One 91 year old reader – who is still a working actor – shared a story about United that shows initiative, customer service, and just what United employees can and sometimes will do to take care of a customer.
Reader Barney wants to know why it’s gotten so hard to use his American Airlines AAdvantage miles to fly in premium cabins to Asia, or whether he’s imagining things? I’d say he’s right, and I think I know why.
United Airlines is adding free Starlink wifi to its planes over the coming years. They’ve updated the install timeline. Based on experience with Hawaiian Airlines and JSX, it should be faster – and with far less latency – than competitors’ wifi.
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.
Christopher Elliott has a rather silly piece that argues “Plane seats are too small: Airlines continue to prioritize profit over comfort, safety.”
I wonder if he knows that the U.S. airlines with the least space per passenger also generate the least profit? Spirit Airlines is in bankruptcy! Frontier Airlines is struggling. Airline margins overall are small, underperforming most industries even for the most profitable players.
The man approached two female flight attendants, one wearing the pin, and recorded the interaction. He accused them of antisemitism, while they say he isn’t allowed to record them and that he touched one of them. They wouldn’t let him leave the plane while police were called. Police backed him up on the recording, and the footage is being shared broadly online.
While I don’t fly American as much as I once did – AAdvantage was once so rewarding that going somewhere meant just looking for flights at AA.com – they’re still a major player at my home airport. And there’s a lot that I am looking forward to with them in 2025.
In fact there are five things I’m very excited for from American Airlines in the new year. We should see several big improvements have been years in the making.
While United Airlines doesn’t have a formal, published program to support status extensions, calling or emailing with a request for status extension worked for many last year. If you’re about to see your status drop February 1, you might reach out to MileagePlus.
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.
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 »
