Emirates is already making some service cuts to save on costs and is selling first class lounge access to customers not traveling in first to boost revenue.
They may not be done tweaking their rules to monetize some of the higher-end services that Emirates has available. Reportedly Emirates is considering several more moves to boost revenue.
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.
American flies its premium-configured Airbus A321Ts between New York JFK and Boston.
The American Airlines Airbus A321T is a 3-cabin aircraft with economy (including Main Cabin Extra extra legroom seating), fully flat business class, and 1-1 seating first class. It’s the most luxurious, high-end narrow body aircraft and the best narrowbody plane flying domestically in the U.S.
Last week I wrote that effectiveg March 1 Delta will offer a choice of 3 meals in economy on these flights, and even accommodate special meal requests, replacing ‘buy on board’.
Now they’re expanding free meals in coach beyond just premium New York – West Coast flights.
There’s been a bit of buzz lately about how while the major US airlines are lobbying the US government to block Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar there’s another closer-to-home airline about to eat their lunch flying to Europe and beyond – Star Alliance member and United partner Air Canada. They’re building their long haul route network and offer connections through hubs like Montreal and Toronto from cities across America.
One new flight they’re launching is Montreal – Tel Aviv.
Between May 5 and July 4 there are six or more first class award seats available most dates from Miami to Milan on American Airlines.
This makes sense. American has made first class award space available in the months leading up to a change of aircraft away from an old configuration Boeing 777-200 (which offers first class) to either a reconfigured plane or another aircraft type with no first class cabin. American is switching this flight from a 777-200 to a Boeing 767-300.
Inderjit Singh Reyat — connected to two commercial aircraft bombing attempts — has been released.
He and his co-conspirators were Sikh separatists whose terrorist attacks on commercial airliners were revenge against India for Operation Blue Star against the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
Delta and partners KLM, Air France, and Kenya Airways can get you from Los Angeles to Kenya and back for a little over $2000 in business class.
This is a perfect opportunity to visit Africa comfortably. I get many requests for awards to Kilimanjaro and often times the best solution is to fly into Nairobi 145 miles away. And of course many safaris will use Nairobi as the jumping off point. As well it’s an African hub that can get you most anywhere else in the region.
United’s CFO Andrew Levy spoke at the Stifel Transportation & Logistics Conference and the biggest piece of news was the airline’s fleet plan. He laid out what’s on the table over the coming year, but suggested that everything after that is under review and that they’re actively looking in the used aircraft market.
Kim Jong Nam, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un’s half brother, was assassinated at the Kuala Lumpur airport.
Apparently he fell out of favor with his father in 2001 when he used forged documents to try to visit Tokyo Disneyland. He didn’t attend his father’s 2011 funeral.
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 »
