After a federal judge struck down the transportation mask mandate some airlines are saying masks are still required on board.
United Airlines, for instance, told employees that the mask mandate is still in effect regardless of the ruling, pending notification to the contrary by the federal government. Alaska Airlines has taken a different stance publicly stating that masks are now optional.
Turkish Airlines offers great business class award space on most of its flights between the U.S. and Istanbul, even for four or more passengers, through end of schedule and especially end of 2022 and early 2023. Turkish serves more countries than any other airline they’re a great way to connect to see much of the world. Their Boeing 787s have their best business class product.
Congress has certainly shown itself capable of voting on masks, and could have voted to give this power to CDC. It did not. However this federal district court ruling may not be the legal end of the discussion, and the mandate will likely lapse and the case becomes moot before reaching ultimate adjudication.
The Westin Houston Medical Center adds a ‘sustainability fee’ onto guest bills. You’re supposed to accept a hidden add-on, that turns out to be a charge for building maintenance, because it’s impolite to question anything framed as ‘for the environment’.
Iberia business class awards are wide open for two passengers between New York JFK and Madrid. There’s quite a bit of space in November and December, but things really open up for January and February 2023.
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.
Marriott did what they said they would do – limit the carnage in the first year, in much the same way they over-indexed Bonvoy value when the program first launched (they waited to add a higher tier category and launch peak and off peak pricing, even though they announced it as their plan).
The playbook is ‘announce a negative change but wait to fully implement it’ so everyone looks at the new program and says “great!” or “not so bad!” before it gets worse. We should believe Marriott when they say next year will be worse!
Chris Matyszczyk is known for taking my airline leaks and sensationalizing them. Here, though he takes word of American Airlines business class seats coming with doors on the airline’s new delivery Boeing 787-9s and uses that to pull his very best Christopher Elliott, which is to say taking a travel story he doesn’t understand and doing his best to turn it into an allegory about class warfare and socialism of the North Korean variety.
The American Airlines Flagship Lounge New York JFK is fantastic – a great space with great food and friendly people – and a reason to show up a little bit early for your flight.
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.
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 »
