Jun
20
2021
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.
Flight Attendants Share The Worst Parts Of Their Job
As American Staff Eject A Passenger From Flight, The Man Throws Up In First Class
Jun
20
2021
Several passengers were removed from American Airlines flight 1174 from Philadelphia to Miami on Saturday after a man threw up in the coach lavatory prior to departure.
Reader Robert G. was on board on a paid first class ticket sitting in 2B. He had noticed the sick man with what he described as “a weird walk” when they were still at the gate. As the man was coming forward from the back of the plane he stopped at row two and vomited all over this first class passenger.
‘Basic Business Class’ Fares Are Bad Business For Both Customers And Airlines
Jun
19
2021
Emirates started selling ‘basic business class’ fares last year. Qatar Airways came out with this, restricting access to lounges and to advance seat selection on the cheapest business class tickets. And the latest entrant into this game is Finnair, and their restrictions are absolutely brutal.
What’s really interesting here is whether airlines can make Basic Business Class work as a way to generate more revenue. While Basic Economy has caught on and had mixed results, it’s going to be a lot harder to do with Business Class and that strategy will probably cost an airline more than it’ll generate in incremental revenue. Your cable television bill helps explain why.
[Roundup] Why Airlines Let Sick Passengers On Planes
Jun
19
2021
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.
How One New Priority Pass Lounge Shows The Failure Of Asia In The Pandemic’s Re-Opening Phase
Jun
19
2021
Cathay Pacific carried an average of just 774 passengers per day in May. Only around 2000 passengers per day used the Hong Kong airport. That’s only 1% of pre-pandemic volume. As a result, Cathay Pacific has just one lounge open – The Wing First Class lounge.
The Wing first class lounge joins Priority Pass effective Monday, June 21.
American Airlines Is Cancelling Scores Of Flights Due To Lack Of Pilots
Jun
19
2021
American Airlines has cancelled over 100 flights already today. The most common reason is ‘flight crew unavailable’. Many other flights show cancelled due to ‘operational decision’ which appears to be giving that flight’s pilots to another aircraft (in other words, also ‘flight crew unavailable’). In contrast, as of this writing United has cancelled eight flights today and Delta has cancelled two.
The issue appears to be concentrated on the Boeing 737 fleet. American’s schedule seems too big for the crew they have available, especially since they’re only midway through the process of bringing inactive pilots back online.
The Difference Between Scheduling Flights For Customers And Scheduling For Operations
Jun
19
2021
American Airlines is launching service between Austin and Washington Dulles in August. This flight is absolutely ideal for me. I live in Austin and in the Before Times my most frequent destination was Washington DC – a minimum of once a month, and often twice.
But the flight times are terrible – scheduled to allow a single plan to operate the route, rather than being scheduled for the business travelers who would actually take the flight.
Global Entry Renewals Can Now Be Done Over Zoom
Jun
19
2021
When I renewed my Global Entry three years ago, the online request (and payment) was enough. I wasn’t required to do an in-erson interview. Not everyone is so lucky.
Somehow I missed the news earlier this month that Customs and Border Protection will now let you do Global Entry renewal interviews over Zoom.
American AAdvantage Offering Some Cardmembers Unlimited 5X On All Spending
Jun
18
2021
American AAdvantage has a 40th anniversary promotion which runs June 7 through July 17 where AAdvantage members with co-brand credit cards issued by Santander Bank earn about 5 miles per dollar. This is one of the richest credit card promotions I have seen, ever, at least that wasn’t based on a mistake of sorts.
The President of AAdvantage Wants To Replace Award Charts With A Real Estate Website
Jun
18
2021
The President of the American AAdvantage program says they’re intending to get rid of award charts. He offered that they’re working on a replacement like “a real estate website that shows you how many people have bought a property in a given area and for what price range, as well as a ticker for how many people are looking at a specific property right now.”
The more I think about this model, and this analogy that he offers, the worse it sounds for customers.
