American Airlines flew its inaugural Airbus A321T premium transcon flight just a month after its merger with US Airways closed. And this flight symbolized everything that was different between the two cultures.
Legacy American had committed to be the only US airline offering three cabin cross country service. Meanwhile when US Airways emerged from bankruptcy with America West leadership at the helm, its new stock ticker was “LCC” for low cost carrier.
Allegiant is an ultra low cost carrier with a bit of a different business model than Spirit or Frontier. They take Hall of Fame right fielder Wee Willie Keeler’s admonition to “hit ’em where they ain’t” seriously. If you need to fly from Mesa, Arizona to Pasco, Washington at 1 p.m. on a Tuesday they’re your airline. They’re cheap and they fly non-daily leisure routes no one else does.
Minneapolis-based Sun Country which has transformed itself into a low cost carrier — they even shut down the elite portion of their frequent flyer program — has stranded hundreds of passengers in Mexico.
They offer seasonal service to various cities and because of weather at their home in Minneapolis they cancelled flights from Mazatlan and San Jose del Cabo. And since it was the end of their season they aren’t going to send planes to pick up the passengers later.
The major US airlines offer premium meet and greet services. You can be escorted through check-in and security and from lounge to gate, and you can be met on arrival for connections or escorted to baggage claim.
Amenity kits are about providing something useful to make the flight more comfortable. Amenity kits are a takeaway, a premium reminder of the airline and the experience. Amenity kits are advertising to the customer about a brand. The bath amenities I use at home are ones I first discovered at a hotel.
Urbanr lets you pay rent by credit card. They charge the tenant’s card, and the landord receives payment electronically in 3-5 business days.
And at 1.5% you’ve got a worthwhile margin even with a 2% cash back card though you can do better than that. Plus they’re offering $10.
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There was a time that Delta was an also-ran. American Airlines was the leader in the industry, the brightest minds started at American and learned their craft and then went on to run other airlines. Even a mere decade ago it seemed United did its best to copy American, at least with frequent flyer promotions.
Now the unquestioned leader in the US airline industry is Delta. They’re the most profitable and delivering better operational reliability than their largest counterparts. And everyone just assumes they’re smarter.
There’s a famous story about Mayor Fiorello La Guardia of New York flying TWA to Newark and refusing to get off — because his ticket said New York. He insisted they fly the plane to Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn where he then gave a press conference urging support for a commercial airport in New York.
I have one blog commenter who consistently complains when I refer to Dallas Fort-Worth airport as ‘Dallas’. He’s not the only one who doesn’t like it.
Air China flight CA1350 from Changsha to Beijing diverted to Zhengzhou on Sunday after a passenger took a flight attendant hostage in the galley.
China’s Civil Aviation Administration says the passenger held a pen to the throat of the flight attendant, however other reports are that it was a knife.
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 »
