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.
Norwegian Air Shuttle flight DY1933 from Dubai to Oslo was flying over Shiraz, Iran at 32,000 feet on Friday when the crew received indication of low oil pressure on the number one engine, shut down the engine and burned off fuel, and diverted to Shiraz.
Norwegian sent a replacement Boeing 737-800 from Oslo to Shiraz to pick up passengers. Mechanics were also flown to Shiraz to deal with the grounded 737 MAX. However sanctions on Iran complicate the airline’s ability to source parts for the aircraft.
Marriott told us from the get go that their new top awards price of 60,000 points per night would last only until 2019 and that next year they’d start charging up to 100,000 points for their best redemptions with the introduction of a new category 8 along with low season and high season prices.
Marriott now says that category 8 will start in March and that the date for launching high and low season pricing is not yet known.
Actor Stephen Keys, known for appearing in the movie Soul Plane, flew on an American Airlines flight operated by SkyWest from Reno to Los Angeles on September 9th.
He got his pinky stuck in the armrest of his first class seat and it took “nearly an hour” to get dislodged.
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 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.
The symbol of Southwest Airlines is a heart. This has been a theme of the airline’s since the beginning. They launched at Dallas Love field. Their flight attendants wore pink hot pants (designed by founding airline President Lamar Muse’s first wife). Automated ticket machines were called “Quickies.” Peanuts at Southwest were once known as ‘Love Bites.’ Their New York Stock Exchange ticker symbol remains LUV.
On Sunday, though, it took on a whole new meaning because one of their planes had to turn around because a human heart was left on board.
There’s a change in policy coming to short United effective January 1. Instead of trying to offer a full drink service to economy passengers, flights attendants will pre-pour a selection of beverages and place those onto a “pick up pan” for customers.
It’s a quicker drink service that is easier to complete and also means less choice for customers. Flight attendants will choose what to pour, though they’re encouraged to offer coffee on morning flights.
Yesterday United Airlines made a big announcement of new flying from San Francisco. Today American Airlines is out with their own announcement of new flying as well.
American is expected to grow at both Dallas Fort-Worth (in 2019 with new gates coming online) and Charlotte (in 2020 with new gates coming online) and at Washington National (by operating larger regional jets at the dreaded gate 35X is replaced with a new regional concourse). The airline says these are their most profitable hubs.
American Airlines will let you buy back your status if you aren’t going to requalify. On the one hand it’s expensive. On the other if you were going to mileage run to reach the status level, this saves you time.
American may realize their prices are too high, or at least that they have plenty of time to market to members in different ways. If a member doesn’t buy, why not put elite status on a clearance sale?
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 »
