New Details About The American Airlines Renovation Of New York JFK Terminal 8

by Gary Leff

outside airport
Jan 19 2020

I read through the 112 page Department of Transportation approval for renovations at New York JFK terminal 8, which will facilitate the British Airways co-location with American, and learned several interesting things about the project.

The most significant new information I gleaned from the document is that American and British Airways will operate a shared lounge and that there will be a dedicated premium passenger path directly to the lounge. I don’t think I had realized though that the total number of gates in the terminal would actually decrease with this work to accommodate more widebodies.

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American Airlines Sent The Members Of Their Secret Concierge Key Club A Gift

by Gary Leff

Jan 18 2020

American Airlines has sent out its annual gift to its Concierge Key customers. Reader Alex shared his. A year ago the chocolate company that provided the Concierge Key gift published that American AIrlines had ordered 11,300 of them. That’s consistent with the 10,000 to 15,000 estimate I’ve been using since 2014. The first thing to note is that this year’s chocolates are provided ‘in partnership with Barclays’. That means American made Barclays pay for the chocolates. The chocolates have artistic packaging featuring various cities. There’s also a drawing Concierge Key members can enter to win (1) 100,000 AAdvantage miles, and (2) an Admirals Club membership they can gift (Concierge Key members receive complimentary Admirals Club for themselves). There are (5) prizes, and only residents of the 48 contiguous U.S. states and the District of Columbia…

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United Puts New Premium Plane On New York – DC Shuttle 10 Times a Day

by Gary Leff

Jan 17 2020

Starting March 29 United will run 13 daily flights between the two cities. Ten of those flights will be using the airline’s new premium-heavy regional jet they’ve dubbed the ‘CRJ-550’ and 3 flights will be on larger Embraer 175s.

United can offer more flights – frequency is attractive to business travelers – offering fewer seats per flight on average. And they’re offering a product on 10 of the flights where they’re putting just 50 seats on the plane that’s designed for 40% more than that. Plenty of space per passenger is attractive, too.

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United Eliminates Contract Lounge Benefit For Star Alliance Customers

by Gary Leff

Jan 16 2020

United has been inviting its business class customers to contract lounges in about 30 cities, and they’ve extended this option to Star Alliance members are well even though they aren’t required to.

Now United has mostly eliminated the practice. Except at two airports United no longer invites Star Alliance Gold members (who aren’t flying business class) to use contract lounges. This move (naturally) follows one made a few years ago by Delta.

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