The Sabena case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. Sabena’s defense was that this was common practice in the industry. Airlines all denied it, and pointed fingers at other carriers including Pan Am and TWA as well as KLM and other foreign carriers flying across the North Atlantic. Ultimately a consent decree was entered into, and an Iberia executive was jailed for continuing the practice.
Perhaps nobody enjoyed the perks of using donated campaign cash on travel as much as the former one-term Senator from Arizona. Halfway through her term she became an independent. The expectation was she’d avoid a Democratic primary this way, since the once-liberal firebrand had moved to the center while in office. She had plenty of money on hands in her campaign coffers, and she kept spending it on travel – even as she was no longer campaigning.
Hotels are nickel and diming guests for things I never used to hear of their charging extra for. The Aloft hotel in McAllen, Texas reportedly billed a guest $80.50 for washcloths because she used them to remove makeup.
A United Airlines passenger flying a regional jet from Chicago O’Hare to Fargo snagged $2,000 in travel credits to take a later flight on Thursday.
The start of the year is a great opportunity to get started with Hyatt. They’re the program that offers the most value transferring points from bank cards to a hotel program, and their status is the most generous of the major chains.
I especially enjoy confirmed suite upgrades at time of booking, real guaranteed late check-out (subject to availability at resorts, everywhere else it is usually proactively offered to me) and a breakfast benefit that actually spells out what breakfast is – and it’s not just ‘continental’.
There’s a lot suggesting that this could be under discussion. The biggest argument against it is that it hasn’t happened yet, so might not come to fruition. But here’s the argument for yes.
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.
Lufthansa keeps making strange decisions with the interiors of its aircraft, and not learning from the experience of other airlines. They’ve crammed so many seats into their Airbus A320neo aircraft that there’s virtually none left for the galley – and this leaves them to seat a flight attendant on a folding chair.
Bilt Rewards is back with its Rent Day offers for February 1. The headline here is up to a 100% transfer bonus to Star Alliance program Avianca LifeMiles.
It appears that a new trial at London Heathrow airport will simplify international connections starting on Tuesday. Dubbed “One Stop Security,” the initiative will initially allow passengers arriving from the U.S. into terminal 3 to bypass the standard security check.
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 »
