American Airlines CEO Robert Isom’s caveat that updating the contract could come quickly – or it might not – was clearly intentional. It won’t be a matter of just substituting in new, higher pay rates. This suggests they’re going to be negotiating and re-negotiating other language in the deal as well.
The FAA took to social media to tell airline passengers not to fully charge their lithium ion battery-powered devices, like phones and laptops, if they don’t need the full charge for the flight. This is because, the government agency says, “a full charge may increase the chances of a fire.”
Delta Air Lines flight 5637 from New York JFK to Columbus was overbooked on Saturday, and a gate agent found himself begging passengers to take $1,300 and travel at 9 a.m. the next day.
The airline started off offering $800. That’s more than you’ll find American or United offering most of the time. The agent worked his way up to $1,300 volunteer – and he was selling it.
The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs is an expansive luxury resort known as a top conference destination. One man stayed there on his own, for ten months, and the hotel has filed suit because they say he never paid for a single night. They’re trying to collect on a $185,000 bill. That’s over $600 per night, inclusive of tax.
Last week the U.S. House of Representatives voted down an amendment to FAA Reauthorization that would have “require[d] airlines to reinstate pilots who were fired or forced to resign because of vaccine mandates.” Republicans generally favored the amendment, but not overwhelmingly, while all but one voting Democrat opposed it.
The court wasn’t looking to impose a ‘bait and switch’. The airlines initially argued for a long wind-down of the partnership, to which the government objected. The position of American and JetBlue was, our IT systems aren’t set up to base benefits and mileage-earning on date of ticket purchase rather than date flown. So they couldn’t just grandfather old tickets.
That wasn’t flying as a reason to prolong the partnership. Instead what the two airlines came up with eliminating the ability to add each others’ frequent flyer account numbers to reservations.
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Did you know that American Airlines has its own credit card, aside from the Barclays and Citibank-issued AAdvantage cards?
The American Airlines Credit Card stopped taking applications in May. It’s a credit card used only for purchases with American. In other words, it’s a store card like a Macy’s credit card or a Best Buy card.
The FAA asked airlines to reduce their flying in and out of New York this summer, because of a shortage of air traffic controllers. New York TRACON has been staffed only at around 60% and the FAA hasn’t acted. And yet they still can’t handle the volume that remains. Most people suppose this is a lagging problem coming out of the pandemic, since staffing across the board has been a challenge for businesses and especially in hospitality and transportation. But that’s actually not the issue.
I never ask for very much and I rarely ever complain. I certainly never ask for special treatment. I would rather experience hotels the same way everyone else does, at least the way other frequent travelers earning elite status do.
I am never rude to hospitality staff. When they’re having a bad day, I try to empathize and joke with them about it. I’m far more self-effacing than demanding. So I’ve never experienced this before.
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 »
