ViaSat internet has been free. They’ve been working out kinks since the beginning. On the inaugural 737 MAX flight at the end of November ViaSat internet simply didn’t work much. When it did work it wasn’t fast.
ViaSat installations are working better now. A few planes have Gogo and ViaSat retrofits now. And American is prepared to start charging in March.
Airlines don’t want passengers onboard who will spread disease or cause a diversion. Flight crew aren’t always best-positioned to judge this, but they’re in a position where they have to. And airlines often do things out of an abundance of caution, although nearly every time you hear that phrase it’s a cover for stupidity.
Beth Evans was flying Emirates from Birmingham in the U.K. to Dubai. She told her boyfriend about her cramps. A flight attendant overheard the conversation and started quizzing her about it.
Dropping to 20 or 24 business class seats would make awards and upgrades super difficult on the aircraft (awards are nearly impossible now in business class as it is).
It would represent a loss of 14% or 28% of the business class seats on the aircraft. In contrast United’s Boeing 787-8s have 36 business class seats.
Through February 25 premium economy starts at $999 for US-Asia roundtrip and business class starts at $1999 for US-Europe roundtrip.
You can travel May 1 through August 31 for business class, May 1 through December 14 for premium economy.
Air Canada has introduced ‘basic economy’ fares on domestic flights within Canada.
The goal remains to discourage customers from buying the cheapest fares in hopes they pay more to avoid these restrictions — while not taking their business elsewhere to another carrier.
Brit Morin lost her wedding/engagement ring on a United flight last week on United flight 1908 from Newark to Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
The ring was found. And more importantly it wasn’t kept and pawned or auctioned off on eBay, it was given to a pilot headed for San Francisco so that they could return the rings to Brit.
American Airlines and Los Angeles television station KTLA are running a giveaway. It’s a trip to New York ‘like an A-Lister’ and my first thought was they’re encouraging Southwest Rapid Rewards status challenges.
The contest reveals the airline’s view of the devaluation of AAdvantage.
Virgin America offers padded leather recliner chairs in first class with foot rests and 55 inches seat back to seat back. That’s incredibly generous for most domestic routes. American is shrinking their first class from a ‘generous’ 38 inches for their new domestic standard product.
However it’s not competitive on premium cross country routes where American, Delta, United, and jetBlue all offer flat beds in business class.
The biggest aviation market in the world – by far – is the U.S., based on the number of departing seats. So this isn’t just domestic flights, it’s domestic flights plus outbound international flights as well. Here are the top 10.
The EU as a whole is roughly comparable to the Chinese market. The UK as a whole is the biggest aviation market in Europe, though their former colony India is a bigger market still.
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 »
