There’s speculation that American Airlines could announce an order for Airbus A321XLRs at the Paris Air Show, which runs later this month June 17-23. The idea would be to replace Boeing 757s, to allow flights to smaller European cities from New York and Philadelphia.
The narrowbody aircraft could even be outfitted with lie flat direct aisle access business class seats.
If Germany’s Payment Services Supervision Act applies to ‘buying’ Lufthansa’s miles using points in another program, then they aren’t currently in compliance with the Act, in part because ‘e-payments’ are now regulated as traditional payment services. That means registration, government supervision, and “strong customer authentication” among other requirements.
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.
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 »
