“Project Direct” American Airlines Offering Non-Stop Flights to Connecting Passengers for $75

by Gary Leff

american airlines planes
Sep 08 2018

American Airlines is a lot stricter with same day confirmed changes than their competitors are.

Only Platinum Pro, Executive Platinum and ConciergeKey members can same day change for free, everyone else pays $75. You have to keep the same number of stops and keep the same connecting city or cities. You can’t connect in Dallas instead of Chicago. You can’t move to a non-stop flight from a connection or vice versa. And you can only make a same day change when specific inventory is available.

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Report: Selling Advance Upgrades to Non-Elites is Back at American Airlines

by Gary Leff

back of airline seats
Sep 07 2018

Two years ago American launched a new program to e-mail non-elite flyers with offers to sell first class seats starting a week before departure. I haven’t heard much about it recently, but JonNYC says that the program is back. AA “Early upgrades” — upgrades offered via email, UP TO a week in advance (that’s when they could be offered, they clear later on), have been re-launched. Offers will be emailed to targeted/selected customers. — JonNYC (@xJonNYC) September 7, 2018 .. It states that early upgrades will only be cleared if there’s enough room to accommodate -all- forms of requested elite upgrades — JonNYC (@xJonNYC) September 7, 2018 United is known to sell first class seats cheap to non-elites. They do this while elite frequent flyers remain on the upgrade waitlist and are not given the…

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Flight Attendant Tells Passengers to ‘Go in a Bottle’ After Toilets Malfunction on 6 Hour Hawaii Flight

by Gary Leff

lavatory
Sep 07 2018

Last Friday, on August 31, American Airlines flight AA663 from Phoenix to Kona lost all of its functioning lavatories. A passenger reports that “only one restroom at the front of the plane was open, but that the toilet was overflowing.” This gives new meaning to the age-old question of whether coach passengers should use the first class lavatory.

A passenger flushed a diaper down the toilet and that caused the whole system to stop functioning midway through the six and a half hour flight.

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American Now Has Live TV With No Screens But Hasn’t Delivered Promised Free Texting

by Gary Leff

airline cabin
Sep 07 2018

American Airlines announced that they now have high speed internet and live tv on 100 domestic narrowbody aircraft. The plan is to roll it out across the rest of their domestic fleet over the coming year as they add high speed satellite internet to the aircraft.

There are 111 aircraft equipped with Gogo’s 2Ku satellite internet and these planes offer free live TV. All of the airline’s Airbus A320s have the product along with “more than 60 A319s” according to internal documents. Today the product is available only on legacy US Airways aircraft and the A320s do not yet have seat power, so bring a backup battery if you want to watch something.

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No Notice: Marriott Stops Giving Elite Benefits For Online Travel Agency Reservations

by Gary Leff

hotel lobby
Sep 07 2018

Back in April I talked with Marriott’s Senior Vice President of Loyalty David Flueck and he assured me that the new Marriott program would continue to honor elite benefits when guests booked their stays through online travel agencies.

Marriott’s new terms and conditions were consistent with this, as well. It was a real improvement over how Starwood treated elites whose rooms were booked through these sites. And it lasted for all of two weeks.

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Man Lives in Airport Because He Couldn’t Afford Change Fee on Ticket

by Gary Leff

flyscoop plane boarding dock
Sep 06 2018

Mehran Karimi Nasseri is the man behind the Tom Hanks film The Terminal. He spent 18 years living in Paris Charles de Gaulle airport’s terminal 1. He reported being kicked out of Iran for protesting the Shah, and eventually granted refugee status in Belgium. He moved to the UK, but lost his papers when he says his briefcase was stolen.

Recently a Taiwanese man spent more than a week living in the Perth, Australia airport but not because he lacked documents. He ran out of money and was waiting to fly home in several weeks. He couldn’t afford to change his ticket on Singapore Airlines low cost carrier Scoot.

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