United Airlines’ Super Bowl ad with Kyle Chandler promotes “No Change Fees,” but is misleading about basic economy and how long you can use your travel credits when you cancel a trip. However the broader industry shift to dropping change fees on most fares has meant ticket changes that would have cost customers $10 billion to make.
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.
On Monday a naked man strolled through the Fort Lauderdale airport and proceeded up to TSA security screening.
This should be the easiest security screening of the week: no shoes to remove, no pockets to empty, and he’s obviously not concealing hidden water anywhere. I’m not sure though if he just wants to avoid a pat down, or he’s actually hoping for one?
The Maldives-based all business class airline has received its second leased aircraft, an Airbus A321 which will be fitted with 68 lie flat seats. It’s expected to fly between the Maldives and Milan, Dubai and Bangkok later in the year.
Lufthansa’s ground staff union will strike Wednesday and Thursday. The airline estimates that they will only be able to operate 10% – 20% of flights on Wednesday, and has not provided an estimate for Thursday.
A woman ran onto the ramp at the Atlanta airport on Monday. Police pursued and caught up to her. At their initial encounter, with an officer speaking to her behind a Spirit Airlines plane, she walks off – and skips for joy! Law enforcement pursues, slowly at first. Then she begins to run.
An officer runs after her, and shoves her from behind down onto the ground. He handcuffs her, and then throws her into the vehicle the other officer drives up next to them.
Saruda Panyakham was declared the winner of the Miss Tiffany transgender beauty pageant in Bangkok on Sunday. The pageant winner identifies as as an American Airlines flight attendant. However the airline tells me that no one with this name works for the company.
Miss Tiffany’s Universe is a pageant for Thai transgender women and the winner represents Thailand at the Miss International Queen pageant.
An Alaska Airlines flight attendant ingeniously used rubber gloves filled with warm water to save rare Chilean flamingo eggs after their incubator malfunctioned during a flight from Atlanta to Seattle.
American Airlines says that they are not responsible when the employees that they’ve selected, trained and put into a position of authority in the cabin abuse that position to create child pornography by filming teenage girls in the lavatory.
You might book your hotel rooms on Expedia, book direct because you prioritize hotel points and elite benefits, or care most about saving money and head straight to HotelSlash. But what would Jack Ryan do? If you’re a CIA analyst, you may be trying to stay under the radar or protect your data – or yourself.
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 »
