When Riyadh Air was first announced, I was very skeptical of a brand new airline in the Gulf. It would compete for low yield connecting traffic with Emirates, Qatar, and Etihad. And the Saudi Arabian government already had a global airline with a hub in Riyadh – and Jeddah – in Saudi. Why give it competition?
I’ve written that their strategy confuses me, but to be honest it doesn’t confuse me anymore.
The FAA is investigating approximately 4,800 U.S. pilots for “falsifying their medical records to conceal…mental health disorders and other serious conditions that could make them unfit to fly.” Around 600 hold commercial airline pilot licenses, while the rest fly cargo, private, and other aircraft.
After making a roundtrip booking you won’t be able to go back and see online how many miles the outbound and return segments are worth separately. You can find out by calling. But there’s a clear amount of residual value that the return portion of your award ticket will have after you’ve flown the outbound, and this will be used towards any changes you need to make.
The federal government is considering banning air carrier operations that diverge from the model of American Airlines, United, and Delta in order to operate niche service from small cities and private terminals. And the only reason they’re doing this is as a concession to lobbying by unions and an incumbent airline – groups that don’t want to compete with more pilots and innovative business models.
The FAA is considering requiring carriers currently operating as scheduled charters to instead operate as scheduled air carriers, effectively putting upstarts out of business. The loudest lobbying voice with the ear of the powerful wins?
Emirates finally offers an explanation for why they keep raising the price of awards while also adding $1,600 co-pays when you spend your miles. And the answer is, basically, because once you acquire their miles you’re stuck and they can.
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 eliminated saver and anytime award travel in favor of dynamic pricing. And always and everywhere that airlines have done this, they’ve devalued their miles. I don’t think AAdvantage members realize how much their miles are devalued, though, if they live in an American Airlines hub and are trying to redeem for non-stop flights.
A TikTok video shows a Southwest Airlines flight where a passenger is ordering around a flight attendant, first saying she needs her son seated by her, then that the crewmember needs to store her bag for her, and also that she needed help getting her seatbelt belted.
The passenger complains, “somebody’s using God’s name in vain behind me.” As the flight attendant helped the passenger with her seatbelt, it appears that the passenger’s phone fell. The flight attendant picked it up off of the ground for her, and the woman said “Thank you that hit my foot.”
Southwest Airlines flight 872 from Dallas Love Field to Kansas City Friday morning made an unscheduled stop in Wichita today in order to drop off a flight attendant. Passengers weren’t told this was happening until just before boarding.
A passenger on board shares that the “17-year veteran pilot apologize[d]” to everyone on board for the extra long trip and offered that the situation was a “first for him too.”
Hertz got huge publicity announcing an order two years ago for 100,000 Teslas. Since then they’ve taken on other electric vehicles as well. The problem, though, is that people aren’t reserving them.
I regularly search car rentals and find that Hertz electric vehicles are often my cheapest option among the big rental companies. Hertz also has a special deal on EVs currently going on.
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 »
