United reportedly has an effort to go after customers specifically that utilize Skiplagged to fly hidden city itineraries on the airline.
In one case they’re demanding payment of over $3000 and threatening to shut down the member’s frequent flyer account and ban then from the airline. They are also threatening to send this to collections. That would damage the member’s credit report.
When a plane has to divert you want the process to go as quickly as possible. At the end of a long transoceanic flight the last thing you want is to sit on the ground an extra four hours, not permitted to leave the aircraft. I have to feel especially for passengers in coach on that 767. American’s CEO himself says that plane is a bad experience and they know that their fleet of the aircraft has reliability issues.
Air Italy — which is 49% owned by Qatar Airways and has leased aircraft from Qatar — loaned an Airbus A330-200 to Finnair. This was after a loading vehicle at Chicago O’Hare took out a Finnair A330-300.
Finnair of course is a member of the oneworld alliance, and an anti-trust immunized joint venture partner across the Atlantic with American Airlines (along with British Airways and Iberia). And they’ll be using the Air Italy plan until October 31 for flights to Chicago and Miami.
Here is, as they say, ‘the rest of the story’.
Pulling up Royal Air Maroc fares between Washington Dulles and Barcelona brings up pricing around $1700 which is great in itself. They fly Boeing 787s with lie flat business class between Washington Dulles and Casablanca. From there it’s a short 737 flight to many destinations in Europe.
But it gets better. Skyscanner is coming up with sites selling it even cheaper — from $1490 roundtrip. Roundtrip business class fares are available between $1500 and $1700 to several other destinations like Madrid, Paris, Lisbon, Rome, Milan, and Amsterdam.
McKinsey & Co has a new report “How to improve airline customer-loyalty programs.”
It begins by outlining the challenge airlines face managing the balance between printing miles and making award seats available for redemption.
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 stock has plummeted. The price of fuel is way up. The markets haven’t liked their big capital expenses, in new aircraft and facilities.
Their third quarter earnings call is scheduled for the morning of Thursday, October 25. And they need to walk in with a narrative Wall Street might like.
During the airline’s earnings call yesterday CEO Ed Bastian says Delta is now up to monetizing “about 60%” of their first class seats. So they’re behind goal (though they’re apparently ahead of their peers who are likely still in the 40’s).
One way they plan to increase the number of seats they’re upselling to customers, rather than offering as complimentary upgrades, is to offer payment by miles as an alternative to cash.
In a post-9/11 world it’s important not to challenge a flight attendant’s authority because you may wind up confronted by law enforcement. I’ve seen passengers express concern when a flight attendant moved their stuff in the overhead bin, and immediately face an “are we going to have a problem today?” response.
So it doesn’t surprise me that a situation with a 71 year old grandmother flying with her grandchildren ended badly.
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 »
