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Wow Air’s CEO Pledged His Home as Collateral. Now It’s For Sale.

by Gary Leff on October 16, 2019

Oct 16 2019

WOW Air CEO Skúli Mogensen pledged his home as $3 million of the collateral he used to obtain funds for fresh equity in the airline last year. Wow Air ceased operations in March, though a West Virginia heiress-turned-arms dealer bought the brand out of bankruptcy and has announced an unlikely scheme to fly again.

Now the home at Seltjarnarnes point, near Reykjavík, is for sale. The home is 6780 square feet over 3 stories and is listed at $2 million, so creditors are expected to take a significant loss.

Qatar Airways Now Offers al Safwa Lounge Access to Platinums Flying Business Class

by Gary Leff on October 16, 2019

hotel lobby

Oct 16 2019

With the continued blockade of Qatar led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE there are far fewer Qatar Airways short haul flights. That means fewer passengers with Al Safwa lounge access.

At the beginning of the year they started monetizing access to the lounge, upselling business class passengers initially for as little as $69 but more recently for $165. Now Qatar Airways has extended al Safwa lounge access to their Privilege Club Platinum members flying in business class.

Kevin Smith Got Kicked Off Southwest for Being Fat. That’s Why He Made “Jay & Silent Bob Reboot”

by Gary Leff on October 15, 2019

Oct 15 2019

Kevin Smith made headlines in 2010 over Southwest Airlines’ customer of size policy, vowing never to fly the airline again. He flew them again in 2011 and had another altercation over the policy. He boycotted the airline until 2016.

It turns out his confrontation with Southwest led to the making of the brand new Jay and Silent Bob Reboot.

Delta Sends Private Plane for 79 Students and Teachers When Another Airline Cancelled Flight

by Gary Leff on October 15, 2019

delta plane

Oct 15 2019

A group of 79 from the Ocean City High School boys’ and girls’ cross-country teams were flying from Philadelphia to Orlando on Thursday to compete in Saturday’s Disney Cross Country Classic at the ESPN Wide World of Sports. Their Frontier flight was cancelled, and Frontier said they wouldn’t be re-accommodated for six days (four days after the race was over). And no airline had enough seats for such a large group.

They thought the trip was off, but they tweeted at Delta — and two Delta agents met them as they were about to leave the airport: Delta would offer them a plane from Phiadelphia to Orlando.

Qatar Airways Just Hosted the LATAM Board Meeting and They’re Using It to Troll Delta

by Gary Leff on October 15, 2019

qatarplane

Oct 15 2019

Delta immediately turned the tables on US-Latin America flying by announcing plans to take a 20% stake in LATAM, South America’s largest airline. Delta is pulling them out of oneworld and out of a pending joint venture with American Airlines.

One side benefit that must have been sweet for Delta, though has gone largely unremarked upon, is the extra benefit that comes from sticking it to Qatar Airways. Now Qatar is trolling Delta back.

The Percentage of Lounge Guests Getting in With Priority Pass

by Gary Leff on October 15, 2019

lounge club

Oct 15 2019

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.

For Marriott’s New Global Promotion, They Won’t Tell You What It Is

by Gary Leff on October 15, 2019

Oct 15 2019

Marriott has a new global promotion (registration required by December 31) and it’s a secret promotion. What we know about it so far is incredibly weak. You don’t find out full details of the promotion until after your second stay.

With Package Holiday Airline Thomas Cook Out of Business, Spain is Subsidizing Tourism

by Gary Leff on October 14, 2019

Oct 14 2019

Other airlines will be picking up the slack bringing package holiday goers to Spanish resorts. Customers out money in the short-term likely won’t be rebooking until next season, however. Spain’s response is a complex web of arcane regulation and subsidy.

The Very First Inflight Video – 55 Years Ago – Was a Disaster

by Gary Leff on October 14, 2019

Oct 14 2019

Moving maps, thousands of movies and TV shows, and systems that let you create playlists and favorites and even keep your favorites from flight to flight using your frequent flyer number, inflight entertainment has come a long way.

As KLM celebrates 100 years they’ve made a ton of material available from their archives. The very first inflight video screens is something I had never seen before.

Why Higher Spending Requirements Put Elite Status on a Collision Course With Itself

by Gary Leff on October 14, 2019

airline seats

Oct 14 2019

Status does a great job motivating customers who buy coach, or at least fly coach a substantial portion of the time – for instance the road warrior whose company will spring for business class internationally once or twice a year but has a rule of 6 hours or more for premium cabin so domestic trips are mostly out up front.

Status does almost nothing to motivate someone who buys all premium cabin tickets. When elite status spending requirements are so high they’re met primarily by people who buy first class, elite status is meaningless.

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 »