United Airlines flight 4830 from Little Rock to Houston diverted to Monroe, Louisiana on Monday due to reported smell of smoke in the cockpit. The Embraer 145 regional jet (registration N14148) was operated by CommutAir and originally delivered to Expressjet in 2003.
There were a few interesting things about this flight.
United’s hub at Washington Dulles has long held a precarious position. It’s been on the potential chopping block many times over the past 25 years. As a result, it’s a place that’s seen little investment – until now.
The carrier has changed the way they sell tickets, offering fare bundles rather than a la carte and more premium services. Now they’re taking it a step further.
This morning Bilt is out with a new message to program members that reveals a real pivot in strategy. The message is ‘we’re not just a credit card’.
In this message they lay out some of their vision for 2025, walk through their economics, and drop what I view as something of a bombshell.
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.
United does something really unique, and I was genuinely surprised by it five years ago at launch. Instead of picking their own corporate charities, and asking you to support their efforts with your miles, they allow charities to solicit miles directly. You actually decide which causes to support. That way your miles align with your values.
A Southwest Airlines passenger tried to board their flight with a travel pillow. The gate agent had a problem with this – because they already had a carry-on and a personal item, and this was a third “bag.” From the photo though they eventually prevailed. Usually they’re right, personal items aren’t always counted as personal items! But there’s ambiguity.
The airline has gotten very good about merchandising premium seats – and is willing to sell them very cheap, especially as upsells to infrequent flyers. They want to take a few tens of dollars from a once a year customer rather than upgrading a very frequent flyer who spends tens of thousands of dollars. Delta is also most likely to skip processing upgrade lists at the gate of the major airlines.
After a United Airlines flight from Cancun to Los Angeles, a passenger hurled racist insults at an Indian American family while enroute to the terminal from a bus gate. She also insulted Taufiq about… Indian food?
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 »
