In December Brazil advanced a rule to eliminate foreign ownership restrictions on airlines operating inside the country. There had been a 20% cap, and currently Delta owns 9.4% of Gol, Qatar 10% of LATAM, and United 8% of Azul — three airlines that control 92% of the Brazilian market.
The rule was temporary, requiring legislative action followed by the President’s signature. The President has one problem with the bill, and he announced it on YouTube.
Last month it was reported that rapper Drake had acquired a Boeing 767 dubbed ‘Air Drake’. Now it turns out he got the plane for free.
Travel bloggers descend on the TBEX conference hoping their small instagram following might net them a free hotel room night somewhere. Others hope to get free beauty supplies or diapers. Drake, it turns out, is a big enough influencer that he gets a free plane.
When you think of visiting Argentina the first thoughts are probably Buenos Aires, Iguazu Falls, or Mendoza for wine country. But American Airlines is offering an amazing $1436 roundtrip business class fare non-stop from Miami to Cordoba, Argentina — so you may want to visit Cordoba, or use it as your jumping off point for the region.
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.
After the opening of 15 new gates in terminal E satellite at Dallas Fort-Worth last month, American today is offering 900 flights and will continue to do so on peak days from the airport this summer. That’s a year-over-year increase of 100 flights.
Dallas Fort-Worth won’t be without challenges — DFW is colloquially known as “Doesn’t Function Wet” — but according to an internal communication there are several moves American has made to help with their operational reliability.
Bare feet on a plane are so controversial that a passenger with smelly feet drove another so nuts that he got stabbed on arrival.
That was clearly taking matters too far, but sticking bare feet into another passenger’s space or clipping toenails on board is clearly beyond the pale.
The world airline trade group IATA says the Boeing 737 MAX could fly again in August. Not everyone is so sure. Different countries’ regulators are taking different approaches, though the US is pushing for many countries to re-certify the plane at the same time — and quickly.
Icelandair has leased aircraft to pick up the slack for grounded 737 MAXs, and in a move that reveals a shocking lack of confidence in the aircraft returning to their skies any time soon the airline has let go of 45 Boeing 737 MAX pilots.
Yesterday I wrote about Lufthansa’s “Mileage Bargains” — roundtrip business class awards between the US and Europe for just 55,000 miles.
Commenter Tim noted that “Lufthansa says that as of May 24th 2019 they no longer are accepting Marriott points for transfers to Lufthansa miles.” It turns out the problem is not limited to Marriott transfers.
I recently wrote about American’s two different award search tools, and how to access the old one for the better ‘calendar view’ that will also tell you whether you’re getting a saver award or more expensive AAnytime award.
I mentioned that the new award search tool won’t show ‘web special’ awards. That actually isn’t true. They’re just not well-disclosed on the new award search tool.
Chase and British Airways renewed their US co-brand credit card deal. They have partnered for 26 years and last announced an extension of their relationship in May 2015.
Last month I wrote that Chase was surveying customers about how to redesign an airline card. And now the bank and airline have announced that “[i]n the fall of 2019, Chase, Avios and British Airways will announce new enhancements to the British Airways Visa Signature Card that were developed with cardmember feedback in mind.”
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 »
