American Airlines is Offering a Whole New Level of Service for their Sydney Flights, Even in Economy

by Gary Leff

Dec 16 2015

Yesterday I attended an American Airlines event near LAX highlighting the new soft product offerings for their Los Angeles – Sydney flight.

They’re flying as part of a joint business venture with Qantas (the particulars of which are still pending Department of Transportation approval). Qantas is reducing their flying Los Angeles – Sydney and redeploying aircraft to re-start San Francisco flying. And Qantas customers are used to a certain level of catering. Plus it’s a pretty premium route that’s also very competitive since it’s served by United, Virgin Australia, and Delta as well.

Taken together, American saw the need to up its game — pajamas in business class and a redesigned menu.

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American Airlines is Reminding Flight Attendants Why Predeparture Beverages Matter

by Gary Leff

Dec 15 2015

It’s always striking to me that legacy American Airlines crews so rarely offer anything to drink prior to takeoff. Naturally the priority is an on-time departure, and it’s difficult to move around the cabin during boarding of a single aisle aircraft. But other airlines – including legacy US Airways crews – get this done far more often than American flight attendants do.

American has a new push to remind flight attendants that this is an important service element. This morning, at least, it worked.

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The Next Wave of Online Travel Booking Is Here: Kayak Moves Beyond Schedule and Price

by Gary Leff

Dec 15 2015

There’s no reason for many people to use a travel agent for a simple roundtrip airline ticket, and very few travel agencies are interested in making those bookings. Brick and mortar agencies saw their commissions cut, and began instituting fees or such bookings. They were mostly put out of business by the online travel agencies like Expedia and Orbitz. Now, travel agencies mostly exist for specialized services such as managed business travel and high end trips.

Something was lost in the process. Some customers do need handholding, the kind they used to get from travel agents of varying quality.

We’ve taken one step back towards what we used to have today — mass customization — through Kayak’s new data partnership with Route Happy.

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When Did the Government Start Requiring IDs to Fly.. and Why Did They Do It?

by Gary Leff

Dec 14 2015

Airlines long wanted to eliminate the secondary market in airline tickets, in order to enforce their revenue management strategies. If customers could buy and resell tickets, that makes it impossible for airlines to price discriminate between leisure travelers buying tickets far in advance and less price sensitive business travelers buying close to departure.

But when did the ID rule become a government requirement? Since it happened nearly 20 years ago, I had forgotten the rule’s origins.

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American Changed Mileage Earning on British Airways and Iberia Flights AGAIN!

by Gary Leff

Dec 14 2015

In late September American accidentally published new, reduced mileage-earning rates for discounted British Airways and Iberia tickets on their foreign websites. The changes were supposedly going into effect October 1.

The changes disappeared and then re-appeared on the American website in early November, with an effective date of February 1. So we were given three months’ notice of changes.

Except there are more changes for the month of January only..!

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