Although United declared two years ago that its problem was too many customers, it hasn’t managed its elite pool as well and has shedded too many elites.
Last month United handed out one-level status upgrades to many elites, and free economy plus to many members without status (but who held status in the past). Now they want to sell status miles.
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.
On Thursday SkyTeam member China Southern was preparing for a 1200 mile hop it performs every day between Wuhan — the most populous city in central China — and Harbin, the capital of China’s northernmost province.
It’s a route flown daily by China Southern with a Boeing 737, and also by Sichuan Airlines with an Airbus A321. Normally not more than 2.5 hours in flight, this journey would be extended because of a passenger meltdown caught on film.
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.
Through July 8 American is offering to sell you miles for as little as 1.72 cents, which is the lowest price I’ve seen.
After last week’s program changes and the March 22 award chart devaluation perhaps they need to drop price in order to find buyers.
I went to the counter and while they had my reservation, I was told they wouldn’t give me a car. They took more reservations than they had vehicles, and so the woman at the desk said they weren’t going to honor any bookings made that day.
It seemed like Hertz should have done more than just told me I was out of luck. If they didn’t have cars, they shouldn’t have given me a reservation. And if they weren’t going to honor the reservation they should have tried to take care of things some other way.
At the end of the week the US Department of Transportation handed out route awards to US airlines to fly to Cuba — for every Cuban destination requested except for Havana. There are more traffic rights available than there are requests to fly for Cuba’s secondary destinations.
American AAdvantage program terms specifically disallow earning or redemption on Cuba flights. However:
The more I think about United’s new business class seat the more I like it. It’s not my favorite business class seat in the world. It’s not even my second favorite business class seat. But United will have a lot of these new seats in their aircraft — the first Boeing 777-300ER comes with 60.
My only disappointment is how long it will take to retrofit existing aircraft: it will be 2021 before the bulk of the fleet has them.
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’s new business class seat will be the B/E Aerospace Super Diamond going into their Boeing 787-9, Airbus A350, and later retrofits of Boeing 777-200s.
American is introducing a premium economy product beginning with the Boeing 787-9 later this year, then the Airbus A350, both new aircraft for the airline.
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 »
