Jan 24 2016

The Airbus A380 is a special plane for passengers, but has largely been a commercial failure. Airbus simply made the wrong bet on the future of air travel. For passengers the larger plane has meant more amenities and more space — although it was supposed to mean more amenities for everyone, not just bars in business class and showers in first.

Airbus hadn’t had a single order that firmed between mid-2013 and the end of 2015. Only Emirates remains truly enthusiastic about the plane. But now they have a new customer.

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Jan 24 2016

Friday’s Delta flight DL2598 from Los Angeles to Minneapolis, at 37,000 feet 180 nautical miles south of Salt Lake City, diverted with the pilot telling air traffic control that “he wanted to hear from his flight attendants.”

Passenger reports that 3 cabin crew were offloaded as a result of ‘bad behaviour’ and Delta sent this apology note to passengers:

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Jan 23 2016

Airlines and hotels get most of the ink in travel and in terms of getting the best deal. And when I write about rental cars that seems to generate the last interest. But I rent cars, on many trips I’m in the car longer than the plane and if the trip is long enough I can spend as much on airport taxes and gas as on my ticket. Cars shouldn’t just be an afterthought.

When I’m after the lowest possible price, here’s how I approach it.

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Jan 23 2016

American Express is struggling and even they do not know what the Marriott acquisition of Starwood will mean for the Starwood American Express card. They admitted as much during their earnings call.

Here’s what American Express is saying — and what’s most likely to happen.

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Jan 23 2016

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.

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Jan 22 2016

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.

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Jan 22 2016

An Alaska Airlines pilot is charged with piloting two flights in and out of Portland with a blood alcohol level over .13 in 2014. Just as shocking, it took 18 months for him to be charged.

What the story didn’t say is that Arntson’s flights were supposed to land and take off from Seattle. Kidding.

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Jan 22 2016

IHG bought Kimpton. Marriott is buying Starwood. Accor is buying Fairmont.

Now Carlson is exploring a sale of its hotel business. The Club Carlson brands including Radisson and Park Inn would wind up part of another, larger chain.

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Jan 21 2016

American Express hasn’t even lost Costco charges yet, and it’s reeling. Here’s the inside story on how Amex lost the Costco deal. Delta is their second largest co-brand, but with Marriott buying Starwood they presumably lose the ability to issue Starwood co-brands at some point when the programs are expected to merge.

American Express lost the JetBlue co-brand to Barclays though it’s small and they will actually manage the backend for Barclays through their LoyaltyEdge business. Their network is no longer used for Fidelity card transactions.

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