Tom Hanks introduced the world to the story of Mehran Karimi Nasseri, the man who spent 18 years living in Paris Charles de Gaulle airport’s terminal 1, in the film The Terminal which also starred Catherine Zeta-Jones and Stanley Tucci.
People do get stuck in airports in immigration limbo. One issue that’s come up is the result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and Russians that have fled the country to avoid being drafted as cannon fodder in Putin’s war.
Southwest Airlines had a remarkably bad holiday period. As a result perhaps two million people had their travel interrupted, and the airline will report a loss for the fourth quarter. Their operations have recovered, but they have the daunting task of investing to make sure such a long tail event doesn’t repeat itself, and to convince customers to return.
Return they will, in part because there are things that Southwest Airlines does incredibly well, something that’s easily forgotten in the fog of how bad the last week and a half of 2022 was for the carrier and its customers. In fact, there are 8 reasons you should still fly Southwest Airlines.
Thailand was set to re-institute a vaccine requirement for passengers arriving into the country effective Monday, January 9. When this was first announced, I described it as “confusion reigns.” And in an update that can only be described as ‘very Thai’ this policy was rescinded on.. Monday, January 9.
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 confluence of events, from weather to staffing to technology, combined to drive the meltdown which will cost Southwest more than more investment would have, in other words it’s a story of management error more than greed. Management lost free cashflow rather than increasing it.
It’s a tragedy for people whose holidays were ruined, but it’s not an easy story about industry consolidation (this didn’t happen because Southwest bought AirTran) or ‘financial capitalism’ (until the meltdown Southwest was the story of a company that’s highly unionized with a great culture). Trying to make it an allegory for a hobby horse doesn’t work when the facts aren’t there.
American Airlines miles are great for redeeming on partner airlines at great value, such as Japan Airlines to Asia and Iberia to Europe. However it can be tough to use AAdvantage miles to actually fly American, without paying a big premium in miles, especially if you want to fly up front. And most people want to use American’s miles to fly domestically.
Fortunately right now there’s surprisingly good award space in premium cabins between the West Coast and Hawaii, and on American’s premium flights between New York JFK and Los Angeles. It’s a great time to jump on these redemptions, even if you only think they might be useful, because American no longer charges a fee to cancel your award and redeposit the miles.
Airfares have been through the roof, but right now there’s a sale on from several U.S. cities to numerous destinations across Europe – starting at just $298 roundtrip on Star Alliance member (United MileagePlus partner) TAP Air Portugal. You can fly from Boston, Chicago, Miami, New York JFK, Newark, San Francisco or Washington Dulles (the cities where TAP Air Portugal flies) to their destinations across Europe – like Barcelona, Madrid, Milan, Frankfurt, Munich, Rome (or even Porto, Valencia, Malaga, or Bilbao) – for prices ranging from $298 – $398 when sale fares are available. The opportunity was first spotted by Thrifty Traveler‘s airfare deal alert service. Here’s an example from Boston: Just how good a deal is this? The cost is almost entirely taxes and fees. The actual airfare? Just $15.50 each way. Key details…
Mexicana was one of the oldest airlines in the world when it went out of business in August 2010. The carrier had been flying to the U.S. since 1920, when it began operating Mexico City to Tuxpan to Tampico to Brownsville, Texas with a Ford Trimotor.
The carrier, partially-owned by the Mexican government, went into bankruptcy, and a great deal was revealed about how key executives used the business for tax fraud and money laundering.
Nearly five years ago Emirates started selling “in home check-in” where someone comes to you, weighs and collects your baggage, and prints your boarding passes. Then last summer they started offering this complimentary to first class passengers. And it’s stupid.
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.
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 »
