For three years Delta, United and American have been complaining that despite being heavily subsidized themselves, and protected from foreign competition in the U.S. market, that it’s not fair that they should have to compete against Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar.
The US airlines finally lost. But the Gulf carriers gave them a way to save face and end the charade.
US airlines reported $4.6 billion in checked bag fees in 2017 according to data released by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. That’s often taken to mean money they’re making on checked bags. It turns out that’s completely wrong.
On a plane your seat belt buckle may contain germs from the previous passenger. And don’t think the airline is sanitizing it between flights. And who knows what happened in the seat before you go tthere?
One of the most disgusting places on a plane is the seat pocket in front of you….
Arne Sorenson thinks Marriott can out-Airbnb Airbnb by offering consistency, products, and service. His daughter tried an Airbnb once and assures him there’s nothing to worry about there.
If this is a growing piece of the market, Marriott needs to be in it. And they think that they can leverage their loyalty program to make it more attractive to customers.
San Francisco airport has a new plan to help taxis and punish both Uber and its riders.
Now instead of curbside dropoffs and pickups the airport wants to force Uber to use the top floor of the hourly garage. In its own version of Newspeak San Francisco airport calls this “express drop-off and pick-up.”
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Etihad was an airline that started when Gulf Air eliminated its Abu Dhabi hub and the ruling Al Nahyan family sought to preserve and grow the capital of the UAE as a center of aviation.
But cash and ambition was never going to be enough to turn around carriers like Alitalia and air berlin. They were basket cases. And the ruling Al Nahyans finally decided to stop lighting money on fire as the price of energy fell. They axed the CEO of their airline who, ironically, they had poached in the first place from Gulf Air.
Probably the most famous hotel complaint ever is the 2001 Powerpoint Yours is a Very Bad Hotel created by Tom Farmer and Shane Atchison from Seattle who showed up at what was then the Doubletree in Houston. Though they had guaranteed reservations they were being walked and the desk clerk couldn’t have cared less.
I was reminded of that complaint when I saw this video of a front desk clerk losing it at the Country Inn & Suites in Newport News, Virginia last week.
Barclays currently issues the Apple credit card. It’s fairly weak — no signup bonus, 3 points per dollar at Apple and 2 points at restaurants, with points you can redeem for Apple and iTunes gift cards.
There are no ‘benefits’ for being an Apple cardmember which I’ve never understood, other than a built-in financing offer for Apple products. Early access to products, special activations at Apple stores, some form of better treatment for cardmembers seems like a no brainer.
Last weekened I wrote that United had confirmed cutbacks to meals in domestic first class on flights under four hours outside of departures between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.
There were beverage cutbacks too. That’s generated negative publicity for United. So they’re making an about face on one (and only one) change. Tomato juice.
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 »
