Alitalia has filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. (in addition to their European filing) because they were days away from getting kicked out of New York JFK — which is responsible for 15% of their revenue — over unpaid bills and having their US phones and internet turned off.
Six weeks ago it was revealed that American planned to reduce seat pitch (the distance from seat back to seat back) in 3 rows of economy on new Boeing 737s from 31 inches to 29 inches, shrinking the rest of coach from 31 inches to 30 inches, and offering even smaller lavatories than are offered today.
They’re backing off of one piece of this plan, but it comes with a downside since they’re committed to adding just as many seats.
I once had a flight attendant make what’s apparently a semi-famous safety announcement, along the lines of “there may be 50 ways to leave your lover but there’s only 4 ways to leave this aircraft.”
Now Virgin Atlantic has their own take and it’s aimed squarely at British Airways… “hashtag #VAnotBA.”
American Airlines has been flying more widebody aircraft domestically. It’s not a huge change, but they’ve scheduled a Boeing 787-8 on Chicago – Los Angeles along with 7 to 8 narrowbody aircraft a day.
Sunday American substituted a Boeing 777-300ER on the route, which in my opinion is an upgrade. But it led to problems on social media.
For Black Friday American offered to sell miles for as low as 1.77 cents, improving on the bonus they were already offering. Then since December is the New Black Friday they ran it again for December and through January 3.
Since American now runs AAdvantage more or less like US Airways Dividend Miles, regular price for miles exists only to show big discounts.
Supermodel Chrissy Teigen told Travel and Leisure, “One of my biggest dreams is to rate airplane food.”
The new spokesperson for Smirnoff vodka it seems wishes she could give up her Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover and sit behind a keyboard writing reviews of inflight meals after snapping countless photos onboard.
Last year I stayed at Al Maha, which features standalone Bedouin villas with private infinity pools looking out at the desert. That was discounted from its 60,000 Starpoints per night price down to 39,000 Starwood points. Of course it’s all-inclusive, and inside its own nature preserve.
Al Wadi, though, is just 40,000 Marriott points per night. And since Starwood points transfer 1 to 3 into Marriott Rewards, that means I was able to use just 13,333 Starwood points per night for my three night stay.
I’d always rather get a great deal than a bad deal, there are often sub-$2000 business class roundtrip fares to Europe and even Asia. Not everyone can afford those but it’s a mistake to present the premium cabin as “seven times” more expensive than coach.
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.
Delta provides funding for charitable causes in communities where it wants to buy goodwill from customers. And it uses that funding as leverage. But the moment that the funding is controversial? The hot money disappears.
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 »
