In the aftermath of a Mumbai – Newark flight last month where a man self-downgraded from business to a center section seat in economy so he could grope a woman (and in the aftermath of the controversy over whether first class armrests used to move) Air India plans to reserve six seats at the front of economy for women only.
How to Enjoy Wine on Your Next Flight
Wine matters in premium cabins, mostly in my opinion for branding reasons. Qantas is the third largest buyer of Australian wine. Emirates is said to have spent $500 million acquiring wine for its flights.
Wine certainly can taste very different in the air than on the ground. Champagne often works well onboard, and I tend to favor it over even better old world wines.
Most people don’t know very much about wine (I suspect that the average premium cabin customer is like my seatmate who brought her own wine in a coffee cup onboard), though they think of it as a luxury good. Delta’s wine program recognizes this specifically avoiding bottles that are priced too inexpensively at retail (lest people think they’re low quality, regardless of taste) and that have too unsophisticated a label.
11 More Airlines Just Joined PreCheck, Make Sure Your Known Traveler Number is Up to Date
Back in September Lufthansa became the 19th airline set up with TSA PreCheck. By joining Air Canada, Etihad, Aeromexico and WestJet, what was once US airlines only — and not even all of them at that — the massive US data-sharing, surveillance and passenger-convenience program had gone global.
The TSA’s website still lists only 19 airlines however they’ve just announced the addition of 11 more airlines including Spirit, Virgin Atlantic, Emirates and Avianca.
Qantas Turns Towards China But Makes a Faux Pas and Last Chance for ITA Matrix App Downloads
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.
Right Now is the Best Time to Plan Summer Travel
The best way to get an airfare deal is to research and learn what tickets on your route usually cost and watch pricing, and buy when the cost is lower than normal.
The trick to this is to be looking far enough in advance that a sale is more likely than the price creeping up. Close to departure prices are more likely to go up than down, as tickets sell out on full planes.
American AAdvantage Pre-Devaluation Awards Are Coming Up on Travel Deadlines, and Members are Frustrated Making Changes
American’s award chart prices increased quite a bit last March. Prices went up astronomically for international first class awards to many destinations.
As a result, many people booked award trips in first class far off into the future, figuring that they could change the dates later. The idea was to lock in the price by issuing tickets prior to March 22 of last year, and then change the award as-needed.
(UPDATED/CORRECTION) Draft Executive Order Would Require UK and Australia Citizens to Interview at US Embassies Before Coming to America
The Los Angeles Times is reporting on a draft executive order that would suspend the US Visa Waiver program.
Citizens of 38 countries apply online for entry to the US for up to 90 days. The ESTA is in lieu of a formal visa, which requires an interview. Suspending this program would require visitors to the US to obtain the formal visa instead, scheduling US embassy interviews.
Hilton’s New Promotion Starts February 1 and Most Valuable on Cheapest Room Rates
Starting February 1 Hilton will offer 2000 bonus points per night with no minimum stays and no limits for which nights of the week.
I value Hilton points at $0.004 per point, which makes 2000 points worth $8 per night. That’s not a lot, but it’s a bonus on top of your regular earning and in percentage terms it can be a large rebate on the least expensive room rates. It’s sort of the “anti-revenue based promotion.”
Flight Crew Takes a Boat to the Caracas Airport When Bridge Collapses
It’s a sad state for Venezuelans, mostly. Stealing billions of dollars from international airlines didn’t help. The country is crumbling. Literally.
A bridge collapsed preventing the crew of yesterday’s Iberia flight IB6674 flight to Madrid from making it to the airport on time. They had to sail to the airport.
How to Still Earn 1 Mile Per Mile Flown on Most Cheap Delta Fares
Czech is a member of SkyTeam and all paid Delta flights other than Basic Economy E fares earn one mile per mile flown regardless of price of the ticket or fare class.
Interestingly Iceland is in the same zone as the US. You can fly Delta’s seasonal service between the US and Reykjavik for 35,000 miles roundtrip in economy (60,000 in business). North America – South America is just 75,000 miles roundtrip in business class (on, say, Aeromexico or Aerolineas Argentinas). North America – Europe as well as North Africa is just 110,000 miles roundtrip in business class.