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.
Three women who are believed to work as lap dancers brought their own Grey Goose vodka onboard easyJet flight EZY8709 from London Gatwick to Tenerife on Friday.
Their foul language drew complaints, and attention to the booze they brought onboard, so flight attendants confiscated the Grey Goose. It’s unclear what transpired next because they managed to get their alcohol back. And that’s when things spiraled out of control.
JetBlue’s flight attendants voted to unionize and will be represented by the Transport Workers Union. Over 85% of eligible flight attendants voted, and nearly two-thirds of those were in favor.
Southwest Airlines flight 1380 from New York LaGuardia to Dallas Love Field made an emergency landing in Philadelphia after blowing an engine.
Reportedly “Shrapnel hit the window causing a serious injury.” One passenger said “there was bloody everywhere.”
The specific changes they’re making create winners and losers compared to the programs that are offered today. At reader Alex‘s suggestion I decided to walk through in a nutshell my first thoughts on how each group benefits or sees losses in the new program.
A week ago I reached out to Hilton again because The Niepce Paris Hotel, a new Curio Collection property, wasn’t offering any standard or premium reward night availability for the entire year. I wanted to know whether this hotel was excluded from Honors reward redemption — or whether this is something they might fix.
Marriott did a deal with both Chase and American Express for credit cards. Chase gets the bulk of the personal business, but American Express gets to issue a premium personal card. American Express gets the small business cards. And cardmembers keep their legacy products.
Both banks are issuing new products, and making changes to existing card products too. So in addition to speaking with Marriott about the changes I reached out to Chase and American Express as well to learn more and they were both forthcoming.
Marriott just announced details of their new single program. As expected Starwood was strong on elite benefits, and we get something closer to the Starwood program on the elite side. And Marriott was strong on earning and redemption, and we get something closer to what Marriott has offered on the earn and burn side.
Here are all the details, including many that aren’t included in their release or on the website.
We’ve just learned United’s seating plans for its new Boeing 787-10s. They have 14 on order and are expected to take delivery of 3 this year.
United has also updated seat maps for Boeing 767-300ER, Boeing 777-200 and Boeing 777-300ER planes that show the configurations including premium economy.
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.
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 »
