Airlines may give you a free room when you’re faced with a controllable overnight delay. But you get what you pay for – you probably don’t want to sleep in the room they’re going to give you. There are exceptions, but it can be very much worth venturing off on your own rather than rolling the dice on free.
American could lose its Gol partnership too – or be forced to put in a lot more additional money. The Brazilian airline is in bankruptcy, and looking for new financing. United Airlines may swoop in.
Lufthansa’s “Project Fox” aims to completely overhaul its long-haul product offerings to turn around declining passenger satisfaction. FOX here is Future Onboard Experience and seeks to transform every aspect of the airline’s long-distance travel experience by 2026, aligning with the carrier’s centennial celebrations.
George W. Bush used to talk about the soft bigotry of low expectations. All I could think when American Airlines CEO went into his carrier’s fourth quarter earnings call oddly triumphant is that former Texas Governor Bush must have had the Texas-based airline in mind.
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.
Every year for the past several years, Marriott has run a double elite nights offer along with bonus points. Here’s last year’s which was 1,000 bonus points per night and double elite qualifying nights on paid stays February 13 – April 29. They ran something similar in 2022 and 2023.
United’s Scott Kirby has been predicting the demise of low cost competitors for years. So far he hasn’t been wrong. On Wednesday morning’s earnings call, he placed the blame for this on the airports and the federal government as he explained why his airline would outcompete them in the major cities where they have their biggest operations.
Once you make the decision to pursue a premium strategy, getting the details right is as much about creativity and commitment to the details as it is cost. Budgets still matter a great deal, but finding the right investments that move the needle on customer perception matter – otherwise spending on those expensive seats is wasted.
The Trump family stayed at St. Regis D.C. for the inauguration, based on video shared by President Trump’s granddaughter Kai who took on a much larger profile this past summer at the Republican Convention.
Airports in the U.S. are largely government-owned, which isn’t how this works in much of the world. They rely heavily on federal funding, especially grants that come heavily-laden with conditions. That includes what’s come to be known as DEI but that’s actually explicit racial (and gender) quotas in contracting.
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 »
