Delta’s outsourced Sky magazine laid off all its staff at the start of the pandemic. American, which outsourced American Way starting with US Airways management’s takeover in 2015, followed suit a year later despite The Onion once suggesting that the airline stop flying passengers to focus on its core magazine business.
And now United Airlines has followed suit axing its Hemispheres magazine from seatback pockets.
Overall I find American’s offers too complicated, but many Hyatt elites should take advantage of them anyway – for the short-term status, or longer-term since it’s easy to generate loyalty points via credit card spend and online shopping – and there’s no fee associated with the offer when it comes though the Hyatt partnership.
I see claims all the time in social media that ‘if you’re rich you don’t care about points’. That isn’t true. There are people who don’t care about points, but I’ve known plenty of wealthy people who do. I’ve helped centimillionaires several times over maximize their points and book award travel. And I’ve helped Hollywood celebrities do it, too.
When Delta’s systems melted down, they lost track of crew. They were making announcements in terminals looking for pilots who could work. Their crew scheduling systems collapsed. It took days for those systems to catch up, running several instances in parallel (which caused its own problems, as those systems needed to sync). The meltdown was caused by crew scheduling system failures and that system was IBM, not Microsoft according to Satya Nadella and Microsoft’s lawyers.
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.
If you’re a wanted man, it’s a good idea to avoid airports. There are more law enforcement on property – from myriad agencies – than just about anywhere else. There may be police, FBI, DEA, CBP, and virtually every other three-letter agency you can come up with. There are cameras everywhere. And you have to show I.D.
The official end of the Northern Hemisphere summer this year is Sunday, September 22. Airline summer traditionally runs through Labor Day. But American Airlines has ended its summer.
Imagine how frustrating it would be as an airline customer to have your flight cancelled, get sent to a hotel for the night, and face a long line to get to your room – only to see your airline’s staff march right past you with priority.
United has been promoting ‘epic’ deals on award travel this week, with a different mystery destination each day – and sale prices available that day only.
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 »
