American has been less generous than Delta or United who allow 24 hour refunds regardless of how far in advance you book travel. The Department of Transportation only requires offering 24 holds or refunds for travel purchased a week or more in advance.
Last year American went from the most generous policy to the least generous one, complying only with the minimum DOT standards.
Inflight marriage proposals are so de rigueur that El Al’s Matmid Club lets you redeem miles for an inflight marriage proposal kit.
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.
There’s a new double dipping tool that gives you points for spending money at a variety of merchants.
The great thing is that you register your credit cards and they know when you spend the money. This isn’t based on links you click. So you are still able to earn shopping portal points for your online purchases, and you still earn credit card rewards points for your purchases.
Normally the US would be mediating the dispute – successfully – between Qatar on the one hand and Saudi Arabia and the UAE on the other. After all, the US has a significant military base in Qatar. By not backing the Al Thanis the expected value of hosting a US base has fallen dramatically. It apparently doesn’t buy a country much protection.
New battle lines are being drawn in the Mideast. Qatar’s move to acquire a stake in American Airlines is part of a much larger story than simply an investment in a U.S. airline.
If a customer flying on a Basic Economy fare is forced to check something that’s then damaged, the whole thing could boomerang. We all know what happened when musician Dave Carroll checked his guitar on a United flight.
After British Airways more or less broke its flight attendants union in 2010 — flight attendants went on strike, BA continued flying with replacement workers — the airline got a two-tiered wage structure. New flight attendants were paid substantially less, although at least for awhile customers found that they provided much better service.
But those new flight attendants are planning to strike… again.
On domestic US flights I hear announcements all the time asking passengers to use the lavatories in their “ticketed cabin” only.
While in general I think there should be a preference to use the lavatory in your ticketed cabin, rather than just “whichever is closest to you” (so someone in the bulkhead of coach should still walk to the back of the plane to use the lav) I also think there are clear exceptions to this.
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.
Last night American Airlines flight AA730 from Charlotte to London discovered problems with its flaps shortly after takeoff. There were 258 passengers and 16 crew onboard.
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 »
