Jul
22
2023
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.
Travel Advice Site Exposed As A Fake? [Roundup]
American Airlines Employee Killed By Poorly-Maintained Tug, Tried To Call It A Suicide
Jul
22
2023
The tug had “several mechanical issues” including brake faillure. It collided into a guardrail 10 days earlier. On this day the employee started to push back an aircraft, but the tug went faster than usual. It veered right. And the 14-ton vehicle crashed near gate 24 and pinned the man between the vehicle and the jetbridge. One 911 call suggested that the vehicle’s accelerator pedal got stuck.
Tug had been “marked out of service numerous times for failed brakes” it reportedly was not serviced and continued to be used. Maintenance of the vehicle is “managed by Menzies Airlines.”
Be Careful Redeeming American Airlines Miles: Price Goes Up After You Put Award On Hold
Jul
22
2023
American Airlines has had technical issues when AAdvantage members put frequent flyer mile award travel on hold, sometimes only holding a reservation for three days instead of the five days promised under their policy. There’s another glitch members are dealing with, and it’s costing them more miles if they don’t pay attention.
Many customers are reporting that when they put an award ticket on hold the flights are stored, but the price quoted doesn’t stick. Here’s one example where a single traveler was asked to pay an additional 122,000 miles:
Passengers Didn’t Get Breakfast On British Airways Flight For A Strange Reason
Jul
21
2023
Normally when passengers don’t receive their meals it’s because of a catering issue. And it’s limited to a few passengers. Maybe they didn’t get their special meal choice, or their first choice wasn’t loaded. If it’s United Airlines, maybe they just ran out of food. But British Airways flight 56 on July 20 may have had the most surprising reason I’ve seen for passengers not to get fed on a long haul flight: the crew rest seats were broken. What does that have to do with feeding passengers, especially since it doesn’t appear that there was trouble catering the aircraft? Crew on an 11 hour flight get rest breaks. Normally on a widebody aircraft they get time in the crew rest area. But if those seats are unavailable they’ll assign business class seats for this…
Spirit Airlines Crew Refuses To Let Passenger Use The Restroom, She’s Forced To Go On The Floor
Jul
21
2023
Horrible: reportedly on a recent Spirit Airlines flight a woman was denied access to the lavatory. She really had to go. She waited, she says, for two hours and finally couldn’t hold it anymore. She relieved herself on the floor of the aircraft. And someone – it appears to be a member of the cabin crew – films it.
4 Reasons American Airlines Is Headed For A Disastrous Third Quarter
Jul
21
2023
J.P. Morgan’s Jamie Baker points out that American Airlines has provided guidance that their third quarter operating margin will decline by over 700 basis points, and that American hasn’t done this poorly outside of Covid in the last thirteen years – and they’re guiding to performance over 800 basis points worse than Delta. And they don’t explain what’s going on.
United Airlines Flight Diverts When Coach Passenger Wouldn’t Stay Out Of Business Class
Jul
21
2023
United Airlines flight 871 from San Francisco to Taipei diverted and returned back to the U.S. on Thursday when a coach passenger refused to stay in their cabin. They kept going up into business class, and refused to stay in their seat. In grist for inequality commentators everywhere, two hours into the thirteen hour flight, the captain made the decision to turn back.
United Airlines Runs Out Of Pre-Order Meals Even Before The Flight [Roundup]
Jul
21
2023
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.
Wide Open Business Class Awards To Rome For 2024
Jul
21
2023
ITA Airways is the new Alitalia. They’re a member of SkyTeam, but only partially. You can’t redeem Delta miles to travel with them, for instance. But you can now redeem Virgin Atlantic miles. Their business class is good, availability is good, and there are no fuel surcharges.
Should You Unbuckle Your Seat Belt Before the Plane Comes to a Complete Stop?
Jul
20
2023
After your flight lands you’re supposed to keep your seat belt buckled until the pilot parks at the gate and turns off the seat belt sign. Although if you’ve been on any commercial flight in the past decade you know that’s not what happens.
At the very latest once the plane stops (you might still not be at the gate, and will move again) passengers start to take off their seat belts, gather their belongings and sometimes even make their way into the aisle.
