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 TSA has failed to meaningfully detect dangerous items going through the checkpoint for years. Two years ago their disclosed 95% failure rate seemed shocking and surprising to many but is hardly new, ten years ago they had a 91% failure rate.
Much hand wringing ensued.
Yesterday’s Air India flight AI880 from Bagroda to Delhi took off without functioning air conditioning.
The 168 passengers onboard did not like it one bit. Air India dismisses this as “a technical matter” but promises “an investigation.”
Delta is reportedly in talks with Jet Airways to take a 24% stake in the Indian airline. Jet Airways and Delta are already partners. This would put them in business with arch Gulf rival Etihad.
This appears to have been great work all around by the flight crew and by emergency responders. Grateful that all onboard are safe. We don’t yet know the cause of the incident.
I always find it super cheap and off putting when a hotel club lounge has water to pour into cups, and no bottles you can take away, like at the Grand Hyatt New York.
As much of a hard time as I give travel providers for nickel and diming premium passengers, I also understand the conundrum when some of those passengers abuse the system.
Delta’s new 15 minute documentary is a big lie.
There is no economic theory which supports protectionism for mature profitable industries. The push for government action against Etihad, Emirates, and Qatar is pure self-interest at the expense of US consumers. And they’re willing to do anything in furtherance of that interest whether it’s fabricating evidence their white paper or sucking up to President Trump.
The ban on inflight electronics for flights from certain airports to the U.S. was a stupid policy even if the underlying concern was valid. It made planes less safe (due to the risk of lithium ion batteries in the cargo hold catching fire) without keeping electronics out of the hands of dangerous people heading to the U.S. who could fly Emirates via Milan or Athens or Azerbaijan Airlines from Dubai to Baku to New York JFK.
Including Abu Dhabi on the list of airports whose U.S. flights could not have electronics larger than a standard cell phone onboard was especially silly because Abu Dhabi has a U.S. preclearance facility.
I visited the brand new American Airlines Flagship Lounge at New York JFK this past week and was really impressed. The lounge has been made larger, redesigned, with some really good food added.
Many more people have access now, and there’s an exclusive dining room for first class passengers only with good food and service that just shocked me coming from a U.S. airline.
I’ve had a few days to think about the experience and I realize just how much I enjoyed it that I’m thinking about..
Returning to the hotel at around 11 p.m. the check-in line was over 20 deep. It’s a perfectly serviceable property, good at the price when it’s the cheapest full service choice in the area, but more appropriate for a Regency than the expectation of the more upscale and service-oriented Grand brand. Put another say, it’s a stay factory.
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 »
