Why Won’t Airlines Increase the Value of Points to Win More Business?

by Gary Leff

american promo
Apr 26 2018

In this morning’s American Airlines earnings call one airline analyst asked, “Why not offer consumers a fair rate [for sale of miles]?” He was seeing some of the high prices charged for miles, and couldn’t imagine anyone taking advantage of those offers. In fact American does sell miles for a lot less than they used to, very regularly. This wasn’t mentioned in response.

Instead the airline talked about the loyalty program’s contribution to the business. But the underlying question really was, why not sacrifice margin for revenue growth?

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TSA Checks to Make Sure Air Marshals Don’t Show Up to Work Drunk

by Gary Leff

liam neeson on a plane
Apr 26 2018

The government knows the air marshal program is such a mess that the TSA formally checks the sobriety of air marshals showing up at the airport.

No air marshal has ever stopped a terrorist or hijacker since the service was founded in 1962. Although an air marshal did shoot and kill a US citizen in 2005. If something really bad did happen on a flight and an air marshal was onboard they lack the training to do anything about it.

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Inside United’s New San Francisco Business Class Polaris Lounge

by Gary Leff

united polaris
Apr 26 2018

United’s new Polaris lounge opens April 30th near gate G92 at San Francisco’s airport. The facility is 28,000 square feet – the same size as American’s Flagship lounge in Miami and one of the world’s larger lounges – and has 440 seats. They have more power outlets – 492 – than seats.

United Polaris lounges feature both buffet and menu ordering. The San Francisco lounge menu was created by chef Tritia Gestuvo though doesn’t reflect a unified cuisine — there will be congee at breakfast, pappardelle pasta with mushroom ragout in the afternoon, and United’s Polaris Burger. The buffet has a ramen noodle bar in the afternoon.

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Hurry: Book Lufthansa First Class Awards West Coast – Europe with Partner Miles

by Gary Leff

lufthands headquarters
Apr 25 2018

On Sunday I wrote that Lufthansa first class awards had become bookable using partner miles. That’s significant because normally Lufthansa only makes first class award space available in advance to its own Miles & More members. Star Alliance partner frequent flyer programs can generally only book that space within 2 weeks of departure.

Now this has spread to San Francisco – Munich.

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British Airways Looks to Reduce First Class Seats (and Not Improve Them)

by Gary Leff

airline cabin
Apr 25 2018

British Airways doesn’t have a competitive business class product. On their Boeing 777s seating is eight across, middle seats are especially intimate and passengers in the window climb over the feet of their seat opponents.

BA’s CEO suggests any new business class seat would need to take up more room, and that room would come at the expense of first class.

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Delta Tied Woman to Her Wheelchair With a Dirty Blanket

by Gary Leff

woman tied to wheelchair
Apr 25 2018

A woman with multiple sclerosis makes an annual trip to Europe with her husband, generally flying Delta which provides her “with a wheelchair that has straps to help her sit up straight.”

Only for her trip earlier this month from Atlanta to Amsterdam the woman says that Delta did not make that wheelchair available to her, so they “tied her to [a different type of] wheelchair with a “dirty blanket,” bruising her in the process.

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Hyatt is Stuck in the Mud

by Gary Leff

exhale store
Apr 25 2018

Hyatt has a little over 600 hotels. That’s one-tenth the size of Marriott. There’s Marriott, Hilton, IHG, and Accor as players and there just aren’t chains in Hyatt’s peer group anymore.

They did try to buy Starwood themselves but their complex stock structure (two tiered stock giving outsized control to the Pritzker family) was a stopper and Marriott bested them. They tried to buy Kimpton but IHG was willing to pay far more.

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Phoenix Airport Will Offer Medical Treatment to Passengers Forced to Fly Old US Airways Planes

by Gary Leff

airline cabin
Apr 25 2018

There’s less than you can buy at the airport than you might think, I wish there were full pharmacies at major US airports like there are in some other places in the world, plus grocery stores – I could pick up dinner conveniently on the way home – and maybe a dry cleaner I could use on my way in and out of town.

One airport is getting a medical clinic. And even its name tells you it’s for passengers on legacy US Airways planes.

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