Be Careful Which Aircraft You’re Flying on American: 21 Planes to Avoid

by Gary Leff

back of airplane seats
Sep 09 2018

At the end of June American Airlines CEO Doug Parker told employees, “We’re not going through the whole fleet and adding a bunch of seats to airplanes or taking out larger bathrooms and putting in smaller ones.”

That wasn’t true. Not only is American Airlines taking delivery of new Boeing 737 MAX aircraft with more seats squeezed into the same air frame than ever before, they’re going through their existing fleet of Boeing 737-800 aircraft and “adding a bunch of seats” (from 160 currently up to 172) and “taking out larger bathrooms and putting in smaller ones” (in order to fit more seats).

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Uber Starts Kicking Passengers Off the Platform for Low Ratings

by Gary Leff

person holding phone near steering wheel
Sep 09 2018

Uber ousted their controversial founder as CEO and brought in the head of Expedia, which alone should have told you consumers wouldn’t be better off.

He’s been on a mission of appeasement, apologizing to governments and drivers. Last year they started letting drivers leave feedback on customers. Now your low rating can get you banned from Uber entirely. in some countries

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Deal Alert: First Class Hawaii Fares Less Than $900 Roundtrip

by Gary Leff

hawaii
Sep 08 2018

I love deep discount fares to Hawaii, but it’s a long flight and I’d much rather sit up front. I used to love it when Alaska Airlines $99 companion tickets were valid for first class travel, I’d buy first.

While first class can be cheaper to Hawaii than on similar-distance business routes, it’s rarely super cheap. So sub-$900 first class roundtrips from the West Coast are worth highlighting.

Deals are available on Hawaiian Airlines and on Delta.

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Flight Attendants Revolt, Refuse to Offer Credit Cards Inflight

by Gary Leff

airline unique channels card
Sep 08 2018

TravelZork shares with me data on oneworld airline S7’s co-brand credit card acquisition. The most fascinating statistics center around what’s driving customers to sign up for their credit card. One data point in particular stands out: their inflight magazine is 5 times more effective than flight attendant announcements at getting customers to sign up for their card.

S7 Airlines had to discontinue their flight attendants promoting the credit card because their crews refused to do it.

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“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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