United is taking a goldilocks approach, announcing a small order for new aircraft: 25 Embraer E-175s to be delivered in 2019 and replace the same number of Bombardier CRJ-700s and 4 Boeing 787-9s that will replace widebodies in 2020.
They continue to scour the market for used aircraft so don’t view this as a shift to a fleet renewal strategy.
Through August 1 the ETA app is offering 5000 United miles.
ETA says their competitive advantage is quickly helping you figure out the trip that’s right for your schedule and preferences so that booking is done in 5 minutes.
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.
We’ve all seen people that bring on bags which simply don’t fit int he overhead, or where they’re one of the last passengers to board and there’s not enough bin space left to fit a full sized carry on.
This passenger wasn’t going to accept either constraint of physics as he pushed, prodded, and shoved.
News came out this past week that an FAA inspector developed a close relationship with an American Airlines manager, and ignored important safety tips.
The Department of Transportation’s Inspector General found problems at the FAA’s safety oversight at American. Their report found concerns raised by the airline’s pilots union going unaddressed for a year and a half, suggesting that “FAA’s oversight office for American Airlines lacked objectivity in its review and did not respond to concerns about unqualified pilots and unsafe conditions during maintenance verification flights.”
Perhaps most notable to me is that Pakistan International Airlines flies London Heathrow – Lahore non-stop three times a week, flies London – Karachi (and on to Lahore) and offers connections from various cities in Europe — in addition to flying Abu Dhabi – Lahore.
Yet the former Prime Minister of Pakistan chose not to fly PIA for his return to the country, preferring Etihad’s business class instead. No doubt he’s well aware that PIA is the worst airline in the world. If you’re going to get arrested, you want to be well-rested.
Last night Ryanair flight 7312 from Dublin to Zadar, Croatia diverted to Frankfurt Hahn airport in Germany after it lost cabin pressure.
The Boeing 737-800 had 189 people on board and was flying at 37,000 feet 120 miles southwest of Hahn airport at the time of the incident. Passengers reported hearing a bang. The flight crew deployed passenger oxygen masks and made an emergency descent all the way down to 8000 feet.
American has relaxed a rule that is causing more award space to show up. Traditionally a connection on a domestic award ticket had to be under 4 hours, with longer connections ‘breaking the fare’ and causing an itinerary to price as two awards.
Now connections of up to 18 hours are permitted on domestic awards.
When aircraft manufacturers like Boeing or Airbus sell planes, media report the value of the orders based on ‘list prices’ but those are made up numbers. No one pays list prices. Roughly speaking you can usually assume that airlines pay about half of list pricing.
Airbus has taken over marketing the C series and now they’re ‘Airbus A220s’. The first sale they’ve made is to JetBlue for 60 planes and to get that done they were reportedly willing to knock 72% off of list prices.
Years ago it was common to be able to request a credit when you bought a ticket, and the fare for the same flights dropped. Airlines used this to give you confidence buying and not waiting. You could lock in a price, protecting yourself against price increases, while not worrying that you might be overpaying.
Of course most people didn’t claim any money back. Most people buy a ticket and don’t check the price again later. Services popped up to automate this, and airlines because less customer-friendly. However several airlines are still fairly flexible giving you credits back.
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 »
