Qatar Airways Gives Up on Buying a Piece of American Airlines

by Gary Leff

Aug 02 2017

Qatar Airways would love to work more closely with a US partner to feed its flights. They’d love to solve political problems in the US where Delta, American, and United are trying to get the government to shut down their flights. Tensions in the Gulf region mean they cannot even work with the UAE on that effort. Indeed, they’d love the help of the United States to reduce those tensions.

A bid to purchase a stake in American Airlines seemed like a way to move the ball on all of those objectives, much like their major ownership position in British Airways and Iberia parent IAG has benefited them.

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17 Year Old Boy Opens Emergency Exit, Slides Down Wing Onto Tarmac in San Francisco

by Gary Leff

Aug 02 2017

Flight attendants occasionally ‘peace out’ this way. First-time flyers in China sometimes do it too. If you’re frustrated waiting for a gate or evading immigration authorities it may seem like a good idea to make your own exit from a plane.

But as a 17 year old boy learned yesterday, it’s never actually a good idea. They boy was onboard Star Alliance airline Copa’s flight CM208 from Panama City to San Francisco. He opened an aircraft door, slid down the wing, and jumped down onto the tarmac after arrival.

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TSA Testing ID Only, No Boarding Pass Required to Go Through Security at Four Airports

by Gary Leff

scanning machine
Aug 02 2017

The TSA has all of your travel data before you fly. They compare who they think you are against their error-prone No Fly List, which denies people the right to travel without any due process hearing.

So it’s strange in a way that they need your boarding pass when you go through security. Once you’ve identified yourself they can match your ID to their secure flight database and they already know your travel plans.

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Cutest Thing Ever: 2 Year Old Fist Bumps Passengers While Boarding Southwest Airlines

by Gary Leff

southwest plane
Aug 01 2017

With all of the unpleasantness of air travel — full planes, cramped seats, crazy passengers and grumpy employees — we can all use a little bit of unbridled enthusiasm. And maybe it takes a small boy to remind us of the wonder of flying, starting in one city and soaring through the sky landing somewhere else. And looking out at the window along the way.

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You Can Now Use Amex Points to Pay for Travel on Expedia, But Please Don’t

by Gary Leff

Aug 01 2017

American Express now lets you redeem Membership Rewards points for airline tickets and prepaid hotels at Expedia.com.

You link your American Express Membership Rewards card to your Expedia account (only one eligible Card can be linked per Expedia account) and then you’ll be able to see your point balance and its associated dollar value for use at Expedia.com.

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JetBlue’s Founder Just Registered a New U.S. Airline — And Appears to Be Hiring

by Gary Leff

jetblue plane
Aug 01 2017

Dave Neeleman founded JetBlue after his non-compete from Southwest’s acquisition of Morris Air where he was CEO expired. During that non-compete period he was involved in the launch of Canada’s WestJet.

A citizen of Brazil as well as the U.S. (and also now of Cyprus), Neeleman launched Brazilian carrier Azul after being forced out at JetBlue. He’s also a partner in Star Alliance carrier TAP Air Portugal.

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WOW: New York or Chicago to India or All Over Asia Less Than $400 Roundtrip

by Gary Leff

Aug 01 2017

For a decade it was unheard of to see roundtrip fares to Southeast Asia for under $600. I don’t even bother sharing fares to Europe unless they’re under $500… preferably under $400. There was a time these would be presumed to be mistake fares. Airlines would have claimed they were mistake fares. Now they’re just a good fare sale, the kind of thing that pops up now and again if you’re watching.

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