3 Ways to Make the Middle Seat Much Better

by Gary Leff

Mar 17 2017

Middle seats are the worst. You’ve got someone on either side of you, so you can’t just lean over into the window or the aisle, and you’ve got two armrests to fight over not just one.

Often the passenger in the middle seat was disserviced on a previous flight. Or they paid the most for their ticket in the whole cabin, buying when there weren’t any aisle or window seats left. In either case the person who may be the most deserving of a better (or at least not deserving of a wose) experience gets exactly that. Over time there have been several ideas floated to address this.

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American Airlines Flight Diverted After Can of Soda Spilled in Economy

by Gary Leff

Mar 17 2017

American Airlines finally has a plan to put seat power in the legacy US Airways ‘basket of deplorables’ aircraft.

Since this is the management team that decided to remove seat power from planes that used to have it when America West took over US Airways, there’s a little small part of me that wonders if the whole thing wasn’t contrived to begin building the case not to make this investment.

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Air Canada CEO: Expect an Aeroplan Devaluation in 2020

by Gary Leff

Mar 16 2017

Air Canada’s frequent flyer program Aeroplan was spun off into a separate public company in 2005. As a separate company, the frequent flyer program makes arms-length transactions with the airline and has a very extensive contract allowing it to buy a minimum number of seats and other benefits.

Air Canada expects to negotiate more favorable terms for the airline compared to the current contract which expires in 2020.

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When Your Hotel Room is Disappointing That’s a Great Opportunity for an Upgrade

by Gary Leff

Mar 16 2017

I checked into the Park Hyatt Sydney where I’ve had mixed luck at best with upgrades.

I arrived early on my first stay there and was told that my pre-assigned room wasn’t ready — but that if I wanted to pay an extra AUD$100 per day I could have an Opera View room. This wasn’t even a larger room, just an upgraded view, and if it was available I should have been offered it as a complimentary upgrade as a Hyatt Diamond.

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Do You Know All the Hidden Benefits Your Credit Card Gives You?

by Gary Leff

Mar 16 2017

Premium credit cards offer a dizzying array of benefits you probably didn’t even realize you had — or if you knew at one point, you probably forget when there’s an opportunity to use them.

Break a new electronic device, smash your rental car, run into a merchant who won’t take a return… or the price of something you recently bought drops after you already bought and started using it… there’s something that your credit card company can often do and you get started with a simple phone call.

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American Airlines CEO Gave a Talk to Investors Yesterday That Was… Strange

by Gary Leff

cockpit with pilot
Mar 16 2017

Yesterday American Airlines Chairman and CEO Doug Parker spoke at the J.P. Morgan Aviation, Transportation and Industrials Conference and it was… strange.

The crux of his talk was that American is worthwhile as a long-term investment, returning to his ongoing theme that investors should take a ‘leap of faith’ which of course isn’t what investors think they should generally be doing.

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