a video directly to flight attendants today.
The union has opened what they’re calling a “Strike Command Center.” To prepare for a strike, the union is telling flight attendants… you’re on your own and expect not to be able to pay credit card bills.
Sara Nelson’s flight attendants union AFA-CWA doesn’t allow crewmembers to directly elect its Master Executive Council officers and international officers.
Ms. Nelson took the issue to its annual board of directors meeting late last month. She lost on voice votes. She said this was “about putting power in each individual member’s hands.” Instead, union power will remain in the hands of insiders.
Delta and Starbucks launched a mileage partnership in fall 2022 where you would link your accounts and then earn 1 SkyMile per dollar spent at Starbucks (2 miles on days you flew Delta). This largely copied an Air Canada – Starbucks program in Canada.
They’ve now ‘optimized’ the program.
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 »
