Michigan Beer Distributors Lobby Takes Aim at Northwest Airlines

by Gary Leff

nwa-planes
Feb 15 2005

Northwest Airlines, which operates a hub at Detroit, has been cited for bringing in beer from out of state for service on its flights. Michigan law requires that beer must be purchased from state-licensed wholesalers. (Northwest serves out of state beer on planes only, not in its clubs which are supplied by local distributors.) Karen Wilson, chief executive at Central Distributors of Beer in Romulus, said her company notified the Liquor Control Commission after some of her salespeople noticed pallets of beer bearing a Minnesota distributor’s name were delivered to Northwest at Metro Airport. Central Distributors has the exclusive rights to distribute Budweiser and other Anheuser-Busch beers across much of western Wayne County, including Metro Airport. A liquor commission investigator determined that the airline was illegally importing alcohol into Michigan and was breaking the law…

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Warning off Independence Air

by Gary Leff

independence air
Feb 15 2005

Three and a half weeks ago I declared that Independence Air had some financial breathing room and that it was safe to make bookings through February. While they’re running some significant sales to promote their new West Coast service which starts in the next few months, I’m not recommending that folks buy those tickets at this point. I’m taking a wait and see attitude with the carrier, and wouldn’t suggest significant advance bookings at this time. One of Independence Air’s 73 planes was repo’d on Sunday. And one of the conditions of their cash infusion from GE was that they successfully renegotiate their aircraft leases. The repossession is a pretty good indication that they weren’t completely successful, and I worry about the carrier’s ability to meet the covenants of its GE loan. United seems to…

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A story of tenacity, and props to Chris Elliott

by Gary Leff

alitalia
Feb 11 2005

About ten days ago, Travelocity displayed a business class fare from several European cities to Shanghai for US$671 on Alitalia. It was an “I” fare, or so the fare rules suggested — special promotional business class fare. Turns out that for the same exact price there was an “L” fare, the least expensive coach fare available. The price was intended for the coach fare, but it displayed with business class fare rules by mistake. When the fare was purchased, it never said there was a lack of availability in I class or that it was being booked in something other than business. But the tickets were sold in L class, and Alitalia had record of a coach purchase. Travelocity was initially unhelpful. Now, this wasn’t a $0 fare. And it wasn’t a $20 fare, like…

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The travesty of Amtrak’s program changes without warning

by Gary Leff

Yesterday the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) covered Amtrak’s abrupt end to transferring Guest Rewards points into United Mileage Plus miles. One of the best deals in the world of frequent-flier programs recently disappeared, a reminder to travelers that the good bargains in the world of loyalty don’t last forever. For several years, in the tight-knit community of frequent travelers, Amtrak’s Guest Rewards program developed a cult-like following. Reason: The program could be used as a clearinghouse for unwanted frequent-flier miles from Continental Airlines, which has developed a reputation for being stingy with the free seats on its airplanes. Using a three-way swap that is rare among loyalty programs, Amtrak members would transfer Continental miles into Amtrak points — then take the points and turn them into United miles. They did this because they believed…

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Miles for Flowers

by Gary Leff

bouquet of flowers
Feb 10 2005

The two best offers I’m currently aware of are 30 Northwest miles per dollar spent at FTD and 30 United miles per dollar spent at FTD. The Northwest offer is new. The United one has been around a long time. Though the latter says it is for United’s top-tier elites, it works for anyone.

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JetBlue is Giving Away 500 Free Tickets on Friday

by Gary Leff

jetblue
Feb 10 2005

Tomorrow is their fifth anniversary and they’re giving away 500 roundtrip tickets to the first one hundred people who show up at each of their five New York City borough locations dressed as one of the destinations they fly to (along with a canned food item for City Harvest).

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New United Member-Get-Member Promo

by Gary Leff

united-plane
Feb 09 2005

Refer up to four friends to Mileage Plus. Each one that flies a roundtrip (as long as it isn’t booked as an S, T, or L fare) before June 30 will earn 3000 bonus miles plus 2000 miles for you. Update: This appears to be targeted, though a majority of reports to me so far are from folks who were targeted. Your mileage may vary.

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The sad state of airport security

by Gary Leff

airport
Feb 08 2005

When India’s Minister for Civil Aviation can say with a straight face that India’s airports are more secure than US airports, I view that as a strong indictment of US security policy. Anyone who has traveled through a major Indian airport must shake their head, though more at the chaos than the security. And it’s true that there haven’t been major recent security incidents there that I’m aware of. But the US should be looking pretty hard at itself when claims like these are made openly. (Comments are open, feel free to flame away.)

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Why Couldn’t I Have Been on THAT Flight?

by Gary Leff

british airways
Feb 08 2005

Lara Flynn Boyle flashed her breasts and tried to climb into bed with a male stranger on board a British Airways flight in first class from Los Angeles to London.Passengers say they saw the star naked and “wild-eyed” as she leaned over a male passenger, tried to get into his bed, pushed up the window blind next to the man and shouted: “We’re landing, get your clothes on” – even though the flight was still more than four hours away from Heathrow. The cabin crew gave the actress a blanket to cover herself. But the show continued as she ripped out a reading light from her seat, thrust it at a steward and demanded: “Get rid of this and get it out of my sight for ever and ever.’ She then walked to the lavatory,…

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