Feb 02 2016

Barclaycard picked up the JetBlue co-brand from American Express. And they even bought Amex’s ‘back book’ meaning that existing American Express cardmembers get transitioned over to the new JetBlue Rewards MasterCard issued by Barclaycard.

A couple of weeks ago American Express sent notice of the transition to its cardmembers. JetBlue communicated last week. And Barclaycard is sending out information this week that may start hitting mailboxes by tomorrow. The card isn’t yet available for new signups, but we know what it offers now.

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Feb 01 2016

Yesterday I wrote about changes you will be able to make to American AAdvantage awards after award chart price changes go into effect March 22 without having to pay additional miles.

Readers had several questions about what this means in practice, so I sought additional clarification. And it turns out to be better than I thought.

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Feb 01 2016

Move over stroopwafels, American Arilines is bringing free snacks to coach and meals to Dallas – Hawaii flights.

This is part of the overall branding experience, a customer may rule out an airline price being equal on the basis of their brand experience or the carrier’s reputation. United added back snacks to economy. So we’re returning to an equilibrium where basic snacks are offered. But why? There’s really two reasons.

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Feb 01 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 31 2016

I’ve gotten several questions recently from readers wanting to know what changes they would be able to make to American AAdvantage awards after the award chart devaluation on March 22 without having to pay additional miles for their tickets.

I had a pretty good idea how this would work, but I went ahead and asked American.

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Jan 31 2016

A one ounce, $15 travel router will let you share a wireless internet connection (even an inflight gogo connection) or turn a wired internet connection into a wireless one. That way you can use more devices than a hotel’s free wifi permits, too.

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Jan 31 2016

A week ago I wrote about a Delta flight from Los Angeles to Minneapolis that diverted to Salt Lake City due to ‘unruly crew’. After an 80 minute delay the flight continued to Minneapolis — apparently with replacements for 3 of the cabin crew. Delta then sent an apology note to customers for ‘team members’ who ‘did not display their best behavior.’

Now we know the rest of the story.

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Jan 30 2016

British Airways flight BA295 from London Heathrow to Chicago turned around two hours into flight declaring an emergency. It landed at Heathrow around 5:30pm local time. The captain told passengers there was a “technical fault” with the plane.

The ‘technical fault’ was landing on 3 sets of wheels instead of 5. Fire trucks responded. Passengers had to disembark in such a way as to not tip the plane.

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Jan 30 2016

Wednesday’s American Airlines flight 109 from London to Los Angeles turned back while over Iceland when a couple of passengers and several flight attendants reported feeling lightheaded.

American returned to London where they have significant staff, mechanical, and crew resources rather than diverting to a closer airport — which bore out as the correct choice given that people on the flight were evaluated on the scene but did not require medical treatment. The cause of the incident remains unknown at this point.

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