American Airlines is phasing out the AAirpass program, which allowed customers to prepay for travel at flat rates and receive extra benefits – like no changes or cancel fees; premium seating; Admirals Club access; and even ConciergeKey status with larger purchases.
In September American Airlines removed the option to put a flight on a 24 hour hold, rather than purchasing it right away. Competitors haven’t had this option for years. It’s one of the things that set American Airlines apart and made them easier to buy from.
Now it’s been restored.
At approximately 5:22 a.m. on Tuesday, Hertz-owned vehicles that had been rented by President Biden’s Secret Service burst into flames in a lot at the Nantucket airport after they were returned.
A Ford Expedition had reportedly been under a battery recall, but hadn’t yet had the battery replaced. It appears to have caught fire, taking four other vehicles with it.
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.
Protests have been ongoing in Iran for the past 10 weeks, precipitated by a woman who was beaten and killed by authorities for ‘improperly’ wearing her hijab. To prevent citizens from seeing the protests, seeing them spread, and feeling confident in defying the regime, internet access in the country has been limited. Their Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, says these “riots” are in fact war perpetrated by foreign governments and dissidents.
Mahan Air flight attendant Sanz Keshavarz, who worked the Airbus A340, reportedly took part in protests and was killed by the government in response. The airline – which is said to work closely with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard – has been said to warn all of their employees who attended the woman’s funeral that they could be prosecuted.
The Biden administration official overseeing spent nuclear fuel at the Department of Energy has been charged with stealing a checked bag from baggage claim at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport.
Choose the charity you support, based on groups actually seeking miles (that get deposited into an account for them to redeem real award tickets against), this isn’t a ‘corporate charity program’ it’s something much better than what other loyalty programs offer – the ability for real charities to raise miles from members rather than through a corporate partnership with the airline meant to burnish the airline’s image. Kudos to United for doing this.
Delta is reportedly on the verge of an announcement to cut Sky Club access for elite frequent flyers traveling in long haul economy and premium economy cabins.
These new restrictions, if implemented, would become part of a strategy to address extreme crowding in the airline’s lounges that have lead to long lines and to turning away club members in some locations.
American AAdvantage and World of Hyatt have a useful partnership that allows American status members to earn 1 AAdvantage mile per dollar spent with Hyatt, and Hyatt elites to earn 1 Hyatt point per dollar spent on American flights. In addition they offer regular status challenges to each others’ members.
The latest status opportunity for American Airlines elites with Hyatt ends Wednesday. There’s a new opportunity for Hyatt elites with American.
Early in the pandemic ‘getting Covid later’ versus getting it right away made sense. We didn’t know what we were dealing with. It was better to delay until there were treatments and vaccines, and better to preserve hospital capacity. But what mattered is what you did with that time.
The U.S. and U.K. developed functional vaccines and treatments. China’s Sinovac Coronavac vaccine barely worked against the ancestral Wuhan strain. Most of China remained immunologically naive to the virus, especially as it mutated. The only end game was Xi’s re-election at the 20th People’s Congress. China didn’t use the time to prepare itself.
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 »
