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 the airline is offering to cover lodging then you shouldn’t be able to seek reimbursement from your credit card. Hopefully these new customer commitments do not lead to a bunch of denied credit card reimbursement claims, effectively limiting the benefit to weather-related events or at least going through the claims process with an airline before seeking reimbursement from your card (within the card coverage provider’s allowable timeframe).
Offering rooms when the airline is at fault isn’t new. Reimbursing rooms when the airline can’t get you one may be. However for those of us in the know on credit card trip delay coverage, these airline policy changes under threat by DOT may wind up being a real negative.
What’s new, generally speaking, is that several carriers have amended their policies to actually reimburse you when they’re unable to provide you with a room and you book one yourself.
And the largest U.S. airlines have committed to put you on another airline when major delays are their fault, but there’s fine print – often doing the bare minimum to get a ‘check mark’ on the new Department of Transportation customer service comparison chart.
American Express is offering 12 simultaneous bonuses for transfers from Membership Rewards to airlines and hotels. They’ve only ever done this once before. It’s a cacophony of opportunity for those who have their transferable points. The offers run through September 30, except for Marriott and Hilton which runs through October 31.
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.
American Airlines forced a musician to gate check his guitar, not allowing him to bring it on board his flight. They promptly lost the guitar.
Musicians do have rights, but they also have the responsibility to be prepared to exercise those rights. Buy an extra seat for the instrument, or ensure you’re boarding early enough that there’s overhead bin space left for your instrument.
Generally speaking airlines were already on the hook for lodging and meals during controllable delays, however they’ve made explicit commitments here that include reimbursement when they can’t provide a hotel and specific amounts for meals.
Russia’s Rostec – 92% owned by the government there – owns Irkut and the Yakovlev Design Bureau and they have a new single aisle aircraft that they say American Airlines may be flying in the next 5 to 10 years. They’ve mocked up the aircraft in American Airlines livery to show what it would look like.
The MC-21 (called the MS-21 in Russia) represents the “Main Aircraft Of The 21st Century” and was earlier known as the Yak-242.
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.
Taiwan’s StarLux will start flying to the U.S. in April though for now they aren’t saying more than it’ll be a West Coast destination. They have plans to “gradually expand to other destinations” and also fly to Europe.
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 »
