Airport security lines became insufferably long over the past few months. It cost both passengers (who can wait for hours at peak times) and airlines (when passengers miss flights and their seats aren’t used efficiently, plus they have unhappy customers).
TSA is hiring more screeners, though really should start with redeploying 2800 behavior detection officers to the checkpoint.
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.
Longtime reader Greekquent Flyer shared his notes with me from his recent family trip to Australia. He took on the challenge of planning premium cabin travel and hotels using his points to Australia (which is one of the toughest airline awards out there) for a family of 6.
So I asked him if I could share his experience with readers as a way of helping folks think about how to pull it all together.
Tomorrow is the last day that American Express cards will be accepted at Costco stores. Amex lost the co-brand relationship to Citibank and Visa in a deal that has Citi overpaying and not even gaining exclusivity over Costco payments (starting tomorrow you can use any Visa at Costco, regardless of the issuing bank).
American Express couldn’t match the money-losing deal that Citi was offering — some have argued that it’s tax losses that subsidize the deal — but the change meant losing 10% of cardmembers.
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 Airlines changed its published check-in policy so that at a bare minimum you have to check-in 45 minutes prior to departure even for a domestic flight without checked luggage. Both Delta and United continue to publish 30 minutes in similar circumstances.
However American Airlines spokesperson Ross Feinstein clarified for me that in fact, American will still issue a boarding pass 30 minutes prior to departure for a domestic flight.
My American Airlines upgrade failed to clear yesterday afternoon. I was second on the upgrade list with one open seaet. I made my way back to 8B on the MD80 for the two hour flight in Main Cabin Extra, which was fine.
When your upgrade doesn’t clear, you sit in back. That’s just how it works. You do not decide to take matters into your own hands.
A man was kicked off an Alaska Airlines flight from Dallas to Seattle on Wednesday because, the man says, “a passenger complained he looked ‘Arabic and scary'” as a result of his beard. Oh, the man’s name is Mark French.
As much of the coverage of this incident notes, the Alaska Airlines eskimo in their aircraft livery has a beard. Regardless of what happened to this man when he tried to fly, it’s time we stop living in fear.
Emirates will apparently be bringing an Airbus A380 to Chicago O’Hare for a single flight. O’Hare pulled a permit to build an A380-capable gate back in February, and at the time both Emirates and British Airways were noted as having expressed interest in flying A380s to the city.
Emirates has perhaps the flashiest first class product in the sky on its Airbus A380. But there’s real substance to it too. Emirates offers a comfortable private suite, good food and flexible dining, top notch wine and spirits, and a bar that’s matched or exceeded only by Qatar.
I wonder whether it’s a good idea for people to be served alcohol when they’re stuck in a metal tube.
A drunk Russian just wound up tied up after he was dragged off a plane “shouting and screaming” when he wouldn’t take his seat.
I’m starting to wonder, why do airlines serve alcohol onboard at all?
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 »
