American Airlines let go Chief Commercial Officer Vasu Raja, architect of their strategy of chasing award managed business travel. His thesis had been that they were going to fill their planes, and didn’t need to offer companies discounts. They’d make more money, and do so at a lower cost – without the sales teams and special customer service to service those accounts.
Now they’re backtracking on this strategy.
Now that American Airlines is huddling with its flight attendants union in Phoenix this week to wrap up a new contract, without even the help of federal mediators, United Airlines flight attendants are ready to turn up the heat in their own negotiations.
An American Airlines first class passenger had no class, sitting in the bulkhead row feet propped up on the wall. It’s bad enough with shoes, but hers were off for the whole cabin to see (and for their seat opponent to smell).
A passenger reviewing the Delta One Lounge at New York JFK shared her experience on the ground, and up in the air, as much from the perspective of her pooch as from a passenger. Her dog loved the new business class-only space, including the food, showing the pet dining and eating various courses from the table.
Sandra “Pepa” Denton, half of Salt ‘n Pepa perhaps best known for safe sex and anti-censorship anthem Let’s Talk About Sex, was kicked off of a Southwest Airlines flight from Las Vegas to Nashville after refusing to give up a seat she had purchased.
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 social media life coach offers advice on “how to meet rich men.” Their solution is to go to the airport with plenty of time to kill, and instead of buying snacks buy a day pass for a United Club. The cost of the access can be amortized across free food and drink, and it’s a target-rich environment.
When someone comes into town do you pick them up at the airport? It’s a lot easier, especially with electronic requests for a ride and just entering an address into a phone app (and no need for local currency, even), to just have them Uber or Lyft. In some parts of the world it’s Grab or Didi.
But picking up someone from the airport is an act of love. It takes effort and planning. It’s twice as much driving, and it involves waiting. It’s precisely because it is harder and more costly that it works as a signal of how much you care.
You should stand as soon as your plane lands and arrives at the gate. You shouldn’t wait until everyone in the rows ahead of you has had their turn to get off the plane. This helps everyone stretch out a little bit, and move faster off the plane, which benefits other passengers, the airline, and ultimately you too.
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 »
