American Airlines doesn’t share everything it knows about delays with passengers – or flight attendants. But savvy flight attendants have been taking advantage of this to pick up extra pay, according to the airline. And American plans to investigate and discipline cabin crew who try it.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 changed the tax treatment for business entertainment expenses. It made airline club lounge memberships no longer deductible to a business. But a bit of financial engineering would seem to make lounge access still deductible.
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.
Most checked bags in the U.S. are limited to 50 pounds. Anything heavier than that and you’ll pay extra. First and business class passengers, and those with elite status, may be allowed 70 pounds. When you approach the check-in counter, they’ll weigh your bags, and if your luggage is overweight you’ll be assessed an extra fee.
However it’s not always so simple. There’s an unspoken cat and mouse game between airline employees and passengers.
After Sunday morning’s incident where an engine cowling detached off of a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-800 shortly after takeoff from Denver, the airline now knows what happened. Someone screwed up.
The ideas United is currently surveying for their new business class offer a window not into ‘how might business class be improved’ but ‘how much more money could we make if we offered certain improvements’. They’re taking a commercial approach to a premium product, which is smart, even if some of the current brainstorming ideas like a champagne button seem a bit unlikely to come to fruition.
There’s no question that Isom is well-compensated compared to the airline industry as a whole (and American financially underperforms) and it’s especially controversial among employees when flight attendants haven’t seen a raise since 2019 while first and second-year Boston-based flight attendants qualify for food stamps.
It’s not very good! But it’s free food! Of course the schnorrers are going to come out in droves and take the food, even if they don’t eat it.
There is no secret what is going on here. A couple of readers have asked why I keep writing about this when a new broadside comes out from the big airlines. It’s because you’re being lied to. You’re just being lied to. And that’s triggering.
Just because you make it to your flight while the boarding doors are still open, and customers are still in line to get on, doesn’t mean you’re still going to be able to fly.
American Airlines rules are that it can give away your seats if you’re not in the gate area 15 minutes prior to departure, even though doors don’t close for an on-time flight until 10 minutes prior to departure.
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 »
