Which is Better: American Airlines vs British Airways Business Class?

by Gary Leff

first class
Oct 04 2016

British Airways has a one minute spot with two kids debating the merits of American Airlines and British Airways business class.

American and British Airways (along with Finnair and Iberia) have an anti-trust immunized joint venture across the Atlantic, which allows them to share revenue and coordinate schedules and pricing. They are (or in theory should be) largely indifferent as to whose metal you fly across the Pond.

So naturally the argument in this spot is that both are awesome! Here’s the truth.

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RUBICON CROSSED? Delta Introduces Variable Award Prices for Virgin Atlantic Partner Awards

by Gary Leff

Oct 04 2016

Although Delta has a terrible penchant for changing award prices without notice — a practice I believe is unfair and deceptive, we’ve known that even though Delta removed award charts from their website, they still price awards based on charts. In other words, there are fixed prices that correspond to different inventory levels.

Partner awards have always been saver awards. Until now.

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Was an Etihad Flight Attendant Really Screaming During an Emergency Landing? No: Video Emerges

by Gary Leff

people boarding from tarmac
Oct 03 2016

Last Tuesday’s Etihad flight EY450 from Abu Dhabi to Sydney turned back to Abu Dhabi shortly after takeoff as the result of a problem with the Boeing 777-300’s left engine.

The plane, with 329 passengers on board, took off from runway 13R and climbed to 4000 feet when the crew encountered issues with the engine. They returned to runway 13L, and stopped at the end of the runway for inspection to ensure it was safe to allow passengers to disembark.

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New Hybrid Credit-Debit Card Offers Elite Status, Up to 3% Cash Back

by Gary Leff

Oct 03 2016

Zerocard is a product planning to launch next year — it works like a debit card but pays up to 3% cash back. It’s an FDIC-insured bank account, with charges deducted from your balance. But it processes like a credit card so they can pay out strong cash back. And the card is all metal.

The account pays interest, allows direct deposit, bill pay and ACH and wire transfers. There are no ATM fees in-network.

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Great Opportunity: 20% Bonus Transferring Amex, Citi or Hotel Points to Etihad Guest

by Gary Leff

Oct 02 2016

This summer I wrote about outstanding first class award availability on Etihad and walked through the routes between the US and Abu Dhabi that had award space for at least 2 passengers.

Etihad is one of the top airlines in the world for passenger experience. They offer a great connecting point in Abu Dhabi for travel to India and the surrounding region. I’ve used them to travel there as well as to the Maldives and also back from Sri Lanka.

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Yesterday Could Have Been an Operational Meltdown, But American Airlines Nailed It

by Gary Leff

delta and american plane tails
Oct 02 2016

For pilots the impossible has occurred. The US Airways-America West merger was never actually completed in large measure because pilots kept suing each other over seniority, and indeed even over which pilots could negotiate with the airline on a contract and what they had to ask for. The American merger, by giving US Airways and legacy America West (‘US Airways West’) pilots a raise and pre-committing everyone to an outcome, finally created the ability for pilots to integrate.

Yesterday represented potentially the biggest operational challenge for the combined airline, not dealing with customer reservations or frequent flyer accounts but moving to a single Flight Operating System.

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