Passengers Arrested For Selling Food On Flight. Government Goes After Crew Who Let Them

by Gary Leff

Nov 29 2021

Passengers on a Uganda Airlines flight from Entebbe to Dubai have been arrested for turning the trip into a bazaar on Friday, charged with ‘common nuisance.’ Two individuals, who normally hawk cell phone accessories, brought grasshoppers on board to sell to other passengers to eat (“Nsenene”). They were up in the aisles of the Airbus A330, and apparently found some willing buyers.

The grasshoppers were allowed onto the aircraft because they were fried. However the airline has said if the two passengers Mubiru Paul and Kiggundu Habib do it again they’ll be banned from the state-owned carrier. And the airline itself has now gotten the idea to offer the grasshoppers as part of inflight meals themselves. Competition works.

Continue Reading »

Woman Detained By Fellow Passenger And Zip Tied During Flight, Yells At Police To Shoot Her

by Gary Leff

Nov 29 2021

A passenger on board a Spirit Airlines flight departing South Florida on Saturday evening seemed to have more than one too many to drink prior to departure, according to others on the aircraft. She attacked two members of the cabin crew and then when she was arrested on arrival in Nashville yelled at police officers to shoot her.

Continue Reading »

African American Woman Made To Feel She Didn’t Belong In First Class, Kicked Off Over Bubble Guppies

by Gary Leff

Nov 29 2021

A Florida-based attorney flying American Airlines says her two year old was watching Bubble Guppies quietly, but without headphones. The aircraft was taxiing out, turned around and her family was kicked off the aircraft. She says she was told several times she ‘was in first class’ and felt, as a black woman, that she was being told she didn’t belong.

Continue Reading »

Reprice Your JetBlue Tickets Now Using $50 Off $100 Each Way Discount

by Gary Leff

Nov 29 2021

JetBlue has a Cyber Monday deal of $50 off each one way of $100 or more (or $100 off a $200+ roundtrip).

While this ostensibly ‘isn’t valid on prior bookings’ as long as your existing trips aren’t in basic economy you don’t face change fees. As a result you can cancel your trip, bank the credits, and use those credits to rebook at the lower price.

Continue Reading »

Sometimes Hotels Play Games With Inventory, Here’s How To Call Them On It

by Gary Leff

Nov 27 2021

A reader reached out to me about the Park Hyatt St. Kitts. The hotel appeared to be selling standard suites for the week between Christmas and New Year’s. As a Globalist (top tier elite) he wanted to book a room and confirm a suite.

However he reported that the hotel responded to Hyatt, when they tried to confirm the suite, that the suites weren’t actually available and that the inventory was a glitch.

Continue Reading »

Which Major Hotel Program Is Best?

by Gary Leff

Park Hyatt New York Proves Why Hotel Loyalty Makes Sense
Nov 27 2021

There are two elements to loyalty marketing: recognition and reward. The former is the elite program, how you treat your best customers. The latter is rebate for their spend.

We can make some overall claims about best that will not apply to every member, every time, with their own subjective preferences. We can do this by looking at the overall earn-and-burn program, and by comparing the major elite benefits each program offers.

Continue Reading »