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An Anonymous Airline Pilot Comes After Me In A New ‘Live And Let’s Fly’ Post

by Gary Leff on October 28, 2020

Oct 28 2020

I hope the anonymous airline captain who authored the latest post at Live and Let’s Fly demanding more respect never happens to be flying an aircraft I’m ticketed on because he’s threatening to make things worse for passengers if pilots are criticized, even when the criticism is justified – as the anonymous captain admits that it is.

He takes issue with my post about the Delta captain who kicked a woman off a flight over her F-12 hat, which she took off as he instructed.

U.S. May Require All Foreign Visitors To Submit Biometrics Before Applying For An ESTA Or Visa

by Gary Leff on October 28, 2020

passport getting stamped

Oct 28 2020

The federal government is looking to require foreign visitors and prospective immigrants to submit “fingerprints and possibly other biometric information..into a new database” prior to being permitted to submit online visa applications and even ESTA requests.

J.P. Morgan Chase: Airlines Will Get Second Bailout, Come Back For Third Because Why Not?

by Gary Leff on October 28, 2020

scrooge mcduck diving into coins

Oct 28 2020

Jamie Baker, in a research note for J.P. Morgan Chase, points out that if airlines get another ‘payroll support’ bailout they’d have to spend some of that money on extra payroll. In other words it isn’t all money straight into the kitty.

But will it happen? Baker says a new round of subsidies will happen (“We believe PSP 2.0 is a question of when, not if”). And then expect airlines to come back again for a third round.

Last Call: 5 Free Marriott Nights Worth 250,000 Points From New Marriott Card

by Gary Leff on October 28, 2020

picture with stairs around it in a hotel

Oct 28 2020

I’ve just learned that the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless^TM Credit Card offer to earn 5 free nights worth 250,000 points – the richest ever for this card by far, and one of the richest card offers, period – will end October 28, 2020. Today is the last full day to take advantage of it.

First-Ever 100,000 Point Offer For JetBlue Credit Card

by Gary Leff on October 28, 2020

Oct 28 2020

Barclays is offering 100,000 points as an initial bonus for the $99 annual fee JetBlue Plus Card. The offer is also available for the $99 annual fee JetBlue Business Card.

You’ll generally get 1 to 1.6 cents per point in value redeeming for JetBlue flights. Mint (business class) flights will skew towards the lower end. I value a JetBlue point at around 1.25 cents apiece, so a 100,000 point offer means $1250 worth of travel, or $1151 net of each card’s annual fee.

Massive Delta SkyMiles Partner Award Devaluation

by Gary Leff on October 27, 2020

Oct 27 2020

One way business class between the US and Europe on Air France and KLM has gone from 75,000 to 95,000 miles. Partner one way awards to North Asia are up to 102,500 miles. And Virgin Atlantic business class one ways booked within 3 weeks of departure can run as high as 195,000 miles. That’s insane.

Wide Open Business Class Availability To Europe, Up To 4 Passengers At Just 34,000 Miles Per Person

by Gary Leff on October 27, 2020

stock airline bed

Oct 27 2020

Spanish flag carrier Iberia is owned by British Airways parent company IAG. It’s a member of oneworld, and part of the same transatlantic joint venture as American Airlines. They have a nice business class product, and right now they have amazing business class award availability from several U.S. cities for four passengers for next fall.

American Airlines New ‘Low Protein’ Meals In First Class

by Gary Leff on October 27, 2020

Oct 27 2020

Let’s take a look at American’s current lunch and dinner sandwich, enjoyed this past week on a flight from Dallas Fort-Worth to Washington Dulles. The standard offering appears to be a ‘low protein’ meal.

American Airlines still sells first class, and doesn’t discount it based on providing less service. This represents a current first class meal. The man who took this photo fo the current first class meal says “[g]lad I ate before my flight!”

American Isn’t The Largest Airline In The World Right Now. The Biggest Carrier Isn’t One You’d Expect.

by Gary Leff on October 27, 2020

Oct 27 2020

A week ago Delta was briefly the largest airline in the world by scheduled seats. They’ve dropped back down to number three. However the largest airline in the world right now isn’t American Airlines, as they usually claim. It’s actually China Southern Airlines (which is part-owned by American, and also Qatar, though is largely a state-owned enterprise).

These are the top 10 airlines in the world based on their size (scheduled seat capacity) right now:

Chase Sapphire Cards Get New Peleton Statement Credit Benefit

by Gary Leff on October 27, 2020

Oct 27 2020

Premium rewards card customers are valuable consumers that brands want access to. Card issuers can form partnerships that allow them to deliver their cardmembers as a product to those brands, while providing real value from the brands to their customers as well. It’s a real win-win.

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 »

View from the Wing is a project of Miles and Points Consulting, LLC. This site is for entertainment purpose only. The owner of this site is not an investment advisor, financial planner, nor legal or tax professional and articles here are of an opinion and general nature and should not be relied upon for individual circumstances.

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I don't include all US credit card offers available on this site. Instead, I write primarily about cards which earn airline miles, hotel points, and some cash back (or have points that can be converted into the same).

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