When you use your Chase card to buy travel directly — instead of transferring points to miles — you have the Ultimate Rewards online portal and you have phone reps. There are some things you cannot do online, like book Southwest Airlines flights. However there’s a new thing you can do online…
A DFW-based captain asked American Airlines CEO Doug Parker about ‘D0’. He said the airline’s emphasize on exactly on-time departures, and the processes around questioning decisions and following up when they miss exact on-time departures “feels punitive on all the people.”
British Airways Executive Club will go more revenue-based for mileage-earning and redemption. Here they’ll copy Lufthansa, Alitalia, and Air France.
On the earning side that’s almost meaningless, it’s already one of the original mostly-revenue based programs with both miles earned based on fare class and elite tier points based on fare as well. This would just tie revenue and miles more directly, a change in technology. On the redemption side though this is bad for members.
The bottom line for travelers in that the Uber app will not work in the region, you’re more or less stuck downloading Grab or taking a taxi (please don’t tell me about this or that local alternative).
A week ago I asked whether we were beginning to see the end of ‘Polaris’ at United, ditching their attempt to offer a superior business class product.
The soft product is getting cut back. Reportedly United President Scott Kirby “doesn’t believe in Polaris and he knows it hasn’t created a [fare] premium.” Just a week ago I predicted ‘death by 1000 cuts.’ We’re already starting the countdown.
During Thursday’s American Airlines employee ‘crew news’ question and answer session a Lima-based flight attendant asked about the old Boeing 757s and 767s American flies down there.
She says the one thing “that is sad for me” is that when she tells people she’s a flight attendant their interest is piqued, but then when she says she works for American “they’re like really?”
American held a Crew News session with employees on Thursday and a first officer asked about new aircraft orders and the extent that manufacturers consult with American on what they want to see as they develop new plane types. As an aside he asked about American’s A350 simulator and whether it might be possible to rent time in it.
They donated charter flights to bring students to a gun protest in DC.
So much for their ‘neutral status’ in the gun debate. I don’t think they need to stay neutral, I just don’t think they can have it both ways.
In the fall we learned that Delta would start offering day of departure elite upgrades on their premium cross country routes. These are flights where Delta offers – or plans to offer – lie flat seats up front. Currently premium routes aren’t eligible for complimentary elite upgrades at all.
Apparently at the same time on April 1 Delta will be reducing the service they provide on premium routes in their extra legroom “Comfort+” seats,
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.
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 »
