Last week Southwest Airlines unveiled images of its new cabin and seats. It was striking that these seats look thin and not well padded – a genuine downgrade from the older tan seats that are still flying and even less comfortable than the seats in the 737 MAX 8 today.
They’re not adding more seats to the planes. So what are they doing with the extra room they create?
IHG and Hyatt both offer “Milestone Rewards.” American’s concept is “Loyalty Point Rewards,” formerly called “Loyalty Choice Rewards.” Of these, Hyatt was first. They award benefits for progress as you progress through the program, not just on achieving status tiers. That makes earning your next award closer than before, more accessible and keeps members wanting more because the next thing is achievable.
Bilt Rewards has introduced its own Milestone Rewards.
It’s a two month promotion that can earn up to 1,000 (or 1,333) bonus points per night. I value Hyatt points at 1.4 cents apiece. Not amazing, not terrible. The offer hasn’t been released yet and can’t yet be registered for.
What’s it like to fly the smallest commercial plane out of Los Angeles? Eli McCann bought his $100 ticket and boarded a plane with just a few other people – cramped, but cozy, “Succession, but for poor people.” The pilot gave the safety briefing, asking passengers not to leave barf bags on the plane. And he ran an icebreaker for everyone on board to get to know each other.
The Italian government stopped a British Airways flight from Milan to London Heathrow from leaving on Monday, because it offered passengers seat cushions with too much padding.
After the country’s aviation authority performed a surprise inspection on the BA flight at Milan’s Linate airport, they discovered that seats near the overwing exists of the Airbus A320neo had the wrong seat cushions. They were too thick.
On Saturday I wrote that Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) is proposing legislation to give “lawmakers a dedicated security escort at airports, along with expedited screening outside of public view.”
He’s succeeded in attaching this benefit as a rider to the Senate’s FAA Reauthorization bill.
Actor and television writer Kylie Brakeman undertook a project to better understand airport concessions prices. She settled on Chex Mix, and crowdsourced pricing from around the internet. People submitted photos and other reports of the prices they’d found, and she built a spreadsheet. What she found is amazing.
It’s actually coach passengers with access to Delta Sky Clubs that are likely to see the greatest benefit, because those lounges are generally attractive facilities with good food and beverage options. What those passengers need most is for existing lounges to be a quiet respite from the terminal. And these Delta One lounges will go a long way towards making that happen.
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.
American Airlines has introduced a new ‘shelf stable’ “Meal of the Moment 3 Cheese Pasta” that flight attendants will mix hot water into prior to serving. This replaces the shelf stable MyPasta introduced in fall 2022.
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 »
