May
29
2017
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.
New Qantas Upgrade Test and Hyatt Elite Challenge
Delta Laughs in Your Face, Adds Huge Cash Co-Pays to Virgin Atlantic Business Class Awards Without Notice
May
28
2017
Last month I wrote that small children whose fathers are hunched over controls have landed planes with fewer signals than Delta gives out that their miles cannot be trusted.
FAA Requiring Airlines to Remove Unsafe Slimline Seats from Some Regional Aircraft
May
28
2017
The FAA has ordered removal of some seats from smaller jets because of a safety issue. They’re seats that customers generally hate, but the reason for the removal is different than why customers hate them.
7 More Airlines Just Joined PreCheck, Make Sure Your Known Traveler Number is Up to Date
May
28
2017
Back in September Lufthansa became the 19th airline set up with TSA PreCheck. By joining Air Canada, Etihad, Aeromexico and WestJet, what was once US airlines only — and not even all of them at that — the massive US data-sharing, surveillance and passenger-convenience program had gone global.
In January 11 more airlines joined including Spirit, Virgin Atlantic, Emirates and Avianca to bring total participation to 30. Now 7 more airlines have joined.
TSA Body Shames Three-Time Olympic Gold Medal Gymnast
May
28
2017
Aly Raisman was captain of the 2012 and 2016 U.S. women’s Olympic gymnastics team. She won gold in the team and floor competitions and bronze on the balance beam in 2012 and gold in the team event in 2016.
Going through TSA though, the employees there don’t think much of her physique.
Delta Holding Puppy Hostage in Guatemala and United Promoting Credit Card Onboard
May
28
2017
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 Express Captain Arrested for Botched Castration of Transgender Woman
May
27
2017
An enterprising director could make a United Pilots Gone Wild! video out of the two who were too drunk to fly, the one that was running brothels all over Houston and the United Express pilot and co-pilot who got into a fight.
Now a Chicago O’Hare-based United Express captain for ExpressJet, the same Express carrier where a flight couldn’t continue because pilots were fighting, has been arrested in a Colorado castration case. And it gets even stranger.
Aeroplan Quickly Brings Back Online Booking of Awards Outside US and Canada
May
27
2017
When the Aeroplan website stopped allowing customers to book awards that do not either start or end in the U.S. and Canada online, I concluded that “Aeroplan hates their customers.” That wasn’t fair.
The issue was frustrating because when making a booking the best way to search space is segment-by-segment even if you have to call to book, because calling to book incurs a fee (and hold times are interminably long), and because the situation arose without either notice or communication.
Laptop Ban Still Coming for Europe Flights — And for Flights Departing U.S. Too
May
27
2017
Not only isn’t a ban on electronics on flights from Europe to the U.S. dead, according to the Homeland Security Secretary it may be extended to flights departing the U.S. too.
However implementation delays (until ‘the time is right’) suggest that the threat isn’t as existential as previously portrayed by the US administration.
Aeroplan Hates Their Customers, No Longer Lets You Book Most World Awards Online
May
27
2017
Aeroplan used to be one of the best frequent flyer programs in the world, maybe even the best, but over the past six years we’ve seen multiple rounds of award chart inflation, the introduction of fuel surcharges on partner awards, blocking of multiple Star Alliance airlines, and now an inability to book awards online that do not either originate or terminate in the U.S. or Canada.
