Flight Attendant Making $250,000 A Year Says She Was Fired By Delta For Stealing Milk

by Gary Leff

delta plane
Dec 05 2019

She says that her seniority meant she was earning $250,000 a year as a flight attendant and that Delta just wanted to replace her with someone cheaper and younger and she says “her bosses dismissed her for taking a carton of milk off a plane after her line manager gave her permission.”

Reportedly her termination was for “improperly pa[ying] a co-worker to work her position and later fail[ing] to work at her designated position on a different flight. She was also accused of stealing aircraft items for personal use and spiking her coffee with alcohol during a flight.”

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It’s A Mistake To Finish The Southwest Elite Status Challenge Too Quickly

by Gary Leff

Dec 05 2019

The Southwest Airlines elite status challenge, which gives you 3 months of status and an expedited path to keep it for a year, has several quirks. One is that the status lasts literally a year, not the full next year. Another is that once the year is up you can sign up for another challenge.

I discovered a third quirk and that’s that you may want to time just when you complete your challenge. Here’s why.

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Scott Kirby To Become United Airlines CEO In May, What Can We Expect For The Airline?

by Gary Leff

united-plane
Dec 05 2019

Oscar Munoz is leaving United as CEO and Scott Kirby will take on that job May 20, 2020. Munoz will become Executive Chairman for one year. United’s current chair, former FAA administrator Jane Garvey, will retire from the board at that point. This mirrors predictions I have offered here for some time.

Though there’s been some growth – and will need to be more as Kirby steps into the CEO role – Kirby’s history is one that suggests management from the spreadsheets. He’s taken things too far in the past, such as elimination of elite bonus miles and a plan to charge for water on board at US Airways, moves where he’s had to reverse course. It remains to be seen whether he can moderate those tendencies as he formally takes the reins at United.

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Hyatt Free Night Certificates Are More Useful In Hyatt’s New Peak/Off-Peak Award Pricing

by Gary Leff

cityscape
Dec 04 2019

Hyatt free night certificates remain valid whenever award rooms are available even on nights where peak pricing applies.

A category 4 hotel is 12000 points off-peak, 15000 points standard, and 18000 points at peak. You’ll want to redeem these certificates during peak nights, and use points during standard and off-peak nights (while paying attention to certificate expiration).

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Great Summer Business Class Award Space for Whole Family Using Delta or Air France Miles

by Gary Leff

Dec 04 2019

Air France KLM is offering great award space between the U.S. and Europe for this coming summer. There are plenty of routes and dates where you can book business class awards for at least four passengers.

Often Air France and KLM awards can be booked using their own Flying Blue miles – easy to get, they’re a transfer partner of American Express, Chase, Citibank, and Capital One – however in this case most flights appear even to be bookable using Delta SkyMiles as well (Delta is an American Express transfer).

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