United is sticking to its guns as the only airline refusing to let passengers bring carry on bags onboard when buying basic economy fares. They’re opening two more Polaris lounges and may re-evaluate the number of business class seats on board some aircraft. And airfares have a lot more room to rise — and passengers will pay up and keep flying.
Hertz has just announced that they’ve become the first ‘non-air affiliate’ of the SkyTeam airline alliance that includes Delta, Air France KLM, Korean Air and others.
While more marketing tie-ins can be better than fewer, a car rental company is a somewhat strange brand to launch with. Renting cars is so nine years ago. Hertz was once the rental company for business travelers. In this extended montage from Up in the Air when George Clooney is grounded in Omaha he wants to buy a Chrysler Sebring from Hertz.
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.
At the beginning of the month I wrote about minor transatlantic player Primera Air shutting down. Now Wow Air is eliminating 5 routes — including Dallas Fort-Worth and New York JFK, which they had refused to confirm yesterday.
There has been talk about British Airways parent IAG acquiring Norwegian as a way to kill low fare competition.
American Airlines is raising prices of Admirals Club membership by $100 per year effective February 1. They are also eliminating household membership discounts.
And they’re going to start requiring same-day boarding passes on American Airlines, oneworld partner airlines, or Alaska Airlines for entry..
Sharknado and American Pie star Tara Reid and her dog were kicked off of Delta flight 613 from Los Angeles to New York JFK on Monday. Initial reports were that she was apoplectic over her seat assignment and that she didn’t have a pillow.
Now she’s speaking out.
A Customs and Border Protection beagle ‘alarmed’ at the luggage of an Ecuadorian traveler entering the U.S. through the Atlanta airport on Thursday and found a whole roast pig in their luggage.
It was spotted by a 6 year old beagle named Hardy, who thought the bag smelled delicious. But he wasn’t allowed to eat it.
In late August I wrote that Chase was about to introduce their new Sapphire Banking product — but not to sign up right away because a bonus would be on its way that you should wait for.
The bonus debuted in-branch a couple of weeks ago. Now it’s available online: 60,000 Ultimate Rewards points.
UN Ambassador and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who will be stepping down from her post at the end of the year, blasted American Airlines on Twitter for their operational reliability.
There’s much speculation about why Haley is stepping down from her post at the U.N., including whether she might be appointed U.S. Senator from South Carolina if Lindsey Graham were named attorney general after the midterms (with the President asking for Jeff Sessions to resign). American, though, had better hope she’s not waiting in the wings to replace Elaine Chao at the Department of Transportation.
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 »
