American Airlines Chief Commercial Officer Vasu Raja was the last guest of the season for the American Airlines internal podcast for employees. At the end of his interview, asked what’s coming in 2024, he noted that he was being interviewed solo and “there’s nobody here to tell me what I can’t say, so I’ll reveal a bit more.”
My cousin David, staying at the Sheraton Grand Sydney Hyde Park, was evacuated from his room Friday morning after a guest flooded an entire floor of the hotel, set off a fire alarm, attacked hotel staff and was throwing things out the window.
Michelin-starred celebrity chef Aurélien Largeau, of La Table d’Aurélien Largeau at Hyatt’s Hôtel du Palais Biarritz in southwest France, has been fired after video spread online of hazing in his kitchen. A junior member of the kitchen staff (commis) was “tied to a chair naked for hours with an apple in his mouth and a carrot in his anus with all the chefs – known as the kitchen brigade – looking on, including Largeau.”
A passenger in India was arrested for making a bomb threat against a flight in order to get his lost wallet back. He’d flown Spicejet from Delhi to Bangalore on Tuesday and realized he left his wallet on the plane after he landed and was about to leave the airport. Still standing by the airline’s ticket counter, he was easy to arrest.
The international date line is a great trick that makes it possible to have two New Years Eve celebrations the same year, and five flights allow you to do this – spending New Years Eve in one city, flying to another city and doing New Years Eve again – because you don’t fly out until January 1, and arrive back on December 31. Time travel!
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.
On Thursday afternoon, Southwest Airlines delayed flight 19, the 1:35 p.m. departure from Houston Hobby airport to Las Vegas. They told passengers on board that 20 connecting passengers were inbound on other flights to Houston, and they wanted those passengers to make their connections. The airline originally announced a 20 to 25 minute hold. It became longer.
Do you have elite status with an airline – or even a hotel chain? Or even a cruise line? You might even have this just from having a credit card. Frontier Airlines wants to match your status and depending on your current elite level will even give you top tier in their program.
With temperatures falling to less than 50 degrees below zero at cruising altitude, and lack of oxygen, conditions are excruciating. There are 132 people known to have stowed away in aircraft wheel wells between 1947 and 2021, and they have a mortality rate of 77%.
The man crowned national champion of Chinese chess had his title stripped after being granted another honorific: world’s worst hotel guest, including “defecating in a hotel bathtub.”
Yan Chenglong “overdid celebrations” after his victory, and is now also under investigation for cheating… with anal beads?
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
