Throwaway ticketing is a practice that’s gone on for decades. Airlines often charge more money for non-stops than they do for connecting itineraries. So people book a flight with a connection through the city they want to travel to, and just don’t take that second connecting flight. As a result, they can often save money, but there are risks you should know about.
Readers have shared a frustration by e-mail and in the comments to various posts about access to Virgin Atlantic Clubhouses in the U.S. using their credit cards which are supposed to provide them entry.
Access rules can be complicated, but it appears that especially for the San Francisco lounge, a manager there has instructed staff to in essence violate their contract and deny access out of an antipathy for credit card guests.
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The judge’s decision, rather than considering whether consumers would benefit overall, looked at individual markets and saw fare increases – when fares were rising everywhere due to inflation, supply chain issues and strong demand. The judge discounted expert witnesses for the airlines because they were working with airline data while giving weight to government experts. And the judge argued that the combination was per se illegal, since it reduced competitors, rather than looking at its effects to see more actual competition.
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A China Southern Airlines check-in counter agent in Singapore has been suspended after calling a passenger “a dog.” The man was checking in for China Southern’s Singapore – Chongqing flight 546 on May 23rd and asked about an upcharge for exit row seats, but there was a communication challenge. He asked for a Mandarin-speaking agent, but was ignored.
The passenger began filming with his phone, and the employee took offense. According to the passenger, he “used three languages (to scold me), ‘you are a dog, you don’t understand human language’.” That’s not on the video, however the agent was filmed saying “If you want to be a dog, I can treat you like a dog… That’s easy.” The agent also said that the man doesn’t “even know how to be a human.”
Some properties add mandatory fees that are not actually disclosed to guests when committing to a stay. They might charge a resort fee that’s not shown on the hotel’s website or in the confirmation e-mail. They might add an undisclosed extra fee for property taxes and energy fees. But hotels usually pick just one fraudulent fee.
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.
Three years ago, as the pandemic was starting, Delta announced that it would become the world’s first carbon neutral airline.
However they were using sleight of hand for this – buying carbon offsets which not only often do not offset carbon, but can increase emissions.
This filing by Alaska certainly suggests Seattle – Shanghai is at least still alive, and hints by American to employees in March that they could fly Seattle to Singapore suggest that they’re still working on a strategy that could come to fruition for Seattle-based Asia flying, perhaps when the new Boeing 787-9s that American has on order begin to deliver.
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 »
