Real Estate Agents Now Advertise At Airport Gates, Will Give You Hundreds Of Thousands Of Miles

by Gary Leff

Apr 28 2021

The real estate market is hot in many areas of the U.S., and mortgage rates remain low by historical standards. Real estate agents will pay for their next lead, and lead generators will rebate part of that payment to you in the form of airline miles. It’s potentially win-win-win.

And in a sign of the times not only can you earn miles buying or selling a house (or both!) but there are now ads for American AAdvantage partner Miles From Home Realty running at American Airlines gates across 75 airports.

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If You Don’t Mind American’s New Domestic Product, Your Standards Are Too Low

by Gary Leff

Apr 27 2021

American’s new domestic coach product is worse than Delta’s. It’s worse than JetBlue’s. It’s worse than Southwest’s. The customer experience just wasn’t a priority. The airline didn’t bother building a cabin mockup before declaring this their standard product and rolling it out. Airline CEO Doug Parker didn’t even try it himself before the decision was made – or even until it was flying for six months.

It has hard seats and less space per passenger, and the airline even took out TVs from the seats.

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Marriott Surveys Top Customers, How Can They Fix The Mess They’ve Made Of Ambassador Elite?

by Gary Leff

Apr 27 2021

Marriott’s top tier 100 night elite status is called Ambassador. The unique selling proposition is supposed to be a dedicated contact who takes care of all the member’s Marriott needs, ensuring a seamless experience.

Only they laid off these agents, and Ambassador members no longer get an Ambassador. Marriott is surveying how these top customers are managing under the new regime.

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With Europe Opening Up, Business Class Is Available For Under $900 Roundtrip This Summer

by Gary Leff

first class seats
Apr 27 2021

Europe plans to open to vaccinated Americans this summer. Greece and Iceland have already done so, but we can expect France, Italy, Spain and others to follow suit.

And with little business travel yet, airlines are selling the front cabin at a real discount in many cases. But there’s an incredible deal right now on United Airlines partner and Star Alliance member TAP Air Portugal which has business class roundtrip fares from several U.S. cities to several points in Europe starting at just $873 roundtrip.

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Domestic Travel Bans Have To Be Really Long To Work, And Can *Increase* Virus Spread

by Gary Leff

Apr 27 2021

We tend to look at the success story countries and extrapolate from them, why can’t the U.S. be like Australia? And of course there are reasons like Australia not having to worry about the virus coming in from abroad in as uncontrolled a fashion since the country is an island. But do travel restrictions inside a country, like we’ve seen in Australia where citizens couldn’t travel between states for much of the pandemic, usually work so well?

A new paper out of the University of Chicago finds that domestic travel bans may be counterproductive for controlling spread of Covid-19.

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Think Business Travel Will Return? American Airlines Isn’t Sending Employees Back To Its Own Office Yet

by Gary Leff

american airlines logo
Apr 26 2021

American Airlines invested hundreds of millions of dollars in a new headquarters, with their old facility bursting at the seams. They’ve since let go of 30% of management staff so don’t need as much space. And those that are left have mostly still working from home.

While they’re re-starting construction on unfinished parts of the new corporate campus, they’re bringing back people gradually, and recognize that some remote work makes sense into the future.

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This Surprising Gem May Be The Best New No Annual Fee Cash Back Card On The Market

by Gary Leff

Apr 26 2021

What if I told you there’s a way to earn an effective 6% back on rideshare, streaming services, and some of your restaurant spend – on a no annual fee card – and you’ve never heard of it?

That’s because if you came across the new Manchester United Credit Card from fintech startup Cardless you might have skipped right over it, but that would have been a mistake.

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A Five Hour Delay Caused A Flight Full Of Passengers Into 14 Day Mandatory Quarantine

by Gary Leff

Apr 26 2021

A delay of a little more than 5 hours caused a planeload full of passengers to be sent into 14 day mandatory hotel quarantine when they reached their destination.

Virgin Australia flight VA469 had departed from Perth, in Western Australia, enroute to Brisbane. But while the plane was in the air, the Australian state of Queensland where Brisbane is located closed its borders to incoming Perth traffic.

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Carry On Won’t Fit In The Bag Sizer? American Will Now Charge You To Check It

by Gary Leff

Apr 26 2021

From now on when American Airlines takes your carry on bag at the gate and requires you to check it, you can expect to pay for the privilege – unless you’re entitled to free checked bags with a premium cabin ticket, AAdvantage elite status, or co-brand credit card.

Frequently customers bring more carry on bags than they’re allowed, or bags that are bigger than what’s permitted. Gate agents are supposed to insist that the passenger checks the bag. They used to do this for free, but according to a new American Airlines “Airport Excellence Advisory” agents are now supposed to collect a checked bag fee.

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