United Introducing New Seat Assignment Fees and New Benefits for Corporate Travelers

by Gary Leff

airplane seats
Aug 13 2018

This is all good news for corporate customers, especially big customers of United. Outside of change fee and reaccommodation waivers, the benefits largely come at the expense of flyers who are not corporate customers. Luckily the extra juice corporate customers are getting here is very much at the margin, a Platinum member’s upgrade will still trump a Gold member for instance.

More seats that require a fee isn’t surprising, but it does make buying up from United’s uncompetitive basic economy that much less appealing. Non-corporate leisure customers should increasingly consider American, Delta, or Southwest.

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Here’s How Much Airlines Made Off Their Frequent Flyer Programs So Far This Year

by Gary Leff

graph chart
Aug 13 2018

Frequent flyer programs create tremendous value for airlines. They’re highly profitable, and have been for years. When United filed for bankruptcy it was said to have to continue flying to support the underlying credit card business. The airline’s first call after seeing the judge each time was to Jamie Dimon.

The issuer of the United co-brand credit card provided debtor-in-possession financing to United, and co-led bankruptcy exit financing. As with other airlines, United received hundreds of millions of dollars in loans backed by future mileage sales to provide liquidity during the financial crisis.

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Lawsuit: American Airlines Baggage Handler Made Up Terrorist Threat Against Dying Passenger

by Gary Leff

american eagle plane
Aug 13 2018

This story is among the most egregious I’ve heard and as it proceeds it just gets worse and worse.

Debbie Cardarelli is suing American Airlines for more than $1 million over the experience her now deceased husband had last year as the two flew home from Miami to Rochester, New York via Philadelphia in March 2017. As they boarded their connecting segment to Rochester they were told the aircraft, an Embraer ERJ-145, wouldn’t have room onboard for their carry on and they’d have to gate check it.

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Can Prayer Replace the Need for Aircraft Mechanics — and Even New Planes?

by Gary Leff

airline cabin
Aug 12 2018

American Airlines is having trouble getting a mechanics contract done. They blame themselves for giving mechanics a mid-contract pay raise, so there’s not as much money for mechanics to get by agreeing to a contract. Mechanics are unhappy with the potential for the airline to outsource jobs.

But what if you didn’t even need mechanics to repair planes? The FAA hasn’t approved this, but televangelist Kenneth Copeland claims that G-d healed the corrosion on his private jet.

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Free Alerts for Hotel Award Space and Confirmed Suites

by Gary Leff

hyatt deals
Aug 12 2018

Say that you wanted to stay at the Park Hyatt Vendome in Paris over Christmas. The hotel has rooms for sale, but there are no award rooms available for December 22-26.

You can set an alert for a Park Queen or for the Twin which are bookable with points. Or perhaps you already have a room booked at the hotel and what you are looking to do is use points or a confirmed suite upgrade for a suite — but the standard suite isn’t available. Set an alert for the Park Suite King.

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American Airlines President Confirms They’re Considering Dropping More Chicago – Asia Flights

by Gary Leff

american airlines planes
Aug 12 2018

Last week a Chicago-based flight attendant asked American’s President Robert Isom about “the rumor that we’re going to lose all of our Asia flying” from O’Hare. Isom didn’t say no, Chicago won’t lose Asia service. Instead he explained how he sees American’s hubs.

American’s Vice President – Planning Vasu Raja added “the core of Chicago is an extremely profitable hub” because of connecting traffic in the Midwest and flying to partner hubs. “The only hubs that are more profitable than that are indeed Dallas and Charlotte.” However “the drags on Chicago are indeed Chicago to Asia flying.”

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