One of the controversial views I hold in miles and points is that – as much as I believe fuel surcharges on award tickets are offensive and destructive – I will pay them when there’s good premium cabin award availability at a reasonable mileage price.
I’ve flown British Airways from Austin to London many, many times.
On August 27, 2019 passenger Roberto Mata was hit with a galley cart on board Avianca flight 670 from San Salvador to New York JFK. The man sued, and the airline sought to have the suit tossed because the statute of limitations had lapsed.
His attorneys argued that Avianca’s bankruptcy caused the statute of limitations to toll, allowing the suit, and they filed a brief to that effect written entirely by ChatGPT which they… did not check at all first.
What makes the biggest difference in comfort on any flight, regardless of airline, is having an empty seat next to you. And if your flight is full, that’s something which is largely within your control when flying on Southwest Airlines. If you fly Delta you hope they didn’t assign the seat next to you. If you fly Southwest, seats aren’t pre-assigned, so you hope no one decides to sit next to you.
There’s a whole subculture of people who have their own strategies for making sure sitting beside them is… undesirable.
Delta Air Lines will be sharing the names of flight crew with passengers a day in advance of travel. Passengers will be able to recognize crew for their service. Even though it’s only first names, crew can opt out, and only positive comments will be passed along, a union trying to organize flight attendants at the airline is blasting the program.
Business class is about the seat. You have more space, and an available bed, so you can be more comfortable and well-rested rather than beaten up by the time you reach your destination. None of the ‘above and beyond’ business class products are offered by U.S. or European airlines.
At that point, then, the gradations in service matter but I do think – once the product hits a certain level of quality – it becomes more (though not exclusively) about schedule and price.
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.
A housekeeper at MGM’s Vdara in Las Vegas is accused of stealing more than $1 million in jewelry from a guest room consisting of “two Rolex watches, an Audemars Piguet watch, a Cartier watch, seven diamond Cuban link chains, a couple of bracelets and a gold ring.”
Here’s the story of tweedle dee and tweedle dumber.
A Southwest Airlines pilot of a Boeing 737 bound for Sacramento got locked out of the cockpit prior to departure on Thursday – and had to climb back in through the window – after a passenger shut the door.
Thanks to the reinforced cockpit door, it was the quickest way in. A customer had boarded the plane and, needing to use the restroom, closed the door to the cockpit in order to access the aircraft’s lavatory. The hijinks caused an 8 minute delay.
There are a lot more first-tier elites than top elites, and more people still who fly a lot but not quite enough to earn status. Here’s an opportunity for those people to have elite status for a small fee. It isn’t a status match offer, no current status is required.
Instead, anyone with a travel credit card can have elite status with Frontier Airlines.
It’s not easy to catch a rideshare in many parts of flyover country. One man in the part of Southern Illinois that’s known as “Little Egypt” found himself without a ride to the airport so he stole a backhoe for the 10 mile drive to the airport.
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 »
