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 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 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.
Starting Monday, September 12th American Airlines systemwide upgrades will work on itineraries that include British Airways transatlantic and intra-European flights within Europe.
That means if you book an American Airlines flight across the Pond, and upgrade it, you’ll also be able to upgrade your connecting flight on BA within Europe. And it means as long as you have a domestic American Airlines flight in your itinerary, you can use a systemwide upgrade to move up a cabin on British Airways across the Atlantic.
During a three hour delay, Air Canada flight crew decided to have fun while leaving passengers waiting to fly. They did their own photo shoot on the tarmac. One flight attendant posed inside an engine while baggage handlers snapped photos.
This was controversial because flight crew had access to do something fun while passengers did not.
American Airlines is incenvitizing people to join the program, which is something you used to see a lot more of. They aren’t just giving away free miles (too costly and too easy to game). Instead they’re bonusing customers for joining and tranascting. Because the two things that make you a valuable customers are getting in the habit of transacting and redeeming miles.
Emirates lost the ability to book redemptions on JetBlue in business class over the summer, suggesting something was up with their partnership. We learned in the past several days that the partnership is actually ending October 30th. But JetBlue isn’t going to be down a partner. Instead a new earning and redemption partnership is coming between JetBlue and Etihad. Etihad also partners with American Airlines and with Air Canada.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, known for arriving at the airport “hours early for flights to avoid mishaps and to ensure choice space in overhead compartments,” was spotted today flying coach on Delta to Detroit today to give a speech. She was relegated to row 19.
An anonymous reader shares an experience at what is likely Marriott’s worst hotel in the Americas, a deflagged Hilton in with 17 year old mattresses, a restaurant that’s still closed, and no daily housekeeping.
I don’t often feature guest posts. I’ve done it just a handful of times in the past 20 years. But I found this report on the Woodlands Plaza Toledo Hotel was interesting as a window into what Marriott has become willing to sell to its customers.
A woman wasn’t allow to board a Southwest flight because a flight attendant says she was intoxicated. The passenger, though, says she was just “doing cartwheels and back bends” to entertain a crying little girl.
The flight attendant interpreted the cartwheels as being “engaging, loud, you want[ing] attention from everybody.” And the woman was seen drinking alcohol – one glass of wine.
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 »
