Award Space To Europe Is Back With A Vengeance!

by Gary Leff

Sep 26 2022

Just a few weeks ago the prospect of trying to coordinate changes to Europe awards would have given me heartburn. There was simply very little award space, save for a handful of airline and routes that I used as ‘worst-case scenarios’ when helping people to redeem their miles. And I didn’t want worst-case scenarios traveling with my wife and daughter.

Fortunately things are really looking up for those of us looking to use points for travel abroad, especially to Europe.

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Southwest Passenger Assaults Woman Sitting Behind Him Using His Seatback

by Gary Leff

Sep 25 2022

Software engineer Saarah Sareshwala was flying Southwest Airlines from Orlando to Phoenix on Saturday. She expected an uneventful trip after an enjoyable ‘women in computing’ conference. She walked away with a head injury, and she’s left shaking her head trying to understand why.

Ms. Sareshwala’s husband took to social media to detail what happened when the passenger seated in front of her slammed his seatback into her head while she was asleep against it.

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Delta Passenger Scolded For Pushing The Flight Attendant Call Button

by Gary Leff

Sep 25 2022

A Delta Air Lines passenger shares what happened when they rang their flight attendant call bell to ask for a drink while flying from Atlanta to Boston recently.

Seated in extra legroom coach, which offers free cocktails, they asked for a Jack Daniels and Coke during the drink cart pass through the cabin. Half an hour later they wanted another drink so they pushed the button about their seat. It lit up. About five minutes later a crewmember showed up and declined their request.

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American Airlines Penalizes Employees Who Buy Their Own Travel To Ensure They’re Ready To Work

by Gary Leff

Sep 25 2022

There are numerous rules that go along with flying so-called ‘free’ (there are often fees for international travel, and for some there can be tax consequences as well).

One of the stranger ones on American Airlines is that employees cannot book conflicting paid travel and non-rev travel. In fact, they aren’t even allowed to list for non-rev travel on American is they have paid or mileage award tickets with the same origin and destination within 24 hours on another airline like Delta. This actually makes American Airlines less reliable for customers.

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United Airlines Is Letting Customers Test New Business Class Suites With Doors

by Gary Leff

Sep 24 2022

Delta Air Lines was the second airline – behind only Qatar Airways – to launch business class suites with doors into commercial service. American Airlines is going to enclosed suites with their Boeing 787-9 and Airbus A321XLR new aircraft deliveries in 2024. British Airways has been putting doors on business class seats, and Air France is going to be doing the same.

United Airlines isn’t going to be left behind in this race. In fact they’ve been vetting new seats with doors for a new Polaris product, as I reported this past spring.

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Mom Travels On Plane With Her Husband, Kids, And 22 Tinder Notifications

by Gary Leff

Sep 24 2022

One woman is going viral because her phone screen was visible to other passengers on a flight. Bored passengers look for interesting things – and a married woman’s screen was interesting enough to inspire a TikTok video. The woman, wearing a wedding ring, was traveling with her husband and her kids – and her phone showed 22 notifications from Tinder.

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