The U.S. Department of Transportation is launching a comprehensive review of the top U.S. airlines’ privacy practices concerning passenger data, focusing on potential unethical monetization and data sharing with third parties, in an effort led by Secretary Buttigieg and influenced by Senator Wyden’s advocacy for stricter privacy protections.
The Ritz-Carlton Los Angeles has a hole in its front wall. Someone stole a city Metro bus, hijacking it with a BB gun late last night, ordering the driver to go to several locations. Inside the wall of the Ritz-Carlton may have been one of them?
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.
A passenger was told that if they wanted to remove an item from their checked bag to get under their 50 pound allowance, they would have to go to the back of the line and start over – and then they would miss their flight (or, presumably, the cut-off time for checking bags before their flight).
Of course paying the overweight bag fee would likely take at least as long as avoiding the overweight bag fee.
A report from an executive meeting with JetBlue employees over all of the change that’s going on at the airline after the government blocked their partnership with American Airlines, stopped them from acquiring Spirit Airlines, and after corporate raider Carl Icahn took a stake in the carrier suggests that cuts may be coming to transatlantic flying and that there’s risk to their partnership with Hawaiian Airlines too.
The Four Seasons Hotel San Francisco at Embarcadero owner has defaulted on its property loans. The hotel was acquired for $126.6 million in 2019 or ~ $816,000 per key. They owe $72.5 million, are over $3 million behind in making payments, and have defaulted.
Persistent air traffic controller shortages in New York are addressed through the FAA’s strategic relocation of Newark’s air traffic control to Philadelphia, aiming to mitigate delays and congestion despite previous political opposition and ongoing staffing challenges.
The city doesn’t have a single Asia flight. It’s a big American Airlines hub. JAL has been studying the route. There are subsidies available. And the route doesn’t require overflying Russian airspace.
United Airlines plans to announce ‘family pooling’ of mileage this wee. This is a nice benefit where your kids can help you earn miles towards an award more quickly, and your once a year traveling in-laws can too. Miles get used faster, and become more useful.
JetBlue is eliminating a third of its Los Angeles flying, dropping four cities completely from its route networks, and pulling down other flights including several out of Fort Lauderdale. But it turns out they aren’t done cutting – and more route cuts will come next month.
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 »
