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.
Chris Christie’s niece, Shannon Epstein, reportedly asked a family on board her Spirit Airlines flight home to New Jersey whether they were “smuggling cocaine” – because they appeared to be Hispanic.
She didn’t make it out of the New Orleans airport on Thanksgiving Day. Her flight was taxiing out when the pilot decided to return to the gate to have her removed from the aircraft. Officers met the plane and she… attacked them.
While some claim the ‘middle class ruined airport lounges’ or that credit card companies providing lounge access has ruined it, neither is exactly correct.
Virgin Australia went through bankruptcy during Covid. Under new Bain Capital management they hired the former head of Qantas’ Jetstar, who had just accepted a senior job with Qantas Frequent Flyer, to run their Velocity Frequent Flyer program. And Qantas tried to have him jailed.
I’ve fallen in love with some first class amenity kits over time, from Singapore Airlines to Asiana to Thai Airways. Business class amenity kits are usually far more pedestrian, from the bags themselves to their contents. Still, there are sometimes kits which are quite fun. Before the pandemic, when Delta was more of a premium airline inflight, their last amenity kit was Tumi with a couple of Le Labo items inside.
Air Canada has introduced a new Acqua di Parma amenity kit, a thoughtful premium brand choice.
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.
The tag line for Kevin Smith’s Clerks was, “just because they serve you doesn’t mean they like you.” Just imagine what they do behind your back! When you aren’t looking, baggage handlers have been known to ignore bags, throw bags for fun, toss them in the trash and steal from them. When a baggage handler has plenty of baggage themselves, bad things happen.
Indonesia is expected to approve a law this month banning pre-marital sex as well as living together prior to marriage. While Bali is generally more liberal than the rest of the country, the law would apply nationwide, including for tourists.
And while homosexuality is not illegal in Indonesia per se (except in the Aceh province) same sex marriage is not legal. As a result same sex partners living together would become criminalized, under a statute that includes penalties of up to a year in prison.
Capital One is eliminating non-lounge airport facilities from Venture X Priority Pass cards effective January 1, 2023. This follows a similar move by American Express in summer 2019.
As a result, Capital One Priority Pass cardholders will not longer be able to swipe their cards for $28 credits at participating restaurants. Chase, by contrast, will still cover restaurant swipes for their Sapphire Reserve cardmembers.
I cannot say how long Swiss will make first class redemptions available to all Miles & More members, or even that they will not have ‘sellers remorse’. There’s no discount here, of course, just a redemption opportunity they do not normally offer.
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 »
