An African American man on a Delta Air Lines flight went on a rant about being enslaved by white men, before assaulting a flight attendant and an air marshal on board the Washington – Los Angeles plane on Thursday evening.
After being attacked, the air marshal called for passenger assistance and together got the situation under control – zip-tying the man – as the aircraft diverted to Oklahoma City.
Delta devalued SkyMiles awards twice during the pandemic and now calls it a sale when they offer 350,000 and even 400,000 mile-plus business class roundtrips to Europe. They’ve also gutted international upgrades with top elites getting confirmed from coach to premium economy only and no longer business class.
The other shoe has dropped at the reverse end of the spectrum, mileage-earning on the cheapest fares. For new tickets purchased (as of December 9, 2021) and travel starting January 1, 2022, Delta’s basic economy fares will no longer earn miles or elite status credit. Period.
New long haul routes are exciting! American Airlines will fly from New York to Doha this summer. That’s great for AAdvantage elites looking for an upgrade. For most others, Qatar Airways remains the better airline of choice.
They’re adding this flight at a time they’re announcing they lack enough widebody aircraft to fly their summer Europe schedule, so they’re cancelling plans for many flights. They’re blaming Boeing’s production problems, and ignoring the decisions they made during the pandemic that put them in this bind.
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 British Airways Executive Club website was supposed to be down for maintenance from the evening of November 13 through the morning of November 17 (GMT). They’re still having problems with it. And getting help by phone is almost impossible due to a weird glitch in their phone systems.
`Southwest did a head fake as it renegotiated its card deal last time. But brands always do this, use other banks as a stalking horse to get a better deal. The card is integral to its strategy in fact offering customers Hawaii flights as an inducement to rack up Rapid Rewards has even been a piece of their network strategy.
Those who aren’t redeeming will be interested in watching the new fare product Southwest plans to introduce in 2022.
In January 2020 Hilton moved from requiring activity in an account every 12 months to keep it active to a 15 month expiration policy. Then the pandemic hit and many programs, including Hilton, paused points expiration. Hilton points won’t expire until at least December 31, 2022. Now they’ve moved to a ‘permanent’ 24 month expiration policy, with points first expiring again in a year. Why the change?
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.
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.
According to attorneys for the plaintiffs in the case – which seeks $530 million in damages – there are over 180 people that have been falsely arrested based on Hertz errors. That number is rising, with 26 new victims identifying themselves in the past month. And this doesn’t seem to be just a past problem at Hertz, either, because 8 new victims “have come forward with proof of new false arrest incidents” that occurred this year.
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 »
