About three weeks ago American adopted a new poliicy that they would no longer ‘through check’ bags onto another airline outside of oneworld if the other airline travel was on a separate ticket. This came closer to aligning with US Airways (and Delta but not United). They delayed implementation fo the policy until October 15. Now they’ve pushed it off again — all the way until February. I do not know why they’d do this. I’d have expected that if they were going to change the policy, they would change the policy, as-announced. I see three possibilities. I’d rank the likelihood of each explanation in the following order: The IT just wasn’t ready and the fix was pretty far back in the queue. They realized the lack of notice was going to be a problem.…
The White House Prostitution Scandal: DHS Inspector General Learns 2nd Guest is Free for HHonors Members
When the secret service prostitution scandal first broke in 2012, Spirit Airlines ran a sale. But it turns out that wasn’t the only travel angle to the story, aside from the fact that it occurred in Cartagena. The story is back in the news because of a recent news report that the Administration was aware that one of their own advance team members (and not just secret service) had a prostitute spend the night at the hotel where the President would be staying. DHS inspector general’s office investigation found that he didn’t pay the hotel’s extra person charge for the prostitute who spent the night in his room. But it turns out he didn’t break any rules Why? [H]otel officials had waived a fee normally charged to guests staying overnight. Hilton Worldwide officials in Virginia…
Success Loading OneVanilla Debit Cards Plus How to Check Your Room for Bed Bugs
News and notes from around the interweb: Success loading a(n Amex) Target RED card with a Onevanilla prepaid debit card Plastc is another take on loading all your credit cards into a single card, like Coin which went public a year ago but is still hard to get in beta. Personally I’m waiting until an actual product release before jumping on. How to check your room for bed bugs Save up to 1/3rd on SPG award redemptions at Caesars hotels. Savings vary with rates, and wind up not being a great deal much of the time. When Vegas rooms are cheap, pay cash. The Thai Coasian Anti-Bribery Campaign, Moral Hazard Edition You can join the 40,000+ people who see these deals and analysis every day — sign up to receive posts by email (just one…
American Airlines Los Angeles Atlanta Service… Why in the World Would They Do That?
American starts Los Angeles – Atlanta service March 5 (it becomes bookable this Sunday). They’ll offer three flights daily — Los Angeles Departures at 12:15am, 10:30am, and 3:20pm Atlanta departures at 7am, 12:50pm, and 6:55pm But.. why? This could help feed American’s Tokyo and Shanghai flights, and oneworld Pacific partners Qantas, JAL, and Cathay Pacific — although Qantas has a Dallas flight and JAL and Cathay Pacific have Chicago flights that might be more logical connections for Atlanta-based flyers. American Isn’t Competing for Atlanta Passengers With 3 Daily Flights What it isn’t is a play for Atlanta-based flyers generally. American’s New York strategy seems to be becoming the airline that brings passengers to New York rather than the airline for New Yorkers. They don’t compete strongly to United and Delta hub markets. They don’t try…
This Passenger Yelled Out Inflight He Had Ebola. Watch The Blue Hazmat Suits Come Onboard!
A passenger onboard US Airways Flight 845 (the video’s notes incorrectly identify it as flight 85) from Philadelphia to Punta Cana identified himself as having ebola. This same passenger has never seen the movie Airplane! You can join the 40,000+ people who see these deals and analysis every day — sign up to receive posts by email (just one e-mail per day) or subscribe to the RSS feed. It’s free. You can also follow me on Twitter for the latest deals. Don’t miss out!
American Releases New Video of Their 767 Lie Flat Business Class
American has been flying their new 767 business class product since April when they launched it on the New York JFK – Zurich flight. It currently flies JFK – Madrid and Barcelona and it will be getting added to JFK – Paris and Chicago – Paris soon. I still haven’t flown it. Unquestionably the old 767 business class needs to be replaced. In fact, the joint venture with British Airways and Iberia (and Finnair) requires it. They weren’t going to retire the 767 fast enough, so some of them had to get a new business class lie flat product. Back in March, American released photos of the new business class product. It’s not the same seat they’ve put onto their new 777-300ERs. The Boeing 767 isn’t a wide enough aircraft to put in that same…
Delta Increasing Spending Requirement for Elite Status By 20%
I receive compensation for many links on this blog. You don’t have to use these links, but I am grateful to you if you do. American Express, Citibank, Chase, and other banks are advertising partners of this site. I do not write about all credit cards that are available — instead focusing on miles, points, and cash back (and currencies that can be converted into the same). In January 2013, Delta declared that 2013 flying for 2014 status would require a minimum ticket spend in addition to minimum miles flown. The revenue requirement was essentially set at 10 cents per mile — e.g. $2500 for 25,000 mile status, $5000 for 50,000 mile status and so on. I considered the introduction of revenue requirements for status a big conceptual move, but one with limited effect in…
Interview With the Congressman Who Wants to Regulate Frequent Flyer Programs
The Department of Transportation is auditing frequent flyer programs. Now, DOT doesn’t actually regulate frequent flyer programs, but the audit is at the request of Representative Alan Grayson (D-FL) and will look at things they believe they can claim jurisdiction over — disclosure of fees associated with the programs and redemptions, and whether there’s proper disclosure of changes made to those programs (standards for which aren’t especially well-defined). Grayson is tilting at windmills a bit here, here’s in the minority in the House, isn’t known for working especially well across the aisle, and no mainstream political commentators expect control of his branch of Congress to flip in the upcoming election. Nonetheless, he’s got the makings of a one-man crusade. He’s got elite status (he says US Airways and American, though I don’t know if that’s…
Do Flight Attendants Deserve to Be Paid for Time Spent During Boarding of Your Flight?
Reader Mark O. suggests that I comment on the case Integrity Staffing Solutions v. Busk which the Supreme Court heard arguments in this week. It’s popularly known as the case of whether Amazon workers should be paid to stand in line, but the case isn’t about Amazon and the case has some pretty widespread implications including for travel. Employees of the staffing company in this case (Integrity Staffing Solutions) would wait in line to be security screened on their way out of Amazon warehouses. They weren’t paid for this time. The time is spent for the benefit of the employer, at least according to the workers’ brief — the point is to ensure that they aren’t stealing from the warehouse. They’re suing for back wages owed. The argument is that hourly workers are being paid…
Renew Your Comped MGM Status!
Last summer Hyatt Gold Passport and MGM M Life launched a really innovative partnership. I think of it as ‘hotel codesharing’. Each program’s members could earn points and credit towards elite status by staying in the other chain’s hotels. And there was reciprocal elite status matching, so that the best customers of each chain would be treated with status benefits when staying with the other, too. This filled a big hole for Hyatt (experienced by chains generally) in Las Vegas, and a hole for MGM by giving them broader reach. One interesting thing about how elite status was handled: it’s not your Hyatt status that MGM recognizes, MGM gives status in its own program based on your Hyatt status. Status matching began last August. And folks who had their status matched are seeing that status…
