Dec 26 2015

When American announced Sydney service starting in December, they did so as part of an enhanced joint venture with Qantas.

Although American’s new Sydney flight launched a week ago and Qantas has touched down in San Francisco, the Department of Transportation has yet to approve the tighter cooperation between the two airlines. Instead, after several months, the DOT requested more information.

American and Qantas have responded, and the filing makes for interesting reading.

Continue Reading »

Dec 26 2015

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.

Continue Reading »

Dec 25 2015

A key takeaway for me from Delta’s investor day was that they expect to sell buy ups for 70% of their first class cabins, for all intents and purposes eliminating elite upgrades. Whether the policy changes, or the supply or unmonetized first class seats simply approaches zero, if they’re successful that will transform US airline elite programs.

But there was a lot more in the presentation — like Delta’s plan to expand basic economy fares to long haul markets, a continuation of a strategy they’ve been working on for the past year. More markets with stripped down fares offering few services, and more opportunity for upselling.

As predicted there, you can now use Delta SkyMiles to pay for premium booze in the airline’s club. At a very poor valuation. And it’s more or less what the airline was planning to do across the board when they went revenue-based.

Continue Reading »

Dec 25 2015

We know that the TSA doesn’t actually catch contraband through the checkpoint the vast majority of the time. So their procedures aren’t actually meaningful for security, leaving aside that they’ve never caught a terrorist.

But now with news that the TSA will make the imaging devices mandatory for some passengers, it’s likely that use of these machines violate the fourth amendment since a Federal Appeals Court ruled in EPIC v. DHS that the scanners were constitutionally permissible because they’re optional.

Continue Reading »

Dec 25 2015

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.

Continue Reading »

Dec 25 2015

US Airways Dividend Miles as merged into American AAdvantage back in March. But did you know that your US Airways Dividend Miles number still works?

In fact you can even still enter it for American Airlines flights and receive credit. If you’ve included it on existing bookings into the future that apparently is fine. However you’ll only be able to enter it on bookings for the next week.

Continue Reading »

Dec 24 2015

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.

Continue Reading »

Dec 24 2015

It’s understandable that on a premium route with their best aircraft they’ll want to be a bit conservative releasing award space. At this time there is not a single day during the entire 11 months of the schedule that there’s even one business or first class saver award Los Angeles – Sydney. That’s absurd. But it’s worse than that.

They aren’t just protecting seats hoping to sell them, not knowing yet what seats are going to go unsold. Even when it is 100% obvious that seats are going out empty, they’re still extorting members for more than 200,000 miles for a one way flight. That’s some dirty pool.

Continue Reading »

Dec 24 2015

A coyote ran through baggage claim at the Myrtle Beach, South Carolina airport. It was ultimately caught at the airport’s security checkpoint.

You might think this was the first time that the TSA actually caught a terrorist, but no dice — after airport staff chased the coyote unsuccessfully, it was eventually caught by animal control officers called to the scene.

Continue Reading »

Dec 23 2015

Dublin airport isn’t just a great connecting city and a convenient spot or US immigration preclearance (as well as a great place to find award space. It’s ground zero for weird aviation experiences, giving ‘Germany or Florida’ a run for its money. And they’re purists when it comes to St. Patrick’s Day.

A man died onboard a flight to Dublin in the the fall after attacking another passenger. And a passenger recently stripped naked and requested flight attendant sex on a flight that departed from there. It’s also where a male model had $646,000 confiscated. So it should be no surprise that…

Continue Reading »