Hong Kong Airlines was troubled long before protests erupted in the Chinese Special Administrative Region, keeping travelers away. Parent HNA Group was under strict orders to deleverage, with the government concerned about over $100 billion in debt.
HNA had problems paying for fuel. They had problems meeting interest obligations. They missed a $43 million debt payment last year and offered travel vouchers instead of cash to repay its investors.
Not only does Southwest offer ‘family boarding’ when you’re traveling with a child under 4 years old — boarding with elites who don’t have A group boarding passes — but if you are traveling with a lap infant and the flight isn’t 100% full you can almost always get an extra seat for your baby without having to buy them one.
Whenever there’s a flight delay I’ve been able to get agents – whether on the phone or in an Admirals Club – to get me rebooked. However being an Executive Platinum helps, having lounge access helps, and it can be difficult for many passengers to get through to an agent when flights go bad.
The airline has a tool to let customers rebook themselves onto new flights. It’s available on the website, using the airline’s mobile app, or at kiosks and launched two years ago. But when does the ability to rebook oneself onto a new flight become available?
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.
Last week I learned that each month between 10% and 15% of United Vacations sales are made on credit. Since the same credit provider services AA Vacations I assume the results there are similar, though I don’t know their numbers specifically. I found this disconcerting, but not surprising.
KLM’s Amsterdam – Mexico City flight turned around back to Amsterdam when it had already made it to North America on Thursday, sending passengers back to where they started.
If I were a passenger on the flight I certainly wouldn’t second guess the judgment not to take risks. However I’d hope to land somewhere closer to where I was headed.
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.
A woman went down to valet parking at the Homewood Suites Austin Downtown and gave what she said was her room number. She was sympathetic. She explained that “she had lost all of her belongings” in the nearby bar district the previous night. The valet believed her story, and gave her the car she asked for.
American Airlines has spent a lot of time moving around little green pieces of paper. Starting this month though the paper burden has been reduced.
Airbnb is politically unpopular in many cities. Opponents of the homesharing service are a mixture of hotel industry lobbyists and local residents who believe they pay higher rents because units that would otherwise be available to them are put on the market for tourists instead.
New research though shows that it isn’t the poor – least able to bear the burden of increased rents – suffering from Airbnb. According to a paper by Sophie Calder-Wang of Harvard (.pdf) the “increased rent burden falls most heavily on high-income, educated, and white renters, because they prefer housing and location amenities most desirable to tourists.”
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 »
