Many travelers are at the mercy of airlines when things go wrong. They wait in line to be rebooked and curse at how bad their options are. They become, as my grandfather used to say, “farbissen” or mad at the world.
I write a lot about taking control over your own travel destiny. Here’s what that means.
Everyone acknowledges what JSX does is legal from the DOT and FAA who allow it to even ALPA. ALPA argues they take advantage of a ‘loophole’ by using aircraft with no more than 30 seats, never ‘intended’ to support an operation that gives passengers the similar access to convenient terminals as private air travel offers to the wealthy. And One Mile at a Time is sympathetic. He acknowledges that JSX is safe, and the rules ALPA wants to impose are non-sensical, yet wishes “to be balanced.”
A woman who purchased a trip on Volaris out of Mexico City lost all control when she checked in at the airport and found out that she didn’t have a properly-issued ticket. The agent at the counter insisted that the woman purchase a new one.
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.
Malaysia Airlines is offering 1,348,000 miles for a single roundtrip ticket in business class, Bali – London at a cost of ~ US$4,043 at current exchange rates.
The Kuala Lumpur-based airline is a member of oneworld and partner of American Airlines, British Airways, Qantas and others.
The Air Line Pilots Association, the largest pilot union in the U.S., has filed with the Department of Transportation asking them to outlaw the business model of JSX, which operates 30 seat planes from private terminals.
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 has new technology that’s enabled them to avoid cancelling 1,000 flights in just the past year. It helps them recover quickly during weather events, replacing manual processes with computers. And it changes how we should think about who’s at fault when a flight does cancel.
A Southwest Airlines flight from Las Vegas to Maui diverted to Oakland on Monday when a passenger Airdropped a bomb threat. The plane was evacuated, passengers and luggage were searched, and no explosives were found. After five hours and forty minutes on the ground the flight was permitted to continue to Hawaii, where it arrived about eight hours late.
The pilot lied to passengers during this diversion, reporting a mechanical issue – presumably so as not to tip off an actual terrorist. However, crew knew and a passenger reports hearing a flight attendant break down, “Get me the f— off this plane.”
One British Airways passenger says that when they set their business class seat up as a bed, and they’re lying down, they find it much more convenient to control their television with their feet. That way they don’t have to get back up. And they wonder if anyone else does this, and whether there are other embarrassing things that they do when the doors to their business class suite are closed?
Oh, and they “like to be barefoot anyway, so why not?”
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 »
