Just to Show You How Complicated the World Is, British Airways and Iberia Pull Out of European Airline Lobbying Group

by Gary Leff

Apr 17 2015

British Airways and Iberia disagree with the rest of the airlines of Europe over complaints about the 3 big Gulf carriers (their parent company is ~ 10% owned by Qatar, and prior to that BA sponsored Qatar into oneworld).

Of course BA and Iberia are joint business venture partners with American who is a prime driver of complaints.

Etihad has big ownership stakes in several European carriers, and Emirates is a huge Airbus operator which just signed a nearly $10 billion deal for new European engines. Things get even more complicated still..

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The Airline Industry’s Lobbyist Says Mileage Programs Should Be Able to Change Their Terms on a Whim. He’s Wrong.

by Gary Leff

Apr 17 2015

The airline industry’s lawyers and lobbyists continue to push the envelope for rights to utterly disregard their members. Some programs are worse than others in terms of their actual behavior, but here the industry as a whole contends there are no restraints at all on changes to mileage programs that might occur — no need for advance notice to members at all.

That is an untenable position, and it needs to be shouted from the rooftops.

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Family “Forced” to Sit in Vomit on United Flight: Is It United’s Fault… or Theirs?

by Gary Leff

fake barf
Apr 16 2015

A truly disgusting story, and I feel for this family, who found vomit at their seat. I’ve had similar things happen, and the airline handled things in real-time. United didn’t, they offered only that the family could travel the next day. United handled things badly, I think, but was the family really ‘forced’ into anything?

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$50 Off Flights Between California and Hawaii or Mexico

by Gary Leff

Apr 16 2015

Alaska Airlines will e-mail new members who register for the MileagePlan program with a California address a $50 e-certificate discount code valid on flights between California and Hawaii or Mexico. The person who signs up for the account must be the traveler, so if you have several make sure each passenger signs up for their own account to get an emailed discount code. The certificate is valid for a discount on paid travel departing California to any Alaska Airlines city in Hawaii or Mexico. Travel is permitted between April 1 and June 30 and between September 8 through November 19. Ticket must be issued by August 24. *Offer Terms: The $50 Discount Code offer is valid for new Mileage Plan™ member sign-ups only. Must be a resident of California to qualify. Offer is valid for…

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