Loyalty programs are having a hard time delivering cherished upgrades to elites, they’re monetizing premium cabins more than ever before, so what does the future look like for the all-important recognition component of airline elite status?
American Airlines is surveying elites with these questions to help them decide.
I’ve been using an HP Spectre X360 and I think it’s great. A couple of months ago I asked for reader advice on getting a new laptop. I use one machine so it has to be able to function at home and on the road, for work and for watching movies on planes.
Battery life matters a lot, I carry it everywhere, and I want to be able to open it and even use it in coach.
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.
Delta is running an award sale they seem to have changed from offering a set of routes at a discount each month to each week.
Salt Lake City – Tampa is a deal or discount at ‘just’ 26,000 miles roundtrip. So much for the 25,000 mile award.
premium business for American airlines is increasingly centered around LA rather than New York, which is what happens when you scale back in what’s perhaps the most important air market in the world.
The airline’s Vice President – Planning Vasu Raja suggests they don’t have a lot more opportunity today for extra premium domestic flying any plans for lie flat 757s domestically notwithstanding.
If passengers hadn’t recorded video of Dr. David Dao being dragged off a United flight, and also of his bloody return, do you think United would have ever changed its story from ‘apologizing for having to re-accommodate passengers’ to declaring the events truly horrific?
The widespread use of cell phone video has become important to document events and create proof when bad things happen.
Several online shopping portals are offering bonus miles right now. Start your shopping on their site, click their link to the store you’re going to buy from, and earn miles for the purchase.
It still pays to check to see which store offers the best deal at the merchant you’re using. I frequently start my shopping at EV Reward, searching the store I’m going to use, and comparing how many miles (or percentage cash back) I will get for the purchase going through different shopping sites.
Airlines could schedule longer ground time for aircraft, but that’s expensive. I’m not sure that’s how I’d most want them to invest in passenger experience since it would ultimately mean buying more planes for the same flight schedule. Ultimately I’m just glad they clean the planes at all.
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 week ago I wrote about American’s super gross ‘barbecue chicken sandwich’ that they sell in coach. I suggested that for an airline based in Texas this is doubly embarrassing since it doesn’t even constitute barbecue.
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 »
